Hokage's Office
Hiruzen Sarutobi stood before a crystal ball, gazing into it like a seasoned sage.
The translucent orb shimmered faintly, its surface gradually revealing a live image of Class 1-A.
Hiruzen had two sons.
His eldest had already joined the Anbu and proven himself a highly capable shinobi.
But his younger son, Asuma Sarutobi, was still in his rebellious phase—constantly challenging his father's authority and exhausting his patience day by day.
After watching for a moment, Hiruzen couldn't help but chuckle softly.
Children are always like this.
Still, rivalry creates pressure—and pressure leads to growth.
Asuma had coasted through the Academy far too easily, protected by his status as the Hokage's son.
But with Yukawa around now, perhaps his rebellious son might start to change.
"Sei," Hiruzen called calmly, "I want all the files on Yukawa from the past three days. Complete documentation."
"Yes, Lord Hokage," came a voice from the shadows.
It was the Anbu operative, Sei.
Hiruzen had high expectations for Yukawa.
Otherwise, he never would have pulled the boy out from under Danzo Shimura's control.
Now, Yukawa had even rekindled Asuma's competitive spirit—two birds with one stone.
"Lord Hokage."
In under three minutes, Sei appeared before him.
She wore a frog mask, only short-cropped hair visible beneath it.
Hiruzen took the files and flipped through them quickly. His brow furrowed.
As expected—Danzo hadn't completely given up. Fortunately, he hadn't stirred any real trouble yet.
As he read on, a faint smile tugged at the corners of his mouth.
A hardworking, focused child. Good.
Just then, there was a knock at the door.
"Come in," Hiruzen said, setting the files aside.
The door opened—and in walked a blond-haired young man.
"Minato," Hiruzen's gaze sharpened slightly. "Did something happen? Is it about Kushina?"
Uzumaki Kushina—the Jinchūriki of the Nine-Tails.
Among the nine Tailed Beasts, the Nine-Tails possessed the greatest destructive power, capable of annihilating entire landscapes.
A Jinchūriki was a shinobi entrusted with housing a Tailed Beast—a village's ultimate secret weapon.
But the Tailed Beasts were volatile. Without stability, a Jinchūriki could easily lose control and go berserk.
And enemy villages constantly schemed to steal them.
Not long ago, Kumogakure had attempted to kidnap Kushina.
If not for Namikaze Minato's intervention, Konoha might have lost its Nine-Tails Jinchūriki forever.
"She slipped out of the barrier again today," Minato said with an apologetic smile. "The two Anbu assigned to guard her… were sealed up by her Fūinjutsu."
"Kushina's your fiancée, and I know your feelings run deep," Hiruzen sighed, exhaling a puff of smoke. "But this concerns the Nine-Tails. We can't afford to let her act on impulse."
"I understand," Minato said, his expression turning serious.
"No need to be so tense," Hiruzen chuckled, his tone softening. "Now that you've mastered the Flying Thunder God Technique, I doubt anyone will succeed in kidnapping her again."
The Flying Thunder God Technique—an advanced space-time ninjutsu that allowed the user to teleport instantly to a marked location.
As long as Kushina carried Minato's Flying Thunder God seal, he could reach her instantly, no matter the distance.
It wasn't an exaggeration to say that, from now on, he was the fastest man in the shinobi world.
"Is Jiraiya still in the village?" Hiruzen asked suddenly.
"He is," Minato nodded. "Sensei's been helping me develop a new jutsu recently."
"A new jutsu?" Hiruzen raised an eyebrow, intrigued. "What kind of jutsu takes both you and Jiraiya to create?"
"It's not quite finished yet," Minato replied with a confident smile. "But once it's ready, I'll demonstrate it for you personally."
"I'll be looking forward to that," Hiruzen said with a smile of his own.
For a moment, the atmosphere in the Hokage's office was warm and full of life.
---
Class 1-A, Academy Grounds
Yukawa's brow twitched slightly.
Why does being a shinobi require math?
There's a saying: a desperate person can do anything… except mathematics.
The problem in front of him required calculating the parabolic trajectory of a thrown kunai.
He understood the theory just fine. But would it help against something like Susano'o?
No one in their right mind would try to fight a fully-armored Uchiha with parabolic functions and a handful of kunai.
Maybe Danzo would.
Suddenly, a stir of noise swept through the classroom.
Yukawa looked up to see a group of students moving toward the exit.
Leading them were Kakashi Hatake and Obito Uchiha.
"Obito's challenging Kakashi again," Shizune sighed. "I've lost count of how many times it's happened since we started."
"Who usually wins?" Yukawa asked offhandedly.
"Kakashi. Every time. He's already recognized as a prodigy in the village."
Yukawa nodded slightly.
Even after only three days, he'd already picked up on Kakashi's overwhelming popularity.
It reminded him of Uchiha Sasuke's reputation in the original story.
Read more, trust Uchiha less.
Yukawa gave the courtyard a passing glance.
Sure enough, before he and Shizune could even finish their conversation, Obito was already lying on the ground.
And Kakashi hadn't even lifted a finger.
Obito had tried to show off with a Fire Style: Great Fireball Jutsu, only to scorch his own throat—he was coughing so hard it looked like he might lose a lung.
But he wasn't exactly unhappy.
Rin Nohara was at his side, gently helping him up.
That kind of tenderness could give someone the wrong idea.
Like maybe she actually likes me…
Unfortunately, they still didn't know:
The gifts of fate always come with a hidden price.
Yukawa quietly turned back to his desk.
If he wanted to survive in a future where Obito might try to "optimize" the world, he needed to keep studying.
After school, Yukawa went home, had dinner, and began training with kunai and shuriken again.
This time, Kurenai joined him for practice.
A week passed quickly.
Yukawa integrated smoothly into the class and familiarized himself with all of his classmates.
Besides well-known names like Kakashi Hatake and Asuma Sarutobi, one lesser-known figure also stood out—Mizuki.
In the original timeline, Mizuki was the instructor who manipulated Naruto into stealing the Scroll of Seals.
His greatest contribution to the story was giving the protagonist access to his signature jutsu: the Shadow Clone Jutsu.
---
Sunday Morning
Thud!
Yukawa casually threw a kunai—striking the wooden training post dead center.
A stream of glowing text appeared before his eyes.
He let out a quiet breath of relief.
[E-Rank Talent Acquired: Ninja Tool Throwing]
[Condition Met: Basic proficiency in throwing kunai and shuriken]
[Effect: Increases arm strength by 10%. Guaranteed accuracy on stationary targets within 100 meters.]
[Note: Can be upgraded—combine with seven types of ninja tools to synthesize D-Rank Talent: Ninja Tool Mastery.]
Yukawa instinctively clenched his fist.
A wave of strength surged through his arm—not overwhelming, but definitely noticeable.
10% boost at basic level... If I max this out, won't I have an arm like Raikage?
He grinned to himself.
Maybe I should go play basketball… iron elbow incoming.
Shaking off the random thoughts, Yukawa checked his updated status panel.
[E-Rank Talent (Locked): Seven Ninja Tools]
[Unlock Condition: Reach basic proficiency with seven distinct types of ninja tools.]
[Current Progress: 10%]
Compared to "Ninja Tool Throwing," this one was clearly harder to unlock.
Probably because it could be synthesized into a higher-grade D-Rank talent.
The current progress suggested that kunai and shuriken counted, but he'd still need to learn five more types.
Yukawa began gathering the scattered kunai and shuriken from the training field, preparing to leave.
He had already informed Yūhi Shinku that he'd be visiting the orphanage today.
But in truth… he had a different destination in mind.
It was time to meet with Kumo's undercover agent.
(The detail about Kushina being confined early on due to unstable control of the Nine-Tails is referenced from the official side story "The Tale of Minato." It's used here to support the plot of this story.)