"My apologies for keeping you waiting."
Minato glanced at the weather. It was nearly noon—probably around eleven o'clock.
He glanced around. Clearly, Nawaki had been training here for some time before his arrival.
Still, his chakra remained quite steady and hadn't been drained much.
Though aware of their considerable power difference, Nawaki still looked forward to sparring with Minato.
"Alright then, now that you're here, let's get started."
Nawaki's expression changed, as if something ignited within him. He stiffened all over.
"Not bad..."
Minato inwardly noted. It just so happened that shortly before the outbreak of the Second Great Ninja War, he'd once sparred with Nawaki. Back then, Nawaki possessed decent strength, but his combat awareness had lacked refinement.
Now, tempered by war, Nawaki appeared flawless at first glance.
That said, this was only relative. After all, the gap between them in terms of actual power was undeniable.
Minato originally assumed Nawaki would first create distance and attack with ninjutsu. However, contrary to expectations, the moment Nawaki's body tensed up, he shot forward like an arrow released from a bowstring, rushing straight toward Minato.
Clearly utilizing the Body Flicker Technique, his speed was extremely fast. Yet in Minato's eyes, such speed wasn't particularly impressive.
"Boom!"
Nawaki threw a punch. The instant his fist moved forward, the air itself seemed to explode.
"Tsunade-sama's technique?"
Minato's eyes narrowed. Although Nawaki naturally possessed considerable strength, it was nowhere near this level.
Using his sensing ability, Minato could tell that Nawaki had poured nearly all his chakra into that one punch—clearly imitating Tsunade's Monstrous Strength.
However, Nawaki was still far too inexperienced. Otherwise, the mere wind pressure from that punch would've already reached Minato from this distance.
Minato neither dodged nor evaded. At the very moment Nawaki's fist nearly touched his nose, he instantly counterattacked.
Sidestepping casually, he effortlessly avoided the powerful strike and immediately retaliated with a punch of his own.
Nawaki didn't have time to react and was blasted away by Minato's punch.
His entire body still maintained the punching posture, though Minato hadn't used full strength.
Sent flying back nearly five meters, Nawaki steadied himself midair and immediately began forming hand seals with both hands.
[Earth Release: Earth and Stone Dragon]
Behind Nawaki, the ground undulated violently, and several fierce earth dragons erupted, shooting forward instantly.
Swish! Swish!
However, facing the same technique again, Minato didn't move away quickly as he did previously. Instead, just as the earth dragon bullets approached, he sidestepped casually, dodging them effortlessly.
The Earth Dragon Bullet didn't even graze his clothing.
[Earth Release: Earth Flow River!]
Immediately afterward, the ground before Minato's eyes rapidly transformed into mudflows, swiftly assimilating the terrain beneath his feet.
Minato naturally noticed all of Nawaki's movements, but this wasn't a battlefield situation, so he didn't intend to interrupt the other's hand seals.
He observed that as Nawaki unleashed Earth Release: Muddy River, his hand seals flowed seamlessly into the next sequence—clearly setting up for another technique.
Achieving such smooth transitions between jutsu demanded exceptional mastery over the Hand Seal Sequence.
Clearly, Nawaki wasn't just skilled in Water Release—he had clearly honed his Earth Release abilities to a high degree as well.
Minato simply shifted his body slightly sideways like a ghostly shadow, narrowly escaping the range of the Muddy River.
But he still wanted to see what techniques Nawaki would use next...
[Earth Release: Terra Surge!]
Just as Minato barely escaped the area affected by the Muddy River, the ground beneath his feet began shaking violently before suddenly erupting upward.
Minato's figure wavered slightly. At that moment, Nawaki launched himself forward again.
He sprang into the air just as the earth beneath Minato kept surging upward.
"Here it comes!"
He unleashed a full-power punch, channeling all his strength into it.
CRASH!
In an instant, the raised ground where Minato had stood—and even the surrounding mud and earth—was shattered and scattered by the terrifying force.
Within the cloud of dust and debris, Nawaki unsteadily rose to his feet.
Just then, at the moment he was about to land a hit, a flash of golden light flickered past his vision.
"Nawaki sempai, you win."
Suddenly a faint laughter reached his ear from beside him. Hearing those words, Nawaki couldn't help but let out a bitter smile.
"You monster."
Nawaki knew that in real combat, Minato could've killed him in the blink of an eye.
His speed rendered all his attacks utterly ineffective.
No matter how much strength one possessed, if they couldn't lock onto their opponent, it was meaningless.
A gentle breeze passed through, clearing away the smoke and debris, revealing both figures once more.
Nawaki sat down on the spot right where he stood, shrugging helplessly.
Minato gave a slight chuckle, joining him and sitting down as well.
"This isn't sparring," Nawaki said. "This is just me making a fool of myself."
Every move he made—Minato dodged it at the very last moment. Minato never even went on the offensive once—but Nawaki still felt like he'd been driven to his absolute limit.
Minato chuckled softly. Nawaki looked up and added, "Still, don't get too complacent. Yan Uchiha won't give up easily."
Nawaki understood their feud better than anyone else. In fact, at the end of the war, that guy had directly awakened the Double-Tomoe Sharingan.
After all, even among the Uchiha clan, few shinobi had evolved their Sharingan to the Double-Tomoe stage—especially at Yan Uchiha's age.
Even Fugaku Uchiha hadn't achieved that level at the same age.
Nowadays, Yan received intensive training under Kai Uchiha.
Minato was undeniably stronger, but Yan's raw potential was just as terrifying.
"Who would've thought," Nawaki scoffed, "that as a sempai, I'd be outdone by the two of you juniors. Such a humiliating loss."
Minato smiled and replied, "It's not like that at all. Your strength isn't weak either, Nawaki Sempai. We can't afford to be careless with Yan Uchiha either."
He wasn't just trying to reassure Nawaki. His own power growth stemmed from his innate talent, while Yan Uchiha's came from the awakening and evolution of his Kekkei Genkai.
Although evolving the Sharingan also demonstrated talent, the powerful Senju bloodline within Nawaki had yet to fully awaken at this stage, so its advantages weren't apparent.
Nawaki understood this all too well. He chuckled and said, "Yan Uchiha has suddenly gotten so strong because of his evolved Sharingan... Still, I'm confident I won't lose to him. But you? Even with our natural advantages, we still can't match you right now. That gap is only going to widen further."
His words genuinely surprised Minato, who hadn't expected Nawaki to have such a sharp understanding of training and growth.
No wonder he'd mastered both Earth Release and Water Release techniques to such a degree.
Though he inherited the Senju bloodline, a bloodline was nothing more than a head start.
Just as Nawaki had said.
However, since he had brought up the topic, Minato carefully nudged the conversation forward.
"If that's the case, Yan Uchiha comes from the Uchiha clan and has many elders guiding him. Meanwhile, you, Nawaki Sempai, are the grandson of the First Hokage... Yet I've never heard of any other ninja bearing the Senju name in the village."
<><><><><><><><>
Thank you for reading! Your support will keep me updating!
~ Every 50 Powerstones = **4 Bonus Chapters** this weekend!
<><><><><><><><>
~ 100+ Advanced Chapters Available on Patreon!
~ More *Free* Chapters and Books Available on Patreon!
patreon.com/Tansnovel
<><><><><><><><>