The next day, Minato Namikaze went to the Hokage Office to meet Kazemori Masaki as promised. The moment he saw him, Minato bowed and said, "Good morning, Lord Hokage."
"This isn't a formal occasion. There's no need for such a stiff title. That isn't what you should call me," Kazemori Masaki replied.
Minato immediately caught on. He was now Kazemori Masaki's student, and their relationship had grown much closer. Unless it was a formal occasion, there was no need to address him as "Lord Hokage." That would only create distance, which was hardly good for a teacher and student.
Teachers and students could sometimes be quite casual with each other. As a child, Tsunade had called Kazemori Masaki simply "Kazemori," just as Sasuke Uchiha called his teacher "Kakashi," and Naruto Uzumaki called his "Pervy Sage." Their teachers never minded and were always very tolerant of their students.
"Yes, Teacher Kazemori," Minato said, hastily correcting himself.
"Good." Kazemori Masaki nodded slightly. "Then I'll call you Minato. Minato, I've read through your entire record. Together with Heizō's assessment, that's given me a general understanding of your abilities and some ideas about how to teach you."
"Please guide me, Teacher," Minato said respectfully.
"We both use wind release chakra, so we're very compatible in that respect. Our fighting styles also have some similarities. Among my students, Heizō is a wind release ninja too, but his fighting style isn't particularly like mine." Kazemori Masaki sighed softly.
Minato knew little about Heizo Hattori's fighting style. He only knew that he had come from the Anbu and had never seen him fight. From Kazemori Masaki's words, Minato gathered that Heizo Hattori might have taken an unconventional path as a wind release ninja.
"Besides teaching you the usual Wind Release techniques, I've specifically found a secret technique