"So this is little Kakashi?" Jin circled the little guy in front of him a few times. The legendary Kakashi-sama, Kakashi-bro—there was nothing special about him.
"Are you sure you're my father's student?" Kakashi asked skeptically. "Why would my father take someone from the Uchiha Clan as a student?"
"Hmm..." Jin rubbed his chin and thought for a moment before answering, "Maybe... I'm a genius."
"You?" Kakashi looked at the Uchiha in front of him, who was so unserious and laid-back, and only a few years older than himself. He didn't look anything like a genius...
"Hey, Jin, you're a Chunin now. Remember to put on your Chunin vest." Minato arrived and tossed Jin the vest, then smiled at Kakashi.
"You must be Kakashi. I'm Minato Namikaze. Jin wasn't wrong—he really is a genius. Jin, I'll be waiting for you at Training Ground Seven."
With that, he vanished in a flash, leaving behind a smug Jin and an utterly bewildered Kakashi...
"Alright, my master asked me to take you to the Ninja Academy. Let's go."
"By the way, are you really going to be a Chunin? You don't seem like one..."
Konoha Ninja Academy
Jin stood at the school gate, feeling a rush of emotion, as if he had only just left the place.
"Hey... You only graduated from the Ninja Academy recently, right? How did you become a Chunin already?" Kakashi asked curiously.
"Yeah... If you don't count the two years I spent messing around at the academy, I would've graduated at five." Jin looked helpless, with just a hint of smugness. "It only took me a few months to go from Genin to Chunin."
"..." Kakashi's dead-fish eyes rolled so far back they nearly disappeared. This guy... was hopeless! "See you."
"Tch, I just wanted to show off a little. Is that so hard?" Jin muttered as he watched Kakashi walk away. Just as he was about to leave, he saw two people approaching, one big and one small, both dressed in green bodysuits.
"Guy! You didn't get into the Ninja Academy!" the middle-aged man roared, while the boy said with a pained expression, "I'm sorry, Dad!"
"Guy! As punishment, you'll run a hundred laps around the training ground! And as your father, I'll run two hundred!"
"Dad!"
"Guy!"
"This is youth! Let your youth burn!"
Jin's toes curled and his scalp prickled. He could only comment, "That's some serious passion," before vanishing on the spot.
Training Ground Seven
"Not bad! You've gotten so good at using the Flying Thunder God!" Minato praised Jin, who stood expressionlessly in front of him.
The next moment, Jin couldn't hold it in anymore. He ran to the river and threw up nonstop...
Minato's beaming smile froze in place... He couldn't help but smile wryly and shake his head. "Your talent for using the Flying Thunder God while getting motion sickness from it... You really are one of a kind."
"I think... blegh... the Body Flicker Technique... blegh... is pretty good..." Jin said between bouts of vomiting, as if he wanted to throw up even his bile.
Only after Jin had slumped down on the grass did Minato continue. "You'll have to overcome that yourself. Today, we're mainly figuring out your primary nature."
"In battle, ninja usually choose the techniques they're best at. For ninja with multiple natures, having a primary nature can not only increase their combat ability, but also let them develop new techniques from their other jutsu."
"Minato, I know all about that. My Water Release and Lightning Release combination technique is super effective." Jin sat on the grass, looking smug.
"Your chakra reserves aren't enough to support your combination techniques," Minato explained. "Although your chakra control is already exceptionally refined, your chakra reserves are your current limit."
"So your goal isn't to master one primary nature, but to... become proficient in at least three natures. The Third Hokage has already walked that path. Perhaps you can become a professor of ninjutsu like him."
"But that doesn't make sense." Jin immediately got to his feet. "Minato, does that mean you have to do the same as me?"
Minato smiled faintly. "No. I have the Flying Thunder God, so I only need to master one nature."
"Heh..." Jin really wanted to beat up the blond in front of him... But... he couldn't win. Sob. o(╥﹏╥)o
"From what I've observed, the techniques you're currently good at are Fire, Lightning, and Water," Minato said, crouching beside the scrolls he'd brought. "Fire and Water can be combined, and Water and Lightning can be combined. You've used both combinations, right?"
"If I knew the Hidden Mist Technique, I definitely wouldn't have made a water mist with Fire Release and Water Release." Jin pouted and grumbled. Most of the techniques he knew had either been taught to him by Fugaku or learned from the Uchiha Clan's scrolls.
And with his genius-level knowledge of physics, was it really so outrageous to come up with a few combination techniques?
"That's not the point." Minato interrupted Jin's train of thought. "Water Release is essential to both versions of your combination technique. What you need to focus on right now is practicing the basic Fire Release, Water Release, and Lightning Release techniques."
Jin immediately deflated. "Huh? Isn't that something Genin are supposed to do? I'm a Chunin now, Minato."
"Your overall strength is at the level of a Chunin. You could even give a Special Jōnin a run for his money," Minato said earnestly. "But the fundamentals are important if you want a smoother path ahead."
With that, Minato pulled out scrolls of all sizes and began explaining them to Jin one by one.
Jin was touched to see this, but faced with all that theory, he felt as if he'd been caught in a genjutsu...
"Minato, the sun's clocked out already. I still have to pick up Kakashi," Jin quietly reminded him, pointing to the sunset on the horizon.
Only then did Minato realize how much time had passed. He gathered up all the scrolls and said, "Alright, we'll continue tomorrow! I'll be at Kushina's place. Come have dinner with us."
"See ya~"
"I feel bad mooching off them all the time," Jin said to himself. "I refuse to believe it. Let's try the Flying Thunder God one more time..."
Konoha Ninja Academy
Kakashi was talking with his classmates... Or rather, he was being pestered by a Uchiha...
"Whoa!"
The Uchiha boy suddenly recoiled in fright. "Y-you... who are you...?"
"Oh, Kakashi! Are you chatting with your friends?" Jin appeared out of nowhere, draping an arm over Kakashi's shoulder.
Jin's sudden appearance made the students nearby scream one after another, and the teachers hurried out of the school...
"Teacher, teacher... Someone just appeared beside Kakashi..."
"He appeared out of nowhere, like a ghost!"
"Mommy, I'm scared! I want to go home..."
Kakashi was startled too, but when he saw it was Jin, his heart rate of 280 gradually settled down.
"Uchiha Clan Crest? Kakashi! You must have been targeted by the death god who rules over the Uchiha Clan!"
Jin followed the voice and saw a boy wearing goggles and Uchiha Clan clothes. He didn't even have to think twice—this was young Obito.
"Hey, brat, who are you calling a death god? Besides, even if I were the death god who rules over the Uchiha Clan, I'd only take Uchiha Clan members... Like you, brat!"
Before you continue