When Nawaki arrived home from school, Minato began grilling the skewers.
The barbecue meal left the Senju siblings' mouths glistening with oil.
Watching the two of them devour the food, Minato suspected that if the skewers were made of iron, they might have even produced sparks while pulling them through their teeth.
As expected, eating skewers makes people happy!
Seeing that even their burps smelled of lamb skewers, Minato gently pressed his palms together, and a large, round watermelon suddenly grew from the ground in front of him!
"Come, have some watermelon to cleanse your palate."
"Whoa—! Minato, you're amazing!"
Seeing this, Nawaki immediately shouted with excitement.
The price of watermelons in the Ninja World was very high; he understood all too well the value of Minato's trick!
A few minutes later, the three sat side-by-side on the Engawa eating watermelon, the afterglow of the setting sun plating them with warm golden edges.
In the days that followed, Minato's life fell into a complete state of tranquility.
Every morning he woke up to cook, and after eating, he went to school.
After school, he returned home to cook, and after eating, he would Cultivate in the courtyard.
After finishing his cultivation, he would bathe and go to sleep.
In the blink of an eye, two months quietly passed by.
The day-to-day life did not make Minato feel bored.
On the contrary, he liked these kinds of days very much.
A Zen-like life allowed one's inner heart to quiet down and the mind to become clearer, which also caused Minato's progress in his Nature Transformation cultivation to be exceptionally fast.
In the original story, Naruto used the property of Shadow Clones to stack experience, creating over a thousand Shadow Clones to master Wind Nature Transformation in just a few days.
Minato didn't have the Multi-Shadow Clone technique, nor did he intend to be as desperate as Naruto; after all, the fatigue of Shadow Clones also stacks.
Naruto had the Nine-Tailed Chakra to back him up, so at most, he would just pass out from exhaustion.
If Minato dared to do that, even the Power of All Creation couldn't save him.
Furthermore, Naruto had a one-track mind and didn't have many thoughts; with the mental activity of a modern person like Minato, developing schizophrenia would be a mild outcome.
To be safe, Minato would only create ten Shadow Clones every day, and after school, he would release the Clones to receive the experience.
Then he would create ten more Shadow Clones to continue cultivating until releasing them before bed, using the stacked fatigue to help himself fall asleep quickly.
In this way, Minato spent a month and a half to completely master Water Nature Transformation, becoming able to instantly stir up waves in a calm pond!
And in the following half month, he successfully began learning Earth Nature Transformation.
While it didn't compare to Naruto's speed, for an ordinary person, this kind of speed was no different from using a cheat code.
It could be said that the current Minato, in terms of Ninjutsu, had already reached the level of a Jonin!
And this terrifying cultivation speed was also observed by Tsunade, leaving her secretly alarmed.
By now, she had completely given up on trying to keep up.
Minato's cultivation speed was simply not something a human could achieve.
It wasn't that she couldn't think of the Shadow Clone cultivation method.
After all, this Ninjutsu was originally invented for gathering intelligence; everyone understood the principle of experience stacking, but not everyone could do it.
She could withstand the fatigue of ten Shadow Clones.
But doing it like Minato—ten Shadow Clones a day with a release in the middle—she couldn't do that even if it killed her.
One simply couldn't recover from that level of fatigue in one night, let alone doing it every single day.
However, she wasn't surprised that Minato could do it.
Judging by the energy Minato displayed, Tsunade was completely certain that he had not only achieved Wood Release Awakening but also possessed the same terrifying vitality as her grandfather, where cells remained alive even after the person died!
"I say, Minato, what exactly are those Clones of yours practicing?"
On another weekend, Nawaki watched the Clones playing with mud in the courtyard and finally couldn't help but ask.
Because there weren't many Clones, they usually cultivated in the courtyard. At first, Nawaki was a bit wary of Minato's cultivation, but over time he got used to it.
"They are practicing Earth Property Chakra Nature Transformation," Minato explained.
"To put it simply, it's about using Nature Transformation to enhance the power of the corresponding elemental release."
"By playing with mud?"
"Strictly speaking, it's about changing the composition and hardness of the soil!"
Minato explained, "When I can instantly turn that mud into rock, or turn rock into mud, the cultivation will be successful."
"That sounds really impressive..."
Nawaki flopped onto the tatami, looking like a dead fish. "This shouldn't be something a Ninja Academy student is supposed to practice, right?"
"Um... it's a mandatory course for Jonin."
Minato nodded hesitantly; Nawaki was bound to find out sooner or later anyway.
Nawaki immediately looked even more dejected. "Jonin, huh... You're a Genius to a degree I can't even comprehend. Even though I knew it already, it's hard not to feel a sense of disparity."
Minato smiled. "I won't compete with you for the position of Hokage."
"So what?"
Nawaki lay on his side, propping his head with one hand while the other lay flat in resignation. "With a Genius like you for comparison, who would choose me to be Hokage?"
"Don't belittle yourself..."
Minato gave an awkward smile, momentarily unsure how to encourage him.
After thinking it over, he asked carefully, "Nawaki, why do you want to be Hokage so badly?"
"To inherit my grandfather's will, of course!"
Speaking of this, Nawaki suddenly perked up. He sat up straight, his eyes sparkling with the light of longing.
"I am the grandson of the First Hokage who founded Konoha! Konoha is my grandfather's most precious treasure, so of course I have to protect it for him!"
"Is that so..."
Minato smiled faintly. "In that case, how about I teach you a powerful Ninjutsu?"
"Ninjutsu?"
A flash of light crossed Nawaki's eyes, then dimmed instantly. "Forget it. My grandfather was the First Hokage; how could I be lacking Ninjutsu? Besides, you're two years younger than me. Letting you teach me... I'd lose too much Face."
Minato sighed regretfully. "Then it's truly a pity for this Hand-seal-less A-rank Ninjutsu."
Thud!
With a heavy sound, Nawaki threw himself down in front of Minato, performing a very standard Dogeza, his forehead pressed tightly against the tatami.
"I am terribly sorry for being so ungrateful! Please teach me, Lord Minato!"
"Hahaha, don't be like that..."
Minato didn't know whether to laugh or cry as he hurriedly pulled Nawaki up.
"So... what Ninjutsu is it?"
Nawaki looked at Minato expectantly.
A-rank Ninjutsu weren't rare.
Hand-seal-less Ninjutsu weren't exactly rare either.
But a Hand-seal-less A-rank Ninjutsu was very rare; he hadn't even heard of such a thing.
"It's a Ninjutsu I created myself."
Nawaki's mouth twitched. "Cre... created yourself? A five-year-old creating a Hand-seal-less A-rank Ninjutsu?"
"It is a bit exaggerated, which is why I haven't even told Teacher Tsunade."
Minato smiled sheepishly. "With your Senju Clan Chakra reserves, this technique is actually quite suitable for you. Consider it my support for your dream of becoming Hokage! You can practice it in secret and give Teacher Tsunade a surprise when the time comes!"
"Ugh..."
Hearing this, Nawaki was moved to tears. "Minato, you guy—"
Click... "I'm back!"
The sound of the door opening came, and Tsunade's voice echoed from the entrance hall.
"Teacher is back. I'll teach you tomorrow!"
"Eh? No... wait!"
——————