War Erupts!

"Quick! Notify the village! A massive force of Iwagakure ninja has crossed the border and is heading toward our Land of Fire!"

In early October, the Iwagakure forces that had been stationed at the border of the Land of Fire for nearly a month finally made a move. The army of several thousand ninja seemed to have suddenly received orders, beginning a large-scale advance into the Land of Fire.

At the same time, in the Land of Water to the southeast of the Land of Fire, a ninja force was also secretly dispatched, with its sights set directly on the Land of Whirlpools, an ally of the Land of Fire.

"Bang! Bang!"

At noon, the sun had just reached its zenith, its dazzling, piercing rays making one feel momentarily blinded. In the Uzumaki family dojo, figures flickered as two people engaged in a fierce battle.

"Konoha, Great Whirlwind!"

Despite it being a perfectly ordinary spinning back kick, Kuming shouted the name of the technique at the top of his lungs. For some reason, whenever he sparred with Minato, Kuming couldn't suppress his inner chuunibyou soul; no matter the move, he felt it wasn't satisfying unless he shouted its name.

"Ora ora ora!"

Don't let Kuming's young age fool you; the power behind his kicks was quite formidable. The immense force compelled Minato to use both hands to block. After his first strike failed to land, Kuming followed up immediately after his kick, waving his fists in a continuous barrage while shouting.

In the dojo where Uzumaki Kuming and Minato Namikaze were sparring, Kushina and Kotaro Sarutobi were sitting on opposite sides of a tea table, sipping tea while watching the two spar.

"This kid is truly terrifying. To think he can already faintly suppress Minato Namikaze?"

Kotaro watched the two sparring in the center, cold sweat streaming down his face. This was his fifth time this month coming to the Uzumaki residence to observe Kuming's taijutsu training. He, Minato, and Kushina were all on the same ninja squad, and whenever they didn't have missions, Kotaro would come here with Minato to coach Kuming in taijutsu.

Though "coaching" was the word, Minato's role seemed more like that of a sparring partner.

When Minato first started sparring with Uzumaki Kuming, he could easily maintain the initiative, but as the number of sessions increased, Kuming's taijutsu ability began to grow at a frantic pace. While there was no obvious improvement in raw strength or speed, his ability to break through defenses and link his moves together became increasingly refined.

Moreover, Kuming's fighting style was subtly tailored to counter Minato, to the point where if Minato didn't rely on his advantages in strength and speed and just played with technique, he couldn't parry Kuming's attacks at all.

"Bang!"

In the center of the ring, Minato seized an opportunity to counterattack, landing a strike on Kuming's lower abdomen. Using the momentum of this attack, Minato quickly put some distance between them.

Although Minato's palm successfully struck Kuming's abdomen, Kuming had been prepared for the attack and had been dodging in advance. It was just that his speed wasn't as fast as Minato's, so he was still hit, though the force Minato poured into the strike was not very great.

"Let's stop here for now and take a break."

Seeing Kuming posturing as if he wanted to rush forward and attack again, Minato immediately waved his hand to call a timeout.

"I'm not tired, let's keep going."

Uzumaki Kuming stopped, looking puzzled. As a member of the Uzumaki Clan, his stamina was incredibly abundant; several hours of continuous sparring were no problem for him at all. If it were any other child of Kuming's age, they would likely be unable to last even an hour before needing a rest.

"I'm tired, let's rest for a bit, Kuming."

Minato wiped the sweat from his forehead and said.

Hearing Minato's words, Kuming felt even more confused. He, a five-year-old child, didn't feel tired, so how could a twelve-year-old youth like Minato be exhausted? If Minato's stamina were that poor, he wouldn't be able to outperform a child like him.

Seeing the inquisitive look on Kuming's face, Minato could only explain: "Sorry, I went to sleep a bit late last night, so my mental state isn't very good today."

"Went to sleep late? What were you doing last night?"

Before Kuming could even ask, Kushina, who had been sitting quietly drinking tea, raised an eyebrow and asked curiously.

"Nothing much, just researching a ninjutsu." Minato scratched his head, casting a subtle glance at Kotaro.

He's already started researching the Flying Thunder God!

Kushina nodded at Minato's answer, but Kuming suddenly realized something, his expression turning serious as he looked at Minato. If Minato had truly begun researching the Flying Thunder God as he suspected, then he would need to have a proper discussion with him about the learning experience of this technique.

He had seen the Flying Thunder God technique in the Scroll of Sealing long ago and had committed it to memory, but he had encountered massive problems when trying to learn it. He used to think those issues could be resolved while learning the sealing arts of the Uzumaki Clan.

After all, to a certain extent, a large category of sealing arts belonged to space-time ninjutsu; things like the Four Symbols Seal and storage seals could be considered applications of space-time ninjutsu. Kuming's original intention for learning sealing arts was to better learn the Flying Thunder God.

However, as his study of sealing arts deepened, the difficulties regarding the Flying Thunder God remained unresolved, and he had never been able to get a foot in the door with the technique.

But with Third Hokage's son, Kotaro Sarutobi, present, Kuming didn't ask anything about the Flying Thunder God. He temporarily tucked this matter away in his mind, planning to find a suitable opportunity to talk to Minato so they could research it together. With Minato's help, learning the Flying Thunder God would surely be twice the result with half the effort.

"I see. Then, could I trouble you, Brother Kotaro, to coach me in taijutsu?"

"As the son of the Hokage, your taijutsu must be truly outstanding, right?"

Although Minato intended to stop and rest, Kuming had no intention of doing so. Now that he couldn't use chakra, all his ninjutsu training was temporarily shelved; most of his time was spent either refining chakra or practicing taijutsu and shurikenjutsu.

Kuming also had to study sealing formulas at night, making his daily schedule very packed.

"Me? I'm not like Minato, who has excellent control over his body. I don't know my own strength, and it wouldn't be good if I accidentally hurt you."

Kotaro wanted to refuse. What he said was the truth; as a youth, his talent wasn't as good as Minato's, and his strikes were nowhere near the level of being able to retract his power at will.

"It's fine. It's just taijutsu training; getting hit a few times is normal."

Kuming waved his hand, speaking casually.

Although Kotaro had come to watch him train many times, Kuming had never sparred with him. At this moment, Kuming also intended to see just how far the taijutsu ability of the Hokage's eldest son—the future father of Konohamaru Sarutobi—had reached.

"Alright, I'll do it." Seeing Kuming's persistence, Kotaro felt embarrassed to refuse again. After all, Kuming was Kushina's younger brother, and for the sake of being on the same squad, he didn't mind "coaching" Kuming.

Kotaro stood up. Just as Minato was about to sit down, they crossed paths, and Minato whispered a reminder: "Be careful. Kuming is very strong; don't think about holding back."

Minato was on the same squad as Kotaro and had been acting as Kuming's taijutsu teacher for some time, so he knew exactly what level Kuming and Kotaro were at.

Based on Kuming's current skills, he was already on par with an average genin. If Kotaro underestimated him, it wouldn't be impossible for him to be embarrassed by Kuming. He knew Kotaro had a strong sense of pride and didn't want to see him lose face at Kuming's hands.

Otherwise, if word got out that the Third Hokage's eldest son couldn't beat a five-year-old child, it would be a devastating blow to his self-esteem.

"Begin."

Jiuming stood in the center of the arena, waiting for Sarutobi Kotaro to step up. The moment Kotaro stood before him, he felt a sudden sense of oppression radiating from the child.

"So that's how it is. I truly cannot afford to underestimate him."

Sarutobi Kotaro's expression turned serious. He hadn't felt it while watching from the sidelines, but now that he was standing directly in front of Jiuming, he could finally sense the pressure Jiuming was exerting. Having already killed, Jiuming possessed an aura that no ordinary child could ever compare to.

"Come!" Kotaro shouted, both as a warning and to bolster his own courage. The next second, the battle between the two erupted.