Master
"Your village truly has a wealth of talent," the Kazekage remarked faintly, his tone even but his eyes sharp.
"Haha, this is all thanks to the legacy of our predecessors," Homura Mitokado replied with a proud laugh.
"Indeed, predecessors…"
The Kazekage's expression darkened slightly. His thoughts drifted to Konoha's two unmatched titans of the past—Hashirama Senju and Madara Uchiha. Even after so many years since their passing, their shadows still loomed over the shinobi world. (The Kazekage was unaware that Madara still lived in hiding.)
Their existence alone accounted for half the reason Konoha stood at the top of the Five Great Villages. Sunagakure's forebears had made great contributions as well, but compared to those two monsters, Suna's legacy felt painfully inadequate.
Fortunately, Konoha had not produced another powerhouse of that magnitude since then. That, at least, left hope that Sunagakure could one day close the gap.
After consoling himself, the Kazekage's mood lightened slightly. Still, he made a mental note: once the exams concluded, he would investigate Minato Namikaze thoroughly. A talent like that couldn't be ignored.
---
Minato's rest time ended, and he returned to the arena. His opponent, Shirō, stood waiting. The two clasped their hands together in the traditional Seal of Confrontation.
"Minato, we agreed—you can't use the Flying Thunder God."
"Don't worry," Minato said with a faint smile. "I won't."
"Then, I'll start."
"Projection, start. Reinforcement, start."
"Oh? You're that serious already? Then I'll have to match you."
"Come on, Minato."
With that, Shirō drew his projected blades—Dryan Mo Xie, twin swords imagined by EMIYA himself, replicas lacking the full mystical properties of the originals. They were sharp, durable, and most importantly, low-cost in terms of mana consumption. In Red Archer's hands, their upkeep was virtually zero. For Shirō, thanks to his fusion with the Heroic Spirit Card, the projection drain was also manageable—so long as he avoided high-cost techniques like Crane Wing Triple Strike.
Still, they weren't ideal for prolonged battles, but Shirō didn't plan to drag things out anyway.
The two clashed. Reinforcement Magic boosted Shirō's physical attributes to near parity with Minato's speed. But raw speed wasn't everything—Minato's neural reflexes were razor sharp, honed through years of battle, and Shirō's nascent Mind's Eye (False) could barely keep up.
Strength was a different matter. Reinforced muscles gave Shirō the edge in raw power, and Minato was not a taijutsu specialist. Yet Minato's fluid technique and efficiency kept him even. The battle became a spectacle—explosive, fast-paced, and neck-and-neck.
The audience erupted with cheers. Laymen marveled at the speed and spectacle. Veterans watched in silence, analyzing every movement.
But the louder the cheers grew, the more uncomfortable the Kazekage became. In his plans, all of this admiration should have belonged to Sunagakure.
---
Up in the stands, Homura Mitokado narrowed his eyes. Shirō's talent was obvious, but so were his flaws.
His skills were polished, his instincts sharp, and his Reinforcement-enhanced body rivaled Minato's. Yet despite that, he could not seize the advantage. And Minato—talented though he was—wasn't a taijutsu specialist at all.
This mismatch exposed the truth: Shirō's foundation was lacking. His techniques compensated for it, but they couldn't fully bridge the gap.
Homura stroked his chin thoughtfully. A boy like this needs a master. The thought of pairing him with a true taijutsu teacher crossed his mind. But such bonds weren't made lightly. The master-disciple relationship was deeper than squad training; it was inheritance itself. This would require careful consideration.
---
Back in the arena, Shirō's offensive slowed. His stamina and chakra were draining fast. Minato's stamina was flagging too, but his chakra reserves remained steady.
Shirō sighed inwardly and raised his hand. "I concede."
There was no point dragging it out.
---
Minato Namikaze was often underestimated in one regard—his chakra reserves. In truth, they were considerable. After all, one of the requirements to train in Sage Mode was having a vast chakra pool, and Minato had managed to do just that.
He simply preferred not to use it often. Sage Mode was slow to enter and ran counter to his philosophy of speed. Instead, he invested his chakra into other techniques—the Flying Thunder God Barrier he used against the Nine-Tails, the Rasengan he himself created, each of which demanded enormous chakra control and capacity.
Compared to Naruto or Hashirama, Minato's chakra seemed small. But in reality, he possessed reserves greater than most Jonin. It was simply that against monsters like them, nearly everyone looked small.
---
With Shirō's concession, Minato was declared the winner of the championship. Still, the match between Shirō and Kitsuchi remained, as it would decide second and third place.
---
As Shirō rested in the lounge, the long-silent system suddenly flickered to life.
"Ding. The host has met the auxiliary mastery conditions for the skill Mind's Eye (True). Would you like to begin auxiliary mastery?"
"So fast?" Shirō muttered. He thought for a moment, then asked, "If I delay and train it later, will the effect improve?"
"Verifying… Verification complete. Delaying will not improve results. Current auxiliary mastery limit: E-rank skill."
"…Wait, now? Does that mean it can be raised later?"
"Negative. This function has been irreparably damaged."
"…" Shirō pinched his forehead. I knew I shouldn't expect anything from this broken system.
"Fine. Begin auxiliary mastery."
His battles replayed before his eyes—each strike, each defense, each mistake. His mind sharpened, his instincts refined. The fight against Minato especially gave him clarity, as it had pushed him to his limits.
And yet… something was missing. An elusive insight lingered, like a word stuck on the tip of his tongue. But before he could grasp it, the system shut down the process.
The match was about to begin. Shirō shelved the thought for now. Maybe Nakamura could help him later… though he doubted it. Nakamura leaned toward ninjutsu.
But if not him, there was always another option—Might Guy. That perennial "Genin," whose taijutsu mastery rivaled the finest Jonin. If anyone could help him bridge the gap, it was Guy.