"school starts tomorrow," Minato said, his eyes shining with excitement.
"I heard the Third Hokage is giving the opening speech. I can't wait."
"What's there to look forward to?" Yuki Seisui scoffed, curling his lip.
"It's not like you haven't heard it before."
Minato's face turned bright red as he argued back, "It's not the same! Before, we were eavesdropping. Tomorrow, we'll be listening to fair and square!"
"Alright, alright, let's go train already."
Yuki Seisui dragged Minato out of the room. He lived near the Forest of Death, and on the outskirts of the forest, the two had cleared out a patch of land to create a simple training ground.
The streets were still relatively quiet, it was early, but the vendor stalls lining the sides were already open for business. As the boys passed, many greeted them warmly.
"Training again, Minato? Seisui? You two are really dedicated!"
One fruit vendor uncle grinned and tossed them each a piece of fruit. "These are from a fresh batch. Give them a try!"
"Thank you, Uncle Yamamoto!" Minato beamed as he accepted the fruit.
Seisui wiped his with his sleeve, took a bite of the apple, then gave Yamamoto a thumbs-up with a grin. "Thanks, Uncle! It's sweet!"
"Haha! I'm glad you like it!" Yamamoto laughed heartily at their reactions.
"We'll be heading out now, Uncle!"
"Alright! I'll save some for you two when you come back later!"
"Got it!" Seisui called back as he grabbed Minato and broke into a run toward the training ground.
Seisui had been an orphan since the age of three. All he knew was how to wear a smile and speak kindly. If Minato was like a little sun, whose warm smile could heal others, then Seisui was someone who brought joy through his words and cheerful demeanor.
Because of that, everyone around them liked the pair. Every now and then, people would bring them snacks or little gifts.
As they arrived at the training ground, a man in a bright green jumpsuit greeted them with a thumbs-up.
"Young men, we meet again!"
"This is youth!"
Seisui looked at Might Duy, then at Minato, who also returned a thumbs-up with a brilliant smile.
Has Minato already caught the Might bug?
Seisui gave Might Duy a thumbs-up too and grinned. "A day without dancing is a day wasted!"
"Well said!" Might Duy looked at Seisui, eyes brimming with tears.
"This is youth!"
"Now, one hundred laps around the village! If you can't do that, five thousand one-handed push-ups!"
With that, he sprinted off to begin his workout.
"…Well then." Minato stared after the shrinking figure of Might Duy, at a loss for words.
Might Duy was well known in the village, as something of an oddball. He had remained a genin for over a decade, often mocked as a failure. Most people didn't even bother to talk to him unless they were buying something.
"Minato," Seisui said, patting his shoulder, "Never underestimate any man."
"He's the embodiment of youth!"
"…Alright," Minato nodded, starting his training with renewed focus.
As he watched Minato, Seisui held back one final comment.
Might Duy wasn't just the embodiment of youth, he was its very father.
But there was no point in saying that now.
"Minato, let's see who masters healing techniques first!"
"Alright!" Minato responded with enthusiasm.
Chakra refinement wasn't taught until after enrollment, but Seisui had learned it early, his parents had been Chunin, and left behind some jutsu scrolls, including one for chakra refinement.
Ninja clans had special heritage elixirs, allowing them to start refining chakra as early as age three.
Chakra was the result of perfectly merging spiritual and physical energy.
He and Minato didn't have any of those special elixirs, so even though they had the chakra refinement technique, they had resisted using it early to avoid damaging their bodies.
Thankfully, they had recently succeeded in refining chakra. It was a bit later than the clans, but still much earlier than most civilians.
Minato began practicing tree-climbing, while Seisui sank his consciousness into the Duel Arena.
It was free summon time!
With a thought, the summon interface appeared before him. The first thing he saw was Uchiha Sasuke (Eternal Mangekyo Sharingan), and beside him, a towering Susanoo.
Sasuke held a black-flame-wreathed long blade, the Amaterasu flickering in the wind. Below him were two A-ranked ninja and a group of B-ranked ones.
Beneath that, two buttons glowed:
[Free Summon]
[Tenfold Summon]
Seisui focused his thoughts. A swirling flame ignited in the air and began to spiral. The next second, a white flash erupted, and then, a dark, ugly lump of metal dropped in front of him.
Just like in a mobile game, this summon had one free pull per year.
And his first free summon gave him… a lump of black metal.
"Tch. What trash." He tossed it to the ground.
[Congratulations! You've obtained Chakra-Conductive Metal.]
"…Huh?" Seisui blinked, quickly picking the lump back up.
"I almost threw away a hidden treasure. I wouldn't mind getting more of this next time."
The chunk of metal was about the size of two forearms, but surprisingly light.
Chakra-conductive metal, a rare material that could efficiently conduct, enhance, and preserve chakra. In the original story, Asuma Sarutobi's trench knives were made from this stuff. They were worth a whopping fifty million ryo.
Fifteen million more than Seisui's own bounty!
The piece he summoned was thick enough to forge more than ten pairs of trench knives.
"I've struck gold!"
Seisui's eyes sparkled as he lovingly caressed the dark metal.
It could easily be turned into a long blade and a short one, with some left over.
"Hey, Seisui! What are you doing?" Minato had been about to start climbing when he noticed Seisui hadn't joined him, and came back, only to find him hugging a chunk of metal.
"Ah, nothing." Seisui shook his head and carried the metal over.
"Let's begin!"
Chakra control was critical for any ninja. Seisui knew that better than most.
They had already learned tree-walking and water-walking some time ago, so now they were working on healing techniques, which demanded even more precise chakra control.
Instead of just walking on trees, their training now involved leaping between the trunks of over twenty trees in the area.
Seisui glanced at Minato and sighed. Truthfully, he had already mastered the family's jutsu techniques.
But when he saw Minato's determined face, he decided to stick around and train alongside him.
Minato looked curiously at the chunk of metal in Seisui's hands but didn't pry. With his usual bright smile, he said, "I think I can get the advanced version of tree-walking down today!"
He looked toward the tree trunks surrounding them, their bark covered with scratches, proof of their past training.
At the base of the trees were thick mats the two had placed for safety.
Getting injured would mean days without training, and that just wouldn't do.
==========
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