In the Hokage's Office.
Hiruzen Sarutobi gazed into a crystal ball like a witch. The translucent sphere shifted, revealing a scene from Class 1-A. Hiruzen had two sons. The elder had already joined the Anbu and become an excellent ninja. But his second son, Asuma, was in his defiant phase, constantly going against him, which was exhausting.
Hiruzen watched for a while and couldn't help but smile. They really are just children. But competition breeds pressure. Asuma's status as the Hokage's son had made his school life too smooth. With Hagawa around, perhaps his rebellious son would change.
"Haru," Hiruzen said. "I want all the information on Hagawa from the last three days. Now."
"Yes, sir," a voice responded from the shadows. It was the Anbu ninja, Haru.
Hiruzen had high hopes for Hagawa. Otherwise, he wouldn't have snatched him from Danzo's grasp. Now, he had also ignited a competitive fire in Asuma. It was a case of killing two birds with one stone.
"Lord Hokage." In less than three minutes, Haru appeared before him. She wore a frog mask, with only her short hair visible.
Hiruzen took the file and began to read, his brow soon furrowing. Unsurprisingly, Danzo hadn't completely given up, but thankfully, no major trouble had occurred. He continued reading and a smile spread across his face. He's a good, hardworking child.
Just then, a knock came at the door. "Come in." Hiruzen casually put down the file.
"Lord Hokage." The door opened, and a young man with blond hair entered.
"Minato," Hiruzen's gaze sharpened, and he asked in a low voice, "What is it? Is there a problem with Kushina?"
Kushina Uzumaki was the Jinchuriki of the Nine-Tails. The nine Tailed Beasts possessed world-destroying power, with the Nine-Tails being the strongest. A Jinchuriki was a ninja with a Tailed Beast sealed inside them, serving as a village's ultimate trump card. But the Tailed Beasts were restless, which could easily cause a Jinchuriki to go berserk. On top of that, there was the constant threat of enemy villages. Not long ago, for instance, the Cloud Village had kidnapped Kushina. If not for Minato Namikaze, Konoha would have likely lost its Nine-Tails Jinchuriki forever.
"It's just that Kushina snuck out of the barrier again today," Minato said with an embarrassed smile. "The two Anbu members protecting her were immobilized by her sealing jutsu."
"Minato, I know about your feelings for Kushina, but this concerns the Nine-Tails. You can't let her be so reckless," Hiruzen said, taking a puff from his pipe.
"I understand!" Minato's expression turned serious.
"No need to be so tense," Hiruzen said, changing the subject with a smile. "Now that you've learned the Flying Thunder God Technique, I don't think Kushina will be kidnapped again."
The Flying Thunder God Technique was a Space-Time Ninjutsu that allowed instantaneous teleportation using special seals. For example, by placing a seal on Kushina, Minato could reach her in an instant, no matter how far away she was. It was no exaggeration to say that from now on, he was the fastest man in the ninja world.
"Is Jiraiya still in the village?" Hiruzen asked, suddenly remembering something.
"He is," Minato explained. "Sensei has been helping me develop a new jutsu recently."
"A new jutsu?" Hiruzen asked curiously. "What kind of jutsu requires both you and Jiraiya to develop it together?"
"It's not quite ready yet," Minato said with a smile. "I'll show it to you when it's complete."
"Then I shall wait in eager anticipation," Hiruzen said. They looked at each other and smiled. The Hokage's office was filled with a joyful and harmonious atmosphere.
In Class 1-A.
Hagawa's mouth twitched. Why do ninja have to learn math? There's a saying: a desperate person can do anything—except math. The problem in front of him was to calculate the parabolic trajectory of a kunai. I understand the principle, but is it useful against a Susanoo? I can't just take a kunai and stab it like Danzo did.
A commotion suddenly broke out in the classroom. Hagawa looked up and saw a group of people heading outside. At the front were Kakashi Hatake and Obito Uchiha.
"Obito is challenging Kakashi again," Shizune said, shaking her head. "I've lost count of how many times I've seen this since school started."
"Who wins?" Hagawa asked casually.
"Kakashi wins every time. He's the village's publicly acknowledged genius," Shizune said as if it were obvious.
Hagawa nodded slightly. Although it had only been a few days, he could already feel Kakashi's immense popularity. Simply put, it was similar to Sasuke Uchiha's in the original series. Read more books, stay away from the Uchiha.
Hagawa glanced over. In the brief moment he was talking to Shizune, Obito had already lost, and Kakashi hadn't even made a move. Obito had used Fire Style: Great Fireball Technique and ended up scorching his own throat, coughing so violently it looked like he was about to hack up a lung.
But he was in pain and happy at the same time, because Rin Nohara was taking care of him. A gentle attitude can often create the illusion that she likes me. Unfortunately, they didn't yet know that the gifts of fate have long been secretly marked with a price.
For the sake of his own life, Hagawa continued to study. He had no desire to be "optimized" when Obito created his new world.
After school, he returned home, ate dinner, and then began training with kunai and shuriken. The difference from yesterday was that Kurenai was now with him.
A week passed quickly. Hagawa had successfully integrated into the class and had gotten to know all his classmates. Besides the famous supporting characters like Kakashi and Asuma, there was another minor character: Mizuki. The Academy teacher who, in the original series, tricked the failing Naruto into stealing the Scroll of Seals. His greatest contribution was giving the protagonist a power-up: the Multiple Shadow Clone Technique.
On Sunday morning, Hagawa casually threw a kunai, which accurately hit the post. Several lines of text appeared in his vision. He couldn't help but breathe a sigh of relief.
[E-Rank Talent Trait: Shurikenjutsu (Acquired)]
Activation Condition: Reach the introductory level in shuriken and kunai throwing.
Effect: Increases arm strength by 10% from the base level. Guarantees a hit on a stationary target within 100 meters.
Note: Has one evolution path. Combine with E-Rank Trait [Seven Ninja Tools] to synthesize the D-Rank Trait [Ninja Tool Mastery].
Hagawa subconsciously clenched his fist. A surge of power flowed through him. It wasn't much, but he had definitely gotten a little stronger. A 10% increase just at the introductory level? When I master this completely, will I have a Qilin Arm? I should go play basketball with this iron elbow.
Hagawa pushed aside his random thoughts. He looked at the new Trait panel.
[E-Rank Talent Trait: Seven Ninja Tools (Not Yet Acquired)]
Activation Condition: Reach a proficient level with seven types of ninja tools.
Current Progress: 10%
Although it was also an E-Rank Trait, the difficulty of [Seven Ninja Tools] was much higher than [Shurikenjutsu]. Is it because it's required to synthesize a D-Rank Trait, so the difficulty is higher? The progress bar indicated that shuriken and kunai counted; he would need to learn five more types of ninja tools.
Hagawa collected the scattered kunai and shuriken from the ground and headed out. He had already asked Shinku for leave, saying he needed to visit the orphanage. But in reality, he was going to meet the Cloud Village's undercover agent.
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