At twenty-three, Minato Namikaze was at the brightest, most dazzling peak of his life, serving as Konoha's Fourth Hokage.
His fame resounded throughout the Shinobi World. Feared by the other hidden villages, he was known as Konoha's Yellow Flash.
Namikaze Sui, whose hair was also blond, was a thin Konoha farmer holding a hoe, an honest, simple smile on his face.
The contrast between their backgrounds and positions was undeniably striking. For Namikaze Sui in particular, twenty years of pressure had remained buried in his heart.
In everyday life, he never said a word about his ninja older brother.
The midday sun shone down. The young men beside the fields had sweat beading on their foreheads as they set aside their tools and ate from bowls.
River walked over naturally and accepted the water someone beside him handed over.
"Thanks."
"Haha, drink up, Sui! Those ninja depend on us for their food!"
The young man opposite him plopped down on the ground and spoke with a grin.
Everyone there was clearly well acquainted.
River said little. He took the bowl and drained it, while a line of system text flashed through his mind.
An unremarkable failure. Nothing worth learning.
That was its assessment of the young farmer before him, indicating that there was nothing worth learning from him.
After finishing the water, River looked into the distance.
This was a rice field, and they were transplanting seedlings. A breeze swept past, making the young plants sway from side to side.
"I'm going to Konoha."
He spoke suddenly.
"Hm? Do you need to buy something, Sui?"
The young man beside him asked.
"I don't intend to spend my life farming here."
River shook his head.
In this world of ninja, confining himself to a patch of farmland was no