Two days slipped by in the blink of an eye.
During these two days, Chiba and Minato maintained an extremely disciplined training routine.
After completing their basic training during the day, the two would specifically set aside several hours to venture deep into the central forest on the east side of Konoha to hunt poisonous insects and fierce beasts, honing their combat experience and refining their on-field reactions through real battles.
Steady field combat allowed their combat foundation to rapidly solidify, shedding the naivety of pure, isolated training.
And Chiba’s gains were far beyond those of an ordinary person.
In these two days, it hunted two low-level Ninja beasts imbued with Chakra, gaining 5 and 3 points of physical constitution respectively, steadily increasing its physical foundation.
At the same time, it fully mastered the techniques for casting weakened versions of Ninjutsu.
By precisely controlling Chakra output and trimming redundant consumption in the spell formulas, it significantly reduced the energy consumption of casting Ninjutsu.
With the reduction in energy consumption, its daily practice frequency for Ninjutsu skyrocketed, and the proficiency of basic Ninjutsu it mastered, such as Earth Style: Mud Wall, Water Tooth Blade, and Lightning Ball, was completely maxed out.
Not only was its spellcasting fluid and natural, but relying on its top-tier talent, it even improved them into derivative versions that were better suited to itself, with superior power and precision—a rate of progress that could only be described as shocking.
The earth-shaking growth over just a few short days had already left Minato, who had witnessed it all, shocked to the point of numbness.
On the way to the Ninja Academy for the entrance examination, Chiba silently reviewed the gains of the past two days and the system rules in its mind.
“As expected, if the same type of collectible is recorded repeatedly, the quality of the rewards will continue to diminish.”
“If I continue to hunt only one type of Ninja beast, the subsequent rewards will likely become so thin that they are negligible.”
Its gaze darkened slightly, and a decision was made in its heart: It seems that it must broaden the range of hunting categories as soon as possible and try to record different types of extraordinary creatures and special items to continue receiving high-quality rewards and ensure that its growth speed does not stagnate.
“Chiba! We’ve already arrived at the entrance of the Ninja Academy; what are you daydreaming about?”
Minato’s gentle call came from ahead, instantly interrupting Chiba’s thoughts.
“Coming!”
Chiba suddenly came back to its senses, smiled, raised its hand in response, quickened its pace to catch up, stepped forward to collect and fill out the enrollment form, and walked through the gates of the Ninja Academy together with Minato.
The process for the entrance examination was not complicated.
The core examination was divided into three basic parts: physical endurance test, basic Taijutsu routine assessment, and precision Ninja tool throwing assessment.
Students who had successfully refined Chakra could additionally participate in the Chakra magnitude test to receive bonus points.
At this moment, on the rooftop of the tallest teaching building of the Ninja Academy, three figures stood in the wind, quietly overlooking the orderly examination scene below.
The breeze stirred Tsunade’s long hair.
Her gaze was sharp and highly penetrating, precisely locking onto the outstanding Chiba and Minato among the crowd, her eyes filled with a hint of scrutiny and approval.
“Those two brats should be Chiba and Minato Namikaze, whom Elder Makuma specifically mentioned.”
She carefully sensed the abundant Chakra fluctuations within the two, thinking to herself: “At such a young age, their Chakra reserves have already steadily reached the Genin standard. Especially Chiba—its Chakra foundation is in the upper-middle range even among ordinary Genin.”
“To have such a foundation after only three days of refining Chakra is truly top-tier genius; it is worth the clan focusing on its cultivation.”
“However, as for the specific limit of their talent and whether their mental foundation is solid, I still need to test them personally to be certain.”
Tsunade was well aware of the factional divisions within the Senju Clan and their wavering stances, but the clan had been silent for many years, and it was rare for such high-quality new-generation seedlings to emerge; regardless of the stance, putting effort into cultivating them was never wrong.
Even if the two were descendants of the Senju who had long since integrated into the Village and shed their clan status, they were worth supporting.
Tsunade’s subtle emotional fluctuations were accurately captured by the two beside her.
Orochimaru’s narrow eyes narrowed slightly.
Following Tsunade’s gaze, he locked onto the two youths below.
Sensing their Chakra reserves, which far exceeded those of their peers, a look of obvious surprise flashed across his pale face as he spoke softly: “They are indeed two pieces of good material. Tsunade, did you specifically invite us here today just for these two brats?”
“That’s right.” Jiraiya nodded repeatedly, his face full of admiration.
“At five years old, just entering school and already possessing Genin-level Chakra reserves—their talent is absolutely not inferior to mine back in the day.”
“Tch—”
As soon as these words were spoken, they instantly drew synchronized looks of disdain from Tsunade and Orochimaru.
Orochimaru’s lips curled into a mocking arc, his sharp tongue fully engaged: “You have the nerve to say that? Everyone knows you were the school-famous dead-last when you were young.”
“Orochimaru! You guy! Do you want to fight?!”
Jiraiya instantly bristled, lowering his voice and growling angrily.
If this were not the Ninja Academy, where the reputation of the Sannin was at stake, he would have already started arguing on the spot.
This was pure, naked slander!
“Alright, stop messing around.”
Tsunade helplessly interrupted their daily bickering and spoke seriously, cutting to the chase: “Let’s talk business. What do you think of these two children’s aptitude? Are you interested in taking them on as personal disciples?”
“Oh?”
Orochimaru and Jiraiya were both taken aback, their eyes full of surprise.
For Tsunade to take the initiative to recommend them, it was enough to show that these two brats were extraordinary.
Orochimaru lightly licked his lips, observing the two below with great interest, and asked Tsunade: “Could it be that these two little ones have some special, outstanding qualities? Worthy of you caring so much?”
“Same question.” Jiraiya agreed with a nod.
Tsunade did not hide anything and said bluntly: “They are both descendants of the Senju, descendants of the Senju who integrated into the Village early on and broke away from the clan system. Their parents passed away early, and they are both orphans.”
“Their current strength and foundation are all earned through more than a year of disciplined, hard training day and night. To be able to rise against the tide without any support shows that their character and talent are extremely rare.”
“The clan entrusted me to examine the two and judge whether they are worth increasing resource allocation for and focusing on cultivating.”
She specifically brought the two here today to let the Sannin take notice in advance; if either of them were interested in taking on disciples, it would be the greatest opportunity for the two children.
“So that’s it.”
Orochimaru and Jiraiya instantly realized and nodded in understanding: “No wonder their foundation is so solid at such a young age; it turns out to be the Senju bloodline. Such talent is within reason.”
After a brief moment of contemplation, Orochimaru refused indifferently: “However, I have no plans to take on disciples for the time being. Right now, Nawaki alone is enough to consume my energy.”
Clan affairs, Village missions, and his own Ninjutsu research had already occupied all his time.
If not for Tsunade’s sake, he wouldn’t even have taken on Nawaki.
Tsunade was not surprised by this and immediately turned to look at Jiraiya: “What about you?”
“Me?”
Jiraiya was slightly stunned, his gaze subconsciously falling on the two youths, finally settling on the blond-haired, blue-eyed Minato Namikaze.
Just at this moment, Minato seemed to sense something, looked up towards the rooftop, and precisely met Jiraiya’s gaze.