Chapter 14 - 14: Minato's Challenge

"Kazuki, I want to challenge you again today." Minato turned his head and looked at Kazuki with sincere eyes. For Minato, Kazuki was both his confidant and his rival. Although he knew there was a huge gap between him and Kazuki, every time he sparred with Kazuki, he could find his own shortcomings and learn some small tricks from Kazuki. This was extremely rare for Minato, who came from a commoner background. Sometimes, Kazuki himself would give Minato some advice, which greatly benefited Minato. And so, Minato came to schedule a match with Kazuki. "Alright. But it will have to be a little later." Kazuki didn't refuse. It was inevitable that Minato would be noticed by Hiruzen. Perhaps he had already been reported to Hiruzen by Seiichirō. If it weren't for unearthing talent, how could a Jonin like Seiichirō come to the Ninja Academy to be an elite class teacher? You could say Hiruzen was an old fox as many clan heirs were more or less suppressed by him. But during his time as Hokage, he was quite good to civilian Ninja. Under Seiichirō's leadership, Kazuki and his group arrived at the training ground. Putting aside their grade, even the previous and the one before that were also there. Kazuki quickly found Mikoto's class. They had already begun sparring practice under the teacher's guidance. However, the first to train were some weaker students. Afterward, Kazuki found the older students in the higher grade. The current Ninja Academy was a four-year system, meaning that class was this year's graduating class, and the Hyuga clan head's two sons, Hiashi and Hizashi, were in that class. In addition, there was also Hiruzen's eldest son, Shinnosuke. This was also currently the strongest class in the Academy. Of course, the third-year class with Mikoto was also very strong, including Nawaki, Mikoto, and this generation's Ino–Shika–Chō: Nara Shikaku, Akimichi Choza, and Yamanaka Inoichi. Comparatively, there were fewer strong individuals in the second year, but it did have future Konoha mainstays like Aburame Shibi. The future clan head of the Uchiha clan, Fugaku, had just graduated from the Ninja Academy last year. "Alright, stop looking. Our class's sparring practice is about to begin. All of you, perform well. Don't embarrass yourselves in front of so many people." Seiichirō led his students to their assigned training ground and earnestly instructed them, "Later, students from other first-year classes might challenge us. Don't lose to them." Kazuki was in Class One, the so-called elite class. In scenarios like this, they were eligible for a sparring ground, while other first-year classes could only challenge them to gain attention. "Yes!" "Good, the first group to spar is Shimura Masaki and Nara Kawa." As Seiichirō's words fell, two students stepped onto the training ground. After making the seal of opposition, they began to fight under Seiichirō's command. ... On the other side, Hiruzen arrived at the Ninja Academy, accompanied by Orochimaru, Tsunade, and Jiraiya. With their strength, if they didn't want to expose their whereabouts, the students in the Academy naturally wouldn't notice them. "Sage of Six Paths, isn't that your son? He looks just like you!" Jiraiya pointed at Shinnosuke, who had already stepped onto the training ground, and teased. Hiruzen gave Jiraiya a speechless look. Calling him the Sage of Six Paths was too disrespectful. He wasn't even forty yet, so how was he the Sage of Six Paths? However, when Shinnosuke was mentioned, Hiruzen's eyes were filled with appreciation. Although Shinnosuke's talent was slightly inferior to Orochimaru's, he was still superior to most people, and he had inherited his Five Chakra Natures. In the future, when he inherits his Five Nature Release, Shinnosuke will become a pillar of Konoha. Indeed, his bloodline was very powerful. His gaze swept over the two brothers, Hiashi and Hizashi. According to Shinnosuke, both brothers were very strong and weren't weaker than him. As expected of the Hyuga clan, but it was a pity they were from the Hyuga clan, as they were too feudalistic, making it difficult for the Hokage to interfere in the Hyuga clan's affairs. The existence of the Caged Bird Curse Seal, and the main and branch families, left Hiruzen helpless. Sometimes, when the power of the Byakugan was needed, he had to negotiate with the main family. Fortunately, he didn't need to worry about the Byakugan being obtained by other villages. Thinking about other villages possibly obtaining the Sealing Jutsu inheritance of the Uzumaki clan, Hiruzen felt a pang of sadness. He didn't want to see the Uzumaki clan wiped out. If the Uzumaki could move to Konoha as a whole, he couldn't imagine how strong Konoha would become. "Orochimaru, how are you doing finding Nawaki's teammates?" Tsunade saw Nawaki in the distance, a smile gracing her lips. Her younger brother had a very good reputation. It was a pity that this generation's Ino–Shika–Chō couldn't be arranged as Nawaki's teammates. Otherwise, she wouldn't have to worry about Nawaki's safety. "Not yet." Orochimaru shook his head slightly, his arms crossed. He had no dissatisfaction whatsoever with Tsunade entrusting Nawaki to him for training. On the contrary, he liked Nawaki very much. His talent was very good and he had great talent in both Earth Release and Water Release. It was precisely because of this that he needed to be cautious when choosing teammates for Nawaki. "How about choosing an Uchiha?" Hiruzen suddenly stared at Orochimaru and said. "Uchiha?" Orochimaru frowned. Although Nawaki wasn't named Senju, he had Senju bloodline. If an Uchiha was added, his team would be quite interesting. Hiruzen's gaze deepened as he looked towards Mikoto. "Since Kagami's sacrifice, there has been considerable turmoil within the Uchiha. We need to help the faction close to Konoha grow quickly. Mikoto is the granddaughter of the second elder and represents the new generation of the peace faction. Taking her as a disciple would benefit both Konoha and the Uchiha." Then, Hiruzen continued to add, "And also this child, Kazuki, I hope one of you can take him as a disciple. His talent is not inferior to Kagami's, and he also inherited the Will of Fire. He needs someone to protect him."