“Whoosh——”
Minato initiated with shuriken!
Several wooden shuriken covered Uzumaki Mirai’s surroundings from a scattered pattern.
Toriyama Kazunari nodded.
Minato’s throwing technique here was comparable to a Chunin.
Unfortunately, his opponent was Mirai.
“Adamantine Sealing Chains!” With a wave of Mirai’s hand, two chains shot out from his sleeves and immediately whipped around.
Instead, the chains became his weapon, easily deflecting all the shuriken away.
Minato was not surprised by this result at all; while Mirai was blocking the shuriken, he was already weaving hand signs.
“Ninjutsu · Clone Technique!”
A blond clone identical to him appeared, and the two of them rushed toward Uzumaki Mirai together.
The spectators began to exclaim in surprise!
“He even learned the Clone Technique? That guy Minato!”
“Doesn’t the graduation exam require choosing just one from the Three Body Techniques? Doesn’t that mean Minato is only in his second year and has already met the graduation requirements?”
“Damn it! Minato Namikaze, who usually keeps a low profile, is actually stronger than me!”
Watching Minato’s clone rush over, Mirai’s eyes also carried a trace of surprise.
“Minato, is this your tactic?”
“Unfortunately, just like Naori, you don’t know that such blindfolds as the Clone Technique or Transformation Technique are ineffective against me!”
A flash of admiration for Minato crossed Uzumaki Mirai’s eyes, but when it was time to strike, he had to strike!
Minato’s clone fired a wooden Kunai.
Mirai sidestepped to dodge it, and everyone thought this wave of attacks was already over.
The next moment, that evaded Kunai actually turned back into Minato’s original body!
“This is——Transformation Technique! When?” Toriyama Kazunari widened his eyes.
He had watched the whole match and didn’t notice when Minato had transformed into a Kunai.
And he even used a clone to throw himself out.
Could it be when he released the Clone Technique?
Did Minato not only release two clones, but also secretly cast the Transformation Technique to turn himself into the weapon in the clone’s hand?
Mirai, however, had anticipated this long ago; all illusions and blindfolds were laid bare under Kagura Minds Eye.
What kind of decent person’s wooden Kunai was entirely filled with Chakra inside?
The corner of his mouth curved into an arc, and amidst the waving chains, he once again blocked Minato’s close-quarters attack.
“Is this the end, Minato?” Just as this thought popped into Mirai’s mind,
an abrupt change occurred!
From within the body of the clone Minato had left behind, a shuriken abruptly shot out!
The distance was extremely close, and the firing speed was exceptionally fast.
By the time Mirai reacted, he only had time to tilt his head slightly!
“Whoosh——”
The wooden shuriken brushed past his face and shot into a tree nearby.
A hint of crimson appeared on his face, and Mirai touched it—it was blood.
No wonder there was a slight stinging sensation!
He showed a trace of a smile.
How should he put it?
As expected of the Yellow Flash!
First came the shuriken feint; taking advantage of the moment when his attention wasn’t on him, he activated the Clone Technique and Transformation Technique, had the clone throw the shuriken that the real body had transformed into, and after it was dodged, he closed in, transformed back into his original body, and launched an assassination attempt.
This somewhat resembled Minato’s future signature move——Flying Thunder God Second Step!
It was just a lot more immature.
But this wasn’t all of Minato’s methods; strictly speaking, the main body here was also a feint.
The real fatal move was a delayed trap that Minato had set within the illusionary cover of the Transformation Technique right when he cast it!
The trap had no Chakra fluctuations, so even Mirai’s Kagura Minds Eye couldn’t perceive it.
This whole chain of actions constituted Minato’s tactic!
“Mirai, you’re not hurt, are you?” Minato cast a concerned gaze.
Uzumaki Mirai shook his head.
“I’m fine. Minato, you really have some tricks up your sleeve!”
“In terms of tactics, you won.”
Minato awkwardly scratched his head.
“Haha, not really. If we kept fighting, I’d be out of moves.”
He had exhausted his bag of tricks, while Mirai still had all sorts of methods left!
Uzumaki Mirai shook his head.
“No, a win is a win. If this were a life-or-death battle and you had coated the shuriken with deadly poison, I’d already be dead.”
Toriyama Kazunari was also startled, looking at Minato Namikaze as if he were seeing a ghost!
After a long while, he announced: “The winner is Minato Namikaze!”
“Wow! Mirai actually lost to Minato!”
“How is that possible? Isn’t Minato Namikaze a complete nobody? Seems like he comes from a commoner Ninja background, right?”
“Looking at it this way, Minato actually seems pretty handsome too!”
“Two handsome guys performing the Reconciliation Seal, wow! This scene is so cool!”
“Mirai is so handsome, even when losing he’s so handsome, and he’s so graceful! He doesn’t look like some brats who can’t afford to lose at all.”
Little stars were already beginning to sparkle in the eyes of all the classmates.
Nearby, Uzumaki Kushina and Uchiha Naori also ran over.
Seeing Mirai injured, the two of them were in no mood to continue confronting each other.
“Mirai, are you alright!” A trace of worry filled Kushina’s eyes as she pointed at the wound on Mirai’s face.
“I’m fine, Kushina.” Uzumaki Mirai rubbed Kushina’s head with a gentle smile on his face.
With a wound like this, if he hadn’t forcefully suppressed his eager Chakra, it probably would have healed long ago.
After having the Uzumaki Clan’s talent maxed out by the God Tree, seal-less self-healing had also become Uzumaki Mirai’s passive ability.
Watching the intimate interaction between Mirai and Kushina, Uchiha Naori’s gaze was complex.
Envy, jealousy?
And a hint of shock mixed into her worry——
Mirai actually lost, losing to Minato Namikaze, someone she had never even cared about?
Could it be that she wasn’t even as good as Minato?
Naori spent the combat class in a daze.
Her promise to fight Kushina also fizzled out into nothing.
Not getting to make Kushina suffer a bit left Mirai a little disappointed.
And yet Kushina was so worried about him; truly a scumbag.
…
As time gradually passed, Mirai’s life became fulfilling and well-ordered.
Attending classes by day, teasing Kushina along the way, watching the little girl blush and stubbornly endure her shyness while letting him toy with her—it felt…
pretty good?
In combat class, Minato Namikaze and Uchiha Naori took turns challenging him.
However, once Uzumaki Mirai got serious, he never lost again.
He rarely used Adamantine Sealing Chains and the Uzumaki Clan’s Sealing Jutsu; in most cases, he resolved battles relying on Taijutsu.
His last battle with Minato made him understand what it meant to use full force even when a lion hunted a rabbit!
Ninjas were a profession with high attack and low defense,
and once killed, they would die.
Being careful and cautious could never be wrong at any time.
Therefore, he often beat Minato and Naori to the point of utter misery.
Later on, even when the two of them teamed up, they were still no match for Mirai at all.
Just like that, three years passed.
Time gradually arrived at the early spring of Konoha Year 36.
The snow had not completely melted yet, and Uzumaki Mirai was watching the snow in the corridor.
“Kushina, we’re going to be late soon. Why haven’t you gotten up yet?”
“Hold on a second! Mirai, I can’t find my hairpin.”
“What a hassle! After you took it off last night, didn’t you put it right on the bedside table?”
“Eh… it really is! Thanks, Mirai, hee-hee.”
Tucking away her head of slender red hair, Kushina walked out of the room with a beaming smile.
Generously locking arms with Uzumaki Mirai: “Ittekimasu! Mirai!”
Three years had passed, and the relationship between the two had long since become inseparable.
Their heights had also shot up rapidly, both around 1.4 meters.
Kushina had also developed a couple of waves, turning into a budding lotus flower.
As for why Mirai knew Kushina’s hairpin was left on the bedside table last night…
don’t misunderstand, it was just that last night Kushina begged Mirai to help blow-dry her hair.
After all, her hair was very long,
hanging all the way down, with that head of red hair almost reaching her butt.
The two of them were only ten years old after all, so there was no way anything like what the readers loved to see could possibly happen, right!