Minato Returns to the Village

The rice ball in his hand suddenly didn't taste so good anymore.

It was because he had seen Itachi's mother, Uchiha Mikoto.

This was Itachi's first time bringing a friend home, and Uchiha Mikoto seemed delighted, bringing out several more plates of pastries.

She didn't look like a Jonin at all. Anyone who didn't know better would have thought she was just an ordinary housewife.

With such a gentle mother, Itachi could still go on to massacre his clan. It seemed Uchiha Itachi really needed a proper education, so he could learn how to be a good son.

Qingfeng said goodbye and left, with Itachi seeing him to the door.

Putting everything else aside, mooching a meal actually felt pretty good...

Tonight, Uchiha Qingfeng didn't plan to sleep at the pharmacy his grandfather had left behind. Mainly because he felt that Might Guy would come call for him again early tomorrow morning for another running contest.

Once a day, every time lasting all morning. He definitely needed to stay away from someone whose body was absurdly strong.

When he returned to the clan residences, he spotted four sneaky figures in the distance, doing who knew what outside his door.

"Looks like the Trident Four Brothers?"

Those four little brats were nothing in Uchiha Qingfeng's eyes now. As his strength grew, his mindset had changed as well.

"Hey! Trident Four Brothers, why aren't you asleep in the middle of the night? What are you doing here?"

The Trident Four Brothers immediately panicked.

"Qingfeng is back!"

Jiba, Uchiha Ishi, smacked him on the head.

"You call him Lord Qingfeng, understand!?"

Uchiha Qingfeng walked closer. The four stopped fooling around and put on fawning smiles.

"Lord Qingfeng, please take us on as your underlings! We are the Trident Four Brothers—we'll definitely be unstoppable!"

Taking underlings? He was clearly just a six-year-old kid himself. It felt as boring as children playing house.

"Forget it. Your Trident Four Brothers have shaken the Uchiha clan, so don't become my underlings."

Hearing Qingfeng's refusal, the four began muttering amongst themselves. They hadn't expected to be rejected.

"He won't take us? What do we do now?"

"He doesn't even want us when we came to him ourselves?"

"Did we wait around for two days for nothing?"

"Did opening his eyes make him this arrogant??"

"Hmm?" Uchiha Ishi smacked Uchiha Forest on the head again for talking nonsense.

"Lord Qingfeng, whether you take us in isn't important. The important thing is that we have something to ask of you!"

Since they had waited here for two days, he should at least hear what they wanted.

"What is it? Let's hear it."

"Lord Qingfeng, how did you awaken your Sharingan? We want to awaken ours too and become sharper Tridents!"

There was nothing he could do about something like that. He couldn't exactly kill one of the four brothers in front of the others. If the remaining three awakened their eyes, they would definitely seek revenge at once.

And if their talent was lacking and they still failed to awaken them, that would be even worse. After all, plenty of Uchiha clan members couldn't awaken the Sharingan, and there weren't that many Sharingan users in the entire Uchiha clan.

Even Itachi's mother, Uchiha Mikoto, was a Jonin and had such an outstanding son, yet she herself didn't even have a single-tomoe Sharingan.

He decided to brush them off for now. "Your Chakra isn't sufficient. Train hard first. When the time comes, you'll naturally awaken the Sharingan."

"Lord Qingfeng, we haven't even refined Chakra yet..."

So they were worthless trash who hadn't even refined Chakra.

"Then you're still far, far away from that. Stop intimidating and bullying people in the future, and hurry up and train!"

"Thank you, Lord Qingfeng! We'll definitely work hard!!"

How many people had been defeated by the words, "You have no talent for being a Ninja"? Even Taijutsu Ninja needed Chakra. Without Chakra, they could only obediently remain ordinary civilians.

The Trident Four Brothers left happily, though Qingfeng had no idea how many of them actually possessed the talent to become Ninja.

Qingfeng withdrew his gaze and his thoughts, then returned home.

The next day, just as dawn broke, Guy ran to the pharmacy and began knocking on the door.

"Qingfeng, let's begin a day of youth!"

"Qingfeng!!!"

After calling several times with no response, Guy scrambled up to the second-floor window and discovered that there really was no one inside.

"So Qingfeng has already gone off to train? Then I can't slack off either. Keep it up!"

Before leaving, Guy placed the gift he had specially prepared—a training bodysuit—outside the pharmacy door.

That's right, the same kind he always wore: a green bodysuit.

Unfortunately, Qingfeng was still sleeping soundly at home.

When the sun rose, all of Leaf Village became lively. Today was the day Minato Namikaze would return to the village with his troops.

The village's publicity campaign had been highly effective. A Hero returning to the village deserved special treatment.

Near noon, Qingfeng got up and washed up briefly.

Target: Ichiraku Ramen.

Everyone he met along the way was discussing Leaf Village's Hero, Minato Namikaze.

Praise for him was endless.

After finally reaching Ichiraku Ramen, he found a life-sized portrait of Minato placed outside the entrance. It showed him holding a bowl of ramen, with the words: "The ramen beloved by Leaf Village's Hero!"

It was true, sure, but they were really good at riding the hype.

Keeping up with current events—just as expected of Ichiraku Ramen!

The results were surprisingly good. Every seat was occupied, and Qingfeng had to wait a while before one opened up.

He had barely taken two bites of the ramen that had just been served when someone outside shouted, "Minato has reached the village gate!"

In an instant, everyone around him ran outside, leaving Qingfeng sitting there alone.

Even when Tezuda Uncle called out kindly, "Don't leave! You haven't paid yet!"

They turned a deaf ear and didn't look back at all.

Looking at the only Uchiha brat still seated and eating his noodles, Tezuda Uncle thought that, as expected of a great clan, the Uchiha possessed such manners and bearing.

The gates of Leaf Village opened to welcome the Hero's return.

Leading the group was Minato Namikaze.

His iconic blond hair, Jonin vest, and dark blue clothes had already become deeply ingrained in people's minds.

Behind him came the silver-haired, masked Kakashi Hatake.

Genma Shiranui, with a senbon in his mouth.

Iwashi Tatami.

Raidou Namiashi.

And finally, the Ninja troops they had brought back.

Minato Namikaze had never expected such a grand welcome.

He had single-handedly taken on fifty Jonin and wiped them all out, then fought the Raikage to a draw. His deeds had already spread throughout Leaf Village.

"Yellow Flash!"

"Minato"!!

"Hero"!!!

Facing such enthusiastic villagers, Minato nodded in acknowledgment.

He had no idea that he had already been hailed as Leaf Village's Hero.

The crowd stretched all the way from the village gate to the Hokage Building. The returning troops walked forward beneath the gazes of those lining both sides of the road.

Every Ninja felt their hearts surge with emotion. This was the highest honor for a Ninja. Many were moved to tears. With the whole village recognizing them, even if they were to die for Leaf Village now, they would not furrow their brows.

Below the Hokage Building, Hiruzen Sarutobi and the two advisors waited quietly.

Looking at the excited crowd and the support of the people, this was exactly the result they wanted.

Standing beside Hiruzen was another person: Leaf Village's Jinchuriki, Kushina Uzumaki, who was also Minato's wife. At this moment, Kushina could barely hide her excitement.

Minato had truly become a Hero!