"Quick! Alert the village! A large force of Iwagakure shinobi has crossed the border and is heading for our Land of Fire!"
In early October, after nearly a month stationed along the border of the Land of Fire, Iwagakure's forces finally made a move. The thousands of shinobi seemed to have received orders out of the blue and began advancing in force toward the Land of Fire.
Meanwhile, in the Land of Water, southeast of the Land of Fire, a shinobi force had also secretly set out. Its target was clear: the Land of Whirlpools, an ally of the Land of Fire.
"Thump! Thump!"
At noon, the sun had just reached its highest point. Its dazzling glare made people squint. Figures darted across the Uzumaki family's training hall as two people clashed fiercely.
"Leaf Whirlwind!"
Though it was nothing more than an ordinary spinning back kick, Jiuming shouted the name of the move. For some reason, whenever he sparred with Minato, he couldn't hold back his chuunibyou spirit. No matter what he did, he just had to call out the name of the move to feel like he was doing it right~
"ORA ORA ORA!"
Jiuming might have been young, but his sweeping kicks packed a serious punch. The force behind them made Minato raise both arms to block. After his kick failed to land, Jiuming immediately followed up, throwing punch after punch as he shouted.
At the training hall where Uzumaki Jiuming and Minato Namikaze were sparring, Kushina and Sarutobi Kotaro sat across from each other at a small tea table, sipping tea as they watched the two fight.
"That kid is terrifying. He can already almost overpower Minato?"
Kotaro watched the two sparring in the training hall, cold sweat trickling down his face. This was the fifth time that month he had come to the Uzumaki home to watch Jiuming practice Taijutsu. He, Minato, and Kushina were on the same shinobi team, and whenever their team didn't have a mission, Sarutobi Kotaro would come here with Minato to teach Jiuming Taijutsu.
But Minato seemed more like a sparring partner than a teacher.
At first, Minato had easily controlled the pace whenever he sparred with Uzumaki Jiuming. But as they sparred more often, Jiuming's Taijutsu skills began to improve at a startling rate. His strength and speed hadn't changed much, but he had become increasingly adept at breaking through attacks and chaining his moves together.
What's more, Jiuming's style seemed to be tailored to counter Minato. Unless Minato relied on his advantages in strength and speed, he could barely handle Jiuming's attacks in a battle of technique alone.
"Thump!"
Minato spotted an opening and counterattacked, landing a blow to Jiuming's lower abdomen. He used the impact to quickly put some distance between them.
Though Minato's palm had hit Jiuming in the lower abdomen, Jiuming had anticipated the attack and started dodging before it landed. He just hadn't been quick enough to evade Minato's strike. Still, Minato hadn't put much force into the blow.
"Let's stop here for now and take a break."
Seeing Jiuming preparing to charge at him again, Minato quickly raised a hand and called a halt.
"I'm not tired. Let's keep going."
Uzumaki Jiuming stopped, looking puzzled. As a member of the Uzumaki Clan, he had plenty of stamina. Sparring for several hours straight was no problem for him. Most kids his age wouldn't last even an hour before needing a break.
"I'm tired. Let's take a short break, Jiuming."
Minato wiped the sweat from his forehead.
Jiuming looked even more confused. He was only five, and he wasn't tired at all. How could Minato, a twelve-year-old, be tired? It wasn't as if Minato had poor stamina—he shouldn't be outlasted by a little kid.
Seeing Jiuming's questioning look, Minato could only explain, "Sorry. I stayed up late last night, so I'm not feeling my best today."
"Stayed up late? What were you doing last night?"
Before Jiuming could ask, Kushina, who had been quietly sipping tea nearby, raised an eyebrow and asked curiously.
"Nothing, just working on a jutsu." Minato scratched his head and glanced almost imperceptibly at Kotaro.
"So you've started working on the Flying Thunder God?"
Kushina nodded at Minato's answer, and Jiuming suddenly realized what was going on. He looked at Minato, his expression serious. If Minato really had started working on the Flying Thunder God, as he suspected, then he needed to talk to him about how to learn the jutsu.
He had read about the Flying Thunder God in the Scroll of Sealing long ago, and had already memorized it. But when he tried to learn the technique, he ran into major problems. He had thought he could solve them by studying the Uzumaki Clan's Fuinjutsu.
After all, Fuinjutsu could, in a sense, be considered a form of Space-Time Ninjutsu. The Four Symbols Seal and storage seals, for instance, could both be considered applications of Space-Time Ninjutsu. The reason Jiuming had started learning Fuinjutsu in the first place was to help him master the Flying Thunder God.
But even as he delved deeper into Fuinjutsu, he still couldn't solve some of the Flying Thunder God's more difficult aspects. He had never even managed to get started with the technique.
But with Sarutobi Kotaro, the Third Hokage's son, standing right there, Jiuming didn't ask Minato about the Flying Thunder God. He put the matter aside for now, planning to talk to Minato at a better time. Then they could study the Flying Thunder God together. With Minato's help, learning it would be twice as easy.
"In that case, could I trouble you, Brother Kotaro, to teach me some Taijutsu?"
"As the Hokage's son, I imagine your Taijutsu must be exceptional."
Though Minato had called for a break, Jiuming had no intention of resting just yet. He couldn't use Chakra at the moment, so he had put all his Ninjutsu studies on hold. Most of his time was spent either refining Chakra or practicing Taijutsu and Shurikenjutsu.
He also spent his evenings studying Fuinjutsu formulas, keeping his days packed.
"Me? Unlike Minato, I don't have such good control over my body. I can't always hold back, and I'd hate to hurt you."
Sarutobi Kotaro wanted to refuse, and what he said was true. He was young, and his talent wasn't as good as Minato's. He hadn't yet learned to control his strikes well.
"That's fine. Getting hit is part of training Taijutsu."
Jiuming waved a hand dismissively.
Though Kotaro had come to watch him train many times, Jiuming had never sparred with him before. Now, he wanted to see just how good the Hokage's eldest son—and the future father of Konohamaru Sarutobi—was at Taijutsu.
"All right, I'll do it." Seeing that Jiuming was insistent, Kotaro felt awkward refusing any longer. After all, Jiuming was Kushina's younger brother, and they were on the same team. He didn't mind "teaching" him a thing or two.
Kotaro stood up. Minato had just been about to sit down, and as the two passed each other, he quietly warned him, "Be careful. Jiuming is strong. Don't hold back."
Minato was on the same team as Kotaro, and had also been Jiuming's Taijutsu teacher for a while. He had a good sense of both Jiuming's and Kotaro's abilities.
Jiuming's skills were already on par with those of an average Genin. If Kotaro underestimated him, it was entirely possible he'd get the better of him. Minato knew Kotaro was proud, and didn't want to see him lose to Jiuming.
After all, if word got out that the Third Hokage's eldest son had lost to a five-year-old, it would deal a serious blow to his pride.
"Let's begin."
Jiuming stood in the middle of the training hall and waited for Sarutobi Kotaro to approach. As soon as Kotaro stood in front of him, he felt an oppressive presence coming from the child.
"I see. I really can't afford to underestimate him."
Sarutobi Kotaro's expression turned serious. He hadn't sensed it while watching from the side, but now that he was standing in front of Jiuming, he could feel the pressure the boy exuded. Having already killed before, Jiuming had an intimidating presence unlike that of an ordinary child.
"Come on!" Kotaro shouted, partly to signal that he was ready and partly to encourage himself. The next moment, the two launched into battle.
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