"They may look strong, but I'll evaporate them all!" Pakura declared confidently. As the prodigy of the Hidden Sand Village, she'd never experienced failure.
"Don't get ahead of yourself, Pakura," Rasa interjected nearby. "They're the brightest talents from all the major villages. Don't underestimate them, you might trip up when you least expect it."
"Hmph." Pakura shot Rasa a disdainful glance and snorted dismissively.
"Enough, both of you," Chiyo said, stepping in to keep the peace. She turned to look in the direction of Yuki Seisui and the others.
"Pay special attention to that kid with the black longblade."
"According to our spies, he's not someone to take lightly."
Chiyo sighed as she continued, "Konoha has been keeping a tight lid on any information. All we know is, they're strong."
"But no one knows the exact nature of their abilities."
"And that young man with the slicked-back hair, you'll need to be careful around him too."
"That's the Lightning Chakra Mode from the Hidden Cloud. It's powerful!"
"Got it, I'll be careful," Pakura replied seriously, glancing toward the young A, future Fourth Raikage.
Yuki Seisui and his group had only spoken briefly with Young A before parting ways.
Minato, recalling the earlier exchange, asked curiously, "So, are they our opponents?"
"Yeah," Seisui nodded.
"Looks like this won't be easy."
Young A, destined to become the Fourth Raikage, possessed the Lightning Chakra Mode, a technique granting him exceptional speed and defense.
His close-quarters combat skills were the best in the Hidden Cloud and even renowned across the entire ninja world. His speed in battle was like a streak of blue lightning, often overwhelming enemies before they could react.
His raw speed was on par with even the Flying Raijin used by Minato.
At least… it would be, if he already knew that technique at this point.
If he did, Seisui wasn't worried for himself, but for Minato and Uchiha Haru, things might get dicey.
After all, Minato hadn't learned Flying Raijin yet.
And Haru still only had a two-tomoe Sharingan. Even if she could track Young A's movements, her body wouldn't be able to keep up.
Right now, both of them were only at about Chunin-level strength.
They hadn't reached their full potential yet.
Thinking this over, Seisui sighed to himself.
"I wonder which other villages will be sending people..."
Noticing his sigh, Uchiha Haru walked over and gently took his hand. "We'll find out soon enough."
"And we're not going to lose."
Hearing that, Seisui smiled softly at her.
Lose?
With his cheat system active the whole time, how could he possibly lose?
It was just… going to be a little troublesome.
Compared to him, someone with access to the ninja templates, none of these people were real threats!
"Let's fight for youth together, Seisui!" Might Duy suddenly appeared, holding bags of ninja tools, flashing a double thumbs-up at the group.
"Youth is something you can't turn back!"
"Push forward!"
"Let's go!"
With that, Duy dashed off dramatically.
Seisui could still faintly hear him shouting as he ran:
"This time, I'm definitely going to become a Chunin!"
"...Say, did Duy ever find teammates?" Minato asked, snapping out of his admiration and turning to Seisui.
Seisui shook his head. "No idea."
He'd been in seclusion training for over a month, how could he possibly know?
"But... I'd guess he probably did," he added, sounding a bit uncertain.
Duy didn't exactly have the best reputation in the village…
But still, a Genin was a ninja too, he should have been able to find a squad.
"That's good, then," Minato said with a bright smile. "I'd love to spar with Duy sometime!"
Seisui gave him a strange look. "You want to get kicked across the field by Duy?"
He still remembered clearly how Might Duy had opened all Eight Gates and what that looked like. How could Minato possibly want to fight that?
"When the exams are over, you can challenge him in the arena," Seisui said flatly.
"Ahem." Minato cleared his throat, quickly clarifying, "I meant someday, in the future."
He still hadn't forgotten that devastating kick from Duy in the practice arena.
That wasn't sparring, that was asking for punishment.
Sure, he got beaten up by Seisui all the time, but he wasn't completely insane.
"You're such a coward, Minato," Seisui teased.
"I'm just not ready yet!" Minato protested, launching into a speech about how ninja shouldn't be judged using terms like "cowardly."
The air between them lightened, laughter bubbling around them.
Uchiha Haru ignored their bickering, looked up at the sky, and calmly said, "It's almost noon. Time to eat."
Minato's smile froze. He looked up too, then gasped, "Ah! I still have to find Kushina!"
"You guys go ahead, I'll catch up later!" he shouted, running off toward the Senju clan compound.
"...What's that all about?" Seisui asked. He hadn't been outside in over a month and turned to Haru, hoping she'd explain.
Haru gave a helpless shrug. "Kushina was getting bored with learning sealing techniques, so Grandma Mito asked Minato to accompany her during practice."
"He was thrilled to say yes."
"Tch," Seisui clicked his tongue in understanding.
"Then let's go grab lunch, just the two of us."
"Mm," Haru nodded.
Seisui found a random ramen shop and took Haru in. To his surprise, they spotted Jiraiya huddled in a corner, acting all suspicious, a sleazy grin on his face as he read from a book with a bright yellow cover.
"Jiraiya-sensei?" Seisui called out.
Startled by the sudden voice, Jiraiya jumped and hurriedly hid the book behind his back, straightening up his clothes in a panic.
"What are you two doing here?"
"I thought the old man sent you off to train?"
"I've been training for a month straight," Seisui explained. "Just taking a little break."
Jiraiya nodded in approval. Long training stints always needed proper rest.
"So what about you, Sensei? Weren't you out on a mission?" Haru asked curiously.
"Mission's done!" Jiraiya replied proudly. He glanced around to make sure no one else was listening, then leaned in close and whispered.
"I was out informing the leaders of the other four great ninja villages."
"In the entire village, only your teacher has the strength and status to pull that off!"
He struck a pose, laughing proudly with hands on his hips.
"Orochimaru, Tsunade, they're no match for the great Jiraiya!"
Would it kill you not to brag for once?
That's what he thought, but he didn't say it out loud. Instead, he feigned a wide-eyed innocent look. "Should I go tell Sister Tsunade then?"
"No need!" Jiraiya blurted out, suddenly flustered. If Tsunade found out, he'd be dead meat!
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