Minato's Talent

"Didn't she even bother gathering any information?"

"She actually picked Mitsui. He's only ever lost to Nawaki, the undisputed second place of our class."

"Has Bloody Habanero gotten too full of herself?"

"..."

The contemptuous chatter made Kushina's little face flush red with anger.

"Get up here already. I want to fight you!" she said, pointing at Mitsui without the slightest politeness.

The boy stepped out from beside Nawaki and frowned. "Uzumaki Kushina, everyone at school may call you Bloody Habanero, but you're still far from being able to challenge me. I suggest you choose someone else. That way, you might still have a chance."

Kushina planted her hands on her hips. "Are you even a man? Stop dragging your feet!"

Mitsui's face darkened. He instantly leaped into the field and stood opposite her.

"Form the Sign of Confrontation."

At the teacher's instruction, the two formed the opposing hand sign.

"You'll pay for what you just said!"

With a swish, Mitsui pulled out three shuriken and sent them flying at Kushina. At the same time, he stomped off the ground and charged forward.

A very standard opening for a Ninja Academy student spar.

Thud! Thud! Thud!

The three shuriken struck a broken log. Kushina used the Body Replacement Technique to evade them, then created three clones and charged in with them.

Detected Kushina using the Clone Technique. Analysis available.

"No one uses the Clone Technique in a real fight. It's a waste of chakra."

Mitsui sneered and casually counterattacked, easily dispersing all three clones.

Poof! Poof! Poof!

But the next moment, Kushina created another three clones.

Poof! Poof! Poof!

And the moment after that, another three appeared.

Mitsui was forced to use the Body Replacement Technique to evade them. He finally managed to disperse them again, only for three more clones to come straight at him.

"Are you ever going to stop?! Is your chakra free or something?!"

Mitsui wanted to find the real body, but without beauty contacts, there was no way he could see through them at a glance.

He knew the clones had no shadows, but while being swarmed, how could he possibly have time to tell them apart?

What was more, Kushina's clones kept coming without end, leaving him utterly overwhelmed.

"Kushina has won."

At the edge of the field, Hyuga Wuye chuckled.

"Mitsui's just an ordinary ninja. He's grown up properly following the standard training, and having the strength of a genin is already pretty impressive," Minato said with a smile. "But Kushina is too unusual. Her chakra is practically limitless."

"If you were facing Kushina, even with all that chakra, she would still lose," Wuye said. "Your neural reaction speed is terrifying. You could absolutely identify the clones in an instant, then attack the real body."

In a sense, that was also a frightening talent.

Minato scratched the back of his head. "But Kushina can't be defeated. She'll always get back up and keep fighting."

Wuye spread his hands. "That's what makes her so troublesome."

With the Uzumaki clan's physique, coupled with the influence of the Nine-Tails' chakra, Kushina had every right to fight recklessly.

Bang! Bang, bang, bang...

The first bang was Kushina hammering Mitsui to the ground. The following bangs were the result of her continuous punches.

"Stop, stop, stop! Stop already!"

The chunin instructor flashed into the field and stopped Kushina's assault. "You win."

Whoosh!

As expected, an uproar erupted across the training ground.

The second-years erupted into deafening cheers.

Although they had been beaten up badly by Kushina before and should have sympathized with Mitsui, people were creatures with a sense of belonging.

When Kushina brought honor to their whole class, how could they remember what had happened before? They only felt proud to share in her glory.

"Kushina, wasn't that a little too harsh? We're all classmates at the Academy..."

At the sound of that familiar voice, many people covered their faces in unison.

Sure enough, Nawaki, the ambassador of peace, ran out to help Mitsui up. He brought him to the edge of the field and gave him some simple bandaging.

"Kushina, as companions of the same generation, we should care for one another and understand each other..."

Nawaki returned, and Kushina immediately turned around and ran.

"Hey! I'm not done yet!"

His shout was completely useless. Kushina darted back behind Wuye and stuck out her tongue at him.

Nawaki: "..."

"Tsunade, is that your younger brother? The little guy you planned to have me take as a disciple?" Orochimaru's expression nearly twisted. "Don't you think it would be more suitable for a fool like Jiraiya to teach a fool like him?"

Tsunade looked embarrassed. "Nawaki... well... his talent is actually quite good..."

"Hahaha, Tsunade, he's perfectly suited to be my disciple!" Jiraiya immediately perked up.

Tsunade punched him without hesitation. "Get lost."

"Don't hit me! We can talk this out!"

Jiraiya reflexively hugged his head, crouched into a defensive posture, and begged for mercy in one smooth motion.

"Does anyone else want to challenge the graduating class?"

The teacher thoughtfully rescued Nawaki from the situation.

But Nawaki did not appreciate it. Standing in the middle of the field, he looked over and said, "Wuye, Kushina, we still haven't settled what happened a few days ago, when you two teamed up to bully a genin..."

Teaming up to bully a genin... There were too many shocking points in that sentence, and everyone wore strange expressions.

Were second-years really this formidable these days?

"Since you don't accept my reasoning, let's fight first. If I win, you'll listen to my reasoning. How about it?" Nawaki called out.

The training ground began buzzing again.

"Now this is interesting." Orochimaru became intrigued. "The so-called convincing others with reason always rests on having a bigger fist than theirs."

Tsunade hesitated for a long while. "...I taught him that."

Orochimaru choked. "It does suit your style."

In response to Nawaki's challenge, Hyuga Wuye took a step forward.

What he intended to do was not something ordinary people could handle, so Nawaki had been his target from the very beginning.

"Wait."

Minato suddenly reached out and grabbed his wrist.

"What is it, Minato?" Wuye asked, turning back in confusion.

Minato pressed down on his hand. "He's strong. I'll go first."

Before Wuye could shake his head, Minato had already run out.

"This guy..."

Wuye smiled helplessly and could only watch Minato's retreating back.

"I'll be your opponent."

The sunshine-like smile on his face seemed to warm the whole world at once.

"You want to challenge the graduating class too? And you want to challenge me?" Nawaki asked curiously.

Minato nodded. "I could have challenged anyone, but Wuye and Kushina are my best friends."

"Best friends?"

Nawaki nodded. "I understand. Please."

"Please."

The two formed the Sign of Confrontation.

Swish!

The next instant, Minato charged forward. As he closed in on Nawaki, he thrust a kunai from his right hand.

"So fast!"

Nawaki was startled. He did not even have time to use the Body Replacement Technique and could only barely block the attack with his kunai.

But in the next moment, Minato shifted from in front of him to behind him and swept out with a kick.

"That reaction speed! Incredible!"

Jiraiya's eyes lit up.

"Talent. Talent in neural reflexes and bodily coordination." Orochimaru licked his lips.

Tsunade glanced at the situation in the field and felt deeply frustrated... She had wanted Orochimaru and Jiraiya to witness her younger brother's talent, yet some random blond brat had ended up showing them all up instead.

Swish, swish, swish!

On the field, Minato Namikaze continuously shifted positions around Nawaki, attacking him from every possible blind spot.

If Nawaki had not possessed such solid fundamentals, he would have been unable to hold out long ago.

Even so, it looked as though he was being completely suppressed.

The surrounding students were all stunned...