What a Fast Punch

Minato had inherited abilities from the figurines.

He couldn't help feeling a little regretful. If he'd known this would happen, he should have put a Kakarot or a Superman figurine in the box.

Still, he couldn't help feeling somewhat relieved.

After all, you became whoever you cosplayed as. He was lucky he hadn't cosplayed as Ken Kaneki or Eren Yeager...

If he hadn't awakened his memories of his past life, he would most likely have followed the events of the original Naruto story and been taken out at lightning speed before the story even began, leaving behind the title of Yondaime and an unfortunate son bullied by the entire village.

But fortunately, he had a cheat!

Kizaru's figurine had given him the Devil Fruit abilities from the neighboring One Piece world.

There was no need to explain the Glint-Glint Fruit's abilities. Its user could become light itself, and its passive elementalization let him ignore most attacks in the world.

In a Shinobi World without Haki or Seastone, he couldn't claim to be invincible, but he could certainly protect himself.

Hashirama Senju's figurine had awakened Wood Release in Minato, while Madara Uchiha's figurine had awakened his Sharingan.

After half a year of training to control his abilities, Minato could say with certainty that the two figurines had given him more than just their owners' powers. They had also brought deeper changes.

For instance, his chakra had been growing rapidly every day for the past six months, and the power in his eyes had steadily increased.

Or, when he suppressed the Glint-Glint Fruit's passive elementalization and cut his hand with a blade, the wound healed in the blink of an eye.

And then there was how his eyes had evolved straight to the Mangekyo Sharingan as soon as they opened. Even Indra, the Sage of Six Paths' own son, hadn't had such an outrageous awakening. Aside from the Power of All Creation, Minato couldn't think of any other explanation.

All these signs suggested that he had most likely inherited Asura and Indra's chakra through their figurines.

(The original work actually had no concept of Sage Body or Sage Eyes. A detailed explanation will be given in a later part of the story.)

Although he couldn't perform even a single Wood Release technique yet, and his Mangekyo Sharingan risked making him go blind...

Having both these powers meant he already held a ticket to the top.

Even before he grew stronger, the Glint-Glint Fruit could keep him safe.

Influenced by the values he'd held in his previous life, Minato was now similar in personality to his original counterpart, but their core values were completely different. At the very least, he would never take the same path as the original.

He turned his gaze away from Naoto Tsuchiya, his desire to grow stronger becoming all the more urgent.

The new students had to take four entrance exams: chakra extraction, Shurikenjutsu, a physical coordination test, and a Taijutsu sparring match.

The exams weren't mainly about assigning scores. Most civilian students couldn't even extract chakra, after all. The main goal was to observe the students' talents, though good scores were certainly welcome.

The physical coordination test was an obstacle course, which was naturally no challenge for Minato.

Rolling, leaping, and sprinting, he completed the test with ease, moving like a Yellow Flash.

"That boy's physical coordination is excellent too..."

Nearby, Hiruzen Sarutobi, who had already been keeping an eye on Minato, let his eyes brighten slightly.

"Heh heh heh. He's fast too, both in how quickly he runs and how quickly he reacts."

Orochimaru gave a dry chuckle. "He doesn't look like he's ever trained. Pure talent alone was enough to break the record Shinnosuke just set. Seeing someone easily outclass his son, I wonder if Teacher Sarutobi feels a pang of disappointment?"

"Hahaha! Then I hope that disappointment keeps coming."

Hiruzen couldn't help laughing. As his father, he knew all too well that Shinnosuke Sarutobi was of average talent.

The world was never short of geniuses. As Hokage, he understood that just as well.

Konoha hadn't seen a genius capable of outshining an entire generation in a long time.

More than ten years had passed since the First Shinobi World War, and the situation in the Shinobi World was growing increasingly volatile.

If every ten years counted as a generation, then after his three students, the village had begun to show signs of a talent gap.

The Hyuga Clan brothers, Hiashi and Hizashi, had good talent, but their clan was too rigid. They couldn't break out of the Gentle Fist system, which severely limited their potential.

Fugaku Uchiha was good, but hardly exceptional, and he was also too old. Strictly speaking, he belonged to Jiraiya and the others' generation.

Tsunade's younger brother, Nawaki... He was full of energy, but his talent was also average.

In the eyes of ordinary people, these might be called geniuses. But the battle at the Valley of the End had taken place only about twenty years ago.

Leaving aside how he'd earned the title of the strongest Hokage decades later, Hiruzen Sarutobi at this point in time still understood what it meant to stand in awe.

Remembering the battle between those two, Hiruzen couldn't help feeling a little regret as he looked at Minato.

He was delighted that the village had produced a civilian-born genius, but he couldn't help wishing Minato were more than that.

"Hey, you're Minato Namikaze, right?"

Minato was warming up for the final exam, the Taijutsu match, when Shinnosuke Sarutobi suddenly came over.

"I watched your tests. You seem pretty strong. How about a match?"

He folded his arms and lifted his chin slightly. His tone was somewhat arrogant, but he wasn't being overbearing. He didn't seem to be looking for trouble.

Minato was a little surprised. He didn't know much about Shinnosuke Sarutobi.

He only knew that Shinnosuke was Hiruzen Sarutobi's eldest son and had once served as Hiruzen's Anbu Captain. Like Minato, he'd moved to the Pure Land with his wife before the story began.

"Me? Sure, I can..."

"I'll go ask the teacher."

Before Minato could finish, Shinnosuke hurried off to find the teacher.

The two students with the best entrance exam scores were going to face off in a Taijutsu match, and the announcement immediately drew plenty of interest.

The crowd began to chatter. Hiruzen and the others naturally saw what was happening.

"Oh, not bad. I thought this kid would just get carried away by all the praise."

Seeing Shinnosuke ask the teacher for permission to spar with Minato, Tsunade finally perked up, having been bored until then.

"Mm..."

Hiruzen puffed on his pipe, a faint smile on his lips. "Let him see the difference for himself. Shinnosuke has never been beaten at anything since he was a child. That's not a good thing for a ninja."

"True, but didn't the boy say he has no experience with Taijutsu matches? Shinnosuke was trained by you, old man, and he's worked hard too..."

Jiraiya rubbed his chin, unconvinced by Hiruzen's words. He'd always believed that hard work could make up for a gap in talent.

"If hard work were enough, there wouldn't be any geniuses in the world."

Tsunade scoffed. "Want to make a bet?"

"Hm?"

Jiraiya's eyes shifted, and a lecherous grin spread across his face. "I wasn't sure at first, but since you've put it that way, it'd be rude of me not to take the bet."

"To be honest, I was thinking the same thing..."

Orochimaru wore a faint smile. He thought highly of Minato too, but if Tsunade was betting on Minato, he'd have to think it over carefully. Tsunade's luck with gambling was downright uncanny.

"You two..."

Tsunade's brow twitched, and a vein bulged on her forehead. She turned to Hiruzen. "What about you, old man?"

Hiruzen's mouth twitched. "Well... I still have to favor Shinnosuke. I'm his father, after all. If he found out otherwise, wouldn't he be heartbroken?"

"Fine, fine, fine..."

Tsunade laughed in exasperation.

People tended to be especially sensitive about the things they lacked.

If someone said she wasn't strong or that her ninjutsu was bad, she might just laugh it off.

But if someone said she had no luck at gambling, that would definitely get under her skin...

"Then I'll bet on that blond kid! The loser buys everyone barbecue!"

Hiruzen, Jiraiya, and Orochimaru replied, "It's a deal!"

With a Hokage for a father, the teacher in charge of the Taijutsu exam agreed to Shinnosuke's challenge without a second thought.

When the two formed the Confrontation Seal, a crowd quickly gathered to watch. Noticing Hiruzen's figure near the front, Shinnosuke took a deep breath and fixed his bright gaze on Minato.

"Sorry for interfering with your entrance exam without asking."

"It's fine. I'd have to fight someone either way, though I don't really understand why you're so set on fighting me."

Minato's gentle, courteous manner sent the girls in the crowd swooning and squealing.

"Obviously, I want to be the top student!"

Shinnosuke answered as if it were only natural. "You and I got the best scores among the new students. If I beat you, I'll be the top student of this class, and I'll keep that title for the next few years!"

Minato tilted his head slightly. "Is that important to you?"

"Uh, not really. Dad's always telling me there's always someone better, so I want to prove to him that I, Shinnosuke Sarutobi, am no worse than anyone! And one day, I'll surpass him and become an even better Hokage!"

Minato nodded. At least Shinnosuke wasn't picking a fight out of malice. As for his reasons, Minato didn't care.

"I'm ready."

"Then begin!"

The teacher acting as referee swung his arm. Shinnosuke charged at Minato and punched toward his face.

He wasn't very fast, and his punches didn't look very powerful.

Shinnosuke had no real combat experience, but for some reason, his movements looked full of openings to Minato.

Minato tilted his head, dodging Shinnosuke's punch, then half-clenched his fist and thrust it straight out!

Smack!

Shinnosuke grunted, clutched his eye, and stumbled back two steps. He stared at Minato in confusion and disbelief.

What a fast punch!