“Tsunade, want to make a bet?”
“Bet on what?”
Jiraiya chuckled slyly.
“Let’s bet on whose disciple will win.”
Hearing this, Tsunade looked at Jiraiya as if he were an idiot.
As long as Minato Namikaze summoned Gamabunta, with its massive size not much inferior to a Tailed Beast, she really couldn’t imagine how Gekko Ryun could possibly win.
What a joke!
Betting on a sure-loss situation?
Did he really think she was that obsessed with gambling?!
“Alright, what’s the wager?”
Orochimaru sighed, rubbing his forehead.
That was Tsunade for you.
Jiraiya thought for a moment.
“Whoever loses treats everyone, including our respective disciples, to a meal at Yakiniku Q.
How about that?”
Tsunade nodded.
Just a meal at Yakiniku Q.
“Fine.
I bet Minato Namikaze will win.”
“Good, then I’ll…
Wait, Minato is my disciple.
What do you mean you’re betting on my disciple to win?”
Jiraiya was dumbfounded.
Tsunade burst into laughter.
Jiraiya sighed helplessly and turned his gaze to Orochimaru.
“I’m also betting Minato will win.
Orochimaru, what about you?”
Orochimaru was taken aback.
“What does this have to do with me?”
“We can’t both bet on Minato winning.
Do me a favor, help me out here.”
“Alright then.
I’ll bet on Ryun-kun winning.”
Orochimaru didn’t care about the cost of Yakiniku Q; he rather enjoyed the feeling of the three of them bickering together.
“It’s settled!”
Jiraiya cheerfully waved to a spot not far away.
“Nawaki, come over here!
Your future teacher is going to treat us all to Yakiniku Q!”
…
Practical Combat Test Class.
The teacher responsible for recording combat performance kept his attention fixed on the viewing stand not far away.
If he wasn’t mistaken, those were the Hokage’s three disciples.
For an ordinary Chunin teacher, each of them was a figure rarely seen on a normal day.
Today, all three had appeared together at the Ninja Academy?
He absentmindedly scribbled on his form, his eyes darting toward the two figures who had already taken their positions on the field.
Gekko Ryun and Minato Namikaze.
‘If anyone could attract those three, it could only be them.’
He shook his head and said solemnly, “Ready!”
The classmates in the class stood in two distinct groups, cheering for the two respectively.
Among them, the red-haired Kushina waved her arms vigorously, shouting the loudest: “Go, Ryun!”
He smiled faintly.
Glancing at the three figures in the distance, a flicker of doubt arose in his mind.
Perhaps the only thing he hadn’t anticipated was that an ordinary, unremarkable arranged duel could simultaneously attract Tsunade, Jiraiya, and Orochimaru.
Ah, such is the life of a disciple.
The teachers only need to watch the fight, while the disciple has so much more to consider.
His thoughts were a tangled mess.
A moment later.
He and Minato Namikaze stood facing each other and formed the Seal of Confrontation.
He had been waiting for this day for a long time.
“According to real combat standards?”
Minato was momentarily stunned, then nodded readily.
“Alright.”
“Wait!” The teacher started to intervene, but upon seeing something, he swallowed his words.
“…Alright, real combat standards it is.
Be careful, both of you.”
“Real combat?” Kushina’s heart leaped into her throat.
Casually discarding the wooden sword.
He held a metal short sword in his right hand and a kunai in his left.
Minato Namikaze also drew a short blade.
At this moment, the only thing in their eyes was each other, and the field fell into an eerily quiet stillness.
The classmates who had been quietly discussing the practical combat standards moments earlier all tensed up, falling silent one after another, their gazes firmly fixed on the two standing in the center.
“Begin!”
Before the teacher’s voice had even faded—
“Clang!”
Two figures collided heavily, producing a sharp metallic clang.
A flicker of confusion passed through Minato Namikaze’s eyes—the force transmitted through his blade felt off.
His palms went numb, nearly causing him to lose his grip.
Seeing this, Gekko Ryun flicked the kunai in his left hand upward.
The kunai sliced through the air but failed to meet the tactile feedback of striking a solid object.
Minato’s reaction was faster than he had anticipated, swiftly retreating.
The sudden strike had failed to achieve its goal, and Ryun sighed inwardly.
This absurd reaction speed…
He steadied himself, no longer placing hope on sudden sneak attacks.
“Konoha Style: Consecutive Slashes!”
He charged forward.
After a powerful, heavy slash, three consecutive strikes forced a muffled grunt from Minato Namikaze, his wrist trembling uncontrollably.
Just before the next slash arrived, Minato seized a fleeting opening and abruptly abandoned his defense.
Instantly forming hand seals: “Substitution Technique!”
With a “poof,” only a wooden log remained in his place.
Gekko Ryun glanced at Minato, who now appeared two meters away, panting heavily, and twitched the corner of his mouth.
The Substitution Technique was essentially a diversionary tactic, not an all-purpose solution.
It not only required preparing a substitute item in advance but also demanded extremely fast reaction speed to anticipate an attack and form hand seals instantly.
It had many limitations and was ineffective against experts and those possessing Dojutsu Bloodline Limits.
Coincidentally, Minato met both conditions.
And Ryun himself did not possess a Dojutsu Bloodline Limit.
“You prepared the wooden log for the substitution in advance again?”
Minato Namikaze smiled gently.
“Of course.
You’re too strong, Ryun-kun.”
“…”
Too cautious.
The classmates watching from below snapped out of their daze, and waves of astonished exclamations rose one after another.
What had just transpired far exceeded any combat they had witnessed before—it was as if they were watching two genuine ninja.
The teacher had already set down his record sheet, his eyes fixed unblinkingly on the two in the arena.
As a Chunin, he could perceive much more.
For instance, the strength Gekko Ryun displayed far surpassed Minato Namikaze’s, or Minato’s astonishing reaction speed, which allowed him to seize a split-second opening amidst the storm of attacks to execute the Substitution Technique.
His eyes filled with disbelief as he murmured, “Could they already have surpassed me?”
Minato Namikaze had no time to concern himself with what the teacher was thinking.
In previous practical combat tests, his speed advantage had made him nearly unstoppable.
But now, because Gekko Ryun’s strength was abnormally great, coupled with his more proficient Konoha Style Swordsmanship, each slash carried terrifying force.
Having already lost the initiative, Minato’s speed advantage had been significantly diminished.
‘Jiraiya-sensei said Ryun has also learned Ninjutsu, and he hasn’t used it yet.
Could it be that I can’t even force him to use his Ninjutsu?’
‘Could it be…
that I really have to use that move?’
Minato Namikaze’s expression turned serious, and for an instant, his focus wavered.
‘Opportunity!’
Gekko Ryun’s eyes suddenly lit up.
Though he didn’t know why Minato had lost focus during the battle, his own movements were decisively swift.
The kunai in his left hand shot out from an unexpected angle.
“Rip!”
A sound of tearing fabric echoed as a shallow blood mark appeared on Minato Namikaze’s arm.
Seeing this, his pupils contracted sharply.
He decisively halted his Konoha Style Swordsmanship assault, retreated two steps, and glanced down at the kunai in his hand.
[Minato Namikaze’s Kunai]
[Expected Quality: Green]
[Refinement Cost: 30,000 Ryo per attempt]
[Special Condition: Use this kunai to draw Minato Namikaze’s blood]
[Condition satisfied.
Begin refining equipment?]
‘No!’
A wave of joy surged in his heart, as if a massive weight had been lifted.