A Swift Fist

Minato inherited the abilities of the figures from his figurines.

This left him with a bit of regret; had he known it would turn out this way, he would have stuffed a Kakarot or a Superman into that box back then.

Yet, upon reflection, he couldn't help but feel a sense of fortune.

After all, one becomes whoever they cosplay, and he was lucky he hadn't cosplayed the likes of Ken Kaneki or Eren Yeager.

If he hadn't awakened the memories of his past life, he likely would have followed the trajectory of the original Naruto plot: exiting the stage at lightning speed before the story even began, leaving behind the title of "Yellow Flash" and a miserable son bullied by the entire village.

But fortunately, he had a cheat!

The Kizaru figurine granted him the Devil Fruit ability from the neighboring One Piece universe.

There is no need to elaborate on the power of the Glint-Glint Fruit; the user can transform into photons, and the passive elementalization allows one to ignore the vast majority of attacks in this world.

In this ninja world, which lacks Haki and Seastone, he wouldn't dare claim to be invincible, but at the very least, self-preservation was absolutely guaranteed.

The Hashirama Senju figurine allowed Minato to awaken Wood Release, while the Madara Uchiha figurine enabled him to unlock the Sharingan.

After half a year of training to master his abilities, Minato was certain that these figurines had granted him more than just the powers those two possessed; they had also triggered deeper, more profound changes.

For instance, his chakra reserves had been growing rapidly every single day for the past six months, and the ocular power of his eyes was strengthening daily.

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

And then there was the fact that he had evolved to the Mangekyō Sharingan the moment he opened his eyes. One must realize that even Indra, the biological son of the Sage of Six Paths, hadn't been that exaggerated. Aside from the power of the Ten Thousand Things, he truly couldn't think of any other reason.

All these signs indicated that he had likely inherited the chakra of Asura and Indra through the two figurines.

(The original work doesn't actually have the concept of Sage Body and Sage Eyes; detailed explanations will be provided in subsequent chapters.)

Although he couldn't perform a single Wood Release jutsu yet, and the Mangekyō still carried the risk of blindness...

Possessing the power of both simultaneously meant he already held the ticket to becoming the strongest.

Even before he fully matured, he had the abilities of the Glint-Glint Fruit to safeguard his path.

Influenced by the values of his past life, the current Minato was similar in personality to the one in the original story, but his core was entirely different. At the very least, he would never walk the same old path as the original!

Withdrawing his gaze from Naoto Tsuchiya, Minato's desire to grow stronger became even more urgent.

The freshman entrance exam consisted of four items: chakra refinement, shurikenjutsu, physical coordination testing, and taijutsu combat.

The primary purpose of the assessment wasn't grading—after all, most civilian students couldn't even refine chakra—but rather to observe the aptitude displayed by the students. Of course, good grades were naturally preferred.

The physical coordination test was an obstacle course, which was effortless for Minato.

Whether rolling, leaping, or sprinting, he moved like a flash of yellow, completing the assessment with ease.

"That child, his physical coordination is also outstanding..."

Not far away, Hiruzen Sarutobi, who had been keeping an eye on Minato, felt his gaze brighten slightly.

"Heh heh heh, his speed is also quite fast, both in running and reaction," Orochimaru chuckled, his voice raspy. "No signs of prior training, yet he broke the record Shinnosuke just set based purely on talent. I wonder, Teacher Hiruzen, do you feel a sense of disparity seeing your own son so easily surpassed?"

"Hahaha, then I truly hope there are more such disparities."

Hiruzen Sarutobi couldn't help but laugh. He knew better than anyone that Shinnosuke Sarutobi's talent was merely average.

The world was never short of geniuses, a fact Hiruzen, as the Hokage, was also keenly aware of.

It had been a long time since Konoha had seen a genius capable of outshining an entire generation.

Now that over a decade had passed since the First Shinobi World War, the situation in the ninja world was becoming increasingly turbulent.

Looking at it in ten-year generations, since his three disciples, the village had shown faint signs of a gap in talent.

Among the new generation of children, the Hyuga brothers, Hiashi and Hizashi, had decent talent, but the clan was too rigid, unable to break out of the Gentle Fist system, which severely limited their potential.

Fugaku Uchiha was good, but not exactly stunning, and he was a bit too old; strictly speaking, he belonged to the same generation as Jiraiya and the others.

Tsunade's younger brother, Nawaki... although full of vitality, his talent was also mediocre.

In the eyes of ordinary people, these individuals might be called geniuses, but if one really counted, it had only been about twenty years since the great battle at the Valley of the End.

Not to mention how he earned the title of the "Strongest Hokage" decades later, at the very least, Hiruzen Sarutobi at this period still understood the meaning of awe.

Recalling the battle between those two, Hiruzen's gaze toward Minato couldn't help but carry a hint of regret.

He was gratified that a civilian genius had appeared in the village, but he couldn't help but lament that the boy was only a civilian genius.

"Hey, your name is Minato Namikaze, right?"

During the final taijutsu assessment, as Minato was warming up, Shinnosuke Sarutobi suddenly walked up to his side.

"I watched your assessment. You seem very strong. How about we have a spar?"

He crossed his arms and tilted his chin slightly. Although his tone was somewhat arrogant, it wasn't overbearing, and he didn't seem to be looking for trouble.

Minato was a bit surprised; he didn't know much about Shinnosuke Sarutobi.

He only knew he was Hiruzen Sarutobi's eldest son, had served as the captain of Hiruzen's Anbu, and like him, had moved to the Pure Land with his wife before the plot began.

"Me? I suppose I can..."

"Then I'll go talk to the teacher."

Without waiting for Minato to finish, Shinnosuke Sarutobi hurried off to find their instructor.

The news that the two top-scoring freshmen would engage in a taijutsu spar immediately piqued the interest of many.

The surrounding crowd began to buzz with discussion, a scene naturally observed by Hiruzen Sarutobi and his companions.

"Oh? Not bad. I thought this kid would just be floating on cloud nine from everyone else's flattery."

Seeing Shinnosuke Sarutobi request a taijutsu spar with Minato, Tsunade, who had been rather impatient until now, finally grew interested.

"Hmm..."

Hiruzen Sarutobi puffed on his pipe, a faint smile playing on his lips. "It's good to let him see it. The disparity in so-called talent—Shinnosuke has never really suffered any setbacks since he was young, and that's not a good thing for a ninja."

"That may be true, but didn't the kid say it himself? He has no experience in taijutsu combat. Shinnosuke, at the very least, has been taught by you, Old Man. He's trained hard, too..."

Jiraiya rubbed his chin, not entirely agreeing with Hiruzen. He had always believed that gaps in talent could be bridged through hard work.

"If hard work were all it took, there wouldn't be any geniuses in this world."

Tsunade gave a light scoff. "Want to make a bet?"

"Hmm?"

Jiraiya's eyes darted around, a lecherous grin spreading across his face. "I was a bit unsure at first, but since you've put it that way, wouldn't it be impolite of me not to join in?"

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

Orochimaru wore a faint smile. He also favored Minato, but since Tsunade was betting on Minato to win, he had to reconsider; after all, Tsunade's luck at gambling was truly cursed.

"You two..."

Tsunade's brow twitched, a vein bulging on her forehead as she turned to Hiruzen. "What about you, Old Man?"

Hiruzen Sarutobi's mouth twitched. "Well... I'm certainly rooting for Shinnosuke. After all, as his father, wouldn't he be heartbroken if he found out I didn't?"

"Fine, fine, fine..."

Tsunade was so angry she started to laugh.

As the saying goes, people are most sensitive about what they lack.

If someone said her strength was lacking or her ninjutsu was subpar, she might just laugh it off.

But if someone said her gambling luck was bad, she was genuinely triggered.

"Then I'm betting on the little blondie! The loser buys a round of barbecue!"

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

With the added weight of having a Hokage for a father, the teacher in charge of the taijutsu assessment agreed to Shinnosuke's request to challenge Minato without a second thought.

As the two performed the Seal of Confrontation, the crowd gathered around to watch. Noticing Hiruzen Sarutobi at the front of the pack, Shinnosuke took a deep breath and stared intensely at Minato.

"Sorry for interfering with your entrance exam."

"It's fine. I have to fight someone regardless. Though, I don't really understand why you're so set on sparring with me."

Minato's tone was gentle, his humble and polite demeanor causing the hearts of the watching girls to flutter as they let out a series of squeals.

"Obviously, it's for the position of top student!"

Shinnosuke Sarutobi stated as if it were only natural. "You and I have the best scores among the freshmen. If I beat you, I'll be the top student of this year, and I'll maintain that title for years to come!"

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

"Uh, I guess. My old man is always telling me there's always someone better, but I want to prove to him that I, Shinnosuke Sarutobi, am not inferior to anyone! And one day, I'll surpass him and become an even greater Hokage!"

Minato nodded. As long as he wasn't looking for trouble, he didn't care about the reasons.

"I'm ready."

"Then, the match begins!"

The referee teacher waved his arm, and Shinnosuke Sarutobi lunged at Minato, throwing a punch toward his face.

The speed wasn't very fast, and the power didn't look particularly strong either.

Despite having no real combat experience, for some reason, Shinnosuke's movements looked full of openings to Minato.

Tilting his head slightly to dodge the punch, Minato held his fist loosely and thrust it straight out!

Smack!

With a crisp sound, Shinnosuke let out a muffled grunt, clutching his eye socket as he stumbled back two steps, looking at Minato with eyes full of confusion and disbelief.

That punch was so fast!