"This child is Minato Namikaze. He's a ninja from a commoner background. He possesses excellent reflexes, combat analysis, and learning abilities. In less than a year since enrolling, he's risen from being at the bottom of his class to an upper-middle level, and he's not inferior to ninjas from established clans." Sarutobi Hiruzen spoke of Minato Namikaze with full praise: "Oh, and his theoretical knowledge is overwhelmingly first place—the kind that gets a perfect score."
"A perfect score? Haha, this child is like me, this child is like me!" The idea of a late bloomer making a comeback directly touched Jiraiya's heart. He loved nothing more than a story of a late bloomer overcoming a genius.
Moreover, Minato Namikaze got perfect scores in his theoretical classes. Isn't that just like him?
Idiot! Orochimaru scornfully glanced at Jiraiya. What the hell do you mean, 'this child is like you'? Weren't you a late bloomer when you first joined our team?
Although Jiraiya's potential was later proven, Orochimaru truly struggled to understand why Sarutobi-sensei initially chose Jiraiya, as this guy wasn't particularly outstanding at first.
Of course, the current Jiraiya had already proven his worth.
"Jiraiya, if you're interested, you can observe Minato Namikaze closely." Sarutobi Hiruzen's heart stirred. Originally, he had planned for Minato Namikaze to be the last member of Orochimaru's team.
But if Jiraiya was interested, having Minato Namikaze as his disciple wouldn't be a bad idea either.
Among his three disciples, Orochimaru was the one he thought most highly of, and Jiraiya was his favorite.
"His fundamentals are quite good! A very intelligent child. Look, now he's challenging Ittetsu Uchiha." Jiraiya watched as Minato Namikaze defeated the child from the Sarutobi clan, then challenged Ittetsu Uchiha. A smile also appeared at the corner of his mouth. The mentality of daring to challenge a strong opponent was exactly like his own. He loved it!
Perhaps Minato Namikaze wasn't the best performer on the spot, but he was the one who resonated most with Jiraiya.
Orochimaru and Tsunade both turned their gaze to Ittetsu Uchiha, wondering what this young man would do next.
According to Sarutobi-sensei, his strength far surpassed his opponents. So, at this moment, would he, like other Uchihas, crush his opponent to display his power, or would he give his opponent more opportunities to show their skills?
This was related to a person's character. Of course, it couldn't be said that one choice was wrong. For example, Orochimaru would undoubtedly defeat his opponent without hesitation.
Ittetsu Uchiha walked onto the combat arena, a smile on his lips, and said to Minato Namikaze, "I didn't expect you to challenge me so quickly."
"I know my own limits; I'm no match for you or Uzumaki-san." Although Minato Namikaze said this, there was no self-pity in his tone. Instead, he frankly stated, "If I were to fight anyone else, I wouldn't even have the right to challenge you."
"Is that so?" Ittetsu Uchiha formed the hand sign of opposition with Minato Namikaze, waiting for Minato Namikaze to make the first move.
Not to mention his generally good relationship with Minato Namikaze, there was no need to establish his strength by quickly defeating Minato Namikaze. Moreover, he was the inheritor of the Will of Fire; how could he be so ruthless?
After forming the hand sign of opposition with Ittetsu Uchiha, Minato Namikaze quickly approached Ittetsu Uchiha as usual, kicking towards Ittetsu Uchiha's face at an extremely fast and tricky angle.
"Wham!" However, Minato Namikaze's attack was easily caught by Ittetsu Uchiha. With a gentle flick of his hand, he sent Minato Namikaze flying.
Minato Namikaze spun in the air, landing steadily on the ground. Immediately after, Minato Namikaze calmly formed hand signs and took a deep breath: "Wind Release: Great Breakthrough!"
From his mouth, a high-speed rotating gale was unleashed, assailing Ittetsu Uchiha.
"Fire Release: Great Fireball Technique." Ittetsu Uchiha formed hand signs much faster than Minato Namikaze, spewing out a huge fireball to meet Minato Namikaze's gale.
"Such fast hand signs!" This scene made Tsunade let out an involuntary gasp of surprise.
She herself wasn't known for her hand sign speed, and Ittetsu Uchiha's hand sign speed just now had already surpassed hers.
Of course, it might even be faster than Jiraiya and Orochimaru's.
Sarutobi Hiruzen nodded slightly, praising, "Although the speed of hand signs doesn't necessarily indicate a ninja's strength, truly powerful ninjas can even simplify hand signs, like the First Hokage and Tobirama-sensei.
But Ittetsu Uchiha's hand sign speed has already surpassed most ninjas. I heard from Seiichiro that he's still training in one-handed hand signs. I haven't seen him use it, so I wonder if he's mastered it yet?"
Jiraiya scratched his nose: "Isn't it just one-handed hand signs? It's nothing at all. If you're so capable, try using both feet to form hand signs like me!"
Tsunade and Orochimaru's faces instantly darkened. Who uses both feet to form hand signs normally?
If you're so capable, go use your toes to form hand signs!
"However, this Minato Namikaze is indeed very talented. He has almost done everything he can do." Orochimaru looked at Minato Namikaze with eyes full of admiration.
He felt that Minato Namikaze was a similar type of person to himself. If he had the opportunity, he would definitely seize it and make a name for himself.
With Sarutobi Hiruzen's tutelage, he would surely become a strong individual.
Sarutobi Hiruzen watched Minato Namikaze, who was fully displaying his abilities with Ittetsu Uchiha's cooperation, and nodded with satisfaction. Ittetsu Uchiha having such strength was within his expectations. He even suspected that his own son, Sarutobi Shinnosuke, might not be a match for Ittetsu Uchiha, let alone Minato Namikaze.
And Minato Namikaze was rapidly improving during his battle with Ittetsu Uchiha, which was extremely rare and valuable.
Such a smart child, entrusting him to Jiraiya might be a bit of a waste.
How about entrusting him to Orochimaru?
However, looking at Orochimaru, he clearly had no intention of competing with Jiraiya. Forget it, let it be.
Tsunade stared intently at Ittetsu Uchiha. The more she looked at Ittetsu Uchiha, the more familiar he felt. This feeling was like facing Nawaki, but Ittetsu Uchiha wasn't Nawaki. She could only attribute the reason to Ittetsu Uchiha having a unique charisma.
Tsunade had seen this in others before, like her grandfather Hashirama Senju, but Ittetsu Uchiha was an Uchiha!
"Tsunade, how is it? Ittetsu is quite good, isn't he? Have you decided to be his master?" Sarutobi Hiruzen asked when he saw Tsunade staring intently at Ittetsu Uchiha.
Tsunade said with a complex expression, "I can't teach him much. Is it really okay to entrust such a genius to me? Both Jiraiya and Orochimaru are more suitable for him than I am."
"No, you are the most suitable. You are a Senju, and he is an Uchiha. Although this might bring some trouble, this is what's best for him!" Sarutobi Hiruzen looked at Tsunade earnestly.