"Senpai?" Minato murmured to himself.
"Yeah, he's someone whose ideals and dreams align closely with yours. Right now, just like you, he's still a student at the Ninja Academy."
Jiraiya looked at Minato while speaking. He had learned everything about Minato from the Third.
Minato was first taken aback, but then gradually, a smile appeared on his young face, revealing a hint of anticipation.
"The difference is that his motivation comes from the fact that his grandfather founded the Hidden Leaf Village. So what he admires isn't really the Hokage per se, but more his own grandfather..."
Jiraiya explained. That guy definitely didn't inherit the will of his ancestors at all.
What he inherited were only the bad habits of that great man.
"You're talking about Nawaki-senpai, aren't you?"
Minato had already figured out the person's identity based on the information provided by his teacher. After all, in the Ninja Academy, Nawaki was quite famous.
Being the First Hokage's grandson alone was already impressive enough. Plus, his academic record always remained top of the class. It was even said he would soon graduate from the Ninja Academy and become a real ninja.
"This kid is actually quite well-known..." Jiraiya said.
Minato wasn't surprised at all that his teacher knew Nawaki-senpai. After all, Nawaki's older sister, just like Jiraiya, was also a disciple of the Third Hokage.
Although a woman, she possessed extremely formidable strength and was now one of the village's most renowned warriors.
Known as the "Princess of the Senju Clan," Tsunade!
The Senju clan was the very clan led initially by the First Hokage. During the early establishment of Konoha, it was the strongest and most influential clan within the village—one that even overshadowed both the Uchiha and Hyuga clans.
However, for certain reasons, the Senju clan gradually faded from public attention. According to Minato's knowledge, many members of the Senju clan relocated to other areas in the Land of Fire over a decade ago.
The specific reasons behind this remained undisclosed.
Therefore, there weren't many Senju clan members currently residing in Konoha. Nevertheless, this did not affect the villagers' deep respect toward them—it was an emotion entirely different from the fear inspired by the Uchiha clan.
All of this stemmed from the legendary figure known as the God of Shinobi—the First Hokage, Hashirama Senju, who founded the ninja world itself!
"Nawaki is about to graduate from the Ninja Academy. Determined to follow in Hashirama-sama's footsteps, he strives to be number one in everything. So after we parted yesterday, he specially asked me to help him with extra training."
Jiraiya remarked, though from Minato's perspective, his words sounded completely devoid of conviction.
Although confused by his teacher's behavior, Minato had the afternoon free. Since Jiraiya wouldn't let him train on his own anyway, he was actually looking forward to meeting this famous upperclassman.
After lunch, Jiraiya led Minato toward a grand, open courtyard.
This was Nawaki and Tsunade's home. Once the prestigious and noble family of Konoha—the Senju clan—clearly possessed financial resources rivaling those of the Uchiha clan.
Minato also lived alone in the courtyard that once belonged to him, though the two places were nowhere near comparable.
The two arrived at Nawaki's family backyard, where a boy around ten years old with light brown hair was practicing taijutsu. His movements were sharp and precise. In Minato's opinion, he might even be stronger than Yan Uchiha.
The boy naturally noticed the approaching pair, stopped his training, and turned around.
Nawaki wasn't particularly handsome, but he gave off an energetic and lively vibe.
If one looked closely, he even bore some resemblance to the features of the First Hokage.
"It's Big Brother Jiraiya..."
Upon seeing Jiraiya's arrival, Nawaki didn't seem very surprised. Instead, he fixed his gaze on Minato standing beside Jiraiya.
"You are... Minato Namikaze?" There was a hint of uncertainty in Nawaki's voice, since he had never actually met Minato before.
Hearing this, Minato himself showed slight surprise—how could the other recognize him when they'd never met?
However, ever since his fight with Yan Uchiha, Minato's name had started making the rounds around the Ninja Academy. Even students in higher grades like Nawaki had heard of him.
Considering Minato's rare hair color and outstanding appearance, along with his young age, it was understandable how Nawaki figured out who he was.
"Greetings, Senior Nawaki," Minato said politely.
After hearing that, Nawaki smiled and replied, "Hello."
Then he turned to Jiraiya and said, "My sister isn't home today, Big Brother Jiraiya. You came all this way for nothing again."
Jiraiya's expression shifted slightly, but mindful of Minato's presence, he still forced a smile and said, "I'm not here to see Tsunade. I heard you're graduating soon, so I thought I'd come and see if there's anything I can help you with."
But Nawaki responded, "Thank you, but I think I'll go ask advice from Big Brother Orochimaru instead."
At this, Jiraiya's face visibly twitched. Now Minato understood why his teacher had been so confident earlier.
It appeared Senior Nawaki had never actually asked Orochimaru for special training. Furthermore, the "Big Brother Orochimaru" Nawaki mentioned was none other than the Third Hokage's disciple.
He was said to be an even greater genius than both Jiraiya and Tsunade and was considered The Third's favored choice for becoming the Fourth Hokage.
Still, since Senior Nawaki had never actually asked his teacher for special training, why had his teacher rushed over insistently?
"But why would Big Brother Jiraiya be with Minato Namikaze?"
Nawaki didn't dwell on this topic, instead showing more surprise about how Minato and Jiraiya knew each other.
As far as he knew, Minato came from an ordinary background, while Jiraiya was a jonin in Konoha just like his sister. It didn't seem like the two would've run into each other before.
"Hmm..." A sudden suspicion formed in Nawaki's mind regarding the relationship between the two.
He had heard that this Minato Namikaze was extremely powerful—not at all like an ordinary academy student. Upperclassmen who saw his fight with Yan Uchiha admitted they felt outclassed.
Jiraiya caught on to Nawaki's thoughts and grinned proudly, "You got it. Minato's my pupil, all right."
"I see."
Nawaki blinked in slight surprise, then smiled at Minato.
"Now that I think about it, I was also trained by Orochimaru Aniki and my sister. I wonder who's stronger—Jiraiya Aniki's disciple or me…"
Minato barely had time to react before Nawaki suddenly flashed right in front of him and said,
"Minato, let's have a little sparring match. Let me see exactly how strong you are—the top talent of this new generation."
…
…
For this elder comrade from the Narutoverse who shares the same dream as Minato and Kushina, I kind of don't want him to die.
Still owe two more chapters. After dinner, I'll keep typing.
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