Minato inherited abilities from the figures.
This also left him with some regret; had he known it would be like this, he should have stuffed a Kakarot or Superman into the box back then.
But on second thought, he couldn't help but feel a bit fortunate.
After all, since he transmigrated as whoever he cosplayed, it was a blessing that he hadn't cosplayed the likes of Ken Kaneki or Eren Yeager...
If he hadn't awakened his past life's memories, he would likely have followed the original Naruto plot, going offline at light speed before the story even began, leaving behind the title of 'Fourth Hokage' and an unfortunate son bullied by the entire village.
But luckily, he had cheats!
The Kizaru figure brought him the Devil Fruit ability from the neighboring One Piece universe.
The power of the Glint-Glint Fruit went without saying; the user could turn into photons, and the passive elementalization could ignore most attacks in the world.
In this Ninja World without Haki or Sea Prism Stones, he couldn't claim to be invincible, but self-preservation was definitely not an issue.
The Senju Hashirama figure allowed Minato to awaken Wood Release, while the Uchiha Madara figure enabled him to unlock the Sharingan.
After half a year of training to control his abilities, Minato was certain that these two figures had brought him more than just their respective powers; they had also brought deeper changes.
For instance, over the past six months, his chakra reserves had been growing rapidly every day, and his ocular power was also increasing daily.
Or, if he suppressed the Glint-Glint Fruit's passive elementalization and cut his hand with a knife, the wound would heal in the blink of an eye.
Another example was evolving straight to the Mangekyo as soon as he awakened his eyes; even Indra, the biological son of the Sage of Six Paths, wasn't that exaggerated.
He couldn't think of any reason other than the Power of All Creation.
All these signs indicated that he had likely also inherited the chakra of Asura and Indra through the two figures.
(The original work doesn't actually have the concepts of Sage Body and Sage Eyes; a detailed explanation will be given in later chapters.)
Although he didn't know a single Wood Release ninjutsu yet, and the Mangekyo carried the risk of blindness... possessing both powers meant he already held the ticket to becoming the strongest.
Even before he fully matured, the Glint-Glint Fruit's power would protect him.
Influenced by the values of his past life, the current Minato might have a similar personality to the original one, but his core was entirely different.
At the very least, he would never follow the same old path!
Withdrawing his gaze from Tsuchiya Naoto, Minato's desire to become stronger grew even more urgent.
There were four items in the freshman entrance examination: chakra refinement, shurikenjutsu, physical coordination testing, and taijutsu combat.
The main purpose of the exam wasn't the scoring; after all, most civilian students didn't even know how to refine chakra.
The primary goal was to observe the aptitude shown by the students, though good grades were naturally preferred.
The physical coordination test was an obstacle course, which naturally posed no difficulty for Minato.
Whether rolling, leaping, or sprinting, he was like a Yellow Flash, easily completing the assessment.
"That child's physical coordination is also excellent..."
Not far away, Hiruzen Sarutobi, who had been watching Minato, had a slight glint in his eyes.
"Heh heh heh, his speed is also very fast, both in terms of running and reaction time."
Orochimaru chuckled, his voice raspy.
"No signs of training; he broke the record Shinnosuke just set using pure talent alone.
Seeing your son easily surpassed, I wonder if you feel a sense of disappointment, Sarutobi-sensei?"
"Hahaha, then I really hope there are more such disappointments."
Hiruzen Sarutobi couldn't help but laugh; he knew all too well as a father that Sarutobi Shinnosuke's talent was only average.
This world never lacked geniuses; as the Hokage, he was well aware of this.
It had been a long time since Konoha had produced a genius who could stand above an entire generation.
It had been over a decade since the First Ninja World War, and the situation in the Ninja World was becoming increasingly turbulent.
Looking at a generation as a ten-year span, since his three disciples, the village had shown signs of a talent gap.
Among the new generation, the brothers Hiashi and Hizashi of the Hyuga Clan had good talent, but unfortunately, their clan was too rigid and couldn't move beyond the Gentle Fist system, severely limiting their potential.
Uchiha Fugaku was decent but not spectacular, and he was a bit too old—strictly speaking, he belonged to Jiraiya's generation.
Tsunade's younger brother, Nawaki... though full of energy, was also of average talent.
In the eyes of ordinary people, these individuals might be called geniuses, but in reality, only about twenty years had passed since the Great Battle at the Valley of the End.
Setting aside how his title as the 'Strongest Hokage' would come about decades later, at least during this period, Hiruzen Sarutobi still understood the meaning of awe.
Recalling the battle between those two back then, Hiruzen Sarutobi's gaze toward Minato couldn't help but carry a hint of regret.
He was gratified that a civilian genius had appeared in the village, but he couldn't help but find it a pity that the boy was only a civilian genius.
"Hey, you're Minato Namikaze, right?"
During the final taijutsu assessment, while Minato was warming up, Sarutobi Shinnosuke suddenly approached him.
"I watched your assessment; you seem very strong. How about a match with me?"
He had his arms crossed and his chin slightly raised; though his tone was somewhat arrogant, he wasn't overbearing, and he didn't seem to be looking for trouble.
Minato was a bit surprised; he didn't know much about Sarutobi Shinnosuke.
He only knew that he was Hiruzen Sarutobi's eldest son and had served as an Anbu Captain under Hiruzen.
Like himself, Shinnosuke had moved to the Pure Land with his wife before the story began.
"Me? I suppose I could..."
"Then I'll go tell the teacher."
Before Minato could finish, Sarutobi Shinnosuke excitedly went to find the teacher.
A taijutsu match between the two top-performing freshmen immediately piqued many people's interest.
The surrounding crowd buzzed with discussion, and this scene naturally caught the eyes of Hiruzen Sarutobi and the others.
"Oh, not bad. I thought this kid would just be floating on air from everyone's flattery."
Seeing Sarutobi Shinnosuke requesting a taijutsu match with Minato, Tsunade, who had been somewhat impatient, finally became interested.
"Hmm..."
Hiruzen Sarutobi puffed on his pipe, a smile playing on his lips.
"It's good for him to see the disparity in talent.
Shinnosuke hasn't suffered much since he was a child, which isn't necessarily a good thing for a ninja."
"That may be true, but didn't that kid say he has no taijutsu combat experience?
Shinnosuke was taught by you, Old Man, and he works hard at his training..."
Jiraiya rubbed his chin, not quite agreeing with Hiruzen Sarutobi's words; he always felt that the gap in talent could be bridged through hard work.
"If hard work were enough, there would be no geniuses in this world."
Tsunade scoffed.
"Want to make a bet?"
"Hmm?"
Jiraiya's eyes darted around, a lecherous smile appearing on his face.
"I was a bit unsure at first, but since you've said that, wouldn't it be rude of me not to join in?"
"To be honest, I was thinking the same thing..."
A faint smile played on Orochimaru's face; he also thought highly of Minato, but since Tsunade wanted to bet on Minato to win, he had to think carefully—after all, Tsunade's luck in gambling was somewhat eerie.
"You two..."
A vein popped on Tsunade's forehead as she turned to Hiruzen Sarutobi.
"What about you, Old Man?"
Hiruzen Sarutobi's mouth twitched.
"Well... I'm definitely still rooting for Shinnosuke.
After all, as his father, wouldn't he be heartbroken if he found out otherwise?"
"Fine, fine, fine..."
Tsunade laughed in exasperation.
As the saying goes, the more one lacks something, the more they care about it.
If someone said her strength was lacking or her ninjutsu skills were poor, she might just laugh it off.
But if someone said her luck in gambling was bad, she'd definitely lose her cool...
"Then I'll bet on that little blondie! The loser pays for a barbecue dinner!"
Hiruzen Sarutobi, Jiraiya, and Orochimaru replied in unison, "It's a deal!"
With the added weight of having a Hokage for a father, the teacher in charge of the taijutsu assessment agreed to Shinnosuke's request to challenge Minato without a second thought.
When the two formed the Seal of Confrontation, they were surrounded by onlookers.
Noticing Hiruzen Sarutobi at the front of the crowd, Shinnosuke took a deep breath and looked at Minato with burning eyes.
"Sorry for interfering with your entrance exam like this."
"It's fine. I have to fight someone anyway, though I don't quite understand why you're so set on fighting me."
Minato's gentle tone and modest, polite manner made the hearts of the watching girls flutter, leading to a chorus of screams.
"For the title of Top Student, of course!"
Sarutobi Shinnosuke said as if it were obvious.
"Among the freshmen, only you and I have the best grades.
If I beat you, I'll be the top student of this class, and I'll keep that title for years to come!"
Minato tilted his head slightly.
"Is that very important to you?"
"Uh, it's alright. Dad is always telling me there's always someone better out there.
I want to prove to him that I, Sarutobi Shinnosuke, am no worse than anyone else!
And one day, I'll surpass him and become an even better Hokage than he is!"
Minato nodded; as long as he wasn't looking for trouble on purpose, he didn't care about the reason.
"I'm ready."
"In that case, let the match begin!"
The teacher acting as referee waved his arm, and Sarutobi Shinnosuke lunged at Minato, throwing a punch toward his face.
The speed wasn't very fast, and the power didn't seem very strong.
Even though he had no combat experience, for some reason, Shinnosuke's movements appeared full of openings to Minato.
Tilting his head slightly to dodge Shinnosuke's punch, Minato then loosely clenched his fist and struck straight out!
Thwack!
With a crisp sound, Shinnosuke groaned and stumbled back two steps, clutching his eye socket, his gaze toward Minato filled with daze and confusion.
Such a fast punch!