Earth Under Seat

Nawaki arrived home after school, and Minato began grilling skewers.

The siblings, Tsunade and Nawaki, ate until their mouths were slick with grease.

Watching the two devour the food, Minato suspected that if the skewers were made of iron, they might even spark from the friction.

Sure enough, eating skewers brings happiness!

Seeing them both burp with the lingering scent of lamb, Minato gently pressed his palms together, and a round, plump watermelon suddenly sprouted from the ground before him!

"Come, have some watermelon to cut the grease."

"Whoa—! Minato, you're the best!"

Seeing this, Nawaki let out an excited shout.

Watermelons were expensive in the ninja world; he understood the value of this feat of Minato's all too well!

A few minutes later, the three sat side-by-side on the veranda eating watermelon, the afterglow of the setting sun casting a warm golden rim around them.

In the days that followed, Minato's life fell into a state of total tranquility.

He woke up early every morning to cook, then headed to the Ninja Academy after eating.

After school, he would return home to cook, and once finished, he would practice in the courtyard.

After training, he would bathe and go to sleep.

In the blink of an eye, two months slipped quietly by.

This day-to-day routine did not make Minato feel bored.

On the contrary, he quite enjoyed these kinds of days.

A Zen-like lifestyle allowed his mind to settle and his thoughts to become clearer, which in turn accelerated the progress of his chakra nature transformation training.

In the original story, Naruto utilized the experience-stacking property of Shadow Clones, creating thousands of them to master wind nature transformation in just a few days.

Minato did not have the Multi-Shadow Clone Technique, nor did he intend to push himself as hard as Naruto; after all, the fatigue from Shadow Clones also stacked.

Naruto had the Nine-Tails' chakra to sustain him, so the worst he would suffer was passing out from exhaustion.

If Minato dared to try that, even the Power of All Creation couldn't save him.

Furthermore, Naruto had a one-track mind, whereas with Minato's active modern-day intellect, schizophrenia would be the least of his worries.

To be safe, Minato only created ten Shadow Clones each day, dispelling them after school to absorb their experience.

Then, he would create another ten to continue training until bedtime, using the accumulated fatigue to help him fall asleep quickly.

Just like that, Minato spent a month and a half fully mastering water nature transformation, capable of whipping up waves in a calm pond in an instant!

And in the half-month that followed, he successfully gained an entry-level grasp of earth nature transformation as well.

Although it couldn't compare to Naruto's speed, for an ordinary person, this pace was no different from cheating.

It could be said that Minato had now reached the level of a Jonin in terms of ninjutsu!

This terrifying training speed was also observed by Tsunade, who was secretly shocked.

By now, she had completely given up on comparing herself to him.

Minato's training speed was simply not something a human could achieve.

She hadn't failed to think of the Shadow Clone training method.

After all, this ninjutsu was invented for intelligence gathering, and everyone understood the principle of stacking experience, but not everyone could actually pull it off.

She could handle the fatigue of ten Shadow Clones.

But to do what Minato did—ten clones a day, with a mid-day dispel—she couldn't do that even if her life depended on it.

That level of fatigue couldn't be recovered from in a single night, let alone sustained daily.

She wasn't surprised that Minato could do it.

From the vitality Minato displayed, Tsunade was certain that he had not only awakened Wood Release but also possessed the same terrifying life force as her grandfather—the kind where the cells remained alive even after the person had died!

"Tell me, Minato, what exactly are your clones practicing?"

On another weekend, Nawaki watched the clones playing with mud in the courtyard and finally couldn't help but ask.

Because the number of clones was small, they usually trained in the yard; Nawaki had been a bit wary of Minato's training at first, but over time, he had become accustomed to it.

"They are practicing earth-style chakra nature transformation."

Minato explained, "Simply put, it's about using chakra nature transformation to enhance the power of corresponding elemental ninjutsu."

"By playing with mud?"

"Strictly speaking, it's about changing the composition and hardness of the soil!"

Minato explained, "Once I can instantly turn that mud into rock, or rock into mud, the training will be a success."

"That sounds so cool..."

Nawaki flopped onto the tatami mat, looking like a dead fish: "This shouldn't be the kind of thing a Ninja Academy student is supposed to be training, right?"

"Hmm... it's a mandatory requirement for Jonin."

Minato nodded hesitantly; Nawaki would have to find out sooner or later anyway.

Nawaki looked even more dejected at once: "Jonin, huh... You guy, you've reached a level of genius I can't even fathom. Even though I've known it for a long time, it's hard not to feel a sense of disparity."

Minato smiled: "I won't fight you for the position of Hokage."

"So what if you don't?"

Nawaki lay on his side, propping his head up with one hand while the other gestured dismissively: "With a genius like you as a comparison, who would ever choose me to be Hokage?"

"Don't sell yourself short..."

Minato smiled awkwardly, at a loss for how to encourage him.

After thinking it over, he carefully asked: "Nawaki, why is it that you must become Hokage?"

"Of course, it's to inherit Grandfather's will!"

At the mention of this, Nawaki immediately perked up. He sat bolt upright, his eyes shining with longing.

"I am the grandson of the First Hokage who founded Konoha! Konoha is my grandfather's most precious treasure, so of course, I must protect it for him!"

"Is that so..."

Minato smiled gently: "In that case, how about I teach you a powerful ninjutsu?"

"Ninjutsu?"

A glimmer of light flashed in Nawaki's eyes, only to dim in an instant: "Forget it. My grandfather was the First Hokage; how could I be lacking in ninjutsu? Besides, you're two years younger than me. Having you teach me... it's just too embarrassing."

Minato sighed with regret: "That's a real shame, especially for a hand-seal-less A-rank ninjutsu."

Thump!

With a dull sound, Nawaki threw himself heavily onto the floor in front of Minato, performing a textbook dogeza, his forehead pressed firmly against the tatami mat.

"I am terribly sorry for being so ungrateful! Please, Lord Minato, teach me!"

"Hahaha, don't be like that..."

Minato was caught between laughter and tears, hurriedly pulling Nawaki up.

"So... what kind of ninjutsu is it?"

Nawaki looked at Minato with eager eyes.

A-rank ninjutsu were not rare.

Ninjutsu without hand seals were not rare either.

But an A-rank ninjutsu without hand seals was extremely rare; he hadn't even heard of such a thing.

"It's a ninjutsu I created myself."

Nawaki's mouth twitched: "Created... yourself? You created an A-rank ninjutsu without hand seals at five years old?"

"It is a bit exaggerated, which is why I haven't even told Tsunade-sensei."

Minato smiled sheepishly: "With the chakra reserves of the Senju Clan, this technique is actually quite suitable for you. Consider it my support for your dream of becoming Hokage! You can practice it in secret and give Tsunade-sensei a surprise when the time comes!"

"Mmm..."

Hearing this, Nawaki was moved to tears: "Minato, you guy—"

Click...

"I'm home!"

The sound of the door opening echoed, and Tsunade's voice drifted in from the entryway.

"Sensei is back. I'll teach you tomorrow!"

"Eh? Don't... don't go!"