章 5: Chapter 5-The Tragedy of Genius!
Chapter 5
MINATO NAMIKAZE
Tragedy fuels genius. The Second Hokage said this, and in shinobi life, it was perhaps the closest thing to the truth.
Minato himself had suffered from tragedies, he had been born an orphan and then had lost his team to war. He had risen above them, had learnt to come to terms with them over the years. And yet seeing the next generation suffer through these very things did not sit right with him.
Hatake Kakashi, his apprentice, was another example of it. Having lost his father, the boy had pushed himself to be the best and was now chunin at ten, pushing for a promotion to jounin rank before becoming a full adult.
Given his skill, many would have given it to him, yet Minato had spoken against it, voicing the need for the boy to mature and have experiences with his comrades even during these times of war, for he knew just how important they would be.
The boy infront of him was another similar story. Izuna Uchiha had been hailed as a genius for years and had graduated the academy in less than a year alongside his fabled friend, Uchiha Shisui.
Both of them hailed as generational talents, were the pride of their clan and the village, and yet that very fame would lead them down a great tragedy. Their enemies would catch wind of this news of Konoha having produced two more geniuses, and they would act as any smart enemy would, trying to snuff out their flame of potential before they had matured.
And so Kumo had targeted them specifically, and had killed three members of their team. Many shinobi would never have recovered from such a loss, but Izuna Uchiha was not most shinobi, and though he had been sidelined for the better part of a year, the boy had not given up.
Just from his duel earlier he could see the sheer progress the boy had made, mastering the Sharingan and iryo ninjutsu in so little time had allowed him to match the genius of his own troublesome student.
"That sealing technique of yours. It was very impressive," Minato began as he sat down beside the young Uchiha boy. Kushina busied herself with his team, asking them about their mission and their lives. She had always cared for them like her own children and was very helpful, especially when it came to dealing with Obito.
"Thank you," the young boy said
"You plan to use it as a trap?" Minato asked, and the boy shook his head.
"No, I was actually thinking of using it as you use the Hiraishin seals," and he frowned at that.
"How?" The boy reached into his pocket and handed him a scroll, and Minato unfurled it and saw that it was the sealing formula for the special seal he had used.
"I plan to make it more compact and long-lasting and then anchor it to seals. That way, I can cover the area in kunai, and as soon as enemies are in range," the boy put his hand on the ground, and the sealing formula expanded instantly.
"Activate it and trap the enemy," Minato said, and he was highly impressed. This was not simple work, but highly complicated seals that even he would need years to develop, and yet here was an eight-year-old making them.
"It was inspired by your Hiraishin, actually," the boy said as Minato handed him back the scroll.
"How?" he asked, both honored that his own work or effort had motivated someone to work on sealing.
"Your Hiraishin is based on basically speeding you up. It allows you to teleport, of course, but the essential concept is making you faster than your opponents." Indeed, that was true, and as he thought about his little trap seal, he understood his idea.
"And your seal accomplishes the same task by actually slowing down your opponents," Minato concluded and the boy nodded, and he was impressed by that.
"So you want to test it against someone else?" he offered as he turned towards his own team, but the boy shook his head.
"I am afraid not. I had a long night at the hospital yesterday, and my reserves are exhausted. Perhaps another time," Minato nodded as Obito heard their little talk.
"There is no need to make excuses, Izuna-kun, we all know you are just afraid of facing the might of soon-to-be chunin Obito Uchiha," his problematic student boasted, and thankfully, Izuna-kun was more mature than him to take the bait as Kakashi struck Obit on the back of his head.
"Don't be an idiot," Kakashi admonished as Obito winced in pain and rubbed his head.
"At the rate he is going, he will make chunin faster than you," Kakashi admonished, and that was true.
Obito, while talented, lacked the focus and the grit required to be an exceptional shinobi. Despite his misgivings, he was a good shinobi and a better teammate, but still, when it came to the skill, he could argue easily that Izuna-kun was ahead of Obito.
"Don't be an idiot, Kakashi. The only reason he is a bit ahead of me is because he already has his Sharingan," and he felt the young genin beside him stiffen at those words as Obito continued his rant.
"The second I gain mine I am going to leave you in the dust as well," Obito challenged boisterously as Rin watched on nervously.
"Both of you should calm do...."
"Really," but there was someone else listening in who was far more protective over her protege than him.
"You think you can surpass my precious Izuna-kun," Kushina asked menacingly as Obito began to sweat.
"Haha, Kushina-san," Obito sweated as he saw Izuna looking at the darkening skies as he yawned.
"I am afraid I need to get going, I have training earlier tomorrow," the young Uchiha said as he stood up, and began to leave.
"Izuna-kun, he called out to him," and the boy nodded.
"Why don't you join us for training tomorrow," he offered, knowing that having the boy would be good for his team. Kakashi had grown arrogant in his progress, and seeing a younger shinobi match him would be good for him, while both Obito and Rin had various things they could improve on because of him.
"Yes," and before the boy could answer, Kushina piped up from behind.
"That is a perfect idea!" Kushina added as she gave a thumbs up, as Izuna-kun shrugged.
"What about my shift at the hospital?" his red-haired girlfriend waved away nonchalantly at that.
"It doesn't matter. You are there as an intern only. It's time that old hag there did some of her own work rather than pawning it off to you and Shizune-chan," Kushina balked, and he hoped the four of them did not adopt her manners because he did not know a shinobi who could get away with calling the Princess Tsunade an old hag.
"I will try to be there," and with that the boy went off as Kushina asked away.
"Now tell me who is hungry for Ichiraku ramen," and both Obito and herself cheered at those words.
"And Minato is paying...."
.
.
.
After a small treat and a massive dent in his wallet, Minato found himself sitting with Kushina in their little apartment home, thinking of the days ahead.
"Is there any specific reason you called Izuna-kun to join you for sparring?" she asked from the couch, and he was surprised that she had picked up on it.
"What do you think?" he asked, trying to see how much she had figured out as he closed off the tap and walked back to the table.
"I think there was a reason, one that went beyond the chunin exams coming up in a months' time," and given that it was wartime, the chunin exams were held individually by each village, unlike the intervillage exams he had participated in.
"You are right," and her intuition was scary.
"So, what is it?" she asked sharply, for she was very protective of her precious student and godson, especially after what had happened during his first outing.
"You must have heard about Iwa preparing itself for a massive offensive," the rumors had spread far and wide, and much to their detriment, it was not a rumor at all.
The news had just been confirmed by Jiraiya-sama. Iwa had prepared a thousand strong shinobi, all of them specializing in the demolition-type jutsus, and was going to level Konoha with that brigade.
"You cannot mean..." and he nodded.
"The news is real. It was just confirmed, and though the Iwa troops are not ready yet, the offensive is planned, and if it is not stopped, it would end badly for Konoha," and that was why his team was back in the village.
Already, Konoha forces were stretched thin on every front, so he had been called back to make a plan against this offensive, but he had not yet come to any concrete idea.
"Izuna-kun is going to be deployed back on the field very soon...."
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