Sensing his teacher's solemnity and possessing memories that felt like they belonged to a past life—or even a future one—Minato already understood what his teacher was about to say.
Words similar to these had been spoken by Jiraiya in his own memories.
"But for now, let's go grab something to eat, maybe change clothes," Jiraiya suddenly said, glancing at his own black funeral attire.
The next moment, he heavily slapped Minato's shoulder and grinned, "C'mon, it's been over half a year. Let me treat you to some barbecue."
Minato hesitated, then said awkwardly, "Why don't we just eat at my place? You're always buying for me…"
"No need to be so polite with me. Let's go," Jiraiya insisted, dragging Minato toward the barbecue restaurant.
Jiraiya lived alone, same as Minato, and wasn't much of a cook either.
Minato's cooking wasn't bad per se… but after finally returning to the village, Jiraiya didn't want to torture his taste buds.
They first stopped briefly at Minato's home to change clothes.
Since his missions demanded it, Jiraiya kept his spare clothing sealed in a scroll he carried on him.
After lunch at the barbecue shop, the two returned again to Minato's house.
Facing each other in the living room, Jiraiya spoke, "As for your return this time, Sarutobi-sensei already told me about your situation. Seems like my assumption was correct—you truly have great talent in ninjutsu."
Previously, Jiraiya had only taught Minato methods for training basic abilities. As for ninjutsu, he merely handed Minato the ninjutsu scroll from the Third.
That was because Jiraiya clearly knew Minato—who had self-attained the Body Flicker Technique and even developed "Instant Flash"—possessed a level of ninjutsu talent most people could never reach.
Just as expected, not long after during the Chakra Aptitude Test, Minato figured out how to combine different chakra natures all on his own, using Fire Release together with Wind Release to overwhelm Yan Uchiha's Fire Release—a member of the Uchiha clan.
It hadn't been long since Jiraiya gave Minato that ninjutsu scroll.
"[Shadow Clone Jutsu], that was also you who taught Kushina, right?" Jiraiya continued.
Minato nodded. There was no point in hiding things from his mentor.
"You really know how to tailor teaching methods to each student's characteristics," Jiraiya chuckled. Kushina, blessed with the bloodline of the Uzumaki Clan and possessing a straightforward fighting style, found techniques like Shadow Clone especially suitable.
"That guy Hatake Sakumo actually praised you pretty highly—he's never complimented a young ninja like that before. You're the first," Jiraiya added. Regarding Hatake Sakumo himself, both Jiraiya and Tsunade as well as Orochimaru deeply respected the man.
As he spoke, Jiraiya noticed Minato remained expressionless. Having relived his life, all such gifted talents and praises held no meaning for Minato anymore.
He had once become renowned throughout the Ninja World, earning praise from mentors, disciples, and superiors alike—even his enemies simultaneously respected and feared him.
Yet fifteen years later on that fateful night, he still fell.
Talent and praise alone cannot equally translate into the strength needed to protect one's family...
"It seems you're just like me—not swayed by trivial matters like this. Well done. Only by maintaining this mindset can you become a powerful ninja like your teacher."
Seeing that Minato didn't display any excitement or arrogance like most children would, Jiraiya wasn't surprised—he understood Minato's nature well enough. Still, he took the opportunity to boast a little.
Minato smiled slightly and asked, "Master Jiraiya, earlier you mentioned something every disciple of yours must know. What was it?"
He already had a rough idea, but there was still something Minato wanted to confirm.
Hearing this, Jiraiya's expression grew serious. "The Great Toad Sage from Mount Myoboku once made a prophecy. He said that among my disciples, someone shall emerge as the Child of the Prophecy destined to shape the future development of the Ninja World..."
"The Child of the Prophecy?" Though he already expected this, Minato feigned surprise.
"In the future, the Ninja World will face immense disaster. The Child of the Prophecy is the one who either leads the ninja world toward even greater development or drags it into destruction..." Jiraiya said gravely.
Upon hearing this, Minato couldn't help but feel a deep sense of unease. That masked man he fought had once claimed himself to be the ruler of the world.
To stop him, Minato sealed half of the Nine-Tails' power—along with his and Kushina's chakra—inside their newborn child, hoping that when the disaster Jiraiya spoke of arrived, that child would be able to stop him.
Minato named him after the protagonist of Jiraiya's novel *The Tale of the Utterly Gutsy Ninja*, believing firmly that this child would become the prophesied Child destined to prevent the Ninja World's catastrophe.
But placing such a heavy burden on a child felt somewhat premature. Now, given sufficient time, Minato wanted to verify everything for himself.
"And you're my very first disciple. Not even ten years old, and already showing incredible talent and ability. So perhaps... you might be the Child of the Prophecy!"
Jiraiya gazed at Minato as he spoke. This student of his possessed extraordinary gifts, truly a once-in-a-decade—or even rarer—prodigy. His potential was limitless.
If it were only for those reasons, Jiraiya wouldn't have planned to tell Minato about the Great Toad Sage's prophecy just yet. But after hearing what Minato had said during today's conversation with Orochimaru, he began to suspect that Minato might actually be the prophesized child.
"Me? Probably not."
Minato immediately dismissed the possibility himself. If not for those coincidences, he should have died fifteen years later without being able to stop the Masked Man's plan—and thus could hardly be called the Child of the Prophecy.
"This is merely my speculation. I simply believe that even if I take more apprentices in the future, it'll be hard to find anyone better than you."
Jiraiya said, but Minato couldn't help silently thinking. During the upcoming Second Great Ninja World War, his teacher would be away from the village for as long as three years. From what he'd heard, that was when Jiraiya took in three war orphans as disciples.
Among them, though details about one particular student were unclear, his teacher's expectations for him were even higher than the ones he had for Minato himself.
However, it seemed this disciple died later during the conflict. They wouldn't be the Child of the Prophecy.
"Did the Great Toad Sage tell you specific details about the Child of the Prophecy? If so, you could use those criteria when choosing students in the future. Maybe then, you could identify who the prophecy child truly is."
Minato asked a question he had already prepared. Although he felt a little guilty toward his teacher, there were things Minato needed to confirm in person by visiting Mount Myoboku and meeting the Great Toad Sage.
He wanted to determine who exactly this so-called Child of the Prophecy was.
...
(To be continued.)
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