Minato Namikaze: I Don't Understand

Central Tower.

As the teams gradually finished assembling, the examination drew to a close.

The Third Hokage and the Third Tsuchikage arrived.

Moonlight Gale took over as examiner from Mitarashi Anko.

The examiner announced that, because there were too many participants, a preliminary match would be held to determine who could take part in the final examination. Then he asked if anyone wanted to withdraw.

As expected, Kabuto Yakushi raised his hand and withdrew, but it made little difference.

"If no one else wishes to withdraw, then the preliminary matches will begin," Gekko Hayate announced. "They'll be single-elimination. The contestants drawn on the screen will face each other."

Everyone turned their attention to the screen above the arena.

First match: Kurotsuchi vs. Ino Yamanaka.

Gekko Hayate said, "Everyone except the two contestants, please leave the arena for now."

Everyone else went up to the second-floor walkway to watch, leaving only Kurotsuchi and Ino in the arena.

For reasons that many people didn't know,

Ino and Kurotsuchi looked at each other with more than a little personal animosity.

"Ahem." Gekko Hayate cleared his throat to remind them, "The match comes second; friendship comes first. Now... begin."

Ino immediately raised her hand and formed the hand sign for the Yamanaka Clan's secret technique. Her slender fingers curled slightly as she aimed at Kurotsuchi.

Kurotsuchi had learned about the Yamanaka Clan's abilities beforehand. She immediately formed an Earth Style: Earth Wall in front of herself to block Ino's line of sight.

A taunting smile tugged at Ino's lips. She parted them and said, "That won't help. The moment you show yourself..."

Huh?

Why was there a crack in the ground beneath her feet?

Ino immediately sensed something was wrong and moved to dodge, but she heard the sound of someone bursting out of the earth behind her.

She leaped forward, turned, and aimed her secret technique at the figure.

But the next moment, Kurotsuchi disappeared.

The Body Flicker Technique?!

Wasn't that an advanced technique that only jonin considered learning?

Kurotsuchi appeared behind Ino.

She leaned forward, her long, taut legs driving her body into the strike as she channeled the force through her flexible waist and back into her fist, aiming straight for Ino's face.

With no other choice, Ino brought her arms together to block.

Bang!

A wave of soreness shot through Ino's arms, and she staggered backward.

The difference in strength between them was obvious.

As soon as Ino lowered her arms, a kunai was thrust toward her.

Gekko Hayate immediately announced, "The match is over. The winner is Kurotsuchi."

At the edge of the arena, Hiruzen Sarutobi made his customary polite remark to Ōnoki. "Your granddaughter certainly lives up to your name. Her taijutsu is excellent. She's already mastered the Body Flicker Technique at such a young age."

Ōnoki replied with a chuckle, "Kurotsuchi has the advantage of being older."

"Second match." Gekko Hayate glanced at the screen. "Uzumaki Karin vs. Rock Lee."

On the second floor, Jingxin reminded Karin, "Don't push yourself too hard."

"Okay, Kintsuchi-nii~" Karin had always acted obediently in front of Jingxin.

Huh?!

Uzumaki?

Naruto's eyes lit up as he spotted the red-haired girl.

As she passed by him, Naruto hurriedly asked, "Um... are you an Uzumaki too?"

Karin stopped and looked at Naruto, then shook her head. "No..."

Naruto pointed at the screen, confused. "But it says—"

"I mean, you aren't." Karin glanced over his blond hair and reached a conclusion. "If you're an Uzumaki, there are only two possibilities."

"First: your parents gave you that surname at random."

"Second: one of your parents was an Uzumaki."

Parents?!

Naruto grew excited and even stepped in front of Karin. "But I... I've never seen them! Do you know anything else?"

Karin furrowed her brows slightly. "I have a match to fight. Don't block my way."

The commotion drew the attention of quite a few people.

Hearing Naruto's question and Karin's analysis, the Konoha jonin felt a sinking sensation. Even Hiruzen Sarutobi had a bad feeling.

Naruto hadn't grown up yet. If his identity was revealed...

"Naruto!" Kakashi said sternly. "Don't cause trouble."

"I'm not causing trouble!" Naruto's emotions were clearly running high. "Why do you always act like you're hiding something from me?"

"Jingxin did it before, too! And now you're doing it!"

Jingxin?

To Karin, that was a name that piqued her interest.

So Karin carefully explained her reasoning to Naruto. "Hmm... given what you look like..."

"First, if you have a lot of chakra, then you definitely have some Uzumaki blood."

"Second, your Uzumaki blood is recessive, which is why you don't have red hair."

"So we can conclude that one of your parents had red hair and the other was blond."

"Since you've never seen them, they must no longer be around. They probably died on a mission, since that's how most shinobi meet their end."

Karin activated the Mind's Eye of the Kagura and carefully observed Naruto. She raised a hand to her chin. "Hmm... let me see. There's a mass of evil chakra inside you. That must be the so-called Nine-Tails."

"Judging by the strength of the Sealing Jutsu containing it, about twelve years have passed."

"From that, we can conclude that you became a Jinchuriki twelve years ago."

As she said this, the Konoha shinobi who knew the truth felt their hearts tighten.

But Karin's analysis wasn't over.

"Given that there are two other masses of chakra inside you that don't belong to you, one of them is similar to the Uzumaki Clan's chakra and resembles yours to some extent. Judging from its distinctive chakra signature, it probably came from an Uzumaki relative."

"The other mass of chakra is extremely gentle, but very powerful. It has a Wind nature and also came from one of your relatives, which means that relative had blond hair."

"And the two fit the description: one was an Uzumaki with red hair."

"The other had Wind-nature chakra, blond hair, and was gentle yet powerful."

"And they were a married couple who died twelve years ago..."

Naruto's heart leaped into his throat.

The Konoha shinobi looked utterly serious.

Hiruzen Sarutobi's expression changed, too.

Karin keenly noticed the change and immediately said, "But I don't know much about Konoha's history, so you'll have to figure it out for yourself."

You've said all that, and you still expect him to figure it out?

Of everyone there, only Naruto looked completely baffled.

He regretted zoning out during Iruka's history lessons.

Ōnoki glanced at Hiruzen's grim face. "It seems even I underestimated her powers of deduction."

This had certainly not been part of the plan, and it could very well provoke Konoha's hostility.

But Ōnoki wasn't worried in the slightest.

If Hiruzen Sarutobi dared to flip the table, he'd die here today.

It wasn't that Ōnoki was confident he could overpower Hiruzen Sarutobi. Rather...

Ōnoki's gaze fell on Jingxin.

Jingxin watched the scene in silence, making no move to intervene. Whatever happened to Konoha no longer concerned him.

If the truth got out, Konoha would have a bit of a problem.

Because they'd have to spend an enormous amount of manpower and resources protecting Naruto.

Hiruzen Sarutobi was the one who'd have a headache.

And why did Naruto need protection?

The reason was simple.

Question: Why are the other three great shinobi villages short on talented people of your generation?

Minato Namikaze: I don't understand.