Martial Arts Tutor~

Somewhere in an underground palace within Konoha.

"Lord Danzō, the mission failed. I was unable to land the Heart-Loss Curse on Uzumaki Kuming."

In front of a stone chair, a figure knelt on one knee, reporting the mission status to the person seated above.

"You failed to ambush a five-year-old child? You disappoint me."

"Speak. Why did you fail?"

Shimura Danzō's deep voice resonated. Beyond his dissatisfaction, he felt a surge of curiosity. His subordinates were all battle-hardened ninjas; every member of Root was a talent in their respective field, hand-picked by him. The young man before him was an assassin he had spent over a decade cultivating, and he had not expected a failure on the man's very first mission.

"The target's reaction speed was extremely fast. My surprise attack missed."

The man, who had been bowing his head, looked up to reveal a young face. He was only fifteen or sixteen, and his expression was filled with guilt.

"The surprise attack missed? Are you saying that brat actually managed to dodge an ambush from an elite chūnin?"

"How is that possible!"

"If this is just an excuse for your failure, it is laughable."

Danzō raised an eyebrow, clearly displeased by his subordinate's answer. He had already been lenient with this ninja for failing, yet the man dared to treat him like a fool.

"Lord Danzō, I speak the truth. I did launch a surprise attack, but I never expected him to dodge my very first strike."

"His reaction speed is incredibly fast; he doesn't act like a child at all."

The young man lowered his head slightly to explain.

"Is that so? Could the rumors be true—that Uzumaki Kuming really did escape an Iwagakure jōnin during the Ninja Academy entrance exam?"

"If the rumors are correct, then your failure to ambush him is only natural."

Shimura Danzō narrowed his eyes and spoke in a low voice.

"Enough. Go accept your punishment; we will leave this matter here." After a moment of thought, Danzō decided to let it go. The young man before him had taken a great deal of effort to train, and Danzō did not want to punish him too severely. Besides, a failed ambush at the Ninja Academy would inevitably draw the attention of the Third Hokage.

For Danzō, it was time to exercise restraint and wait for a better opportunity.

"Uzumaki Kuming, only by getting my hands on you will I have a chance to lay claim to the Nine-Tails!"

After Danzō's low murmur, the underground palace fell back into silence.

Hokage Building.

Hiruzen Sarutobi sat before his desk. In front of him, a teacher from the Ninja Academy was reporting on the incident that had just occurred.

"Is that so? I understand. Go notify the Barrier Team to begin setting up sensory barriers at the academy."

"Do not let such a thing happen a second time."

"I will arrange for an investigation into the incident. You go and soothe the students' emotions."

Hiruzen Sarutobi did not even look up while the teacher reported, his attention divided between the intelligence reports arriving from the border.

"Yes! Lord Hokage!"

After receiving clear instructions from the Third Hokage, the teacher left the office. Once he was gone, the Third Hokage looked up and took a heavy drag from his pipe.

"Danzō, have I given you too much freedom?"

A complex emotion flickered in Hiruzen Sarutobi's eyes. After pondering for a long time, he turned his attention back to the border intelligence that had just arrived.

"The top priority is dealing with the situation regarding Iwagakure."

In the evening, the setting sun spilled across the roads of Konoha. The entrance to the Ninja Academy was already crowded with parents waiting to pick up their children.

Although Uzumaki Kuming had been attacked by an unknown ninja at school, he had continued his classes as usual. By noon, the Barrier Team had already re-established the barriers at the academy. Feeling the power of this new barrier, Kuming's mood improved significantly.

While the barrier could not guarantee his absolute safety, it would certainly provide a layer of protection.

When Uzumaki Kuming walked out of the academy after school, Kushina Uzumaki had already been waiting for a long time. Beside her stood a blonde boy, waiting with her.

"Kuming!" Seeing Kuming walk out of the school, Kushina waved her hands happily to get his attention. However, Kuming was walking with his head down, lost in thought, and did not hear her voice at all.

"He doesn't seem to have heard. Let's go call him," Minato Namikaze suggested, standing beside Kushina.

"Let's go."

Kushina nodded, then quickly took Minato's hand and pushed through the crowd to reach Kuming's side. Once they arrived, they didn't say a word, simply walking alongside him to see when he would notice them.

The attacker dared to strike at the Ninja Academy. They must be from Konoha; if they were from another village, they would have attacked when there were fewer people. That is common sense.

If the scope is limited to Konoha, the list of people who would do such a thing is very limited.

I need to accumulate the Yin Seal over the next two years. Since I cannot use chakra, I must strengthen my taijutsu and shuriken training.

"Hm?"

Uzumaki Kuming was deep in his own world, lost in thought, when he suddenly felt someone following him. He looked up in surprise and found Kushina Uzumaki and Minato Namikaze trailing right behind him.

"Sister? Brother Minato?" Kuming's eyes flickered toward their joined hands, and after a moment of surprise, he broke into a smile.

The solution to strengthening my taijutsu has just arrived!

The man who plays the Flying Thunder God like a master is also quite formidable with shuriken.

Uzumaki Kuming thought to himself, his eyes filled with mirth as he looked at Minato.

"What are you so focused on, child?"

"Kuming, are you happy about your first day of school?"

Kushina didn't notice the strange expression on her younger brother's face, but she did notice Kuming glancing at the hand she was holding with Minato. Blushing, she immediately let go of Minato's hand and asked.

Hearing Kushina's question, Kuming reined in his expression and said, "Not very happy. My level of taijutsu and shurikenjutsu isn't very good, and I was mocked by my classmates."

"I was just thinking about how to strengthen my taijutsu and shurikenjutsu, but since Grandma Mito hasn't been feeling well lately, I felt bad about bothering her."

Although Uzumaki Kuming was answering Kushina, his eyes were fixed on Minato as he spoke.

"Mocked you? How dare those bastards?"

Upon hearing Kuming's words, Kushina's first reaction was to think back to her own days at the Ninja Academy. Due to her hair color and being a transfer student from outside the village, Kushina had also suffered through a period of bullying. Fortunately, her cheerful personality and heavy fists helped her adapt to academy life quickly.

However, those days had been far from comfortable, so hearing that Kuming was being bullied made Kushina instantly furious. Beside her, Minato wore an unnatural, awkward smile upon hearing Kuming's words.

Bullying? With Uzumaki Kuming's abilities, is there really anyone at the academy capable of bullying him?

Minato had briefly sparred with Kuming before and knew his strength well; he didn't believe anyone currently in the academy was powerful enough to bully Uzumaki Kuming.

While Minato was secretly grumbling to himself, Kushina had already sold him out: "Practicing taijutsu is easy to solve. If Grandma Mito doesn't have the time, you can ask Minato to come over and guide you."

"Back when he was in school, his taijutsu was the best in the entire academy! His shurikenjutsu, too—even the Hokage has praised Minato's shurikenjutsu."

"Is that really okay? Does Brother Minato actually have the time to teach me?" Kuming put on an innocent expression, looking at Minato with burning anticipation.

"Well~ of course I can."

"However..."

Although Minato said he could, he was already planning to make an excuse in the next second. But before the words following his "however" could leave his mouth, Kuming cut him off.

"That's great! Then if you don't have any missions, Brother Minato, please come to my house to teach me taijutsu and shurikenjutsu."

"Please!"

Kuming didn't let Minato finish his sentence, jumping in immediately. As he spoke, he gave a slight bow to show his sincerity.

"O-okay..." Minato had been somewhat reluctant, but thinking that teaching Kuming would give him more opportunities to spend time with Kushina, his desire to refuse faded significantly.

"Then I'll be counting on you from now on!" Seeing Minato agree, Kuming flashed a brilliant smile, though to Minato, that smile looked a bit chilling.

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