[Chapter Size: 2500 Words.]
Third Person POV
Konoha, 43.
...
...
"So are you going to take this mission?", Sakumo looked at Minato, thoughtful and at the same time surprised, as he stared at the scroll Minato had chosen among so many missions.
Sakumo had personally told Minato to go to the Hokage's office instead of picking one in the mission room, since he wanted to talk more privately with his son's new official teacher.
"Of course. Why not?", Minato gave a small smile, ironizing.
"Well... I just didn't expect this from you", Sakumo said, looking at the low-rank mission.
Who was Minato Namikaze? The ninja who could make any great nation in this world panic just by stepping within their borders, causing all their forces to prepare for a possible war, whether elite ninjas, bijuus, or kages, everything they had to face a potential threat that could destroy their nation.
But what would the figure with the highest bounty alive in the Bingo Book do as a mission? Hunt lost cats...
Sakumo took some time to understand, although it was generally like this that ninja teams with genins started, but he still felt slightly dizzy knowing that the one doing this was precisely him.
"My team has to start somewhere. Even if your son is already talented enough to almost enter the Jonin category, I want him to go through a better adaptation to work as a team among the three", Minato said. There was not much more to say about that.
"All right. That is perfectly valid coming from you, Minato. I was just surprised, but I fully trust your supervision, both of Kakashi and the other children", he replied, still watching Minato closely.
"However, I want to talk to you about them... Tell me, how far do you think those three can go? How far do you think my son can go?", he asked. It was a valid question from a father, especially when he was talking about his own son. Obviously, Minato would train them.
Sakumo knew they would not be simple ninjas, not in that man's hands. Even the nickname Yellow Flash of Konoha had been set aside. It was no longer necessary to use nicknames to scare anyone; the name Minato Namikaze alone upheld its own legend.
Minato thought for a moment.
"Well, honestly... Kakashi does not have the same talent as you", Minato spoke sincerely after hesitating a little, Sakumo might be disappointed by that.
Sakumo, the White Fang of Konoha, had always been a more powerful name than Kakashi Hatake, the Copy Ninja, had been until the end of the story. Perhaps because Kakashi had to restrain the Sharingan, which consumed a great deal of chakra, or perhaps because he had abandoned kenjutsu. Minato could not say for sure, but in his opinion, Kakashi did not possess the same qualities as his father to the point of making an entire nation tremble as the name of the White Fang was capable of doing.
Sakumo looked at him and nodded. He seemed to accept his son's negative points. There was no way to change that.
"The other two also lack talent. If I were to choose only the most talented, I would have chosen others. But no. I preferred these two, along with your son. And it is obvious that Kakashi is far more talented than the others..."
Minato made a brief pause. "But I see potential in the three of them...", he concluded.
Potential does not mean talent, and talent does not mean potential. Potential is how far you can go, while talent is how quickly you learn things and master them. With talent, you acquire much more quickly; however, that may not mean much. An example would be Neji, who had unique talent within the clan, but compared to Naruto's potential, his talent became insignificant. Naruto led all the ninjas of the world against Madara, Obito, and the Ten Tails... As for Neji, he ended up becoming just another casualty in the middle of a war.
If Minato managed to reintroduce kenjutsu to Kakashi, develop Kamui, and even implant wood cells into Obito, as well as perhaps place the Three Tails and turn Rin into a jinchūriki, that would put them in a category far above all the ninjas of this generation. Perhaps only a Guy using the Eight Gates would be capable of fighting them.
"Well, if you have that vision...", Sakumo did not know exactly what Minato's plans were, but he would not ask too much nor interfere. That was his son's teacher. If he had plans to make them powerful, then he would trust the man who would lead Konoha in a not-so-distant future — or so he hoped.
Minato was about to leave, but Sakumo had not finished yet.
"You spoke about kenjutsu. Well, that is something my son no longer practices much, but he still keeps his sword. I was thinking of teaching him some techniques, but I think it is more appropriate that you do it", he said, while pulling out a scroll.
"Here there are twelve sword techniques inside this scroll. It has been a while since I passed anything on to you, has it not? So I thought about giving this to you. Since I know you are smart and talented enough to learn on your own, I will only take a look at the final result, but I would like you to pass this on to my son in the future. He will certainly learn it, for I know he may greatly admire this path", Sakumo concluded.
Minato raised an eyebrow. Sakumo had taught him ninja kenjutsu, and that had given him an opening into the fencing style, in which he had not gone very deep beyond what his friend Hatake from the ghost squad, Ghost, who had passed away many years ago, had taught him.
Sakumo had taught him after Minato asked, back at a time when Sakumo was not very popular in the village... Sakumo had given him great progress in the art of kenjutsu, being, basically, his teacher.
Minato took the scroll, felt the seals that stored the twelve techniques within it, and nodded. It was not every day that he received powerful techniques from the Hatake Clan, which would also go into the Namikaze vault.
"Well, then I should be grateful... since you are being so generous, there is no reason to refuse, is there... Sensei...?" Minato gave a smile and Sakumo nodded, satisfied.
After that, Minato stored the scroll, said goodbye to Sakumo, and disappeared from the Hokage's office.
He flew across the village sky, observing Mikoto and Tsuna taking care of their children in their homes, while Kushina was at her part-time job in the village's sealing sector. Hanabi was outside the village, within the Uzumaki clan, meeting her three official students.
Minato soon turned his attention to where his three students were, waiting for him at the spot marked the previous day, on a somewhat isolated park bench in the middle of a park.
He transformed into light and advanced toward that area, drawing the attention of everyone who saw the light crossing Konoha's sky leaving behind a trail of golden particles.
The three immediately looked up when they saw a light flying in a straight line before stopping at that point and descending right on top of them like a laser, like a flickering fluorescent lamp, until it fully materialized. Minato appeared before them.
"Sensei, you're late!", Obito said, despite the evident admiration. He crossed his arms, while the other two simply looked at Minato and his abilities with equal fascination.
"But I have to say... that was really awesome! Can you teach me to do that too?", Obito asked, giving a puppy-dog look.
He found Minato's entrance incredible. Who would not want to fly across the sky like a shooting star before landing in front of anywhere? He could already imagine himself doing that and becoming popular.
Minato placed a hand on his head.
"Well, that is unfortunately something only I can do. It comes from lineage", Minato said, although he doubted that even his children could produce that with chakra the way he did with his fruit.
"Anyway, I am not late", Minato continued. "There are four minutes left. And I must admit...", he set his gaze on Obito, "...you were not late."
Those words made Obito excited, and he struck his own chest.
"Sensei, I will not be late anymore!", he declared.
It seemed that the lessons Minato had given him — about how his team needed to rely on him before anything else — were working.
In truth, the three had been thoughtful since the previous day, when the test ended and they went to train until nightfall on the Namikaze properties. Minato had spoken about their flaws and strengths, and then began working on them with the three. It was quite simple for him; he could create clones at will to push them to their limits or even guide each one personally, always keeping a copy of himself as a personal instructor beside each of them.
"Well, as you know, today will be our first day doing missions", he said, while the three looked quite excited, their eyes shining when Minato showed the scroll.
"Let's stay at this for a week. We will do missions in the morning and, in the afternoon, I want you to train at my house", Minato explained.
For now, he wanted to avoid the public training fields, because in the middle of the previous day's test, several onlookers had started watching them. Even though the two children had not noticed, Minato knew Kakashi had perceived part of it. It was a bit irritating, since everyone wanted to see how Minato Namikaze would train his team, which they expected to be legendary.
He could even feel their disappointment when they saw the performance of the three, which made Minato a little frustrated. What more could they expect from three children just starting their ninja lives now?! He had risen as a Genin at 10 years old and it was only through achievements in the war that he began to gain new ranks, years later.
"Let's go", Minato said, jumping onto the top of a house.
The children quickly followed him, moving across the rooftops until they reached a common street in Konoha. It was not very busy; it was a middle-class residential area, where a normal family would live — they were not poor, but they were not rich either.
The three children were a little confused. It was not exactly there that they expected to find their first mission.
Minato ignored their reaction, approached one of the residences, and knocked on the door.
Immediately, heavy footsteps echoed from the other side, and the door opened, revealing a chubby woman, who looked at Minato hopefully, as if waiting for something.
"Tell me... did you bring my Ronk-Ronk?", the woman asked immediately.
She did not even recognize Minato. She was far too worried about her cat.
"Actually, no, ma'am. We came here after taking your mission submitted last night", he explained, showing the scroll.
"What? Why did you come without my cat? Go back and search immediately!", she snapped.
Minato could not help a vein popping on his forehead, irritated with that woman, while the three children looked on without understanding any of it. They had only heard the name "Ronk-Ronk", which seemed to be something important the woman had lost.
"What kind of mission is this?", Rin murmured.
"I believe Ronk-Ronk must be a powerful artifact capable of destroying Konoha... We must save the village from some catastrophe!", Obito commented, serious.
"Maybe it is a code for us to invade a great nation. Maybe she is an informant and our mission is to invade a country!", Kakashi narrowed his eyes, analyzing.
"What kind of things are you thinking?", Rin asked, stunned, looking at the two before turning her attention back to their sensei, who was staring at the frustrated woman.
"Well, what can you expect? Look who our teacher is. We must be taking part in a Rank A mission, right?", Obito said, trying to find some logic.
"Maybe it is Rank S..."
"A Rank SS", Obito completed.
"That does not exist, but maybe it could be an SSS", Kakashi replied, curious. "I have never heard of missions above Rank S. Could that exist?"
"With our sensei, maybe?"
Rin looked at them with empty eyes. What kind of mission would their teacher make them go through?!
"Ma'am, we need a bit more information", Minato turned to the woman before looking at the children. "Listen, always seek information from the client before starting a mission. Ask everything and be creative with your questions. All information is valid and important."
Minato opened the scroll, and the children swallowed dryly. Whatever was written there had to be something ultra-secret.
"It says here that he has yellow fur with white spots, is extremely lazy, has very long fur, and wears a collar with a heart drawn on it", Minato read before turning back to the woman. "Is there any more information about your cat?"
"Cat?", Obito repeated behind Minato.
The three looked at one another before turning their attention back to the woman, who finally softened her expression before beginning to speak.
"Well... my Ronk-Ronk usually stretches a lot, but lately he has been in heat and running away. Please, find him for me. My son needs to come back home!", the woman said.
She looked like one of those spinsters who never married a man but kept a strong maternal instinct directed toward her pet. Minato could sense that, inside the house, there were several photos of the cat hanging on decorative plates on the wall and in frames. There was even an exclusive room for the cat.
She treated the cat like a son and grew desperate whenever he ran away.
"I understand. Well, thank you for everything", Minato replied.
He turned his attention back to the children, who were staring at him with blank expressions.
"Are you serious? A cat?", they could not believe it.
"Do not be foolish", Minato said, lightly tapping each of their heads at the speed of light without hurting them. That pulled them out of their shocked state.
Minato expanded his senses throughout the village in an instant and located the cat about two hundred meters away. He was at a neighbor's house, lazily lying under a tree, sleeping peacefully. He looked happy, but they had a mission.
"Well, now I want you to search for this cat. I will only be monitoring. We have until noon to capture him, understood?", Minato said.
The three had no choice but to accept the mission.
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