Sasuke narrowed his eyes slightly, looking at Rock Lee who was repeatedly hitting the wooden stake in the training ground, with a look of surprise in his eyes.
Based on his observation, this Rock Lee should be a second-year student at the Ninja Academy, one year older than himself. Sasuke had met him while training on the street last night and was shocked by his physical strength, so he decided to observe this guy a little today.
Although Sasuke had received systematic training since childhood, he did not dare to say that he was definitely better than all the students in the year above. The second-year students had already started practicing chakra concentration, so if Rock Lee was the best among the sophomores, his level wouldn't be surprising.
However, after a long period of observation, Sasuke discovered that Rock Lee did not know how to use his own chakra to regulate and restore his physical strength. There was a subtle difference between simply being physically strong and constantly regulating that strength through chakra, and Sasuke could tell the difference.
In other words, Rock Lee was able to surpass him yesterday relying only on pure physical strength! This couldn't help but shock Sasuke, because this kind of physical ability was far beyond what these first and second-year students could achieve.
Sasuke was sure that even among the senior students who were about to graduate from the Ninja Academy, quite a few of them were not as physically fit as Rock Lee. But this guy was only a sophomore at the Academy. Even if he had started physical training since entering the Academy, it was amazing enough to reach this level.
"Bang!"
In the training ground, the boy kept hitting the wooden stake in front of him, with sweat dripping down his tender cheeks. But he didn't have time to wipe it off.
In the Hokage's office, Minato had a form in his hand. In the name column of the form were the three words [Rock Lee].
After reading the form, Minato raised his eyes and looked at the Chunin teacher in front of him.
"Hokage, this child is indeed not suitable to be a ninja," the Chunin teacher sighed bitterly.
Minato nodded and said, "Indeed, it seems that this child is less talented in controlling chakra. But he has only been in the Ninja Academy for a little over a year. Have you ever thought about how much trauma it would leave on him if you dismissed him like this?"
"In the history of the Ninja Academy, there has never been a student who was persuaded to drop out by a teacher halfway," Minato narrowed his eyes slightly.
"I don't want to do this either, but students from previous years, no matter how poor their talents were, have at least been able to condense chakra after more than half a year," the teacher replied.
The curriculum of the Ninja Academy begins teaching the techniques of condensing chakra about half a year after new students enter school.
"But Rock Lee has made no progress at all until now."
If possible, the teacher would certainly not be willing to give up any of his students, but according to Rock Lee's current level, even if he could condense chakra by the time of graduation, he would never be able to pass the graduation exam.
"If a ninja cannot use ninjutsu, can he still be called a ninja?" the teacher asked.
"Your vision is a bit narrow," Minato said, then handed the form back to the teacher in front of him and continued calmly. "His performance in physical fitness is the only one among the students in this class who scored full marks."
"No matter how strong your physical fitness is, you can't condense chakra," the man's eyes flickered. "The Ninja Academy is a place to train ninjas. What's the use of simply having strong physical strength?"
"You think it's useless, don't you?" Minato murmured, and said, "From what I know, Rock Lee's physical fitness level was only average just half a year ago. And he only spent half a year training in taijutsu and achieved full marks in this area."
"You are right," the teacher replied. It was exactly as Minato said. After Rock Lee discovered that he had no talent for chakra training, he focused most of his energy on physical training. He achieved this result in just half a year.
"So, this child is not completely without the talent to become a ninja. Even if you don't know ninjutsu, it doesn't mean you will be weaker than others," Minato chuckled and said, "You should have heard of the name Might Guy, right?"
The man in front of him hesitated for a moment and then nodded.
Half a year ago, Might Guy, who only knew taijutsu, was personally selected by the Hokage and promoted to Jonin. In the following missions, Might Guy performed extremely well.
"I think there's still something we can look forward to from this kid, right?" Minato said with a smile.
"Yes!" The Chunin teacher responded and exited the Hokage's office.
In a flash, several months passed.
"You completed this mission quite well."
After Minato finished reading the scroll in his hand, he raised his eyes, looked at Kakashi in front of him, and chuckled.
Kakashi had now become a pillar of the new generation of ninjas in Konoha. Not only did he inherit his father Hatake Sakumo's superb swordsmanship, but his skill in lightning-style ninjutsu was almost unmatched in Konoha. Therefore, the name of Hatake Kakashi had gradually become known to other major ninja villages.
"Since the mission is completed, go home and rest early," Minato walked up to Kakashi and patted his shoulder.
Looking at the handsome, white-haired young man who was as tall as himself, he couldn't help feeling proud.
"Today should be your eighteenth birthday, right?" He chuckled. He, Kushina, and Mikoto were all present when Kakashi was born. In the blink of an eye, eighteen years had passed.
"Yeah," Kakashi nodded.
"Tonight, Kushina and I will take our two children to attend your birthday party."
"Suzuka -senpai has been preparing for you at home for a long time while you were on the mission."
"Yes!" There was joy in Kakashi's eyes.
At dusk.
Just when Minato's family of four had changed their clothes and were about to go out to the Hatake clan's residence, Jiraiya suddenly appeared in front of their house.
"Hey, where are you going dressed like this?" Jiraiya leaned against the side of the gate, his arms folded.
"Teacher, has your book signing ended yet?" Minato asked. Once Jiraiya's new book was released, it quickly became popular all over the country, making him the most popular bestselling novelist today.
"Well, I'm so tired," Jiraiya breathed a sigh of relief when he mentioned this.
"Kushina, Chiharu, you are both dressed so beautifully today." He shifted his gaze, and when he saw Kushina and her daughter, his expression suddenly changed.
Just as he finished saying this, Kushina's expression changed slightly. She moved a few steps and directly blocked Naruto and Chiharu, like an eagle protecting its cubs. Those beautiful eyes immediately stared at Jiraiya, and then she spoke in a slightly low voice.
"Master Jiraiya, please stay away from Naruto and Chiharu from now on!"