My Son Menma Has What It Takes to Be Hokage

"Menma, keep practicing here. Dad is going on patrol."

Minato Namikaze stood with his left arm folded across his chest, his right hand rubbing his chin as he spoke to Menma. Afterward, he turned and walked deeper into the woods.

Once the dense trees concealed him from view, Minato Namikaze leaped into the branches and darted toward Konoha.

"Kushina, Kushina..."

Leaf Sealing Corps headquarters.

Kushina was organizing documents when she suddenly heard someone calling her name in a hushed voice from the window.

Turning toward the sound, she saw Minato's head poking halfway through the window, looking thoroughly furtive.

"Minato? What is it? Did something happen?" Though puzzled, Kushina still walked over to the window.

"Kushina, take leave and come home right away. I have something very important to tell you."

Minato spoke quietly, then vanished in a flash.

"What is it? Why so mysterious..."

Though confused, Kushina arranged her work as instructed, took leave, and hurried home.

At Minato's house, Kushina had barely returned when she saw Minato sitting on the sofa with a grave expression. Her heart skipped a beat.

She did not even have time to take off her shoes before hurrying over and asking, "Minato, what happened?"

"Yes, it's about Menma. Do you know your son is a genius?" Minato said solemnly.

"...You specifically called me home just to tell me that???"

Kushina froze for a moment, then flew into a rage.

"If you don't give me a proper explanation today, I'll make you regret it!!!"

"Kushina, calm down!"

Minato was not intimidated by Kushina. Instead, he lightly reprimanded her.

"Menma isn't an ordinary genius. He's a genius among geniuses."

As he spoke, Minato carefully explained everything that had happened when he taught Menma Ninjutsu in the woods that morning.

"You're saying Menma succeeded the very first time he used Ninjutsu?

And not only that, its power far exceeded its normal strength?"

Kushina looked utterly incredulous. If she did not know Minato so well, she would have suspected he was telling some kind of fairy tale.

"Anyway, I've never seen anyone use a C-Rank Wind Release: Great Breakthrough with the effect of a B-Rank Ninjutsu.

And that was while Menma was using Ninjutsu for the first time and still wasn't proficient with it.

I suspect that if he practices a few more times, it could reach the power of an A-Rank Ninjutsu."

Minato sighed.

"Not good! Minato, go back immediately and bring Menma home! You also need to erase all traces of him using Ninjutsu!"

Kushina seemed to have suddenly thought of something and immediately ordered Minato.

"You mean..." Minato suddenly realized it as well, his expression turning sharp. "I'm going!"

With that, Minato vanished with a whoosh. Not long after, two people suddenly appeared in the living room with another whoosh and both crashed onto the floor.

Menma was still dazed. He had been practicing Ninjutsu perfectly well when his dad suddenly appeared.

Without saying a word, Minato began punching and kicking the tree Menma had used Ninjutsu on, only stopping after the tree had fallen over.

Then, before Menma could ask why, Minato grabbed his arm. The next second, father and son crashed onto the floor of their living room.

Kushina hurried over and pulled her son and husband to their feet, then asked Menma with a serious expression:

"Menma, tell me honestly. How much Chakra did you use when you cast that Ninjutsu today?"

"Huh? Less than five percent, I think. Why?"

Though completely confused, Menma answered Kushina honestly.

Hearing that, Kushina could hardly believe it and asked Minato:

"Minato, when you graduated from the Ninja Academy, how many C-Rank Ninjutsu could the Chakra in your body cast?"

Minato gave a bitter smile.

"When I graduated from the Ninja Academy, how would I have known any Ninjutsu?

I didn't learn my first C-Rank Ninjutsu until a year after becoming a Genin, and even with all my Chakra, I could only use it twice before collapsing from exhaustion."

"Exactly. Even the Uzumaki Clan, renowned for its enormous Chakra reserves, had gifted Genin with at most half of Menma's Chakra."

Kushina sighed as well.

Hearing this, Menma finally understood a little. So he really was a genius.

But he did not think much of it. The Shinobi World was huge, cheats were everywhere, and geniuses were a dime a dozen.

His little bit of talent was nothing worth mentioning.

Seeing Menma's unconcerned expression, Kushina sighed and said:

"Menma, humility is a good thing, but you still don't understand what your father and I mean."

Menma looked confused. Wasn't it just that he had a little more Chakra?

It was not at the level of Chakra by the ton, only Chakra by the pound at most. Was there really any need to make such a fuss?

"Menma, you may not understand what this means yet, so let me explain."

Minato said seriously, "Your Jonin instructor Kakashi once told me that he could only use an S-Rank Ninjutsu—Lightning Cutter—four times a day with his Chakra.

The amount of Chakra used by one Lightning Cutter is roughly three times that of the C-Rank Fire Release—Great Fireball Technique.

Dad can use Great Fireball Technique too. Under normal circumstances, its Chakra consumption is about the same as Wind Release: Great Breakthrough.

From that perspective, your current Chakra reserves already exceed Kakashi's."

"You can't calculate it that way. A large portion of Kakashi's Chakra is used to suppress the Sharingan.

But even so, Menma, your Chakra reserves still exceed those of the vast majority of Chunin."

Kushina added, "And as your body develops during puberty, you're about to enter a period of rapid Chakra growth."

"So what? No matter how much Chakra I have, can it compare to a Jinchuriki or a Tailed Beast?" Menma still did not understand.

"...Menma, although I don't know where you learned about Jinchuriki and Tailed Beasts, I'm telling you, those are two entirely different concepts." Kushina continued.

"Jinchuriki and Tailed Beasts do indeed possess enormous Chakra, but there is a limit to how much Tailed Beast Chakra a Jinchuriki can bear.

Take your mother as an example, and let's use Kakashi again for comparison.

If Kakashi, who can use Lightning Cutter four times, has 100 Chakra, then I have 300 Chakra.

With the Nine-Tails' Chakra added in, I can safely use at most 900 Chakra.

Any more than that, and I risk losing consciousness and transforming into a Tailed Beast."

Kakashi had it rough. Even in another world, he could not escape being used as a unit of Chakra measurement.

"Based on your talent, Menma, Mom estimates that once you reach adulthood, your Chakra reserves will exceed 1,500.

Other than perfect Jinchuriki, almost no one will possess more Chakra than you.

What's more, even when using the same amount of Chakra, your Ninjutsu is far more powerful than ordinary Ninjutsu." Kushina added.

"Mm, that's a good thing, isn't it? So what are Mom and Dad worried about?

Are you worried that I'm too much of a genius?" Menma said smugly after hearing Kushina's words.

"That's exactly it." Kushina and Minato exchanged bitter smiles.

"If you were merely an ordinary genius, your father and I would not only be delighted, we would brag about you to our friends.

But your talent is simply too great. So great that your father and I are afraid."

"Your mother and I are not afraid that your talent is too great. We're afraid that others will covet it."

Minato added, "Besides Konoha, the Shinobi World has the other four great ninja villages and more than a dozen smaller ones.

Your mother and I are afraid that if word gets out, you'll become a target they hunt and seek to kill."

"Even in Konoha, you might not be safe. Ever since that person defected..." Kushina said worriedly.

"Kushina, watch your words!" Minato interrupted her sternly. Kushina immediately realized her mistake and fell silent.

Menma understood. He knew the simple principle that the tallest tree in the forest was the first to be felled. "Mm, I understand. From now on, I'll hide my abilities."

Kushina and Minato looked at each other. They had thought they would need to spend a great deal of effort explaining things to Menma.

They had not expected that Menma was not only astonishingly talented, but also far more mature than an ordinary child.

"Since you understand the stakes, your mother and I won't say any more.

Remember, unless your life is on the line, never reveal your talent." Minato said seriously.

Menma nodded in agreement. In truth, he was thinking much further ahead than Minato.

Hiding his abilities was necessary, but he needed to consider how much to hide and how to conceal them perfectly.

Besides his Chakra reserves, he also needed to control the power of his Ninjutsu.

"Dad, starting tomorrow, I want to control my Chakra more precisely," Menma said.

"You're right, but Dad's own Chakra control isn't very refined.

So starting tomorrow, you'll learn sealing techniques from Mom," Minato said.

"By the way, speaking of sealing techniques, Mom, do you have any way to seal my Chakra?" Menma asked.

"Hmm..." Kushina pondered for a while.

"There actually are similar sealing techniques. The Energy-Sealing Formula can seal the flow of Chakra inside a ninja's body.

The Five Elements Seal can interfere with the flow of Chakra inside a ninja's body, but both seals are too restrictive. Mom will need to think carefully about how to improve them."

"How about this? For the next couple of days, you can spar with Dad in actual combat and improve your taijutsu.

Use Ninjutsu as little as possible. Even if you do use it, reduce the amount of Chakra you put into it.

Mom will improve the sealing technique over the next few days, then seal your Chakra down to the level of an ordinary Genin."

"It would be best to add another safeguard, one that can release the seal in an emergency," Minato added.

"I know, I know. I'll consider how to perfect it." Kushina waved her hand.

Thus, over the next two days, Menma trained in taijutsu with Minato while Kushina improved the seal.

When sparring with Menma in taijutsu, Minato was once again astonished by Menma's talent.

Aside from his Chakra reserves, Menma also learned taijutsu at an astonishing pace. Not only were his reactions sharp enough to keep up with Minato's attacks,

but he also had wildly imaginative ideas that caught Minato off guard and gave him quite a scare.

Naturally, Minato had restrained his strength and speed to the level of a Genin, but his combat experience was the real deal.

By Minato's estimation, Menma's taijutsu was already no worse than the level Rock Lee, the genius from the previous class, had reached upon graduation.

My son Menma has what it takes to be Hokage! Lying in bed, Minato could not help proudly sighing to Kushina.