This Seat Truly Lost, You Wouldn't Be Happy

"Oh? That kid's punch is fast!"

Among the onlookers, Tsunade's eyes lit up.

To be honest, she didn't really favor Minato.

Although his talent appeared higher than Shinnosuke's, Shinnosuke was, after all, the son of the Hokage and had been personally trained by Hiruzen Sarutobi since childhood.

By comparison, Minato clearly lacked any real combat experience.

This was evident both in the previous assessments and in the way he had just thrown that punch.

Yet, this child with zero combat experience had just landed a punch on Shinnosuke, who had been trained by the Hokage...

Shinnosuke was also a bit stunned by the blow.

However, he quickly adjusted his state, assuming he had simply been too careless.

Gently patting his cheeks, he became much more cautious this time, eyes locked on Minato's every move, before swiftly circling behind him.

"Sigh..."

Seeing this, Hiruzen Sarutobi couldn't help but slap his forehead, his face full of helplessness.

He had always felt that Shinnosuke was too honest and lacked combat talent, so when teaching him, he often reminded him to pay more attention to the application of tactics.

Looking at Shinnosuke now, he had clearly listened, but it was obvious that he still didn't understand the true meaning of tactics.

If you can't understand it, you naturally can't apply it correctly.

"Circling... He's moving behind that boy to attack, trying to force an opening?"

Orochimaru's eyes looked as if he had seen some rare creature: "Hmm, circling behind someone who is faster than you..."

"Hey, hey, give the old man some face..."

Jiraiya's mouth twitched, and he nudged Orochimaru with his elbow.

Orochimaru didn't speak again, but Tsunade, standing to the side, burst into laughter.

The ninjas in the crowd also shook their heads secretly; it was clear that this move of Shinnosuke's was as foolish as it could get.

Sure enough, just as everyone expected, Minato simply turned around, and Shinnosuke's tactic was declared a failure.

Watching Minato, who remained facing him the entire time, Shinnosuke didn't know where things had gone wrong.

The script wasn't supposed to go like this!

My old man and the others can always easily get behind me!

And they always finish with a stylish sweep kick...

Why isn't it working for me?

Looking at Minato's calm face, Shinnosuke felt the pressure.

Gritting his teeth, he stopped worrying about tactics and charged straight at Minato!

"Phew, that's more like it..."

Jiraiya let out a sigh of relief; no matter how green Shinnosuke was, he had still learned the basics of real combat.

In contrast, while Minato was fast, his combat experience was surely inferior. For Shinnosuke, who had systematically studied taijutsu, even if he took a few hits in a head-on clash, his chances of winning were very high.

Just as he was thinking this, there was another crisp snap.

Shinnosuke clutched his other eye and stumbled backward, while not far in front of him, Minato remained in his punching stance.

"This! Is! Impossible!"

Compared to the last time he was hit, Shinnosuke recovered quickly this time, gritting his teeth as he charged at Minato again.

He swore that even if the opponent threw a Great Fireball at him this time, he would not retreat a single step!

Carrying a burning resolve, Shinnosuke felt the blood surging in his body, as if an infinite power were erupting from within him!

"Haaaaa!"

He threw a passionate punch heavily toward Minato's face. Seeing his fist almost touching Minato's skin, Shinnosuke felt as if he could already see the dawn of victory.

He saw his own victory, saw the approval from his father, and then saw Minato disappear from before him at a speed he couldn't comprehend.

Catching a glimpse of the fist coming from his side and feeling the power behind it, Shinnosuke's head tilted, but a flash of ruthlessness crossed his eyes. He used the momentum to turn and throw a punch, but unexpectedly, he hit nothing but air.

The moment he tried to turn, Minato had already deduced his intent based on his body rotation.

Then, like a nimble leopard, he vaulted over his head and appeared behind him just as he finished turning.

Oh no!

The moment his punch missed, Shinnosuke dove forward without a second thought.

Sure enough, just as he dove away, Minato's fist swung through empty air.

"Phew... that was close!"

Scrambling to his feet, Shinnosuke finally let out a sigh of relief.

"Oh, that's impressive! That yellow-haired kid..."

"Such adaptability—many upperclassmen don't even possess it."

The parents watching from the sidelines were whispering among themselves. Hearing the praise directed at Minato, Shinnosuke felt the pressure mount even further.

Charging in once more and being dodged again, Shinnosuke completely ignored Minato's counterattacks, intent only on closing the distance to force a grapple and deny Minato the room to utilize his speed.

However... his face, his abdomen, his limbs—aside from the lethal spots, he had been struck all over by Minato, yet he still couldn't even brush the hem of Minato's clothes.

At this moment, he finally understood what his old man meant when he said there was always someone better...

"Um... that's about enough, right?"

Looking at Shinnosuke, whose face had swollen into a pig's head, Minato awkwardly scratched the back of his head.

The gap in their mental age and innate talent was significant, which made him feel like he was just bullying a small child.

"Mada mada!"

Shinnosuke roared toward the sky: "I will absolutely not admit defeat! I am the man who is going to become Hokage! Ahhh—"

"Oh! Not bad, kid, keep it up!"

"Haha, that's right, keep going! Now that's what a ninja looks like!"

Perhaps moved by Shinnosuke's persistence in getting back up time and time again despite being knocked down, the onlookers began to cheer him on, and the atmosphere suddenly turned heated.

"Hmph... good spirit, but it's useless."

Tsunade crossed her arms, her chest heaving slightly: "Looks like I won this time."

Though she said that, there wasn't a hint of joy on her face; instead, she looked rather solemn.

Beside her, Hiruzen Sarutobi and Orochimaru were also somewhat silent. They knew of Tsunade's gambling luck—she lost every single bet, her luck being abysmal.

It wasn't that she had never won, but every time she did, something terrible would happen around her.

The first time she won a bet in her life, her grandfather Hashirama Senju died; later, when she won again, her granduncle Tobirama Senju died.

While it didn't necessarily mean someone died every time, something bad always occurred, and the severity of the event depended on how much she won.

"Hey, don't worry, it's just a meal of grilled meat..."

Before Jiraiya could finish his comforting words, he saw Minato suddenly raise a hand in the arena.

"I forfeit!"

"The winner is Shinnosuke Sarutobi!"

"Nani?"

Shinnosuke, who had been charging toward Minato with his blood boiling, stumbled and fell flat on his face upon hearing this.

"Huh—?"

Tsunade also widened her beautiful amber eyes, her mouth agape, staring at Minato in disbelief.

After the realization hit, her pretty face darkened, and she subconsciously rolled up her sleeves: "What kind of joke is this? Are you kidding me? This brat..."

"Calm down, calm down..."

Jiraiya hurriedly tried to hold Tsunade back, only to have her slam a palm onto his head, nearly flipping his skull cap off.

Orochimaru chuckled: "See? You're unhappy even when you actually win."

Tsunade became even angrier, but since Orochimaru had already shielded himself behind Hiruzen Sarutobi, she could only vent her frustration by beating up Jiraiya.

Hiruzen Sarutobi shook his head and smiled; he hadn't expected such a turn of events either.

Tsunade was furious, but someone was even angrier than her, and that was Shinnosuke Sarutobi.

"Hold on a minute!"

Shinnosuke scrambled to his feet and pointed at Minato: "Why did you forfeit? You guy, I was clearly about to beat you!"

Minato nodded: "Isn't that perfect? It was just a friendly spar..."

"That's not it at all!"

Hearing this, Shinnosuke's face turned beet red: "By doing that... doesn't it make it look like I was just pestering you?"

Wasn't that exactly what it was?

Minato was momentarily speechless. A youth's pride was the most precious thing, and given his personality, he couldn't bring himself to say anything harsh.

Shinnosuke clearly sensed this, his face flushing even deeper, though it was mostly out of unwillingness: "Does the victory in this battle mean nothing to you?"

"Hmm... I suppose it doesn't. I'm not like you; I don't have anything I need to prove."

Minato smiled apologetically. It was just a taijutsu spar; he hadn't taken it to heart at all.

He had only accepted the challenge to test his own taijutsu level.

There was no point in continuing a fight that amounted to bullying a child.

Besides, the opponent was the Third Hokage's son; if he lost too miserably, it wouldn't look good for the Third.

The Third's performance in the original story was hard to judge, and Minato couldn't say for sure what kind of person he really was.

Therefore, even though the power of the Glint-Glint Fruit gave him the confidence to protect himself, he wouldn't be bored enough to go out of his way to offend the other party.

"I haven't studied taijutsu, so I only know how to throw punches wildly. I don't have any one-hit-kill techniques, so if we keep fighting, I'll definitely lose."

That kind of excuse had absolutely no persuasive power!

If wild punches could beat me into this state, then what does that make me?

Hearing those words, Shinnosuke let out a silent roar in his heart.

All that talk of passion, willpower, and resolve—it was all just an illusion!

The honor he cherished, the title of top student he was determined to win, the other party didn't care about at all and just gave it up so casually.

Doesn't that just make me look like a clown?!

"Damn it!!!"

Watching Minato's retreating back, Shinnosuke shouted, "Next time, I will definitely defeat you!"

"Ah, good luck!"

Minato waved his hand over his shoulder without stopping his pace.

His assessment was already over, and since he was the only one at home now, he had to take care of his own food and clothing.

Although his father had saved up quite a bit of money from trading over the years, enough to support him until he graduated from the Ninja Academy, cooking and doing chores every day still took up quite a bit of time.

As he left the school, Minato was just pondering what to make for dinner when his body suddenly felt light; a hand grabbed the back of his collar, lifting his feet off the ground.

"Yo... kid!"

Tsunade held Minato with one hand while resting the other on her hip, her beautiful face wearing a somewhat gloomy expression: "Minato Namikaze... right?"

"Senior Tsunade?"

Minato nodded, a hint of confusion appearing on his cute, young face: "Do you need something?"

Tsk...

Why does a boy have to grow up looking so cute?

Looking at the sunny little boy in front of her, Tsunade's expression softened slightly, and she pursed her lips. The annoyance she felt from thinking she had been played by Minato's surrender dissipated by more than half.

She had originally intended to scare the brat, but his appearance was top-tier—so top-tier that before she could even take action, an uncontrollable sense of guilt welled up in her heart.

However, guilt aside, who in Konoha didn't know that she, Tsunade, had never really had much of a moral compass?

Scaring little kids was something she loved most!