The once-blinding sunlight had softened slightly as Minato walked alone through the streets of Konoha, his mood heavy with thoughts.

  Lately, he had been experiencing strange feelings, often feeling absent-minded. In fact, just earlier, he had spoken words that contradicted his inner thoughts, brushing off Jiraiya-sensei's concerns.

  "Who... is she?"

  Minato had hoped to gather some information about Kushina from Jiraiya, to understand where these strange feelings were coming from. The red-haired woman who had appeared in his consciousness—her identity had been nagging at him ever since that first encounter with Kushina.

  Whenever Minato thought of Kushina, his heart grew heavy, and he realized that his emotional instability was somehow tied to her. He vividly remembered the words he had blurted out after sending Akasaka Yu flying.

  "No one is allowed to bully her!"

  It had been their first meeting, and they weren't familiar with each other, yet he had felt an undeniable urge to protect her, to the point where he would risk everything for that promise—even his own life.

  "Sorry, Jiraiya-sensei..."

  Minato cleared his mind. Since he had already avoided the question from Jiraiya, there was no point in offering unnecessary expnations. He wasn’t ready to reveal anything just yet, and perhaps the truth would reveal itself when he was truly worthy of learning about Kushina.

  For now, the only thing he could do was improve his strength.

  However, he had promised Jiraiya to follow the three rules he set for him. Given his current physical condition, regur training wasn’t suitable for him. Jiraiya had also warned against pushing his potential too hard, knowing it wouldn’t be wise to exhaust himself.

  The progress of training needed to be gradual, not forced.

  With these thoughts in mind, Minato arrived at his doorstep.

  "Well, I’ll practice hand signs." Recalling what Jiraiya-sensei had said about the foundational qualities of a ninja, including physical speed and reflex training, Minato had already gone through those today.

  What remained was the practice of increasing his hand sign speed.

  There was no shortcut or special technique for this kind of training. It was simply a matter of repetition to improve his proficiency.

  Hand signs were a special method of releasing ninjutsu and channeling chakra, and in battle, the speed at which a ninja performs hand signs could often decide the outcome.

  After all, your opponent wouldn’t give you enough time to prepare your jutsu.

  Minato’s specialty was speed. Although his hand sign speed wasn’t slow, it was still far from perfect.

  So, for the rest of the time, Minato stayed in his room, practicing his hand signs.

  Outside, the sky gradually darkened as time passed.

  After hours of continuous practice, Minato finally shook out his stiff hands and arms, signaling the end of the day's training.

  The next day, before dawn, a small figure darted through the streets of Konoha.

  Minato had gotten up an hour earlier than usual and ran ten ps around the vilge. The twenty ps Jiraiya had assigned to him each day were divided, with the morning portion completed before school.

  Having finished his early morning training, Minato returned home to wash the sweat from his face.

  Today, he finished the task faster than usual. The number of ps was halved compared to st time, and he split them into two sessions, pushing himself to give his best in training.

  When Minato arrived at the Ninja Academy, the cssroom was still empty, but he had long gotten used to this.

  Not long after he entered, someone else walked in.

  It was Uchiha En, who had missed several days of css.

  When Minato saw him, his expression became wary. Last time, En had used Kushina to provoke him into a fight, and nearly hurt other students in the process.

  But today, En didn’t give off his usual domineering aura. Instead, his bck eyes seemed distant, as if lost in thought.

  This was a look Minato had never seen on En’s face before.

  Minato stood up, and the two exchanged a brief, tense stare from across the cssroom.

  Finally, Minato rexed his expression and spoke, "Are you doing okay?"

  After their st encounter, it was rumored that the Third Hokage had left En to be dealt with by the Uchiha cn. While Minato knew it was a form of protection, according to Mikoto, En had indeed faced severe punishment.

  But it wasn’t because he almost hurt a cssmate; it was because he had been defeated by Minato.

  Minato didn’t see it as his victory, and while he remained cautious, he didn’t harbor any ill will toward En.

  En was clearly surprised by Minato's question. He had expected resentment, considering how Minato had been forced into that fight and the underhanded methods En had used.

  But Minato was asking about his well-being instead?

  En’s eyes flickered with emotion, though his pride wouldn’t allow him to respond with a simple "I'm fine."

  Minato understood En’s pride and didn’t press the issue.

  Seeing that En didn’t seem to be looking for trouble, Minato decided to ignore him and focus on his own business.

  "Last time, I’ll admit you won," En said as Minato was about to sit back down.

  Minato wanted to crify that the outcome of the fight was more complicated than that, but before he could speak, En’s expression had returned to its usual arrogance.

  "But that doesn’t mean I, Uchiha En, lost to you. Next time, I’ll beat you!"

  There was a fierce determination in his eyes, matched by a confident smile, like a strong warrior ready for battle.

  Something about that fierce spirit stirred Minato’s own competitive nature, and his blue eyes gleamed with the same defiance.

  "Then I’ll be waiting for our next fight. Next time, we’ll settle it properly!"

  Though Minato wasn’t fond of fighting, having an opponent like En to constantly challenge him was a motivating force in his training.

  He didn’t know when their next fight would be, but Minato couldn’t help but feel eager for it.

  The two exchanged gnces, and En turned to leave the cssroom, just as Kushina entered.

  Seeing En, Kushina furrowed her brows slightly and instinctively took a step back.

  En gnced at her but said nothing and walked back to his own cssroom.

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