Will of Fire

The day after the hot springs, Minato heard from Tsunade that Jiraiya had left for Mount Myōboku to undergo secluded training, and it was said he had no intention of returning to Konoha anytime soon.

"Did I really speak too harshly?"

In the kitchen, Minato was preparing dinner while Tsunade cleaned the used prep trays beside him.

"Don't worry about it; this is a good thing."

Tsunade chuckled softly. "That guy might be a pervert, but he isn't unreasonable. He probably realized a few things and decided to go cultivate his state of mind."

"Cultivate his state of mind?"

"That's right. A ninja is someone with great perseverance, capable of enduring what ordinary people cannot. Therefore, the cultivation of one's state of mind is a crucial part of the path."

Tsunade explained patiently, "The Road to Ninja is not always smooth sailing. Hunger, pain, slaughter, and even death—these are things a ninja inevitably experiences. You will have to undergo this kind of training in the future as well."

"Then why become a ninja at all?"

Minato asked, "I've never quite understood it. Water Release can be used to irrigate crops, Earth Release can be used to build houses, and the three attributes of Wind, Fire, and Lightning—even chakra itself—could be used directly as an energy source."

"Ninjas clearly possess the ability to make the era develop rapidly, so why waste time and energy on things like killing each other?"

Tsunade was stunned, not expecting Minato to ask such a question.

She pondered for a moment, then thought, "It's probably because of hatred..."

"Is hatred born out of thin air?"

Minato asked again, "If A is jealous that C's business is doing better than his own and thinks the other party stole his customers, so he hires B to assassinate C. C finds out and hires D to protect him. In the end, B and D fight, and B is killed by D. Teacher, whose fault is this?"

Tsunade answered without hesitation, "Of course it's A's fault! And B, who accepted such a mission, is also to blame."

Minato asked again, "Then, Teacher, who do you think B's child will hate after B dies?"

Tsunade paused, suddenly falling silent.

Whatever she was thinking of, her expression grew increasingly gloomy, and her mood visibly soured.

"Ah--!!!"

After a long while, Tsunade suddenly shouted, grabbed Minato, and began ruffling his hair in an agitated manner.

"Where do you get so many questions from, you brat?"

"Eh? It was just idle chatter..."

"Idle chatter isn't allowed!"

Tsunade pinched Minato's cheeks, pulling them to both sides, and looked at him with a serious expression.

"I don't care! People must be responsible for their own actions! Since you brought up this problem, then this problem is yours to solve! Yes! Let's make that your final examination before you graduate from my tutelage!"

"Eh--?!"

Minato looked shocked.

He had only meant to express his view subtly: the ninja system is flawed. Whether it's the Ninja Code or the Will of Fire, in his eyes, it's all nonsense, and he had no intention of following ninja rules.

So what was this woman talking about?

It was like me telling you that the world hasn't been peaceful lately, especially in the Middle East, and you replying: "Then the task of maintaining world peace is yours; go mediate for them."

"Mwahahaha~ Just kidding!"

Seeing Minato's shocked expression, Tsunade burst into laughter and ruffled his hair again.

"But actually, it wasn't entirely a joke. After all, you possess the power of Wood Release; your future is destined to be anything but ordinary. Even if you want to live a peaceful life, there will be times when you can't help yourself."

"If you are ever willing to shoulder the trust of the people in the future, then perhaps you can consider my proposal today."

Minato nodded upon hearing this.

Tsunade was right. In the future, he would have family and friends around him, and there would inevitably be times when trouble sought him out.

Sometimes, even if you don't want it, countless people will push you into a higher position.

But it was still too early to think about such things...

Two days later, the Ninja Academy opened.

Today was the entrance ceremony for the new students.

Early in the morning, Tsunade took the two of them to the school.

As soon as they arrived, Minato heard someone calling his name.

"Yo! Sashiburi da na! Minato Namikaze!"

Shinnosuke Sarutobi was standing in the line of new students. Upon seeing Minato, he became instantly excited and waved at him, "Over here, over here!"

"Ohayou..."

Minato nodded calmly and turned to walk toward the new student line.

"Hey, don't ignore me, you guy."

Shinnosuke's face twitched as he leaned over to Minato's side and muttered, "I had my old man arrange for us to be in the same class. Next time, I definitely won't lose to you again!"

"Mm, then good luck."

Actually, even if you didn't say it, he probably would have arranged for us to be in the same squad anyway...

Minato smiled politely and waved at Tsunade, who then turned to leave, yawning as she headed home to catch up on sleep.

Shinnosuke seemed to want to say something more, but before he could open his mouth, he was suddenly shoved aside, causing him to stumble.

"Bastard, who—"

Shinnosuke's expression shifted, and just as he was about to flare up, he saw a swarm of girls surrounding Minato.

"Hello, Minato-kun, my name is Kaoru Koyaba, please take care of me from now on!"

A sweet and cute-looking girl with black hair had sent a friend request to Minato.

"Hello, please take care of me too," Minato replied with a polite smile.

"Ah—Minato-kun looks so handsome when he smiles!"

"His fashion sense is great too..."

The girls chattered away as they crowded around Minato, their enthusiasm making the corner of Shinnosuke's mouth twitch uncontrollably.

"Are you kidding me? This guy is way too popular, right?"

Looking at the group of fiery, enthusiastic young girls around him, Minato felt a bit overwhelmed.

Fortunately, there were teachers on-site maintaining order, and seeing the chaos, one immediately stepped forward.

"Quiet down, everyone, return to your class lines!"

"Eh—"

The surrounding girls let out sounds of reluctance, but they still obediently returned to their respective class formations.

"So that's Tsunade-senpai's student?"

The commotion around Minato had attracted quite a bit of attention; in the third-year line, a boy with a pineapple hairstyle swayed as he sized Minato up.

"That's right! Shikaku, let me tell you, Minato is super strong! You'd better not go and provoke him!"

Nawaki warned him with a serious expression; he knew that his good friend had always been a huge admirer of his older sister.

"I'm not that bored..."

The boy named Shikaku patted the back of his head, his tone lazy.

It was true that he admired Tsunade, but it wouldn't be an exaggeration to say that the men in Konoha who liked Tsunade could form a line from the village entrance to the village exit.

Even if someone really wanted to cause trouble, it wouldn't be his turn to do so, and besides, he wasn't an unreasonable person.

Furthermore, for Nawaki to give such a high evaluation of "super strong," it proved that the other party's strength was significantly higher than Nawaki's—not someone he could mess with at all.

Taking into account the guy's popularity among the girls, he was definitely a super troublesome person!

As the young heir of the Nara Clan, Shikaku had always been sharp-witted, and he sorted out his thoughts in an instant.

Just then, Hiruzen Sarutobi arrived at the training ground with a group of teachers and began the speech he was most proud of, the one he delivered every single year—the Will of Fire!