Meeting the Family?

"Four in the morning in Konoha?" Minato Namikaze murmured. He was still asleep at that hour.

His gaze quickly grew determined again. Someone stronger than him worked that hard, while he clearly wasn't training hard enough. From now on, he would get up two hours earlier. Sleeping from nine at night until four in the morning should be enough.

When he got tired, he could practice the speed of his Hand Seals. Uchiha Yi was much faster at those, too.

"I understand! Yi, I'll work even harder!" Minato looked at Uchiha Yi with gratitude. Perhaps Yi wanted him to grow stronger quickly so he wouldn't be lonely.

After they formed the Seal of Reconciliation, Uchiha Yi swept his gaze around the field and called out, "Next!"

His classmates exchanged looks. Minato Namikaze had performed well, yet Uchiha Yi had defeated him with hardly any effort.

Even Kushina Uzumaki had no desire to challenge Uchiha Yi now, let alone anyone else.

Sarutobi Seiichiro sighed inwardly at the sight. Uchiha Yi was so far ahead of his classmates that they were almost losing the courage to challenge him.

That might not be a good thing.

Fortunately, Uchiha Yi had already caught Hiruzen Sarutobi's attention. There was no need to worry about him lacking chances to prove himself.

When no one challenged him, Uchiha Yi sighed helplessly and stepped off the training ground, leaving it to the other students.

He looked toward the fourth-years in the distance, where the Hyuga Brothers stood. No one at the school could match him alone anymore. If the Hyuga Brothers teamed up with Sarutobi Shinnosuke, they might just qualify to fight him—and only just.

Before the Ninja Villages were founded, ninja generally fought alone. Afterward, teamwork and combat experience became more important.

As a result, ninja from before the founding of the villages were generally stronger in one-on-one fights.

That did not mean ninja had grown weaker since then, of course. A well-coordinated team could sometimes bring out far greater strength.

The Hyuga Brothers and Sarutobi Shinnosuke together could certainly put up a fight against him.

But there was no need for that. He still had at least a year to grow. How did Hiruzen Sarutobi plan to arrange things for him?

"Heh, this kid really is something. He's already eyeing the older students," Jiraiya teased.

As for seeing Konoha at four in the morning, Jiraiya could do that every day he stayed in the village—on his way home to sleep.

"There really isn't anyone at the Ninja Academy who can match him now." Hiruzen Sarutobi glanced at Sarutobi Shinnosuke. Uchiha Yi probably wanted to challenge his son, too. Well, Shinnosuke couldn't be doing too badly if he had caught Yi's interest.

Still, Shinnosuke was probably no match for Uchiha Yi. The boy was exceptionally gifted and needed careful guidance.

Orochimaru was no longer watching Uchiha Yi. Instead, he turned his attention to Uchiha Mikoto, who was fighting Nawaki, and interest flickered in his eyes.

The two were evenly matched. A Senju against an Uchiha—interesting. This was a good chance to observe how an Uchiha awakened the Sharingan.

For now, Orochimaru was mostly curious about the Sharingan, especially Kagami Uchiha's eyes, which had far surpassed an ordinary Sharingan.

If I could cultivate someone with a Mangekyō Sharingan, that would be interesting!

"Tsunade, you saw Yi, didn't you? What did you think? Do you want to teach him?" At dinner that evening, Kushina Uzumaki looked eagerly at Tsunade across the table.

"I did. He really is a genius. Teacher Sarutobi asked me to take him as a student." Tsunade glanced at Nawaki, her feelings complicated. Uchiha Yi did feel strangely familiar to her.

Mito Uzumaki stopped eating and looked at Tsunade with interest. With her years of experience, she immediately understood Hiruzen Sarutobi's intentions, and she supported them.

Tsunade was not suited to becoming Hokage. Neither was Nawaki.

If Nawaki became Hokage, wouldn't the position become the private property of the Senju Clan?

An Uchiha would be suitable. After all, the Senju Clan and Uchiha Clan had founded Konoha together, and the land Konoha stood on had belonged to the Uchiha Clan.

Unfortunately, the Uchiha temperament posed too much of a problem. Until the issues surrounding the Uchiha were resolved, an Uchiha should not become Hokage.

Otherwise, Kagami Uchiha, not Hiruzen Sarutobi, would have become the Third Hokage.

If an Uchiha could resolve the problems between the Uchiha and Konoha and fully integrate the clan into the village, then he would be suited to becoming the next Hokage.

Of course, an Uchiha was not the ideal choice. What Konoha needed now was a Hokage from a common background, someone who could give ordinary ninja hope—or at least someone who appeared to be a commoner.

Konoha did not belong to the great clans. It belonged to everyone in Konoha.

That was part of Hiruzen Sarutobi's thinking when he took Jiraiya and Orochimaru as students.

Orochimaru was indeed a good candidate.

"Then, Tsunade, will you take Yi as your student?" Kushina Uzumaki immediately grew excited.

Tsunade was one of Konoha's strongest ninja. If Yi received her guidance, his strength would surely improve by leaps and bounds.

A hint of amusement flashed in Tsunade's eyes. "I'm still thinking about it. Oh, and Teacher Sarutobi wants me to teach you as well."

"You'd teach me and Yi?" Kushina Uzumaki's eyes lit up. She hurried to Tsunade's side, took her arm, and pleaded, "Tsunade, please! You have to be our teacher."

"Heh. That depends on how you behave." A smile tugged at Tsunade's lips. She had already decided to take Uchiha Yi as a student, but it was rare to see Kushina act like this. She simply had to "test" her cousin a little.

Mito Uzumaki watched them with relief in her eyes. Even after she was gone, Kushina would have family in Konoha.

A thought occurred to her, and she said to Kushina Uzumaki, "Kushina, bring Uchiha Yi home sometime. Let this old woman meet him."

"Grandma Mito!?" Kushina Uzumaki was startled. Was this meeting the family?