Minato Namikaze's Ninja Way

"Yueshu, we're starting missions again soon."

"So soon?"

It was early morning at the dining table in the Senju Residence.

Minato Namikaze, having nothing better to do, had started "going to work" again.

Yueshu responded to Minato Namikaze with a look of utter disdain.

Doing missions was truly not his forte.

The easy ones were too boring, and the hard ones were exhausting; he really didn't know why he had chosen to become a ninja in the first place.

"It's not that soon; we've already rested for six days. I just ran into Jiraiya-sensei, and he said we're to assemble at Training Ground No. 9 tomorrow."

"Tch."

Minato Namikaze watched Yueshu, who was making no effort to hide his reluctance, with a helpless expression.

They had been resting for six whole days since their last mission, which was more than enough. A ninja had to perform missions—partly to support themselves, and partly to contribute to the village.

For Minato Namikaze, who was born and raised in the village and dreamed of becoming Hokage, contributing to Konoha was something he did with great willingness.

But for Yueshu, he didn't have much of an emotional attachment to Konoha; it was simply that Konoha offered the best environment in the entire ninja world.

Unlike other ninja villages, which were either filled with sandstorms or shrouded in blood mist.

Comparing them like this, Konoha's advantages were obvious.

"Well, that's just the path of a ninja."

Tsunade, who was nearby, patted Yueshu and laughed.

She had gone through the same thing back in the day, and the number of missions she had completed ranked among the highest in the village.

"Troublesome."

Yueshu muttered, continuing to eat his breakfast.

Yueshu truly found it troublesome. Since the main characters of this era were all basically in the same squad, he didn't believe for a second that their missions would be easy.

Perhaps it would be like last time, where a "simple" mission turned out to be something else entirely in disguise.

Just look at the last one: he had been covered in wounds, exhausted to the bone, and if they hadn't been careful, the entire team would have been wiped out.

This wasn't a game; there was no setting to respawn in a few minutes or seconds. Once you were gone, you were really gone.

After finishing his meal, things went on as usual. With nothing to do, Yueshu spent his time in his hammock, bored, watching the master and student duo begin their medical ninjutsu training.

Oh, and now there was an extra blond-haired guy in the mix.

Minato Namikaze seemed to have already been taught tree-climbing and water-walking by Jiraiya, so he was currently practicing the fundamentals.

In the original story, Minato Namikaze was the only civilian Hokage in Konoha's history, and it had to be said that his success was well-deserved.

Setting aside his high talent, his self-discipline and training alone put him far ahead of others.

Watching the blond figure before him.

Yueshu didn't think he had ever seen Minato Namikaze slack off. He spent almost all his free time training; he and Yueshu were complete opposites.

The pity was that Yueshu was a cheater, so Minato Namikaze would likely never be able to surpass him.

"Oh, right, Yueshu, could you teach me that ninjutsu of yours?"

As Yueshu lay there, Minato Namikaze's voice suddenly reached his ears.

"Huh?"

Yueshu glanced at Minato Namikaze, who had arrived by his side with a genuine smile.

"You know, that hand-signless ninjutsu, the one that looks like a ball."

"The Rasengan?"

"Is that what it's called? A nice name, though 'Thunderbolt Whirlwind Impact Sphere' would be better."

"Your naming sense is the same as ever. It's a good thing the ninjutsu already had a name."

Yueshu looked at Minato Namikaze's slightly excited expression and sighed helplessly.

Minato Namikaze was a quintessential warm-hearted guy—good personality, good looks, and a genius—but unexpectedly, he harbored a hidden "chuunibyou" soul.

The names he came up with for his techniques were truly long and ridiculous, reeking of middle-school syndrome.

"It's not that bad, is it?"

Seeing Yueshu criticize him, Minato Namikaze offered a rare rebuttal; he genuinely thought those names were cool.

And in Yueshu's mind.

Perhaps this is what they call a closet weirdo.

"Sure, I can teach you."

"Really? Thanks!"

As soon as Yueshu agreed, Minato Namikaze beamed with joy.

"Tell me, why are you so set on having me teach you this ninjutsu?"

Himeshima Tsuki suddenly thought of something and asked Minato Namikaze.

Minato Namikaze had anticipated that Tsuki would ask such a question, so he immediately began to ponder.

After a moment—

"Intuition, I suppose. I just feel like this ninjutsu is incredibly suited for me, though I can't quite put my finger on why."

"Is that so?"

As expected of you.

Tsuki chuckled softly; Minato Namikaze's intuition was spot on.

This sphere was a top-tier divine technique that could constantly evolve and transform. When combined with the Flying Thunder God that Minato Namikaze would later master, it would be like adding wings to a tiger.

The three sages of Mount Myoboku were all users of the sphere.

As the one who was supposed to be the creator of the sphere, it had to be said that Minato Namikaze had invented an extraordinary ninjutsu, even if he no longer needed to complete that task now.

Tsuki naturally wouldn't be stingy with the Rasengan; it belonged to Minato Namikaze in the first place, and he had simply beaten him to it.

Minato Namikaze was Tsuki's first friend, and Tsuki was more than happy to help him grow stronger—at least stronger than in the original story—so that he wouldn't meet an untimely death during the Nine-Tails Incident.

No one wants to watch their friend die, right?

Just like that, Tsuki explained the training method exactly as Jiraiya had in the original story.

"Hmm, it looks like I need to go out and buy some balloons."

"Go on, go on. And pick up dinner on your way back, too, so Shizune doesn't have to make another trip."

"Alright, alright."

Minato Namikaze smiled helplessly and prepared to head out.

Minato Namikaze was incredibly eager to learn the Rasengan; he couldn't wait to start practicing immediately.

He didn't know what it was, but a gut feeling had led him to choose the Rasengan.

Minato Namikaze didn't understand it, so he simply stopped worrying about it.

His best friend, Tsuki, was exactly that kind of person.

Don't overthink things; just set those distractions aside for now.

As for everything else, the priority was always the task at hand.

Living in the moment was something Minato Namikaze had gradually learned while by Tsuki's side.

In Minato Namikaze's view, perhaps his best friend, Himeshima Tsuki, was truly the happiest person in all of Konoha.

He ate when he wanted, slept when he needed to, had few worries, and was even strong enough that he didn't need to struggle and push himself like others.

Minato Namikaze knew of the father and son in Konoha who wore green spandex and trained day and night; the intensity of their regimen was terrifying, something even Minato Namikaze had never heard of before.

Minato Namikaze admired them and was grateful to them; those two had taught him the principle of never resting and always striving for more.

As for Tsuki, it was impossible for an ordinary person not to feel jealous. Minato Namikaze had experienced that once, but he didn't dwell on such emotions—they were undesirable.

Minato Namikaze did not allow himself to harbor the inappropriate sentiment of jealousy.

Since meeting Tsuki, Minato Namikaze had never won, whereas the Yellow Flash of the original story had dominated the battlefield without a single defeat.

All the defeats of his life had come at the hands of Tsuki.

The blonde boy took a deep breath and marched toward his future, even though a monster he seemed unable to catch up with stood ahead of him.

This was Minato Namikaze's ninja way.

A ninja way of chasing after someone.