Challenging Minato Namikaze

"Then, let's start training!"

Yuki Yuichi leaped into the clearing first.

The clearing was fairly large and circular.

It was about twenty meters in diameter.

Lush trees surrounded the clearing on both sides.

It was just like an arena.

Watching Yuki Yuichi wield a sword in both hands and hack at flowers that grew as tall as a person, Kakashi Hatake couldn't help twitching the corner of his mouth.

He wondered if he'd made a mistake giving the wooden sword to this guy.

Thinking this, Kakashi Hatake decided to ignore Yuki Yuichi. He took out his own wooden sword and began chopping at a large tree in a methodical manner.

They'd left their Kunai and Shuriken on the ground.

"One day, with a sword in my hand, I'll cut down every flower in the world that reaches my waist!"

Yuki Yuichi muttered as he swung his sword.

What man didn't have a dream like that?

Give a man a stick, and the moment he sees rapeseed flowers nearby...

While Kakashi Hatake trained seriously and Yuki Yuichi seriously chopped flowers, neither of them noticed the blond man crouching above them, watching.

Especially when he saw the way Yuki Yuichi swung his sword, he couldn't help twitching the corner of his mouth.

"Kushina's clansman really does resemble her..."

Minato Namikaze crouched in the tree, his eyes fixed on Yuki Yuichi's head of red hair.

The image of Uzumaki Kushina as a child gradually overlapped with Yuki Yuichi in his mind.

He'd carved out this training ground back when he was a student at the Ninja Academy.

He'd put a lot of effort into making it.

But after becoming a ninja, he'd hardly ever come here.

That had given Kakashi Hatake an opening.

When he'd just heard voices outside, Minato Namikaze had jumped straight into the tree to hide.

Maybe this is what it means to be a ninja.

Hatake Sakumo and Minato Namikaze had both hidden away to watch them in secret.

But seeing Yuki Yuichi acting like this, he couldn't take it anymore.

The flowers the kid was chopping down were ones he and Uzumaki Kushina had planted together.

As Yuki Yuichi swung his sword, Minato Namikaze appeared silently behind him.

"What are you doing?"

"Obviously, I'm... huh?"

Yuki Yuichi had only gotten three words out when he sensed something was wrong. He whipped around and saw a blond-haired, spiky-haired man behind him.

Startled by Minato Namikaze's sudden appearance, Yuki Yuichi jumped.

"Mi... Minato... big bro?!"

"What are you doing here?"

Hearing Yuki Yuichi call him Big Bro Minato, Minato Namikaze froze. Then, as if he'd thought of something, he darkened his expression and pointed at his Jonin vest.

"When you see this vest, you should address me by my rank."

Yuki Yuichi froze, then glanced at Kakashi Hatake, who was walking over after Minato Namikaze's sudden appearance. He answered cautiously, "When you're out and about, you address people by their job titles?"

At that, Minato Namikaze sighed and shook his head helplessly. He glanced at Kakashi Hatake as he approached, then turned back to Yuki Yuichi. "Why are you two here?"

"Obviously, we came here to train," Yuki Yuichi said confidently.

Yuki Yuichi could be so bold, but Kakashi Hatake wasn't. He explained, "I saw this clearing before and thought it was a good place to train, so we came here."

"Was this training ground created by you, Senior Minato?"

As he spoke, Kakashi Hatake looked at Minato Namikaze and apologized. "I'm really sorry. If we're disturbing you, we'll leave right away."

Kakashi Hatake's politeness stood in stark contrast to Yuki Yuichi's boldness.

Minato Namikaze looked at Kakashi Hatake helplessly. "It's not really a disturbance."

"But I did create this place."

Minato Namikaze paused, then continued, "You can train here from now on."

"I don't come here very often anymore, now that I'm a ninja."

Kakashi Hatake nodded and bowed at a perfect ninety degrees, determined to show proper respect. "Then I'm truly grateful."

Watching Kakashi Hatake and Minato Namikaze talk, Yuki Yuichi rubbed his chin. "Um, Big Bro Minato, can I challenge you?"

"Hm?" Minato Namikaze froze again and pointed at himself. "Me?"

"Yeah!" Yuki Yuichi nodded, no longer acting so flippant.

"I want to see how strong I've become."

"If I don't know where I stand, then there's no point in training!"

Yuki Yuichi was serious, and Kakashi Hatake beside him was tempted as well.

Hatake Sakumo usually taught him. He'd never challenged a strong opponent like this before.

Seeing Yuki Yuichi's expression, Minato Namikaze smiled. He looked quite sunny.

"In that case, how about both of you come at me together?"

He'd naturally noticed that Kakashi Hatake was interested, too. Rather than favoring one over the other, he invited them both to attack.

"Sure!" x2

Yuki Yuichi and Kakashi Hatake agreed at the same time.

Minato Namikaze was already an elite Jonin.

Even if they lost, they were sure to gain something from challenging such a powerful opponent.

The three of them took their positions. Yuki Yuichi and Kakashi Hatake exchanged a glance and nodded.

"I'll take the lead. You support me."

"Okay," Kakashi Hatake nodded.

He wanted to take the lead, too, but he wasn't as good as Yuki Yuichi.

After their sparring match at school yesterday, he'd gone over it again. That guy Yuki Yuichi was better than him in recovery, toughness, strength, and speed.

As for ninjutsu, Yuki Yuichi knew genjutsu and Taijutsu, while he knew Fire Release and swordsmanship.

And even before they'd started fighting, he knew that his meager swordsmanship and ninjutsu wouldn't be enough against a ninja like Minato Namikaze.

Yuki Yuichi wasn't much better off, but his Taijutsu and physical strength gave him an advantage.

The three of them formed the Seal of Confrontation.

Minato Namikaze didn't move. Yuki Yuichi charged forward first.

Kakashi Hatake followed behind him with his wooden sword.

A flash of approval crossed Minato Namikaze's eyes.

Use himself to draw me in, then have the other one attack?

He'd noticed Yuki Yuichi's little maneuver, including what he'd discussed with Kakashi Hatake.

"Are you underestimating me a little?" Minato Namikaze said. He dodged Yuki Yuichi's punch, grabbed his arm from the side, twisted it behind his back, and kicked him in the stomach.

Yuki Yuichi went flying.

But his body was still quite sturdy. Though Minato Namikaze had kicked him away, he adjusted his posture in midair and landed with a backflip, staggering back a few steps.

Another flash of approval crossed Minato Namikaze's eyes.

At that age, I wasn't as good as this kid.

Just then, Kakashi Hatake swung his sword. Though it was only a wooden sword, it still cut through the air with a whoosh as Kakashi Hatake brought it down.