The Exam That Came to Nothing, Minato's Choice

The arena stands still bore traces of wooden roots.

The chakra aftershock left by that hundred-meter wooden Buddha half an hour ago had yet to fully dissipate. The ground at the center of the arena had cracked into a spiderweb pattern, and a faint green glow seeped from the deepest fissures.

The Third Hokage now stood on the raised platform, sweeping his gaze across the expressions of the delegations from every nation below.

Every face was as white as rice paper.

"Due to the severe damage to the venue, as well as an unexpected security incident within the village—" Hiruzen Sarutobi paused, choosing his words carefully. "This Chūnin Exam has been postponed indefinitely. Delegations from all nations are requested to depart in an orderly manner before noon tomorrow. Konoha will arrange for Anbu to escort you to the border."

The moment he finished speaking, there were not even any perfunctory complaints below.

The Hidden Sand jōnin leading the delegation was the first to rise, his chair legs scraping against the ground. He nodded once at the Third Hokage, then turned and left. As he passed Sasori of the Red Sand, he casually dragged the red-haired kid to his feet.

Sasori stumbled from the pull. He looked back at the wooden wreckage in the center of the arena, still slowly growing, pressed his lips together, and said nothing.

The Hidden Stone delegation left even faster. Their leading jōnin did not even greet the Third Hokage. With his head lowered, he dragged his people toward the exit.

When they passed in the direction of the Senju Clan Compound, the entire group took a detour, wasting an extra three hundred meters.

No one thought it unnecessary.

The Hidden Cloud Village delegation was the last to leave.

Their leader was a special jōnin from the Land of Lightning in his early forties. He did not hurry to stand. Leaning against the back of his chair, he stared for a long time past the ruins at the green motes of light still lingering above the Senju Clan Compound.

A subordinate beside him leaned closer. "Sir, should we—"

"Return." He stood and patted the dust from his knees.

He paused at the exit of the stands.

Without looking back.

"Send word home. Nawaki Senju, threat level: Special S."

His subordinate swallowed. "Special S... on the same level as the First Hokage?"

"More troublesome than the First." His voice was very low. "The First was an adult. This one is a child. Children grow up."

He stepped out of the stands.

"Tell the Raikage that if Konoha does not willingly hand over the Wood Release bloodline... then they should not blame us for abandoning the rules."

The night wind carried his voice away.

Konoha Hospital, third-floor special care ward.

When Minato Namikaze woke, dawn had already broken outside the window.

He tried moving his right hand. Pain. It ran from his shoulder joint all the way to his fingertips, as if someone had hammered along every seam of his bones.

The binding force of Wood Release. Those roots had not seemed fast when they wrapped around him, but the instant they tightened, they had been fiercer than steel cables. He had struggled three times. On the third, he heard something in his shoulder go crack.

The ceiling was white. Spotlessly clean. A faint crack ran from the light fixture to the corner of the wall.

Minato stared at that crack for a long time.

There was a crunch from the windowsill.

Jiraiya sat there. No telling when he had arrived. One leg rested against the window frame, and he was peeling an apple with a kunai. The peel came off crookedly, breaking into three pieces and falling to the floor.

"You're awake?" Jiraiya did not even raise his head.

Minato did not answer.

Jiraiya took a bite of the apple, chewed twice, and spat out a seed. "What, not feeling great after getting slammed into the ground by someone your own age? If you want to cry, do it now. You'll lose face once the nurse comes in."

Minato's lips twitched. He did not smile.

"Sensei."

"Mm."

"His Wood Release... didn't require hand seals."

Jiraiya paused mid-chew.

Minato continued staring at the ceiling. "From beginning to end, he never formed a single seal. Wood Dragon, wooden bindings, wooden walls... he controlled all of them with one hand. Even his chakra fluctuations barely changed."

Jiraiya said nothing.

"I used Flying Raijin." Minato's voice was flat, as if he were reviewing an unrelated training exercise. "The mark landed, and the teleportation succeeded. I attacked within 0.3 seconds of appearing behind him—his roots arrived before my kunai did."

He closed his eyes.

"He did not even turn around."

The ward was quiet for several seconds. Jiraiya tossed the apple core into the trash can by the bed, wiped his hands, and finally turned to look at his disciple.

"Then do you hate him?"

"No."

Minato answered quickly.

Jiraiya raised an eyebrow and waited.

"I don't hate him," Minato repeated. "I just..."

He thought for a long time before finding the word.

"Can't accept it."

"Can't accept what?"

"I can't accept that the Flying Raijin I trained for three months could not buy me even one second of advantage against him." Minato clenched the bedsheet, then loosened his fingers. "I can't accept that the things I said to Kushina became as light as wastepaper before an absolute gap in strength."

Jiraiya lowered his other leg and sat upright.

For once, he did not joke.

"And then?"

Minato turned his head to look at Jiraiya.

"Sensei, did you see what he was like when he fought Danzō's Root?"

Jiraiya shook his head. He had been rushing toward the Senju Clan Compound at the time, but everything had ended before he arrived.

"I didn't see it. But I heard about it." Something changed in Minato's eyes. "A hundred-meter wooden Buddha. One person crushing twenty years of Root's foundations."

He paused for two seconds.

"But that isn't what I was thinking about."

"I was thinking—why did he fight?"

Jiraiya did not answer.

"Danzō surrounded the Senju Clan Compound. His sister was inside. His people were inside." Minato's voice softened. "He became like that to protect the people he cared about."

The ward was very quiet. In the hallway, a nurse's cart rolled past.

"What I lost wasn't speed." Minato's voice steadied. "It was this."

Jiraiya watched him for a while.

Then this usually frivolous man laughed. Not mockingly. It was the kind of laugh a teacher could not help but let out when he saw that his student had finally understood.

"Minato."

"Mm."

"Do you know why I took you as my disciple?"

Minato did not answer.

Jiraiya rose and walked to the bedside, looking down at him. "Not because you're talented. Konoha has plenty of talented people."

He flicked Minato's forehead.

Minato hissed.

"It's because after losing, your first thought was not, 'Why is he so strong?' but 'What am I still lacking?'" Jiraiya withdrew his hand. "A mind like that is worth more than Flying Raijin."

Rubbing his forehead, Minato stared blankly for two seconds.

Then he smiled.

It was a smile uglier than crying, but it was still a smile.

"Sensei."

"Speak."

"Once I can get out of bed, I want to find him."

Jiraiya's expression turned subtle. "Find him for what? Bringing a last will this time?"

"To talk face-to-face." Minato shifted his gaze from the ceiling to the window. Beyond it lay Konoha's skyline, and in one direction, the newly grown canopy of the Senju Clan Compound could vaguely be seen.

"A loss is a loss. But I can't spend the rest of my life lying here thinking about it."

His voice had changed. It was not the all-or-nothing resolve from when he shouted, "I won't give up," in the arena. It was something quieter.

"I want to know what exactly he wants to do. If what he wants to do is right—I want to do it with him."

Jiraiya put both hands into his pockets and tilted his head, studying him for a long while.

"Fine." Jiraiya headed for the door. "Then hurry up and recover. Don't go embarrassing yourself at his clan compound when you can barely walk."

"Sensei."

"What now?"

"Buy me a skewer of tricolor dango. I can't exactly go empty-handed."

Jiraiya paused.

He looked back, the corner of his mouth twitching. "Fine. At least you've got some manners, kid."

The door closed.

Jiraiya's footsteps in the hallway gradually faded away.

Minato looked out the window again. The canopy in the direction of the Senju Clan Compound was rimmed with gold in the morning light, its new leaves rustling in the wind.

Three days later.

Outside Konoha Hospital.

Minato removed the last layer of bandages. His right shoulder was still a little stiff, but it no longer affected his walking.

Holding a box of tricolor dango in his left hand, he stood at the intersection.

Turning left led to the Ninja Academy. Turning right led to the Senju Clan Compound.

Minato took a deep breath.

He turned right.

There were two more trees at the gates of the Senju Clan Compound than the last time he had passed by. Living trees. New buds were still sprouting from their trunks.

The gate was open.

From the courtyard came the sound of a spatula striking a wok, mixed with a young man's shout—

"Big sis! Stop adding it! There's enough salt! Enough!!"