An Elementary Schooler's Level

Minato actually being the teacher for the graduation exam truly caught Hideki off guard.

But with the arrow already on the string, he had no time to think too much about it.

Hideki made a gesture, and the three-man team immediately huddled into a circle, heads lowered, arms over one another's shoulders as they gave themselves one final pre-battle pep talk.

"He's fast—so fast it's like he has no friends. We definitely don't stand a chance in close combat."

Hideki spoke with a grave expression.

Obito recalled that day's "accident" as well and nodded deeply. "I'm afraid we won't even get the chance to use ninjutsu. That would be bad."

Ninjutsu required hand seals and chakra mobilization, yet that day, Minato had stopped him before he could even throw a bottle.

"Then what do we do?" Kakashi finally managed to get a word in, his face full of confusion.

Kakashi believed he knew a fair bit about this crew-cut senior, after all. His father had mentioned him plenty of times.

But now, it seemed these two guys knew him even better than Kakashi did?

And judging by Obito's expression, he was clearly still shaken by it.

So... what exactly had these two gone through?

"We're not without hope, everyone," Hideki said in a low voice.

If this had been a fight to the death, Hideki would have chosen to surrender. There was no shame in losing to Minato, nor was there any shame in joining him.

But this was only an exam.

And they did not need to win. They only needed to hold out for five minutes...

The three began quietly discussing their battle plan.

Minato stood with his arms folded, his smile unchanged as he waited calmly.

Eyes all around swept across the field, while the discussions in the spectator stands grew increasingly noisy.

Meanwhile, at the Hokage Building.

An old man stood before a crystal ball, watching the live broadcast.

"This child... isn't simple, is he?" Hiruzen Sarutobi murmured as he took a puff from his pipe, engrossed in the scene.

The weak compared, while the strong appreciated.

Among the three examinees, some saw only the disparity in their bloodlines and starting points. Others saw something else.

White Fang's son and that Uchiha child both seemed to regard the child named Hideki as their leader.

That made Hiruzen Sarutobi curious, because his impression of Hideki had remained at the stage of "possibly a genius."

But then, he suddenly noticed that half a mummy was standing in front of him.

Hiruzen Sarutobi froze. "When did you get here?"

Shimura Danzō said nothing. His single eye stared fixedly at the crystal ball—or rather, at a certain figure within it.

At that moment, the three boys lined up side by side, fully prepared.

Teacher Guangtai at the edge of the field raised one hand high, then brought it down.

"The exam begins!"

Minato's smile remained, but he naturally lowered his folded arms. Though he did not draw a weapon, it still counted as showing respect for the exam.

Minato was polite, well-mannered, and graceful.

But the three examinees had a very different style...

"Get him!"

Hideki roared at the top of his lungs, and the three immediately launched a straight-line charge!

"Hey! They're really fired up!"

Quite a few people in the spectator stands laughed.

Three apprentice ninja dared to attack an Elite Jonin, and they had even chosen close-range taijutsu.

Whether that was bravery or foolishness depended entirely on one's perspective.

Bang! Bang bang bang bang—

Fists and legs collided, dull impacts ringing across the field.

Minato appeared not to be holding back, merely stopping short at the right moment. In truth, though, the three could not get close to him at all and were constantly forced back.

After roughly a hundred exchanges, the three split apart in perfect coordination, forming a triangular encirclement around Minato.

The boys panted heavily, forming a stark contrast with the calm and composed Minato.

Yet the spectators erupted in cheers. Putting aside everything else, being able to exchange even a few moves with Minato at their age was already impressive.

Perhaps they were still far from deserving the title of ninja, but most of the people here today had only come to watch the excitement.

In a quiet corner of the noisy crowd, a husband and wife sat silently. The woman was at the most beautiful age of her life, her gentle smile carrying a touch of charm.

Her lower abdomen was swollen; she appeared to be six to eight months pregnant.

There was hardly anyone around them, as though they were not watching the same match as everyone else.

"What outstanding children... Our child will be just as outstanding, right, Fugaku?"

"Of course. He is the son of the Uchiha clan head—your child and mine," Fugaku said gently.

The Uchiha clan head and his wife exchanged a sweet smile. Just like Konoha's exclusion of the Uchiha, the distance others kept from them gave the couple plenty of space.

Uchiha Fugaku looked once more at the spiky-haired boy on the field.

His eyes held no attempt to hide his admiration, but another kind of light flickered within them as well.

The Uchiha of today...

They had grown accustomed to external threats and Konoha's exclusion. The various clan elders had formed their own factions, and there were faint signs of internal strife.

As clan head, before realizing that greater ambition, he had to bring rebirth to the Uchiha.

Fugaku's thoughts drifted, and his gaze became increasingly resolute, as though he had placed immense hopes upon Obito.

Unfortunately, Obito could not sense it. Otherwise, he would have entered an instant frenzy of excitement.

Still, that was a good thing. Obito needed to remain calm now, because he was about to become the main character.

The three boys exchanged glances and nodded in tacit understanding. Under everyone's watchful eyes, they began circling Minato!

"Oh?"

Shikaku Nara in the spectator stands noticed something, and his eyes lit up.

"This... they even prepared a strategy? No... they must have just come up with it. Interesting."

As the three boys constantly shifted positions, they each pulled smoke bombs from their ninja tool pouches and hurled them down!

Before long, Minato was surrounded by clouds of smoke. The smoke formed a ring around him, and only the vague silhouettes of the three boys could be seen moving through it.

The battle instantly became more sophisticated.

The spectators gasped in amazement. The adults had come to watch with the mindset of seeing children play house, but they had not expected these little ones to be this skilled.

Of course, some people were already completely baffled, such as the trio's teacher, Guangtai.

Teacher Guangtai had already been utterly shaken during the trio's taijutsu exchange. He had even started thinking that if the three did not graduate, he might lose his job.

But now, only one question remained in his mind: where did they get those smoke bombs? They could not have stolen them from the Ninja Academy, could they...

Stealing smoke bombs from the Ninja Academy would not be much of a problem. If the three children could graduate, Teacher Guangtai would be happier than anyone.

But if smoke bombs had appeared, then things like Explosive Tags...

Teacher Guangtai did not dare think about it. He had the feeling that whether the three graduated or not, he was not far from losing his job.

Of course, Teacher Guangtai's worries were definitely unnecessary.

Hideki and the others had not stolen anything from the Ninja Academy. Kunai, shuriken, smoke bombs, Explosive Tags, and the like had all been taken from Kakashi's house.

They did not know whether the exam would prohibit such things, but it was always better to be prepared!

The three boys continued shifting positions within the smoke.

As for Minato, after waiting briefly, he finally began forming hand seals.

Yes, Minato had been waiting all along.

The Third Hokage had sent him here not merely to serve as an examiner. He wanted Minato to become the trio's Jonin instructor, so Minato needed to get an early understanding of his students' abilities and compatibility.

Making three apprentice Genin last five minutes before an Elite Jonin was inherently a false proposition.

The reason Minato had waited was to see what kind of strategy the three had.

And now, he had seen enough. It was time to counterattack!

"Wind Release: Great Breakthrough!"

A basic Wind Release ninjutsu was the most suitable choice for dispersing the smoke.

Minato's hand seals were exceptionally clean and fluid, and remarkably pleasing to watch.

A fierce wind rose, instantly blowing away more than half the smoke surrounding Minato. Yet it did not blow out any of the boys.

The corner of Minato's lips curled up as he immediately turned, adopting an attacking stance toward his rear.

Then, in the next second, astonishment suddenly filled his azure eyes!

"I'm getting serious now, Senior Minato!"

Three identical figures rushed toward Minato in a triangular formation, each rubbing two blue chakra spheres between their hands!

They were all Hideki! And every one of them was controlling a sphere with both hands!