The Entrusted Scroll!

"Minato Namikaze?"

Mito Uzumaki lowered her head slightly, lost in thought. This name definitely did not belong to any ninja clan. Although she had suspected as much when she first sensed his chakra, having it confirmed now still left her feeling somewhat incredulous.

The blonde boy before her likely possessed strength not inferior to a jonin; in fact, an average jonin might not even be a match for this child.

"Grandma Mito, he is my classmate. He just passed the exam to become a genin, he is someone we can trust."

At this moment, Kushina Uzumaki spoke up. Not knowing why Mito was inquiring about Minato, she assumed he was being viewed with suspicion and immediately stepped in to defend him.

"A genin?" Mito Uzumaki raised her eyes and scrutinized Minato once more, a faint smile appearing in her heart.

"With this level of strength, if he were to go out on missions, he would surely make a name for himself very soon!"

"To reach the heights of a jonin at twelve years old—what terrifying talent."

While Mito was still marveling at Minato's strength, Kuming had long since lost interest and was watching Mito, hoping to go home and sleep soon. He was not at all surprised by Minato's prowess; after all, Minato was the first in Konoha's history to rise from a commoner to become Hokage.

Looking at the seven Hokage of Konoha, the First, Second, and Fifth all hailed from the Senju clan of the Warring States period, while the Third, Hiruzen Sarutobi, and the Sixth, Kakashi Hatake, also came from ninja clans. Only Minato was a true commoner. If he hadn't been truly gifted, how could he have surpassed all the ninja clans of Konoha to become their leader?

Even the Fourth Hokage's student, Kakashi Hatake, had become a jonin around the age of twelve. As his teacher, it was not hard to understand why Minato would possess jonin-level strength at this age.

Moreover, after this skirmish with Minato, Kuming had gained a clear understanding of his own strength. In terms of pure taijutsu, he was somewhere between a genin and a chunin. Watching how effortlessly Minato parried his attacks, Kuming knew he was still a long way from reaching the jonin level.

"Kushina, the people from the village will be here soon, so I will take Kuming and leave first."

"You and this boy stay here and wait for them. When they arrive, cooperate with the village's ninjas to investigate the identity of the enemies."

"Don't be nervous, just tell the truth, but there is no need to mention that Kuming and I were here."

Mito walked over to Kushina and patted her shoulder. Afterward, she turned her gaze toward Minato, pondered for a moment, and pulled a scroll from her robes.

"Is that?" Kuming, sharp-eyed, recognized what it was the moment Mito brought it out.

"That technique was actually given away by Mito!"

Under Kuming's surprised gaze, Mito tossed the scroll to Minato and said gently:

"Child, this is to thank you for saving Kushina. The ninjutsu inside is my gift to you."

"Keep this scroll safe. If the Monkey asks, just tell him I gave it to you."

"Farewell."

Mito flashed to Kuming's side and took him away. However, before leaving, Kuming shot Minato a strange smile and said, "I think we will be seeing each other often in the future."

Watching Mito Uzumaki and Kuming Uzumaki depart, Minato wore a wry smile. He didn't even look at the scroll in his hand before tucking it into his clothes, then trotted over to Kushina to check on her.

"Kushina, are you alright?" Minato asked with concern, fearing she might have some lingering aftereffects.

"I'm fine, Minato. I never imagined you were this strong. How come I never noticed before?" Seeing that Mito and Kuming had left, Kushina became a bit bolder. She hooked her arm around Minato's shoulder and asked with a curious expression.

After this "hero saves the beauty" moment, it would be impossible for Kushina not to have a favorable impression of Minato. Although the scenario was quite cliché, the effect was undeniably excellent.

"It's nothing... I just practice a bit more than usual."

Minato looked at the enthusiastic Kushina, his face flushing slightly, and his speech became a bit stuttered. However, their conversation did not last long before it was interrupted by the arriving Konoha jonin. Although the Kumogakure jonin had acted with great caution, they had still left traces that the Konoha forces discovered, leading to the dispatch of a pursuit team.

These Konoha jonin, however, were not as lucky as Minato; they had only just discovered the marks Kushina left behind, which was why they were late. Soon, the Konoha ninjas who rendezvoused with Kushina and Minato brought them back to the village. Tonight, the two of them would likely have to face quite a few interrogations.

"Kuming, your decision to release the seal earlier was rather irrational. That's not like you," Mito said as she moved rapidly through the forest with Kuming, seemingly unable to understand his earlier actions.

"I lost my head. I don't know why, but every time I see Minato, I just want to hit him. Maybe it's because I feel like the cabbage in my garden is about to be stolen by a pig."

"It just feels annoying."

Although Kuming was Kushina's younger brother, his mental age was far beyond four years old. Ever since he arrived in this world, he had treated Kushina like his own daughter. Kushina probably never imagined that while she saw Kuming as a little brother, he was thinking of himself as her father.

"Jealousy? You really are just a child."

Mito smiled as she listened to Kuming. Kuming had always acted with such maturity that his behavior rarely resembled that of a child, which had often worried her. But seeing this childish side of him now didn't make her angry; instead, she felt a sense of relief.

After all, children were always more endearing when they were a bit naive.

"Not at all. I just find Minato annoying."

"Speaking of which, Grandma Mito, why did you give the Flying Thunder God to that kid?"

Kuming muttered. It wasn't that he disliked Minato, but he didn't like it when someone else was better at showing off than he was. However, Kuming quickly brushed that aside and asked curiously about the scroll Mito had tossed earlier.

"What? Are you jealous again? Haven't you already looked at the Flying Thunder God? You couldn't learn it, so why shouldn't I give it to someone else?"

Mito teased. She found that teasing Kuming, this little adult, was quite amusing. Seeing him look so deflated made her happy, and she felt years younger.

"Tch, I was just worried about it being a waste," Kuming said, his words not matching his heart.

"Haha, alright, I won't tease you anymore."

"I gave him the Flying Thunder God because I believe that child might actually be able to master this technique."

"It has been so many years since Tobirama passed, and no one has been able to master the Flying Thunder God technique. I don't want to see it lost to history."

"I noticed it when you were fighting him earlier—that child's reflexes are incredibly fast, and his use of the Body Flicker Technique is extremely proficient. In terms of the Body Flicker alone, there are few in all of Konoha who could surpass him. He has the potential to learn the Flying Thunder God."

"Once that child truly masters the technique, Konoha will be guaranteed at least another fifty years of peace."

A look of nostalgia appeared on Mito's face, as if she were reminiscing about the era when the First and Second Hokage were both in Konoha. Her words were no exaggeration; the Flying Thunder God was such a formidable ninjutsu that anyone who could master it would immediately stand at the pinnacle of the ninja world.

"Fifty years of peace, huh? I'll do my best to ensure your wish doesn't go unfulfilled."

"If you knew that guy used his own body to block the Nine-Tails' claws after learning the Flying Thunder God, would you hang him up and beat him?"

"To use space-time ninjutsu the way Minato does, he can be considered a ceiling of sorts~"

Jiuming did not disturb Uzumaki Mito as she reminisced about the distant past, secretly complaining in his heart. However, after meeting Minato, Jiuming had already made up his mind: he would absolutely not allow the tragedies of the past to happen again before his eyes.

"Still not strong enough!"

"At my current level, I can't even compare to Kakashi. That guy graduated from the Ninja Academy at five and was already a Chunin by six."

"And geniuses like Itachi were already taking down enemies on the battlefield at four; by the time he was Minato's age, he could already wipe out an entire clan~"

"I'm just four years old now, and I haven't even seen what the Ninja Academy looks like. It's truly a tragedy~"

Originally, Jiuming had been somewhat smug over the past few years due to his growth in strength, but thinking about his spar with Minato just now, and thinking of those terrifying yet short-lived geniuses in Konoha's history, that bit of smugness vanished instantly, replaced instead by a sense of urgency deep in his heart.