By a remarkable coincidence, not even half a year had passed before graduation exams approached. Since Satoru and Namikaze Minato stood out so much among the other students, the Ninja Academy made an exception and allowed them early graduation.
But there was one condition: the two of them had to hold out for ten minutes against a full team of three Chunin.
"Teacher Ikkaku, you're serious?" the blond youth asked incredulously. "Just the two of us... we're not even real ninja yet... and we have to fight three Chunin teachers and last ten minutes? This is a joke, right?"
Half a year ago, he had applied for early graduation, which only required fighting one genin. He understood the conditions would be harsh, but this was too much!
The Teacher just shook his head and replied with a crooked grin:
"You're both real stars of Konoha. Heck, I think the whole shinobi country has heard about your incredible talents by now."
"It's not my idea, believe me. It was ordered by the Third Hokage-sama himself," Teacher Ikkaku finally admitted.
"The Third Hokage?" Satoru nodded understandingly. "I see. Looks like Hokage-sama wants to test us properly, huh?"
"If that's the case, we're in," the transmigrator declared without a hint of fear or doubt.
Namikaze looked a bit downcast. His power was great, but not enough to face three Chunin at once.
"I can hold one Chunin, but the other two..." the blond genius trailed off awkwardly.
"Don't worry," the System's possessor assured confidently. "You just hold that one. Once I deal with the other two, I'll come help you."
"What?! This guy plans to beat three Chunin?!" Ikkaku heard something utterly unbelievable.
"You just need to last ten minutes..." he repeated, thinking maybe he hadn't explained clearly.
But Satoru just smiled faintly:
"Since Third Hokage-sama wants to test us, this time I'll properly show my hidden strength! Otherwise, I'll feel guilty toward Hokage-sama!"
"I'll definitely graduate early! And become a genin!" the transmigrator's resolve was so strong that no one could sway him then.
"Looks like Satoru is serious," Minato noted thoughtfully to Teacher Ikkaku. "Teacher, don't worry. I've fought Satoru and know he wasn't fighting at full strength. That's why I agreed to graduate with him." The young genius spoke pure truth.
The instructor froze in surprise. After a moment's thought, he said:
"Well then, fine. Either way, this match was planned. Ready?"
Satoru and the future father of Naruto needed no preparation. They headed straight to the training ground, where three Chunin awaited them.
However, to the Earth native's great surprise, besides those three, there were three more people there.
"What... what powerful chakra!" Satoru, able to see chakra flows, sensed that the aura of these three was terrifying one after another.
In the center stood a man in a Hokage hat and cloak with the Fire symbol. He had a small goatee and held a smoking pipe in his mouth.
"Third Hokage-sama!" everyone bowed respectfully.
Beside him stood two others. One had ashen hair and wore the standard Konoha Jonin uniform. The other was gray-haired with a distinctive wart on his nose.
"This is Hatake Sakumo-dono. And this is my student, one of the Three Legendary Sannin, Jiraiya," Hiruzen introduced them gently.
"You two, introduce yourselves," the Hokage ordered, looking at Satoru and Minato.
"I'm Namikaze Minato."
"And I'm Satoru."
The young genius and transmigrator bowed very politely to both legendary shinobi. Satoru knew well that these two were true legends of Konoha!
Hatake Sakumo, Konoha's White Fang, whose sword mastery was said to reach a truly terrifying level. And the other—mentor to Minato, Nagato, and Naruto from the original story. Both truly legendary figures.
"Very good. You two want to graduate early, but it won't be that simple," Hiruzen smirked. "You'll fight two against three Chunin. If you last ten minutes without surrendering or collapsing from exhaustion, you'll pass."
"And after you pass, there'll be another big surprise waiting," Jiraiya added with a smile.
The current Jiraiya didn't look like a lecherous old man at all; on the contrary, he was still a young and attractive man.
"Calm down, kids," Hatake continued softly, trying to encourage them. "No need to be so nervous. Just pretend we're not here and fight at full strength."
Namikaze's heart pounded anxiously, but Satoru was completely calm. His soul only anticipated the upcoming battle.
"Excellent!" Sarutobi, seeing the younger one's battle spirit, was quite pleased. It seemed he saw his younger self in this boy.
"Well then, take the field!" the Third commanded loudly.
The three Chunin leaped onto the training ground.
Their clan affiliations were obvious: one from the Yamanaka Clan, one from the Akimichi Clan, and the third from the Nara Clan.
"Ino-Shika-Cho!" the future husband of Kushina tensed noticeably.
"These three Chunin are Ino-Shika-Cho! They must coordinate perfectly. Satoru, got a plan?" the young genius asked.
"Remember our deal?" Satoru replied. "You hold one, I handle the other two and come help. You take the Nara. Watch out for his Shadow Binding Technique."
Satoru absolutely didn't want to be immobilized mid-fight. Otherwise, Namikaze alone against two Chunin would surely lose.
"Ready? 3! 2! 1! Begin!" This time, Jiraiya was the judge. He announced the start without ceremony.
And immediately, the Ino-Shika-Cho trio launched their perfectly coordinated attack.
"Shadow Binding Technique!" The Nara Clan Chunin used his binding technique right away, trying to immobilize both opponents and end the fight quickly.
But it wasn't that simple. As the Nara's shadow lunged at them, the young genius's kunai were already flying at him.
He had no choice but to dodge.
"Teacher, your opponent is me," Namikaze declared. He had predicted where the Nara would land and secretly thrown an explosive seal there.
"Meat Tank!" The Akimichi Clan Chunin, seeing the Nara already engaging the blond genius, turned into a huge ball and rolled straight at Satoru.
"Kid! Surrender! No matter how much of a genius you are, you can't handle all three of us!" said the Yamanaka Clan Chunin.
This girl, the only woman on the Ino-Shika-Cho team, said it while circling behind Satoru and throwing a kunai at him.
The situation was critical: Meat Tank barreled at Satoru from the front, and a kunai flew from behind.
And in that decisive moment, the boy leaped into the air with lightning speed, performing a graceful pirouette.
Then he quickly formed seals, aimed at the Yamanaka girl, and shouted:
"Fire Release: Great Fireball Technique!"
***
Read the story months ahead of the public release — early chapters are available on my Patreon: Granulan