This is the Encounter

Yang Xing, quite satisfied with the location, failed to notice the movement beside him. As the sound of the wind ceased, a calm voice spoke up, nearly startling him out of his skin.

"Yo, kid!"

The moment the voice arose, Yang Xing reflexively grabbed a kunai. It was an instinctive reaction; in the blink of an eye, he spun around and hurled the blade.

The kunai sliced through the air, leaving everyone around them in shock.

"Ah, Lord Fourth!"

The bespectacled teacher's shout allowed Yang Xing to see Minato Namikaze, with his yellow hair, leaping backward with a cool, effortless grace, dodging the kunai with ease.

"Haha, this guy is interesting. The first person in Konoha to dare throw a shuriken at the Fourth Hokage." It was clear there were others present; judging by the youthful voice, they were likely around his age. "Don't you think so, Kakashi? Hey, Kakashi, stop making that sour face. Even if I'm not thrilled about being in a group with you, it's the teacher's arrangement."

"Huh? Were you talking just now? Sorry, I was thinking about something and didn't hear you. Could you say it again?"

"You bastard, are you looking for a fight? Fine, bring it on! We might as well finish what we didn't get to at the academy. Who's afraid of you?"

"Kakashi, Obito, we're teammates! Stop arguing, Lord Fourth is right here."

The three of them were quite the rowdy bunch.

"Alright, everyone is here now." Minato Namikaze landed on the ground, smiled at the group, and said, "Although there are four of us in this group, it's not bad. Two-on-two is quite balanced."

His voice was loud enough, but unfortunately, two of them were already brawling, their intense movements completely ignoring Minato's words.

"Kakashi, I've had enough! I'm going to challenge you one-on-one!"

"You can't beat me."

"Argh! That attitude of yours is exactly what pisses me off! Today, I'm going to beat that look off your face no matter what!"

"Everyone, we're teammates! Don't fight, please don't fight!"

The flustered young girl tried to intervene between the two boys—or rather, one was chasing while the other was toying with him. It was obvious that the stone-faced Kakashi didn't take Obito Uchiha seriously at all.

Rin Nohara could only wave her hands from the sidelines, completely unable to stop the two.

Yang Xing watched from the side with interest, having no intention of intervening. There was someone far more suitable to put a stop to this.

"Hey, you two..." With those calm words, a figure appeared instantly between the two combatants. Minato Namikaze grabbed each of them by the collar with his left and right hands, lifting them off the ground. "Fighting is not good."

The words were spoken and finished without a hint of discord; the entire action was completed in the time it took to utter a single sentence.

Yang Xing's heart skipped a beat, and his shock was so great he didn't even need to voice it.

"So fast!" The shock on the faces of Rin Nohara, Kakashi, and Obito clearly showed their awe at Minato's strength.

Even Kakashi, who had been wearing his usual deadpan expression, couldn't hide the look of surprise on the half of his face that was visible.

"Alright, if you want to fight, there will be plenty of opportunities later, but you must not fight your comrades." Minato set the two down, clapped his hands, and said with a smile, "Now, be good and listen to me finish. By the way, if you don't listen, I'll use that move I just did to toss you to the top of the trees over there. Understand?"

Yes, this Fourth Hokage was smiling, but it was a smile that made one's skin crawl.

Being thrown at that speed would probably be like being launched by a rocket; he wasn't joking.

Knowing Minato's strength all too well, Obito and Kakashi became exceptionally well-behaved, nodding their heads with great vigor.

"Now then, let's see... you, your name is Yang Xing, right? A very nice name. Come over here." Having settled Kakashi and Obito, Minato called out to Yang Xing.

At this point, Yang Xing had no choice but to walk over.

His previous teacher had already left long ago; it seemed that from today on, this man would be his instructor.

No wonder that bespectacled nerd had been acting so strangely.

He hadn't expected the Fourth Hokage himself to be his instructor. Thinking about it, it made sense—in the current Konoha, who else could the special instructor trust so implicitly?

Though slightly reluctant, Yang Xing walked forward and joined the other three.

The four of them formed a unique and rather strange group.

With a pair of bitter rivals among them, the atmosphere was exceptionally quiet; they didn't even bother to greet one another.

"Well, let's start by introducing ourselves. Even if you aren't keen on it, from today on, you must undergo over a year of training. Let's start from the left."

"Hi." Though reluctant, Obito managed to steady his expression. "I'm Obito Uchiha. Well, you don't really need me to say anything else, given the name."

"A member of the Uchiha clan, I see. Next."

"Kakashi Hatake." The stone-faced Kakashi remained his usual self, as if speaking an extra word would be a luxury.

"I... I'm Rin Nohara."

Her nervous little face flushed slightly red.