The annual Konoha Ninja Academy entrance exam was considered a major event in the village.
At this very moment, the school playground was crowded with people and filled with the noise of clamoring voices.
Hundreds of five- and six-year-old children were lined up in a long queue.
Minato stood quietly in line, joining the other children undergoing the entrance exam in groups of three under the supervision of the academy teachers.
Thwack, thwack, thwack—
As three shuriken precisely hit the bullseye, the black-haired boy stood up straight, a hint of pride appearing on his slightly hurried little face.
"Sarutobi Shinnosuke, full marks!"
The scoring Chunin announced loudly, as if afraid people wouldn't hear him clearly.
Whoosh—
Hearing this, the parents watching from the edge of the playground erupted in excitement.
"As expected of Hokage-sama's son..."
"The top student of this year's new class should be Young Master Shinnosuke, right?"
Hearing the envious discussions of the parents, Hiruzen Sarutobi, standing at the front of the crowd, chuckled and took a deep puff from his pipe, feeling very pleased.
"Yo, not bad, that Shinnosuke kid."
Behind Hiruzen Sarutobi, Jiraiya, who had a full head of white hair and was still a young man at this time, crossed his arms and laughed.
"He's a genius, just like me!"
Hearing this, Orochimaru, standing beside him, glanced at the bullseye with a faint smile on his lips, though it held a hint of contempt.
He didn't deny that Jiraiya was a genius; although he had been a foolish 'dead last' in school, his current strength was not inferior to Orochimaru's own, and he could even slightly suppress him in direct combat.
But if a kid like Sarutobi Shinnosuke could be considered a genius, then the title of genius would be far too cheap.
As for shurikenjutsu, anyone with a head on their shoulders could master it after a few months of hard practice.
Back then, Jiraiya's shuriken accuracy was lower than the odds of winning the lottery, and the fact that he didn't know a single ninjutsu didn't stop him from entering the academy.
This was because, at the same age of five or six, that guy's chakra reserves were twice as high as Shinnosuke's.
With Sarutobi Shinnosuke's chakra capacity, he would likely only ever reach the level of a Jonin in his lifetime.
Tsunade, standing nearby, clearly shared similar thoughts.
Her slender fingers impatiently twirled her ponytail, wishing the entrance test would end quickly so she could go and enjoy a good gamble.
As the direct disciples of the Third Hokage, Hiruzen Sarutobi, they naturally had to come and take a look when their teacher's child was entering the academy.
But it was just a look; Shinnosuke's talent level was clearly not worth their attention.
"Next group: Tsuchiya Naoto, Toyama Rin, Minato Namikaze!"
Hearing his name, Minato stepped forward quickly.
As soon as he stood still, the girls behind him immediately became restless.
"Eh? Look at that boy! Don't you think he's really handsome?"
"Mhm, not only is he handsome, but his aura is also great! His smile is so warm..."
"Yes, yes, yes! You really get it~"
Hearing the discussions from behind, Minato gave a sheepish smile and awkwardly scratched his cheek with his index finger.
The teacher nearby was not surprised; children in the Ninja World were generally precocious, and similar situations happened almost every year.
This little blond boy was indeed very handsome, fully deserving the highest praise for a man—even slightly better than the teacher was back then.
His golden hair was like a small sun, and his azure eyes were like two magnificent sapphires.
Although his fair little face still had some baby fat, his facial proportions were so pleasing to the eye that he was destined to be defined by the word 'handsome' for his entire life.
Of course, for a ninja, looks are at most a bonus.
Strength is the most important thing for a ninja.
Just as he was thinking this, the boy's fingers suddenly flicked, and three shuriken appeared out of thin air between them.
With a flash of black shadows, the three shuriken all hit the bullseye ten meters away with a dull thud.
Hmm?
At the front of the crowd, Hiruzen Sarutobi was slightly taken aback, and even the previously distracted Orochimaru and Tsunade cast surprised glances at Minato.
"What beautiful shurikenjutsu..."
Jiraiya rubbed his chin, looking at Minato's handsome and cute little face with interest.
"Hmm~ his looks are just as dashing and handsome as mine!"
As the saying goes, the layman watches the show while the expert looks for the technique.
Because the length and strength of each person's fingers are different, the force and trajectory of every shuriken thrown will vary somewhat.
For Minato to hit the bullseye with three shuriken at the same instant, besides having sufficiently proficient shurikenjutsu, it also required excellent dynamic vision, muscle control, body coordination, and finger flexibility.
This is what they call talent!
In the entire village, even among the Uchiha Clan who could perform tricks with shuriken, few could achieve Minato's level at this age.
"Minato Namikaze! Full marks!"
The teacher in charge of scoring called out loudly, his gaze toward Minato filled with unconcealed admiration.
"Humph, not bad, but I won't lose to you either!"
The boy beside him named Tsuchiya Naoto looked eager to try; he suddenly threw his hand, tracing three crooked curves.
Two fell to the ground, and one hit Minato's target.
"Tsuchiya Naoto, zero points."
"Damn it!"
Hearing his score, Tsuchiya Naoto's face instantly flushed red.
He wiped away a tear and ran away, causing a burst of laughter from the crowd.
Minato was also speechless at the sight; he felt like laughing but thought it would be impolite.
However, when he saw the boy throw himself into his mother's arms and cry bitterly, his amusement immediately vanished.
This kid has one more mother than he does.
Most likely a father too.
This story goes back half a year, when Minato was just an ordinary child.
His father was once a Chunin in the village, but because his mother's health was poor, he retired from the ninja ranks and started a trading business, so their family's conditions were quite good.
But accidents always happen suddenly.
Due to heavy rain, the trading caravan encountered a landslide.
His father was severely injured by falling rocks while trying to save others and eventually passed away due to a lack of timely treatment.
And as a certain unknown Roronoa Zoro from a neighboring universe once said, disasters always follow one after another; that is the way of the world.
When the news of his father's death reached home, his mother's health deteriorated instantly, and she died of grief within a single month, passing away suddenly one night.
At the very moment he witnessed his mother's death, a cold power suddenly erupted in Minato's brain, and countless memory fragments flooded into his mind like a broken mirror, giving him a splitting headache.
In his memories, he was originally just an ordinary university student with a gentle and modest personality, beloved by his parents and teachers.
After his parents passed away unexpectedly, he started working while studying.
Because of his gentle personality and handsome looks, he was recruited by a wealthy senior from the school's anime club.
His job was to cosplay as Minato Namikaze at anime conventions for three hundred a day.
As a result, just as the convention ended and he was crossing the street carrying a box of figures, a heavy truck came speeding toward him.
Perhaps due to the 'skin bonus' from cosplaying as Minato Namikaze, in that instant, his body instinctively lunged forward like a Yellow Flash, narrowly dodging the brutal collision.
However, before he could even get up, he saw the heavy truck transform into a Cybertronian on the spot, twisting its waist and throwing a punch!
Then his vision went black, and only a faint electronic voice could be heard in the darkness, seemingly saying jokingly: "Time to go to another world, young man!"
Once his memories were sorted out, Minato's consciousness arrived in a strange space.
This space was bright and boundless, as if there were no concepts of time or space, with only three statues standing before Minato.
Seeing the appearance of these three statues clearly, Minato was instantly shocked.
For no other reason than the fact that these three statues were the very figures he had in his box before he transmigrated!
The three statues were: the First Hokage, Senju Hashirama, wearing red armor with a wood dragon coiled behind him!
Uchiha Madara, also wearing red armor, with his Mangekyo activated and a half-body Susanoo standing behind him!
And the Marine Admiral, Kizaru Borsalino, from the neighboring universe, whom he had conveniently stuffed into the box to save space while organizing his figures.
As if sensing Minato's gaze, the three statues suddenly shook and turned into three streaks of light—red, yellow, and green—which then merged into his body.
When he woke up again, he had been sent to the Konoha Hospital due to his coma, and his mother had been buried next to his father's grave with the help of family friends and neighbors.
To put it bluntly, on that day he lost his mother, but at the same time, he awakened the abilities of Kizaru's Glint-Glint Fruit, Senju Hashirama's Wood Release, and a pair of Mangekyo Sharingan.
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[Disclaimer: This book is based on the original protagonist Naruto being born in Year 51 and the original Minato passing away at age 24, as this standard timeline is slightly longer. Additionally, given the chaotic timeline of the original work, there may be errors in the ages of some characters and the timing of closely related events. If you want to complain, please complain about the original work first, thank you!]
[Disclaimer: The author possesses the original raw, black-and-white, and color versions of the manga, as well as the official databooks. For some controversial settings, this book will adopt the more reasonable version. If you want to complain, please complain about the original work first, thank you!]
[Disclaimer: Unless absolutely necessary, the author does not like fanons or headcanons. Please do not use fanon settings to criticize the author, thank you!]