Chapter 587 Minato: Am I a substitute?

“Finally back, that was really dangerous this time.”

Dekai looked at the towering Konoha Gate not far away, a smile appearing on his dark, chubby face.

“Indeed, you really can’t underestimate any of the Great Ninja Villages.”

Kamizuki Izumo nodded in agreement; Iwagakure really gave them a big scare this time.

If it weren’t for Jiraiya and Minato Namikaze’s exceptional strength, their entire unit might have been wiped out there.

“I hope this lesson makes Iwagakure behave for a while. Jiraiya-sensei hasn’t rested in a long time either,” Minato Namikaze lamented.

Since Iwagakure made no immediate moves, the higher-ups rotated out the Ninja who had been on the battlefield for a long time to rest.

As for Jiraiya, he should have returned to the village to rest, but Iwagakure’s previous near-invasion of the Land of Fire made the higher-ups wary, so they kept Jiraiya in the Land of Grass as the unit commander.

“Yes,” Dekai nodded. “But Iwagakure suffered heavy casualties this time. Even if they still have intentions, they probably won’t dare to send a large army to Konoha again in the short term.”

“Otherwise, if other Great Ninja Villages took advantage of their weakness, wouldn’t Iwagakure be in a terrible state?”

“It’s hard to say. Not everything in reality is logical,” Kamizuki Izumo sighed helplessly.

If a novel lacks logic, readers can point it out, but if reality lacks logic, you can’t exactly find the Creator and tell them they’ve done it wrong, can you?

The group chatted as they walked into Konoha.

Out of habit, although Minato really wanted to see Kushina and Muzuki, he still went as a representative to report the mission to Hiruzen Sarutobi first.

Knock, knock.

Minato Namikaze knocked on the wooden door of the Hokage Office.

“Enter.”

Hiruzen Sarutobi’s voice came from behind the wooden door.

Minato Namikaze opened the door, walked in, and closed it behind him.

“Sandaime-sama,” Minato Namikaze quickly greeted Hiruzen Sarutobi with respect.

“Ah, Minato, you’re back.”

Hiruzen Sarutobi put down the documents in his hand and chuckled, stroking his small mustache.

Many people respected him, and many entered the Hokage Office politely.

But young powerhouses like Minato Namikaze, who were also so polite, were few.

His three disciples, at Minato Namikaze’s age, didn’t have Minato Namikaze’s strength, but their tempers were much worse than his.

This was why Hiruzen Sarutobi found Muzuki and Minato Namikaze particularly pleasing to the eye; one could only say that comparing people was infuriating.

If either Muzuki or Minato Namikaze had been born just a decade or so earlier, he wouldn’t have to worry about the Fourth Hokage’s matter now.

After the report, Hiruzen Sarutobi remembered what Muzuki had said about already teaching Minato Namikaze Kenbunshoku Haki, so he asked:

“Minato, how is your Kenbunshoku Haki training progressing?”

“I’ve grasped a bit of the feeling, but I’m still some distance from mastering it,” Minato Namikaze replied truthfully.

“The difficulty of this perception Ninjutsu is indeed extraordinary; it’s not easy for you to have made this much progress,” Hiruzen Sarutobi praised.

Hiruzen Sarutobi wasn’t just giving empty praise, because he had also tried to train Kenbunshoku Haki and knew how difficult it was to master.

As the Professor of Ninjutsu who had mastered over a thousand Ninjutsu, Hiruzen Sarutobi possessed a vast amount of Ninja knowledge. If he found a Ninjutsu difficult, then it truly was difficult.

“It’s mainly because Muzuki is a good teacher.”

Only when Muzuki left and Minato Namikaze trained Kenbunshoku Haki on his own could he more deeply appreciate Muzuki’s teaching ability.

When Muzuki taught him, even if he didn’t take a big step forward every day, he still gained something every day.

After Muzuki left, Minato Namikaze felt his learning progress significantly slow down.

“Minato, you don’t need to be so humble. I think it’s a bit of both,” Hiruzen Sarutobi nodded and said.

Muzuki had organized so many special training sessions that his teaching ability had long been recognized by all the higher-ups.

Because of Muzuki’s teaching ability, Hiruzen Sarutobi once didn’t want Muzuki to go to the battlefield.

After all, Konoha had few geniuses of the Sannin level, but they weren’t non-existent; they would appear every now and then.

However, Muzuki’s extraordinary teaching ability was something Hiruzen Sarutobi had never even heard of before, let alone seen.

In Hiruzen Sarutobi’s eyes, even without considering Muzuki’s strength, Muzuki’s importance was greater than a thousand-person Ninja unit.

The reason he was willing to let Muzuki go to the battlefield was mainly because Muzuki had mastered the Flying Thunder God, which could save his life even if the battle turned unfavorable.

“Muzuki will be organizing a long-term special training focused on Kenbunshoku Haki soon. I’ve added your name, Minato. You can go and learn when you’re not on a mission,” Hiruzen Sarutobi said.

He called Minato Namikaze back partly to let him rest, and partly to let him master Kenbunshoku Haki as soon as possible.

Minato Namikaze nodded his thanks.

Given his relationship with Muzuki, even if he didn’t attend Muzuki’s special training, Muzuki would still make time to teach him.

However, Minato Namikaze felt it wasn’t good to take up too much of Muzuki’s personal time, as Muzuki seemed to never be idle.

After leaving the Hokage Building, Minato Namikaze went to find Kushina.

Based on his experience, Muzuki should be teaching his disciples in the afternoon, so it wouldn’t be good to disturb him now.

Minato Namikaze planned to visit Muzuki at dusk, as Muzuki would most likely be at home at that time.

Minato Namikaze quickly walked to the door of the Uzumaki Sealing House, which was specially built for the Jinchuriki.

The Anbu, seeing that it was Minato Namikaze, did not reveal themselves to stop him.

Minato Namikaze sensed slightly and found Kushina in the bedroom, so he walked to her bedroom and knocked on the door.

Kushina, who was reading Sealing Technique materials inside, was startled by the knock. Remembering what she had said when she went shopping with Muzuki earlier, she quickly got up and opened the door.

Upon seeing that it was indeed Minato, Kushina opened her arms and hugged him. “That hateful Sandaime old man, making you do missions outside for so long! Is he trying to work you to death?”

Minato Namikaze smiled helplessly. “This has nothing to do with Sandaime-sama. To prevent the flames of war from reaching the Land of Fire, this is the responsibility of every Konoha Ninja.”

Kushina pouted. She wasn’t genuinely angry about it; she was just complaining, after all, she wasn’t someone who would act unreasonably.

Sniff, sniff.

Kushina pressed her head against Minato Namikaze’s body, constantly sniffing his upper body.

After making sure there was no other woman’s scent on Minato Namikaze, Kushina finally let go of him and pulled him into the bedroom.

It wasn’t that Kushina didn’t trust Minato Namikaze, but Minato Namikaze had a face that easily attracted women, and she was worried that the honest Minato Namikaze would be deceived by bad women.

“Kushina, how is your Rasengan training coming along?” Minato Namikaze asked.

The Rasengan perfectly complemented the Flying Thunder God Technique, but Minato didn’t develop it for himself. His original intention was for Kushina to utilize the immense Chakra within her body.

The Rasengan might seem like an unassuming small Chakra Ball, but in use, it actually consumed a lot of Chakra, requiring the compression and rotation of a large amount of Chakra.

“I’ve already mastered it!”

Kushina proudly extended her right hand, unleashing Chakra.

Soon, a Chakra Ball about one and a half times the size of a basketball appeared in Kushina’s hand.

Minato Namikaze’s eyes lit up. As the developer of the Rasengan, he could tell at a glance that Kushina had not only learned it but had also become quite proficient.

“It’s all thanks to Muzuki. His teaching of Ninjutsu is even a little better than my teaching of Sealing Technique,” Kushina said, canceling the Chakra output and retracting her hand.

To repay the previous favor of the Sealing Technique, Muzuki would teach Kushina Rasengan whenever he had time.

“Then I’ll have to thank Muzuki properly later. It’s really great to be neighbors with Muzuki,” Minato Namikaze said with a smile.

He felt that one of the luckiest things that happened to him in recent years was buying a house next to Muzuki’s and then getting to know Muzuki and becoming friends.

Although with Muzuki’s talent and ability, even if they hadn’t become neighbors and met, they would have eventually known each other.

However, whether they could have become such close friends was uncertain.

Because they were neighbors, they quickly became friends who often shared meals.

Then it further extended to teaching Sealing Technique, and their relationship grew better and better through constant interaction, until now they were absolutely trustworthy close friends.

“Yes, that house you bought back then was too good a deal,” Kushina agreed profoundly.

Leaving aside everything else, just eating those unparalleled dishes, Kushina felt she had already gotten her money’s worth.

“Ah, ah, when can I move freely? I also want to eat hot dishes fresh from the pot!” Kushina clenched her fists, her head spinning wildly against Minato Namikaze’s chest.

Because the food was delivered promptly enough, it wouldn’t get cold, but Kushina still felt that hot dishes fresh from the pot tasted better.

Minato Namikaze took a sharp breath. It wasn’t good when your girlfriend was too strong; his body couldn’t handle it when she acted spoiled.

After staying with Kushina until dusk, Minato Namikaze finally left and went to Muzuki’s doorstep.

At this time, Muzuki had just returned home and was in the kitchen preparing ingredients.

After getting Muzuki’s permission, Minato Namikaze skillfully walked into the kitchen. “Need any help?”

“Wash the potatoes and peel them, then…”

Muzuki wasn’t too polite either, assigning Minato Namikaze some relatively simple tasks.

After all the dishes were prepared, Muzuki and Minato Namikaze carried them to the table together, ready to eat.

“Muzuki, thank you for taking care of Kushina. You’ve been looking after her life and teaching her Rasengan,” Minato said with a sincere smile, thanking Muzuki.

Minato Namikaze usually didn’t speak when eating Muzuki’s cooking, but there was one exception: when it was just Muzuki at the table.

“It’s all just things I do incidentally; you don’t need to worry about it too much,” Muzuki replied, shaking his head.

Minato Namikaze and Kushina had truly helped Muzuki a great deal.

If it weren’t for Minato Namikaze and Kushina’s help, he wouldn’t have found a way to learn Sealing Technique so quickly.

Minato also played a big role in his initial mastery of the Flying Thunder God Technique.

Additionally, Minato Namikaze and their connections also provided great help to Muzuki.

Without Minato Namikaze as an intermediary to introduce him to Jiraiya, getting Tsunade’s help wouldn’t have been an easy task either.

“Have you encountered any problems with your Kenbunshoku Haki training?” Muzuki asked after dinner.

“When sensing attacks outside my line of sight…” Minato Namikaze naturally spoke of the problems he had encountered.

After speaking, Minato Namikaze realized that he hadn’t intended to take up Muzuki’s private time and planned to attend the special training and solve problems on his own.

But they had discussed various training knowledge too many times, so Minato Namikaze subconsciously answered Muzuki’s question.

By the time Minato Namikaze realized it, Muzuki had already begun to explain.

Because Muzuki’s explanation was so good, Minato Namikaze couldn’t bear to interrupt and quickly became engrossed.

Only when Minato Namikaze excitedly shared his insights from the lecture with Muzuki did he remember his initial thought, and an embarrassed expression appeared on his face.

“If you feel like I’m at a disadvantage, then teach me a bit about the Flying Thunder God,” Muzuki said, seeing through Minato Namikaze’s thoughts.

“Muzuki, have you encountered any difficulties with the Flying Thunder God?” Minato Namikaze immediately asked.

Minato Namikaze wasn’t very confident in other areas compared to Muzuki, but the Flying Thunder God Technique was different; it was the Ninjutsu he excelled at the most.

Muzuki nodded slightly. He originally didn’t have the talent to learn Flying Thunder God, and it was only by drawing the Flying Thunder God Technique from the system that he solved this problem.

Without the corresponding talent as a foundation, it was, of course, extremely difficult for him to train the Flying Thunder God, which he had already leveled up to proficiency, to a higher mastery.

No matter what skill it was, once it reached proficiency, it became very difficult to train further.

This time, the roles were reversed: Minato Namikaze was the teacher, and Muzuki became the student asking questions.

After finishing his explanation, Minato Namikaze felt much more at ease.

This kind of mutual benefit made him feel more comfortable; constantly receiving Muzuki’s kindness made him feel embarrassed.

Minato Namikaze then stopped bothering Muzuki and went back home to read.

Minato Namikaze was a person who loved to read. In his free time, he would generally choose to read.

And he read widely, everything. He read books containing dry Ninja knowledge, and he also read Ninja novels with dramatic plots.

The next morning.

Minato Namikaze inquired about Obito and their recent situation, then went with Muzuki to the South Border Forest.

After all, he was Obito, Kakashi, and Rin Nohara’s team leader. It was understandable that he couldn’t personally lead them on the battlefield and had Muzuki help, but back in Konoha, he still had to lead them himself.

Otherwise, he would be too negligent as a teacher.

Due to the time spent talking with Minato Namikaze, all of Muzuki’s disciples had already arrived at the South Border Forest today.

“Muzuki-sensei. Eh, Minato-sensei, why are you here?” Obito subconsciously greeted Muzuki first, then noticed Minato Namikaze beside Muzuki.

At a distance where he couldn’t clearly see his face, he even thought it was a Shadow Clone that Muzuki had sent out in advance.

Minato Namikaze awkwardly scratched the back of his head.

“Is there a possibility that Minato-sensei is actually our instructor?” Kakashi said slowly.

Kakashi had to admit that Obito wasn’t too off this time, because they spent more time following Muzuki.

Even he, upon seeing Minato Namikaze approaching, paused for a moment.