Two and a half years passed. Minato was now eight years old and about to enter the fourth grade.
Nawaki also successfully graduated from the Ninja Academy and became a glorious Konoha Genin.
Compared to two and a half years ago, the heights of the three little ones had increased a lot.
Kushina's bun face had also become thinner unknowingly. Her personality had become much quieter under the influence of Tsunade and Nonō, faintly showing the appearance of a young lady, but the core was still an impatient temper.
When seeing other girls approach Minato, she would still stomp her feet anxiously and secretly sulk.
In comparison, Nawaki's personality hadn't changed much, still as simple and straightforward as always.
"Look! Forehead protector! How is it? Cool or not?"
After the graduation exam, Nawaki rushed out of the exam room impatiently, pointing at the brand-new forehead protector on his head, grinning at Minato and the other two.
"Mmh, very cool!"
Tsunade touched Nawaki's head, but Nawaki tilted his head to dodge.
"I'm already a Genin, not a child anymore. Sis, stop touching my head."
"What does it matter? No matter how old you are, you will always be my little brother!"
Tsunade opened her arms with a smile. "Come, let Big Sis give you a hug!"
"No way!"
With Minato and Kushina present, and other classmates who had finished the exam around, he was embarrassed to let Tsunade hug him.
Tsunade sighed regretfully. "Really, not cute at all anymore."
"Congratulations on graduating, Brother Nawaki!"
Kushina took out the graduation gift she had prepared long ago, which was a long box. "This is the gift I prepared for you."
"Gift? What is it?"
Nawaki opened the box curiously. Inside was a well-crafted katana.
"A sword?"
"This is made of Chakra metal. It's very valuable!"
Kushina looked serious. Although she was sent to Konoha to be a Jinchuriki, the clan didn't treat her badly in other aspects.
Not only did she have a complete ninjutsu inheritance, but her financial resources were also enough to guarantee her food and clothing for the rest of her life.
Even after Mito passed away, the Uzumaki clan's land in Konoha would also be inherited by Kushina. A proper rich lady!
"Ha—thank you!"
Nawaki obviously liked this gift very much.
"And mine."
Minato gave Nawaki a kunai with a three-pronged shape. The handle of the kunai was engraved with the mark of Konoha.
"What a strange kunai..."
Nawaki picked up the kunai and waved it. The texture of the kunai was very light, thinner than common kunai, but had two extra prongs. "This kunai seems very suitable for blocking the opponent's weapon?"
"This is a Flying Raijin Kunai. It's a space-time ninjutsu I've been practicing recently."
Minato explained, "As long as the kunai is within my sensing range, I can teleport to your side. So be sure to keep it safe. Don't use it for fighting unless absolutely necessary."
"Eh?!"
Nawaki's eyes widened instantly. "Teleport...?"
Saying that, seemingly worried that his voice was too loud and exposed intelligence, he looked around sneakily again.
Minato didn't care. With his stats and mechanics, below the Otsutsuki level, even if his intelligence was known, no one could target him.
The Flying Raijin Jutsu wasn't actually very useful for him in combat now. Its value was mainly reflected in traveling and saving the day.
"I didn't expect you to even learn this jutsu?"
Tsunade looked at Minato in surprise. She knew the other party had contact with Orochimaru.
Although Root wasn't a good place, Tsunade believed Minato had a sense of propriety, so she hadn't paid much attention.
What she didn't expect was that Minato even learned the Flying Raijin.
"What exactly is this ninjutsu? Can I learn it?" Nawaki asked expectantly.
"We'll know after testing."
Tsunade said casually, suddenly punching towards Nawaki's face.
Nawaki's pupils shrank, and his body trembled with fear. It wasn't until the fist was pressed against the tip of his nose that he reacted belatedly.
"It seems not."
Tsunade shook her head regretfully. "The Flying Raijin Jutsu is a ninjutsu created by Second Grandpa. It not only requires outstanding space-time talent but also sufficiently strong reflexes. Your reaction is too slow."
"But don't be discouraged. There are very few people in this world with space-time talent. In so many years, only Second Grandpa and Minato have mastered this ninjutsu. Even the old man Third couldn't learn it."
"Is that so..." Nawaki looked a little disappointed.
His Rasengan, now almost three years later, was still stuck at the third stage.
This was not to say that Nawaki's talent was bad. In fact, whether it was chakra volume or chakra control ability, Nawaki's talent was excellent, and the progress of the first two stages of Rasengan was also very fast.
But Rasengan had no tricks, all operation. To learn it, one could only rely on habit to grind slowly, or rely on Shadow Clones to take shortcuts.
At his current age, it was temporarily difficult to meet the chakra control standards of the third stage.
"Alright, don't bite off more than you can chew!"
Tsunade took out her own gift. "Come, close your eyes!"
"Mmh."
Nawaki closed his eyes obediently.
Suddenly, a coolness landed on his chest.
Opening his eyes again, there was a emerald green necklace around his neck.
"This is...?!"
"The necklace left by Grandpa."
Tsunade put her hands behind her back and looked at Nawaki with a smile. "How is it? Do you like it?"
Nawaki nodded. "I like it! But why did you give this to me, Sister? This is also very important to you, right?"
"Well, I just felt that it suits you better than me."
Tsunade said gently, "And haven't you always wanted it? Cherish it well!"
"Mmh!"
Nawaki nodded heavily.
Minato's heart skipped a beat.
This is bad!
If I remember correctly, this should be the so-called Necklace of Death, right?
In the original work, Tsunade gave the necklace to Nawaki, and Nawaki died the next day.
Later, she gave it to Dan Katō, and Dan Katō also kicked the bucket.
Naruto, the protagonist, only made a bet with the necklace and almost couldn't withstand it...
Minato wasn't a superstitious person, but Tsunade's luck was indeed a bit strange.
Minato felt that he should pay more attention these two days, and it was best not to let Nawaki act alone.
Thinking of this, he glanced at Nawaki with a complicated expression.
However, Minato didn't expect that his complex expression was accidentally glimpsed by Tsunade and interpreted in another way.
That child's expression...
Is he jealous?
Noticing Minato's expression, Tsunade's heart jumped.
But thinking about it, she felt it was unlikely.
First, Minato wasn't that kind of character.
Second... there was actually a hazy tacit understanding between her and Minato.
For example, occasional inadvertent physical contact and eye contact made her realize that Minato wasn't unaware of her feelings.
Could it be because of the necklace?
Tsunade looked at the necklace on Nawaki's neck.
She wanted to say something but stopped, stopped but wanted to say.
If I ask for the necklace back now... the sibling relationship will be broken, right?