Kushina and Minato

"First place, Hikawa."

Eiichirō could not help but praise him. "Hikawa's progress since enrolling has been obvious to everyone. You should all learn from him."

Hatake Kakashi unconsciously clenched his fist.

Although it was only an insignificant physical training exercise, he still felt a little unwilling to accept it.

After all, he had always been first in the class in every aspect.

"Ah!"

Might Guy could not help clutching his head with both hands.

If not for his sudden illness before the finish line, he might have won.

But it was not a big problem.

Physical training was nothing to him. What excited him more was discovering a new opponent.

"Kakashi actually lost?"

Obito Uchiha felt worse than if he had been killed. "Damn it! Kakashi can only lose to me!"

Rin Nohara looked at the boy who was still handsome despite being drenched in sweat and blinked.

She grew curious. He clearly came from an ordinary background, so why was he so strong?

He had defeated Sarutobi Asuma, and now he had outrun Hatake Kakashi and Might Guy. Could their class be producing a civilian genius?

Rin Nohara thought of Namikaze Minato, whom Jiraiya had taken as his disciple.

"It was only physical training."

Sarutobi Asuma gritted his teeth as he spoke.

The next second, the petite figure in his line of sight stood up.

He suddenly wanted to go home. He was exhausted.

"Hikawa, you were amazing!"

Yuhi Kurenai jogged over to Hikawa and sat down beside him.

She took a breath and tucked her sweat-dampened hair behind her ear, revealing her fair forehead.

Hikawa nodded weakly.

To surpass Hatake Kakashi and Might Guy at the end, he had erupted with all his strength. Now, he was completely drained.

But he was still excited inside.

With two traits and a month of hard work, he had actually gained the qualifications to catch up to them. His cheat was truly powerful.

Of course, that only applied to running.

He definitely could not beat them in a fight yet.

Once physical training ended, school was dismissed.

Hikawa told Yuhi Kurenai to go home and headed north.

He had always trained at the Fourth Training Ground before, so he had already figured out the surrounding area.

North of the Fourth Training Ground lay the famous Death Forest, a wonder created by Hashirama Senju with Wood Release.

After walking for a while, Hikawa heard footsteps behind him.

He turned and saw Hatake Kakashi.

"Going to train?"

Hikawa asked.

Hatake Kakashi nodded slightly.

He intended to put in some extra practice today because he had lost in physical training.

"You're training too?"

Hatake Kakashi asked in return.

"More or less."

Hikawa thought for a moment before answering.

Normal ninjas did not train with Exploding Tags.

If he said so, people would only think he was foolish and had too much money.

But he had the panel and needed to fill the progress bar.

Upon reaching the Fourth Training Ground, Hikawa continued onward.

Hatake Kakashi glanced at him, curious, but did not ask.

After giving it some thought, he began running.

"Sorry, I had a mission today, so I was a little late."

Half an hour later, Hatake Sakumo appeared.

Hatake Kakashi shook his head, indicating that it was fine.

"Why are you running today?"

Hatake Sakumo asked in surprise.

"Warming up."

Hatake Kakashi answered with a calm expression.

For some reason, he did not want to tell Hatake Sakumo that he had lost to Hikawa in physical training.

But now, he had to admit that his old man's judgment was especially sharp.

Hikawa's rate of improvement made him feel a hint of pressure.

Of course, he still believed that he would be the one to win in the end.

Death Forest.

Thick branches blotted out the sky, blocking most of the sunlight.

Even though it was daytime, it felt as dark as night.

Hikawa's eyes suddenly lit up. He sped forward, and his view immediately opened up.

A broad riverbank.

Seeing it, Hikawa took out an Exploding Tag and casually tossed it down.

With a boom.

A shallow crater was blasted into the ground, leaving the soil charred black.

Sure enough, cheap goods were no good.

The expense was not the Exploding Tag's problem. It was his problem.

Hikawa felt that a three-hundred-ryō Exploding Tag was even weaker than the most basic Fire Release: Great Fireball Technique.

With a thought, he opened the panel and checked the progress bar.

It had risen by 1%, proving that Exploding Tags did count as ninja tools and were effective.

Hikawa continued training.

He felt as though he had returned to his childhood, playing with firecrackers during the Spring Festival.

Unfortunately, after he had money, he no longer had the chance to play with them.

Before long, the ground had become riddled with craters, and an invisible heat wave rose into the air.

"Which bastard was that?!"

Just then, an angry roar drew closer from afar.

Hikawa looked toward the voice and saw a red-haired young woman.

"Did you do this?"

The red-haired woman's expression softened considerably when she saw him, and she asked.

"I was practicing with Exploding Tags."

Hikawa blinked as he answered.

"Exploding Tags?"

The red-haired woman curled her lips. "No wonder I couldn't catch a single fish."

Since he was just a child, she did not lose her temper.

"Fish?"

Hikawa understood and said, "Wait a moment."

He took several steps to the riverbank. The fish nearby had all been frightened away by his Exploding Tags.

That was rather embarrassing.

Hikawa walked upstream and quickly found a school of fish. He casually tossed down an Exploding Tag.

Following an explosion, quite a few stunned fish floated to the surface.

"Come over!"

Hikawa waved to her.

"Using Exploding Tags to catch fish... only you could think of that."

The red-haired woman glanced over and could not help laughing.

All the fish here combined might not even be worth one Exploding Tag.

With a casual wave, she formed a net out of Chakra and pulled up the school of fish.

Hikawa's mouth twitched.

Terrifying Chakra control.

He roughly knew who she was. After all, red hair held special significance in the Ninja World.

"Kid, what's your name?"

The red-haired woman tossed the fish into the bucket she carried with her.

"My name is Hikawa."

Hikawa answered.

"Kushina Uzumaki."

Kushina Uzumaki shook the bucket and invited him. "There are so many fish that two people can't finish them. Want to come?"

Two people? Namikaze Minato?

As a fan of the original work, he naturally could not miss this.

Hikawa nodded.

"Follow me."

Kushina Uzumaki carried the bucket and headed out.

A few minutes later, Hikawa saw a blond young man busy cooking.

"Minato, look!"

Kushina Uzumaki said with a beaming smile, "I'd say it's three or four jin!"

Who even asked you?!

A sentence suddenly surfaced in Hikawa's mind.

In his previous life, one of his older neighbors loved fishing.

Whenever Hikawa passed by his house, the man would walk painfully slowly, insisting on telling him how many jin of fish he had caught.

One time, he caught seven or eight jin of fish and circled the neighborhood three times.

"The smell of Exploding Tags."

Namikaze Minato sniffed and spoke.

"You know your stuff."

Kushina Uzumaki said with a smile, "He used Exploding Tags to blow them up."

Namikaze Minato took the bucket aside and began cleaning the fish.

Kushina Uzumaki pulled Hikawa over to chat.

As though she had not spoken to anyone in a long time, she talked endlessly and was extremely chatty.

Hikawa could not get a word in.