Yuki Seisui chuckled but didn't say anything. Instead, he got to work on the meal in front of him.
Once he'd eaten his fill, Seisui turned to Minato with a serious expression. "This is the first original jutsu I've ever created," he said solemnly. "I'm entrusting it to you now. Treat it well."
Minato raised a brow, clearly skeptical, but didn't protest. He simply waited for Seisui to continue.
Seeing Minato's reaction, Seisui smirked and activated the Duel Arena.
There were five hours left before midnight.
His plan was simple: teach Minato the Sexy Jutsu, then defeat him in a duel to secure a win for the day. That was the real reason he'd asked Minato to come over tonight. As long as they exited the Duel Arena after midnight, the system would count it as a win for the new day.
There were no limitations to how many times the Duel Arena could be used, but only the first match of the day counted toward progress. The rest were just for practice.
As Seisui activated the arena, Minato was pulled in.
"It's already dark, so let's do our training here," Seisui said.
"Alright," Minato nodded.
Seisui then began to explain the principles behind the Sexy Jutsu.
Minato sat cross-legged, listening attentively. The technique wasn't particularly complicated, in essence, it was just a modified Transformation Jutsu. It had originally been invented by Naruto Uzumaki while he was still in the academy.
How hard could it be?
With Minato's talent, it only took two verbal explanations and a single demonstration from Seisui for him to get it.
"Sexy Jutsu!"
Minato formed the hand seals and shouted.
A puff of smoke rose, and suddenly, a female version of Yuki Seisui stood before him, curves in all the right places, revealing just enough to tease the imagination.
"You bastard! Why would you transform into me?!" Seisui shouted, instantly regretting teaching the jutsu.
Minato reverted to his original form, a bit embarrassed. "Didn't you say the transformation works best when you're familiar with the person?"
He crossed his arms, growing more confident. "I know you the best, so of course I transformed into you."
"Prepare to die!!" Seisui roared, drawing a kunai and charging at Minato.
"You actually brought a kunai?!" Minato shouted, startled, and immediately took off running.
One chased while the other fled, and the two darted all around the Duel Arena for hours.
In the end, Seisui managed to land the final blow, relying on the stamina he'd inherited from stacking with the Seventh Hokage. He tackled Minato and jabbed the kunai into him.
"Finally caught you..." Seisui collapsed to the ground, gasping for air.
In the next instant, the world spun, and they were both ejected back into reality.
They lay there on the floor, still panting. While the Duel Arena didn't cause any physical exhaustion, their bodies still reacted to the intensity of what they'd just experienced. The sudden transition left both of them feeling drained.
Once they recovered, Minato glared at Seisui. "I'm not falling for your tricks next time!"
What was supposed to be a training session had turned into a battle in the arena, with a kunai, no less. What kind of friend does that?
"It's late. Just stay over tonight," Seisui offered.
"Sure," Minato nodded.
He casually walked over to the cupboard, pulled out two futons, and laid them out on the floor with practiced ease.
They had known each other for years. Whenever one of them stayed too late at the other's house, they just crashed for the night. Both of them were intimately familiar with each other's homes.
Seisui watched Minato finish setting up and let out a long yawn. "Well, good night."
He flopped onto the bed without another word.
Minato shook his head but said nothing. He lay down as well, silently vowing to get Seisui back for this someday.
If it had been any normal friend, this might've caused a rift, but not between them.
That was the difference between best friends and just friends.
==========
The next morning, Yuki Seisui slowly opened his eyes, sitting up in bed and beginning his daily ritual of early-morning zoning out.
A knock on the door jolted him back to reality.
"I'm coming, I'm coming," he called out.
He didn't need to ask who it was. Minato always woke up earlier than him, and he always went out to buy breakfast.
As Seisui opened the door, the familiar face of the blond Minato appeared before him.
"Here. This is yours," Minato said, handing him the breakfast bag.
"Minato, you're amazing. If only you were a girl…" Seisui teased.
"...Huh?" Minato blinked. Then realization dawned. Without saying a word, he calmly took a step back.
"I need to run back and grab something. See you at school!" he called, sprinting off before Seisui could say another word.
"What's he running for?" Seisui muttered, confused, but didn't dwell on it. He cleaned himself up quickly, grabbed his food, and headed for the academy.
As he walked, he thought about his gacha system.
If he managed to win twenty matches each month, he'd earn ten recruitment scrolls.
Every ten-roll came with a guaranteed Eternal Mangekyo Sharingan Sasuke shard.
So in one year, he'd get twelve shards. After about eight years, he'd have the full set and unlock the real deal.
That wasn't bad. Not bad at all.
After all, what's a little effort when the reward is overwhelming power?
As for whether he could win that many battles? Well, real life wasn't like a video game where opponents were matched based on level. While he often sparred with Minato, if it looked like he wouldn't meet his monthly quota, he'd just "help" some weaker students train, and rack up wins.
He'd turn the Duel Arena into his own kekkei genkai.
With the excuse of training his classmates, and the image of being a model student full of the Will of Fire, he'd craft a perfect public persona, one of a prodigy ninja with strong ideals.
The more Seisui thought about it, the more impressed he was with his own brilliance.
When he arrived at class, Minato was already seated.
"Yo, Minato."
"Hey, Seisui."
Their seats were set up for three people. Sitting next to them was someone with spiky hair.
"Huh?" Seisui looked at the spiky-haired boy, frowning. "This hedgehog looks kinda familiar…"
"You bastard!!" the boy exploded. "I'm your greatest rival on the path to becoming Hokage, and you forgot me?!"
Seisui blinked, and finally remembered the hot-blooded kid from yesterday who'd shouted at him during introductions.
"Oh, sorry, sorry. I just woke up, still a little foggy," Seisui apologized sincerely.
Forgetting someone was pretty rude, no matter where you were from.
Hearing his apology, the boy finally calmed down. "Remember this well! I'm Inuzuka Ryo!"
"Your future Hokage-sama!"
"I'll be Hokage! You can be my advisor! Got that?!"
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