"School starts tomorrow," Minato said, a trace of excitement in his eyes.
"I heard the Third Hokage will be giving the opening speech. I'm really looking forward to it."
"Looking forward to what?" Yuki Aoba scoffed.
"You've already heard it before."
Minato's face flushed bright red. "That's not the same! Before, we were eavesdropping. Tomorrow, we get to listen legitimately!"
"Alright, alright. Let's go train."
Yuki Aoba grabbed Minato by the wrist and dragged him out of the room. He lived near the Forest of Death, and the two of them had set up a simple training area on its outskirts in an open clearing.
The streets were still quiet this early in the morning. Not many people were out yet, but the vendors on both sides were already busy, greeting the boys warmly.
"Minato, Aoba! Training again? You two really work hard!"
A fruit vendor waved at them. Uncle Yamamoto tossed each of them a piece of fruit. "Just got this new batch—try some."
The two accepted them cheerfully. Minato flashed a bright smile. "Thank you, Uncle Yamamoto!"
Aoba wiped his mouth with his sleeve, took a big bite of the apple, and grinned. "Thanks, Uncle! It's really sweet!"
"Haha! I'm glad you like it!" Uncle Yamamoto laughed heartily.
"Uncle, we're heading out!"
"Alright! I'll save some for you two for when you come back."
"Okay!" Aoba replied, then tugged Minato toward the training ground.
Yuki Aoba had been an orphan since the age of three. His greatest strength was his ability to smile and speak kindly—remarkably good at lifting others' spirits even at his young age. If Minato was a little sun whose smile could warm people's hearts, then Aoba was the breeze that brought joy through kindness and gentle words.
The villagers adored the pair. They would often slip them snacks or treats whenever they passed by.
When the boys reached the training clearing, they spotted a middle-aged man in a green jumpsuit giving them an enthusiastic thumbs-up.
"Youthful young men! We meet again!" he declared.
"This is youth!"
Aoba looked at Might Duy, then at Minato—only to find Minato returning the gesture with an equally bright smile.
Was Minato starting to look like Might Duy?
Still, Aoba raised his own thumb and grinned. "If you don't dance every day, you're betraying life!"
"Well said!" Might Duy's eyes instantly brimmed with tears.
"This… this is youth!"
"Run a hundred laps around Konoha today—or do five thousand handstands!"
With that, he sprinted off and began another day of intense training.
Minato stared speechlessly at his retreating figure.
Might Duy was infamous in the village—a genin for more than ten years, often dismissed as a failure. Few people talked to him outside of casual transactions, yet he radiated unwavering passion.
"Minato," Aoba said, patting him on the shoulder, "never underestimate anyone. He's the embodiment of youth."
"Alright." Minato nodded and began his own practice.
Watching him, Aoba swallowed the comment he didn't say: Might Duy isn't just the symbol of youth… he'll be the father of youth too.
But explaining that wouldn't help anything.
"Minato, let's see who masters the Healing Technique first!"
"Okay!" Minato replied enthusiastically.
Normally, chakra refining was taught after enrolling at the Academy, but Aoba's parents—both chunin—had left him several ninjutsu scrolls and chakra cultivation methods before they passed away.
And because his clan possessed a secret medicinal bath passed down through generations, their children grew up soaking in it, allowing them to begin refining chakra as early as age three.
Chakra was produced from the perfect fusion of spiritual energy and physical energy.
Neither he nor Minato possessed the secret medicine that strengthened the body, so although they had the chakra-refining technique, they had always refrained from using it, fearing it might damage their foundations.
Fortunately, they had successfully refined chakra some time ago. Though a bit late, it was still earlier than most commoner ninja.
Minato went off to practice tree-climbing, while Yuki Aoba immersed his consciousness into the dueling arena.
It was free recruitment time.
With a thought, the recruitment interface appeared. The first thing that came into view was Uchiha Sasuke (Eternal Mangekyō Sharingan), a towering Susanoo standing beside him.
Sasuke, wielding a long sword engulfed in burning black flames, hovered above the ground, the flames fluttering like banner cloth. Beneath him stood two A-rank ninja and a group of B-rank ninja.
Below the display were two buttons:
[Free Recruitment]
[Ten Consecutive Draws]
As Yuki Aoba's thoughts stirred, a ball of fire bloomed, slowly twisting into a vortex.
A flash of white light burst out—then something dark and metallic fell to the ground.
Just like in mobile games, his recruitment system also granted one free draw per year.
And his very first free draw turned out to be… a dark, unremarkable chunk of metal.
He tossed it aside casually. "Pah, what a piece of junk!"
Congratulations! You have recruited: Chakra-Conductive Metal!
"Huh?" Yuki Aoba froze, then hurriedly picked the iron block back up.
"They really don't know how to appreciate treasure," he muttered. "I should bring more of these next time I recruit."
The chakra metal block was the size of two forearms, yet surprisingly light.
Chakra-conductive metal was a rare material that could efficiently channel, protect, and even amplify chakra. In the original story, Sarutobi Asuma's trench knives were forged from chakra metal—and those cost a whopping 50 million ryō.
That was fifteen million more than his own bounty.
The piece he drew was thick as a forearm—enough to make more than ten pairs of trench knives.
"We're rich! We're rich!"
Yuki Aoba's eyes sparkled as he lovingly caressed the dark iron.
With this metal, he could forge a longsword and a shortsword, with plenty to spare.
"Aoba, what are you doing?" Minato called. He had been about to start tree-climbing practice, but when he noticed Aoba didn't follow, he came back—only to find him hugging a dark lump of metal.
"Ah, nothing." Yuki Aoba shook his head and walked over, still clutching the iron block.
Let's begin.
Chakra control was crucial for all ninja, and he knew this well.
They had already learned tree-climbing and water-walking some time ago, and were currently practicing healing techniques. Medical ninjutsu required extremely precise chakra control. Since they already mastered the basics, today's practice naturally wasn't simple tree-climbing—
Instead, they were leaping back and forth among more than twenty large trees surrounding them.
Yuki Aoba glanced at Minato and sighed. He had already learned all the ninjutsu passed down in his family, yet seeing Minato's earnestness, he decided to play along.
Minato noticed him still holding the iron block and looked puzzled, but didn't ask. Instead, he smiled and said, "Aoba, you should be able to master the advanced tree-climbing technique today."
Around them, the surrounding tree trunks were covered in dense scratches—the marks of previous training.
Beneath the giant trees lay two thick mats, the precaution the two of them used to protect themselves.
Getting injured meant several days without training. That would be far too great a loss.