Meeting the Family?
"Four in the morning in Konoha?" Minato Namikaze murmured. At that hour, he was still asleep in bed.
His gaze quickly grew determined again. Someone stronger than him was working that hard, so he clearly wasn't training hard enough. From now on, he would get up two hours earlier every day. 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 that, 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 feel so lonely.
After they made the Seal of Reconciliation, Uchiha Yi swept his gaze over the crowd and called out, "Next!"
Uchiha Yi's performance left the students looking at one another. Minato had done well, but Uchiha Yi had beaten him without much effort.
Even Kushina Uzumaki had no desire to challenge Uchiha Yi now.
Sarutobi Seiichiro sighed inwardly at the sight. Uchiha Yi was already so far ahead of the other students that they were losing the courage to challenge him.
That wasn't necessarily a good thing.
Fortunately, Uchiha Yi had already caught Hiruzen Sarutobi's attention. He wouldn't lack opportunities to prove himself.
When no one stepped forward, Uchiha Yi sighed helplessly and left the training ground, giving the other students their chance.
He looked toward the fourth-years in the distance, where the Hyuga Brothers stood. No one at the academy could match him in a one-on-one fight anymore. If the Hyuga Brothers joined forces with Sarutobi Shinnosuke, they might just qualify to fight him—and only just.
Before the Ninja Villages were founded, Ninja generally fought alone. Afterward, the focus shifted to teamwork and Battle Experience.
As a result, Ninja from before the founding of the villages were generally stronger in individual combat.
That didn't mean Ninja had grown weaker since then. A well-coordinated team could sometimes bring out even greater strength.
The Hyuga Brothers and Sarutobi Shinnosuke together could definitely give him a fight.
But there was no need for that. He still had at least a year to grow. So how did Hiruzen Sarutobi plan to handle him?
"Heh, this kid really is something. He's already looking at the older students." Jiraiya's voice was full of teasing amusement.
As for Konoha at four in the morning, Jiraiya saw it every day when 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 must be doing fairly well if he's caught Uchiha Yi's interest.
Still, Shinnosuke was probably no match for Uchiha Yi. The boy was exceptionally gifted and needed careful guidance.
Orochimaru, however, was no longer watching Uchiha Yi. His gaze had shifted to Uchiha Mikoto, who was fighting Nawaki, and interest flickered in his eyes.
The two were evenly matched. A Senju and 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, right? What did you think? Would any of you consider training him?" Kushina Uzumaki asked over dinner, her eyes fixed eagerly on Tsunade across the table.
"I did. He's certainly a genius. Teacher Sarutobi asked me to take him as my student." Tsunade gave Nawaki a conflicted look. Uchiha Yi did make her feel a strange sense of closeness.
Mito Uzumaki stopped eating and looked at Tsunade with interest. With all her years of experience, she understood Hiruzen Sarutobi's intentions at once, and she supported them.
Tsunade wasn't suited to become Hokage. Neither was Nawaki.
If Nawaki became Hokage, wouldn't the position become the private property of the Senju Clan?
An Uchiha would be more fitting. After all, the Senju Clan and the Uchiha Clan had founded Konoha together, and the land Konoha stood on had belonged to the Uchiha Clan.
Unfortunately, the Uchiha temperament was a problem. Until the conflict between the Uchiha and Konoha was resolved, an Uchiha could not become Hokage.
Otherwise, the Third Hokage would have been Kagami Uchiha rather than Hiruzen Sarutobi.
If an Uchiha could truly resolve that conflict and fully integrate the Uchiha into Konoha, he would be suited to become the next Hokage.
Of course, an Uchiha wasn't the ideal choice. What Konoha needed now was a Hokage from an ordinary background, someone who could give ordinary Ninja hope. At the very least, the Hokage needed to appear to come from one.
Konoha didn't belong to the great clans. It belonged to everyone in Konoha.
That had been 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 asked, instantly excited.
Tsunade was one of Konoha's strongest. If Yi received her guidance, his strength would surely improve by leaps and bounds.
Amusement flashed in Tsunade's eyes. "I'm still considering it. Oh, and Teacher Sarutobi also wants me to become your teacher."
"You'd teach me and Yi?" Kushina Uzumaki's eyes lit up. She hurried to Tsunade's side, linked arms with her, and pleaded, "Tsunade, please! You have to teach both me and Yi."
"Heh. We'll see how you behave." A smile tugged at Tsunade's lips. She had already decided to take Uchiha Yi as her student, but it was rare to see Kushina like this. She simply had to put her younger cousin to the "test."
Mito Uzumaki watched them, her eyes full of comfort. 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 the boy."
"Grandma Mito!?" Kushina Uzumaki was startled. Was this what meeting the family felt like?