Since Kushina Uzumaki had accepted a mission from her best female friend, Kushina—always a woman of her word—was eager to act quickly. However, with her bright red hair drawing too much attention and many rivals around campus, several of her attempts were disrupted by others and ended in failure, even raising Shiyu Uchiha's suspicion.
Although Shiyu Uchiha had already mentally prepared for the worst—that he might be exposed to Mikoto Uchiha—wouldn't it be better to delay it for just one more day? Otherwise, whether he explained or not, things would become awkward, possibly leading to total embarrassment.
Therefore, when Shiyu Uchiha accidentally discovered Kushina Uzumaki approaching his area, he became alert immediately.
Though unsure exactly when Kushina Uzumaki and Mikoto Uchiha had met, he guessed the time when Kushina and Mikoto met must have been before Kushina became the Nine-Tails Jinchuriki, making it highly likely they had met at the ninja academy.
After witnessing Kushina's actions, Shiyu began actively avoiding her, causing all of Kushina's efforts over many days to come up empty. Fortunately for him, his methods were subtle enough that the usually easily distracted Kushina believed it was just bad luck, thinking she was simply being disrupted by enemies again.
Because of this, Kushina vented her anger quite intensely, severely punishing several classmates who often caused trouble, reminding them all once more of the fear brought by "The Red-Hot Habanero."
However, Kushina's anger couldn't solve anything—it only left her sulking alone. But it did attract someone capable of solving her problem.
Minato Namikaze had always focused deeply on his studies, observing his crush secretly instead of constantly trying to draw her attention like other students, let alone confessing outright. He continuously cultivated his knowledge and abilities, waiting for the day he could break free from his shell like a butterfly.
This time though, sensing Kushina's anger, Minato could no longer hold back. After doing some initial investigation and understanding the basic situation, he bravely stepped forward, approaching Kushina Uzumaki in hopes of helping relieve her distress.
At first, upon seeing Minato appear, Kushina mistook him for someone coming to mock her. After all, her impression of this little blonde-haired boy had never been good—he had seemed girly, and had laughed at her during their very first meeting.
But since he had never provoked her again afterward, and considering herself reasonable, Kushina hadn't pursued any conflict with him.
Although Minato truly felt wronged, without knowing what Kushina was thinking, there was no way for him to properly clear up the misunderstanding at the moment.
Minato was one of the few people who had never been physically attacked by Kushina. Additionally, due to his humble background—lacking preschool education and having no senior family members offering extra tutoring—his academic performance, while excellent, wasn't currently ranked number one in the class. Since he focused mainly on studying, he flew under the radar and remained somewhat overlooked.
The main reason Minato didn't stand out in class was because of his lowly origins. His family had produced no notable figures, and everyone in his household had died before he turned four—leaving him completely alone. Luckily, government compensation ensured he wouldn't starve.
However, besides the Chakra Extraction Technique scroll, there was only one Shifting Body Technique scroll at home—and it was just an ordinary version.
When he reached the age to start extracting chakra, no one offered guidance, so he had no choice but to teach himself. Worse still, since he couldn't read or write, he relied on an elderly neighbor who kindly volunteered to teach him, although the man wasn't a ninja himself. By the time Minato Namikaze could finally understand the Chakra Extraction Technique, he was already five years old. Relying solely on his natural talent, he explored and studied independently, bit by bit, and didn't master the Chakra Extraction Technique until half a year later.
Then, within less than half a year—and still without any instruction—he progressed from basic mastery to full proficiency in the Chakra Extraction Technique.
Thanks to his extraordinary talent, during the entrance exam, Minato Namikaze's chakra reserves surpassed many classmates who had trained in Chakra extraction for nearly two years and even used secret medicinal remedies. So he earned a spot in Class A.
This clearly showed that Minato Namikaze's physical condition and aptitude were top-tier—truly worthy of someone capable of learning Sage Arts.
During his time at the academy, relying only on regular instruction and personal training, Minato became one of the top students within just three short years.
It must be noted that his resources were far inferior to those of his peers. Yet through sheer talent and effort, he not only caught up but also reached a level comparable to a Genin—on top of which, he had even taught himself the Shifting Body Technique entirely on his own.
It was foreseeable that in another two years, Minato Namikaze would definitely surpass his classmates. That was also why none of them dared to bully him—most of his peers were weaker, while the few slightly stronger ones lacked his speed.
Moreover, the original Minato Namikaze was extremely disciplined in the storyline. Even though he liked Kushina Uzumaki, he didn't pursue her recklessly when his skills weren't sufficient. Instead, he focused on strengthening himself. Then, when Kushina was kidnapped, he came to her rescue like a true hero, winning her heart completely. If not for dying too early, he'd have been the perfect protagonist—the chosen child of destiny.
In the end, Minato achieved both love and success. At a young age, he won the hand of a beautiful and refined woman and climbed to the peak of life. Obito might have possessed a powerful Kamui, yet after just a couple of blows, he ended up flat on the ground. If not for urgent matters concerning his wife, Obito probably wouldn't have escaped easily.
If given ten more years, Minato might have even pioneered a Time-Space Rasengan. Once marked with Flying Thunder God, this jutsu would leave you nowhere to flee—with no escape, death would find you wherever you ran.
From this perspective, it wasn't really unfair for Obito to kill Minato; the life Minato lived was exactly what Obito longed for. The dreamlike existence enjoyed by Minato Namikaze was something Obito couldn't have imagined even in his wildest dreams.
Just then, as Minato Namikaze approached, Kushina Uzumaki—who had never really liked him—felt the embers of her suppressed anger begin to rise sharply again.
Thinking that, just like after she had beaten up a couple of seductive bimbos earlier, this guy must be another stuck-up girl coming to provoke her, she was about to strike. But Minato quickly explained his purpose upon noticing the worsening situation.
Kushina ignored him, however, and immediately launched an attack, throwing several punches in succession. All were dodged swiftly by Minato. As he evaded rapidly, Minato continued explaining while openly admitting he couldn't match her strength.
This caught the attention of Kushina Uzumaki. Just as she was about to confront this overly soft-spoken guy head-on, their teacher walked in, stopped them both, and announced the start of class.
During the lesson, Kushina gradually calmed down. Considering Minato Namikaze's agility and how useful he could be for tracking down intel on Shiyu Uchiha, she decided to call him over after class and assign him the mission he'd asked for.
Feeling that he had finally gained the recognition of his inner goddess, Minato became highly motivated and immediately took action. In just a few days, he uncovered everything about Shiyu Uchiha's time at school—almost down to his choice of socks—which showed exactly how skilled Minato was as a ninja.
Still, there were some gaps. The secret interactions between Shiyu Uchiha and Sarutobi Shin'nosuke were just too well hidden, so Minato couldn't crack them in such a short amount of time. Another mistake was that Minato misunderstood Shiyu Uchiha's relationship with the two young women.
The reason this happened completely caught Shiyu Uchiha off guard. After all, first, he hadn't really tried to hide anything; second, there were probably no fewer than eighty people who knew about his situation at school—it simply couldn't be concealed.
It was just that Kushina Uzumaki, being careless, ended up at a disadvantage. Facing someone meticulous like Minato Namikaze, everything inevitably slipped out. Still, reaching such a level of discovery exceeded even Shiyu Uchiha's expectations.
One could only say that some people are naturally suited for this profession—for example, Minato Namikaze would later become a practically perfect ninja. Meanwhile, although Shiyu Uchiha was powerful, he wasn't a jack of all trades.
After Minato Namikaze delivered the intelligence to Kushina Uzumaki, it indeed changed Kushina's perception of him instantly. Realizing she had underestimated him before, she happily admitted it in her typical confident way: "Minato, you did an excellent job this time—you're even better than me at this!"
"Thank you for the praise, Kushina. Can we be friends?" Minato joyfully replied with gentle warmth upon gaining recognition from his goddess.
Unfortunately, it disappointed him slightly—because at this point, what Kushina admired was strength alone, and gentleness meant little to her. Yet considering how respectful Minato was toward her, not to mention his impressive abilities, she quickly got the idea of taking him in as her new follower.
"Minato, follow my lead from now on, and I guarantee nobody will dare mess with you. How does that sound?" Kushina declared boldly once again.
Reality fell somewhat short of expectations—even the legendary speedster known as the Ninja World's First Flash would one day find himself unable to escape this situation completely. While it wasn't quite what Minato wanted, he still felt very happy knowing he'd get closer to his goddess.
"Um… Kushina, fine, I agree," Minato eventually accepted.
Though not entirely pleased with how Minato addressed her, Kushina didn't object—after all, she believed herself to have great tolerance. She intended to let this slide and instead look for an opportunity to knock some sense into him physically, making him realize once and for all who really called the shots. At the same time, she thought to herself that when she becomes the Fourth Hokage, Minato would make a particularly suitable head of the Anbu.
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