"I will protect her... just as I did before, Kushina!"
At this moment, Minato's eyes burned with unshakable determination.
Even The Third felt a tremor of emotion at such resoluteness.
He couldn't comprehend how Minato could harbor such feelings, nor did he know that these words had already crossed the boundaries of life and death, time and space.
Although the true crisis was still far away, Minato had already silently repeated those words countless times in his heart.
[If I can meet you again, no one will ever take you from me!]
It was Kushina's sacrifice that granted him this second chance, so Minato would never allow her to endure even the smallest grievance again.
"I understand your feelings..."
After a brief pause, The Third spoke. Minato's earnestness now mirrored the very same spirit that safeguarded Konoha — a willingness to pay any price, give everything.
This kind of willpower had been passed down to him from the First Hokage and Second Hokage.
"However, with your current strength, you are still not qualified to say such things." However, The Third's tone suddenly shifted.
"I understand what you mean. You wish to serve as Kushina's personal guardian, allowing her freedom to carry out missions under the condition that you can protect her, correct?"
Minato nodded. He'd always protected Kushina.
Yet during the most critical moment of her life, he had been lured away. By the time he arrived, it was already too late.
A jinchūriki who lost their tailed beast was doomed to die!
At the same time, he clearly understood that currently, there was no way the upper echelons of Konoha would entrust Kushina entirely to him.
After all, he was not yet the legendary Yellow Flash of Konoha who commanded respect across all ninja nations and roamed freely across the world.
Despite Minato's rapid growth, his training period was still far too brief.
There were no shortcuts to true strength, and though he now wielded the Nine-Tails' power, Minato understood that well.
Minato fell silent for a moment. Although he had anticipated this outcome.
Earlier, he had approached this with a gambler's mindset, but now, he simply didn't carry enough weight for others to bet on him.
"You should be well aware that even if I agreed to your plan, the other high-ranking officials of the village would never approve."
The Third furrowed his eyebrows slightly, then raised his eyes and stared at Minato.
"You indeed possess unparalleled talent and potential, but in this ninja world where power commands reverence, unless you transform that talent into actual strength, all that potential is meaningless."
"Therefore, only when your strength earns their trust will your method have any chance of success."
"What level must I reach at minimum?"
Minato immediately asked. He couldn't return to Kushina right away, but if he wanted to regain the peak strength he had in his previous life, even with his past experiences and the Nine-Tails' power, it would still take at least six or seven years.
But... both Kushina and he could not wait that long.
When the Third heard this, a slight smile involuntarily curved his lips. He chuckled and said, "Kid, how about I give you three years?"
"In three years, if you can just survive three minutes against Hatake Sakumo, I'll take care of convincing the other elders."
Minato was slightly taken aback but quickly understood what the Third meant by this condition.
Sakumo Hatake's strength currently ranked second only to the Third Hokage within Konoha. From his slaying of Tsuchigawa from Iwagakure, it was clear that although they were all elite jonin, [Legend of the White Fang] stood far above the rest.
Even the famed [Konoha Sannin], who now also enjoyed great renown in the ninja world, seemed somewhat inferior before the [White Fang].
As long as Minato could survive three minutes under him, even if he couldn't defeat similar elite warriors from various countries, he would at least be capable of remaining undefeated.
A ninja of such ability could already gain access to the village's real core.
Even among those high-level elders, none would dare treat Minato lightly anymore.
However, the time frame the Third gave Minato was quite short—only three years.
Minato had already become a jonin, but the road to improvement only got harder from here.
This was precisely why many ninja might spend their entire lives stuck as genin or chunin.
Without enough talent, their abilities would simply stop improving altogether.
Clearly though, Minato possessed such potential—but...he needed time.
"Do you think the time is too short?" the Third asked. He himself felt his requirement was indeed somewhat unreasonable.
He was usually calm and composed; perhaps it was because he held such high expectations for Minato that he had made such a demand this time.
However, Minato lifted his gaze and smiled. "No...actually, I feel like three years is too long—not just me, Kushina can't wait that long either."
"I only need eighteen months! That'll be enough!"
Even the great Third Hokage couldn't help but show astonishment at those words.
Had anyone else spoken such bold words, the Third would've dismissed them as mere boasting. But this was Minato speaking.
Though young, he was consistently steady-headed, thoughtful, and meticulous.
"Kid, you're being too hasty. The three years I proposed were already somewhat demanding. You've actually cut it in half—do you really believe you can accomplish it?"
There was some sighing in the Third's tone, as Minato was still quite young. Normally it wasn't an issue, but concerning matters involving Kushina, clearly, he was still somewhat impulsive.
Eighteen months to achieve such a level—even a genius ninja like Minato would have practically zero chance.
But of course, the reason Minato dared speak like that was because he had his own advantages.
Relying on the [Flying Thunder God Technique] he had improved himself, as long as within three years he could enhance his fundamental abilities up to the minimum required to use the technique in actual combat, even Sakumo Hatake wouldn't necessarily take him down within three minutes.
So Minato told the Third, "It's not about believing I can do it—it's that I have no choice. I *have* to make it happen!"
"I've got way too much on my shoulders—I can't afford to fail!"
The Third had thought Minato had lost his mind, but from the look in his eyes, he could feel that same unshakable determination as always.
He understood—this wasn't just talk. It was a decision carved in stone.
Then he smiled slightly and said, "Well, look at you, kid."
"In that case… I'll hand over the gift I had ready—a little early."
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