Disclaimer: Naruto and all of its character belong to Masashi Kishimoto. I own nothing but the original characters I make.
Chapter 147: Minato Feeling
Later that day, Raiken met with the Hokage and this time he no longer pushed for the feudal system to be ended entirely. Instead he proposed something more measured that could be accepted by the people of this era, the Daimyo system could remain in place but the inherited nobility system had to be abolished.
That meant any son or daughter of a noble family would no longer inherit their parents title and would instead return to being ordinary commoners like everyone else. On top of that, the privileges and benefits that came attached to noble title would be retracted, leaving the titles themselves as nothing more than empty names without power or advantage behind them.
Drawing from his memory of his previous world, Raiken introduced a new title system to replace the old one. Titles such as Marquise, Count and Baron would be awarded to those who had earned them and the highest title of Duke would be reserved for the ruling royal or daimyo family.
The key difference was that none of these titles could be passed down by blood, except the Duke Title because it would be easy to recognize them in the future. If a commoner did something truly remarkable for their village or their nation, they could be recognized with a title and the respect that came with it, but their children would have to earn their own.
The opposition even from Konoha Shinobi was immediate and loud but it did not last as long as expected. Sakumo in particular, having witnessed firsthand the damage the previous Daimyo had caused, found himself unable to argue against it and when he gave his support the rest of the Shinobi gradually followed.
...
5 JULY KONOHA YEAR 46
TRAINING GROUND NUMBER 17
"Why does she still hate me," muttered Minato while looking at the sky.
Although his relationship with Kushina and Maruku had become slightly better after their previous mission together, there was still a gap between them that he could not figure out how to close. At least Kushina was now willing to talk to him a little, which was already an improvement from their Academy days when she would not even look in his direction, especially after her clan arrived in Konoha.
"What are you doing spacing out?"
Minato was snapped out of his thoughts and turned toward the direction the voice came from.
"Jiraiya Sensei, I was just thinking about the Rasengan that Kushina and Maruku used during the last mission," said Minato, hoping it sounded convincing enough.
Jiraiya stroked his chin slowly, to be honest he had also been surprised when he heard and seen that both of them were using Rasengan and Teleportation jutsu. He had read the reports about Raiken but among thousands of shinobi, only Maruku, Kushina and Raiken had mastered those techniques and that alone was enough to make him suspect there was something more going on with Raiken than the reports had written about him.
If Kushina and Maruku can master it why no one inside Uzumaki Clan had also mastered teleportation Jutsu. He had heard the others manage to learn rasengan but not the teleportation Jutsu developed by Raiken.
"Why, do you want Kushina to teach you?" asked Jiraiya as he moved to sit beside Minato.
Minato shifted slightly to make room for him.
"No need," said Minato, raising one hand as the blue spiraling chakra formed steadily in his palm.
"What? Since when?" Jiraiya leaned forward with wide eyes.
"When I saw them using it, I instantly understood how it worked. It felt natural to me," replied Minato. "When I tried it afterward I expected it to take time but it just came together on the first attempt without any difficulty. It felt like this jutsu already belonged to me somehow."
Jiraiya stared at the Rasengan in Minato palm for a long moment before leaning back, his expression shifting from surprise into something more thoughtful. He had seen talented students before but what Minato had just described was something different entirely.
He filed it away in his mind and let his eyes drift toward the boy sitting beside him, studying him the way he studied everything that did not add up cleanly. The way Minato had been lying there staring at the sky before he arrived. The slightly too quick answer about the Rasengan. The tension sitting in his shoulders that had nothing to do with training.
'This kid,' thought Jiraiya, the corner of his mouth pulling up slowly.
"So," said Jiraiya, looking off in the opposite direction as though his next words were completely unimportant. "Is there a girl?"
Minato went still.
"What?" he said.
"A girl," repeated Jiraiya, still not looking at him. "You were lying on the ground staring at the sky before I got here. Nobody does that when they are thinking about jutsu."
"I was thinking about the Rasengan," said Minato flatly.
"Sure you were," said Jiraiya.
A short silence passed between them.
"There is no girl," said Minato.
Jiraiya turned and studied his face slowly with the eye of someone who had spent enough time around people to know exactly what they looked like when they were hiding something badly.
"Let me think," said Jiraiya, stroking his chin again. "Someone around your age, someone you see regularly." He paused for a moment. "Someone who was on that last mission with you."
Minato kept his eyes fixed on the grass in front of him and said nothing, which was already more of an answer than he realized.
"Kushina," said Jiraiya.
The color that came rushing into Minato face was immediate and impossible to stop. The tips of his ears went red first and then his cheeks followed and he turned his head away sharply as though looking somewhere else would somehow undo what his face had already given away completely.
"I did not say anything," said Minato.
"You did not have to," said Jiraiya, grinning wide enough that it reached both eyes. "Your face said everything I needed to hear."
"Sensei," said Minato, his voice carrying the specific kind of exhaustion that only came from being completely seen through by someone you could not argue with.
"She is a good choice," said Jiraiya, surprisingly straightforward about it. "Strong, loud and she does not let anyone get away with anything."
Minato did not respond but he also did not deny it and the red on his cheeks had not faded even slightly.
Jiraiya watched him for another moment before letting out a low laugh and leaving the subject alone, knowing well enough that pushing further would only make Minato shut everything down. He stood up and brushed the grass from his clothes.
"Don't worry even if you like her I won't say anything to her and good luck to get her to like you" said Jiraiya.
Minato nodded quietly.
Jiraiya walked a few steps before glancing back over his shoulder.
"And Minato," he said.
Minato looked up.
"Girls like Kushina do not respond well to someone who just waits around hoping things will change on their own," said Jiraiya simply before walking off with both hands behind his head.
Minato watched him leave and then turned back to look at the sky again, the same sky he had been staring at before any of this started.
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Chapter 173: Madara Peak
Chapter 174: History
Chapter 175: Fraud Zetsu
Chapter 176: Hidden Clan
Chapter 177: Visit
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