Naruto - Minato Namikaze SI

[Chapter Size: 1900 Words.]

Third Person POV

Konoha, Year 39.

...

...

Team 7 had been at the northern border for a week since Might Duy joined their team, settling into the camp's routine. However, Minato and his team hadn't been assigned any missions, as they were officially exempt from camp duties carried out by other ninjas.

They spent this time training in one of the fields near the camp. Having a letter from the Hokage was an advantage, as it allowed them the exclusive use of this training ground where no other ninjas could approach or interrupt them. The privacy was indeed welcome.

The name Minato Namikaze quickly became recognized throughout the camp, and Minato earned a certain level of respect locally, though many people seemed too intimidated to talk to him. He was grateful for that; after all, he had other priorities now. He was never particularly interested in the idea of being known as a hero or being showered with admiration.

His intense training with Might Duy had begun. It was mid-afternoon, and his friend in the green jumpsuit was sprawled on the ground, hands pressing against the earth as he tried to move, his entire body sore from the intense training that Minato had put him through that day. They hadn't even stopped for lunch, spending the whole day training.

"Already tired, Duy?" Minato asked with an amused tone, watching his friend struggle but with a feeling of respect. Minato was a bit dirty himself—he couldn't say he was unaffected after training intensely alongside Duy—but he was in better shape than his friend.

"No... I can keep going..." Duy murmured, starting to push himself up with effort, as the weighted seals—something Minato had previously given him—now felt even heavier. Minato had upgraded the weights to over 10,000 kg, aiming to increase them to 15,000 or even 20,000 by the end of the year. It shouldn't be too difficult for Duy; after all, Minato himself was carrying 15,000 kg on his own body.

"Alright, let's keep going," Minato said, satisfied, seeing Duy pushing himself to the limit. Knowing his partner was tireless and a prodigy in physical prowess, Minato understood that Duy's body was already extremely powerful, stronger than most jounins, though he had never had the chance to prove it.

Quickly, they resumed training while, nearby, Hanabi was also practicing. She focused on wind element jutsus, working on the technique she was learning.

But it wasn't just that; she was also studying scrolls on the human body and chakra control to enhance her effectiveness with medical jutsus.

Tsunade didn't take long to send a report to all battle camps about her major project of assigning a medical ninja to each team, an initiative started at the western border. Although it was initially implemented in that region, she sent the report to all other battle camps as well, aiming to encourage the command in each area to follow her lead, as she believed this was the right path.

Hanabi, learning medical ninjutsu, also received a letter that included the code of conduct for medical ninjas that Tsunade had created. Minato recalled a particular rule not being mentioned there: the one Tsunade herself had broken in her battle against Madara. But only she and, perhaps, her daughter could do this, creating a crystal on their foreheads from years of accumulated chakra.

Mikoto, on the other hand, was in a corner of the field, sparks of electricity in her hand, striking a stone as she attempted to develop her skills with the Chidori, as Minato had suggested. She seemed to struggle with maintaining her jutsu, mainly because her mind was elsewhere, thinking about her father. She hadn't been in contact with him, despite knowing he was nearby. In recent months, Mikoto had received several letters from him—letters that she frowned at upon reading, feeling a bit nervous about meeting him.

The training continued as Duy and Minato kept up with their physical training, and the girls worked on their current skills until the end of the day when the sunset began to color the sky. Finally, Hanabi approached Minato after putting everything away.

"Let's head back to camp."

Minato, standing beside an exhausted Duy, nodded to her, while Mikoto also passed by, greeting and saying her goodbyes. This routine repeated itself daily, with Mikoto and Hanabi organizing things for the night back at camp, while Minato and Duy trained from dawn to dusk every day. Minato possessed a powerful physique, and Duy held an uncommon willpower, a determination rarely found in people of this world.

After the girls left, Minato saw Duy fall to the ground once more, exhausted, as he approached with a smile.

"Well, it looks like that's your limit for now. Let's rest a bit; I want to talk to you," Minato said.

Duy nodded, breathing heavily while lying on his back, still keeping a cheerful smile on his face. Despite the challenges, he was happy to be able to train all the time, something he could hardly do before due to all the tasks assigned to him. Even when receiving orders from higher-ranking ninjas, Duy always performed his duties with a smile and the energy of youth, trying to make the best of every situation. Minato truly admired this determination, but he knew that now was the time to set Duy on the right path to developing the Eight Gates.

"It's time to bring out the things from the scroll," Minato said as Duy sat in front of him, looking curious. Minato quickly began pulling out various items, including a scroll he unrolled in front of Duy, showing the human body with the points of the Eight Gates marked, along with additional drawings that Minato had made himself.

"It's so similar to mine!" Duy exclaimed, as he searched his pocket for a small piece of paper, which he placed beside Minato's. It was a much more scribbled drawing, with a few points marked, but not as complete as Minato's, which had been created with all the knowledge he possessed from the future.

"Well, Duy," Minato murmured, a bit lost upon seeing Duy's drawing, but continued, "I want you to take this scroll and try to develop it from now on. I know it's incomplete, but only you can finish it. Also, here are all these books I managed to buy in the village." He pointed to the stack of books beside him.

They were all books about the human body and chakra control, including information on chakra flow. If he had access to the Hyuuga clan's books, it would help even more with Duy's technique, as they studied chakra flow within the human body with precision. However, even being close to Hanabi, there was no way to obtain these confidential materials from the clan's main family.

"This..." Duy was stunned by the number of books in front of him. There were at least twenty of them.

"They're all for you to study, Duy. I want you to spend every night studying and developing this technique on your own. I'm not as talented as you in this area, so only you can do this," Minato said. Deep down, he knew the technique was meant for Duy. He was there only to guide his friend and let him take it all on himself.

"Minato, these books are so expensive! I could never afford them..." Duy said, looking amazed. He noticed that some of the books were rare ones he'd always wished to have, but they were far too costly for him, given his genin status.

"Don't worry about that, Duy. They're all yours; it's my gift to you. Study as much as you want, and if you need help, I'll be here. But I believe you can manage this on your own," Minato said, giving him an encouraging smile.

Hearing this, Duy couldn't resist and, overwhelmed with emotion, lunged forward to hug him while crying gratefully. Minato saw this and quickly vanished in an instant, avoiding the sticky embrace, leaving Duy grasping at thin air.

He reappeared on the other side of the training field, where a kunai lay on the ground, and saw Duy falling to the ground, with no one to grab onto.

"Study the books, Duy. I'll stay a bit longer," Minato said, ending the training for the day. Duy nodded, standing up awkwardly, grabbing Minato's books and scroll as he left the training field, smiling and exclaiming his usual words of enthusiasm.

Now, Minato was alone in that place, able to begin his personal training. He walked to the center of the field, raised his fist, and stretched. Seeing that no one was around, he closed his eyes and tried to focus on haki, something he hadn't even begun to learn yet, attempting to draw the energy of armament from within himself.

Haki came from the spirit of a person, whether it was armament haki, observation haki, or, most importantly, conqueror's haki. Although he had no real understanding of the latter, he had already released it twice in moments of rage.

He then focused on armament, trying to channel his energy into his fist. He felt his whole body warm up as he attempted, somehow, to move this energy directly into his arm. And, in fact, it worked: he began to concentrate all the heat from his body into his shoulder, directing it specifically to that spot.

'So, this is armament haki?' Minato thought as he kept all that heat concentrated. Then he began to channel it, commanding the energy through his arm, circulating it down to his forearm and moving it forward to his hand, where his fist was clenched.

Tiny sparks began to appear faintly as he tried to keep his fist as the hottest part of his body, feeling as if it were in a furnace, but without causing pain or discomfort. He only felt the heat and even a slight tingling. His eyes opened as he saw small black marks appearing on his fist, with tiny red and black sparks around it. However, he managed to see this for only a second before the technique simply failed, returning everything to normal.

"Well, looks like I need to train even more," Minato murmured, accepting his first attempt and realizing he was still miles away from truly mastering that technique.

But he wasn't discouraged at all. He needed someone to help him harden his body, and there weren't many fighters on the battlefield who could do that. He couldn't simply fight tailed beasts due to their size or summon his giant toad as a training partner. But there was Duy, a powerful taijutsu user; if Duy opened up to the sixth gate, he could provide Minato with beneficial fights, helping him quickly develop his skills.

In the end, Minato stayed there a while longer, training and occasionally failing with the technique, until he began to harden his body, striking a few things to test his resilience, though still only scratching the surface of the potential he could achieve. When he finished, he returned to the camp and dined with the girls, while Duy appeared, studying and reading all those books with the determination of someone lost in the desert, seeking water.

Eventually, they went to sleep. The next day, Minato was awakened by a chuunin approaching his tent.

"Minato Namikaze, I've come to inform you that Commander Aburame is requesting your presence in his tent. It seems there's a mission for you," he reported.

Minato nodded, realizing that he would finally begin working at the camp as a shinobi at last.

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