Naruto : Minato back to the past

The night was deep, the moon hung high, and everything was silent.

On the back hill of Konoha Village, Minato lay flat on the ground and suddenly opened his eyes. They were a pair of azure blue eyes, beautiful and vibrant, shining brightly even in the dark night.

"Have I passed out again?" Minato muttered to himself. He had long grown accustomed to this. As a civilian ninja with no background, keeping pace with and surpassing those from noble and ninja families was no easy task.

All he could do was practice ninjutsu diligently when others were resting.

Even though he is very talented, compared to families like the Uchiha and Hyuga, who were born with strong bloodlines, he needed to put in extra effort to fulfill his dream.

Thinking of this, Minato felt that these efforts were worthwhile, and he immediately got up.

"This is strange..."

He expected his body to feel heavy, but instead, he felt incredibly light, even more agile than before he started this practice.

"Is it the success of this practice?"

At just seven years old, Minato was delighted with his growth. Today's training had been intense, but it was only basic practice. There was no reason for such a significant increase in strength, right?

He carefully inspected his body but found no abnormalities.

"Let's test this."

Unable to find any problems, the cautious Minato decided to test the success of his practice.

His pupils froze, and the chakra in his body began to condense toward his feet, a motion he had repeated countless times.

Swish!

In an instant, his figure seemed to turn into an afterimage. Coupled with his golden hair, it gave the illusion of shining.

"Not good!"

This time, his speed and distance were much greater than before. He hadn't expected to extract such powerful chakra.

In front of him was a big tree, fast approaching!

At this critical moment, Minato's reaction speed was so fast it belied his young age. He crossed his arms and protected his head just in time.

"Oh!"

With a sound and the swaying of the big tree, Minato's figure finally stopped. However, he was pushed several meters back by the reaction force, and he hit the ground hard.

"It hurts."

Minato forced himself to sit up, pain coursing through his body. The leaves from the giant tree in front of him spilled and landed around him.

Swinging his sore arms, Minato's immature face revealed a look of surprise.

At the moment the leg chakra erupted, the powerful force was unprecedented, catching him off guard.

However, doubts soon filled his mind.

"This chakra is almost beyond the level of an ordinary ninja."

Minato evaluated himself. He had possessed this amount of chakra before, but it had only allowed him to move less than ten meters at a time, exhausting all his strength.

This time, not only did the distance more than double, but the speed was incomparable. Even his trained reflexes struggled to respond. More importantly, although his body felt exhausted, he didn't experience the usual loss of strength. It seemed he hadn't even tried his hardest yet.

With just one practice, had his chakra made a qualitative leap?

According to the theories taught by the ninja school, chakra is the product of physical and spiritual energy. A ninja can enhance their chakra through continuous training, but it takes a long time unless they have a special physique, like those of the Uzumaki or Senju clans.

But Minato knew it was impossible for him to have such a physique. His parents were ordinary people. When he was very young, they were robbed and killed by bandits while outside the village.

This was why Minato wanted to fulfill his dream. Although his parents were gone, Konoha was his home. He wanted to protect everyone in the village and never let them be hurt again.

For this reason, as an ordinary ninja, he had to endure unimaginable hardships, but that did not deter him from his dream.

The pain in his body gradually eased, and Minato stood up slowly, patting the dust off his body. His blue eyes were resolute once more.

"Let's try again!"

He turned around and condensed chakra in his feet again, this time deliberately controlling the output to avoid losing control.

But after consuming a lot of chakra, he only moved less than five meters.

"It's still not enough control."

Minato murmured. This was far from his ideal. As a ninja, if he couldn't control his movement distance and direction in battle, he could die.

He still wanted to fulfill his dream. How could he protect Konoha if he died?

He moved again, with slightly better results. Afterward, his chakra was almost exhausted.

"It's time to go back."

After resting for a while, Minato got up. He had to go to the ninja school tomorrow and couldn't stay out all night. Maintaining sufficient physical strength at all times was fundamental for a ninja.

He trotted away from the training ground.

Minato's home was not too small; after all, his parents had been merchants. But when he returned to the empty house, Minato's eyes held some disappointment.

After all, he was only seven, the age when he should be cared for by his parents, but they were no longer there.

Still, upon entering the house, Minato clasped his hands together and closed his eyes.

"I am back!"

After simply washing his body, Minato returned to his room on the second floor.

The window of his room faced the symbol of Konoha Ninja Village.

Hokage Rock!

The three faces engraved on the rock wall were his inspiration and the symbol of his dream.

Hokage!