The Land of Hot Springs, a country bordering the Land of Fire, had a landmass that was only average among small nations.
However, its geographic position was highly favorable, with a long coastline, mild temperatures, and a climate that stayed pleasant throughout the year.
Because of this unique environment, the Land of Hot Springs became famous across the world for its natural hot springs and developed a thriving tourism industry.
Even though it was a small nation, when compared to the Land of Rain, which housed a so called demigod, it was far more stable and prosperous.
As a result, while the country was not large, its people had an unusually high happiness level, even slightly higher than that of the Land of Fire.
In daily life, people in the Land of Hot Springs did not greet each other with "Have you eaten," but instead asked, "Are you feeling happy today?"
They were cheerful, relaxed, and naturally optimistic.
Unfortunately, that peace had not lasted in recent years.
The Land of Fire and the Land of Lightning, two of the strongest of the Five Great Nations, turned the Land of Hot Springs into a battlefield.
At its peak, even the Land of Water joined in, making it a three way war zone.
War was the most destructive force for any infrastructure.
Although the Land of Hot Springs had its own Hidden Village, it could only remain angry in silence and endure the chaos.
---
Konoha Encampment.
Deep into the night, the camp was quiet, but inside Minato's tent, the light was still on.
Even though exhaustion lingered in his body, Minato still chose to train at this hour.
He had spent the entire day on missions, so only the night gave him time to improve himself.
In Hayashi's words, aside from Uncle Dai, the hardest working person he had ever seen was Minato, the so called Little Sun.
If Minato were only a hardworking genius, that would already be impressive.
But the problem was that his talent was also top tier, something seen only once in decades.
Smarter than others, and harder working than others, that was Minato.
It was no surprise he stood out in Konoha, a village full of prodigies, despite being a civilian ninja.
Of course, Minato himself had a different opinion.
He believed his talent was average at best, certainly far below his friend Hayashi.
After all, Hayashi was someone with a system cheat. Without that, his life path would probably have been limited to fathering Uchiha Shisui and dying young.
Or perhaps he would have ended up like Kimimaro, remembered only in discussions like "how strong would he have been if he had lived longer."
Compared to that, Minato truly felt his talent was ordinary.
At most, he had some achievements in sealing techniques, becoming one of the youngest sealing masters in Konoha.
Just that.
However, there was one thing Minato himself had noticed correctly.
As he grew stronger over time, his rate of improvement had started to slow down.
Part of it was lack of time due to missions.
The other part was the massive effort he had poured into the Flying Thunder God Technique.
The Flying Thunder God Technique was an S rank space time ninjutsu developed by the Second Hokage, Senju Tobirama, allowing instant movement between marked coordinates.
To use it, one had to first imprint a chakra formula in advance, and then teleport between those marks.
Minato did not understand why Hayashi was so certain he could master it, but in his own judgment, his talent for this technique was only average.
Fortunately, after nearly half a year of breakthroughs and failures, he had finally reached the final stage.
A strand of chakra gathered in his palm and slowly flowed onto a kunai.
This was the final step, and also the hardest.
Every previous attempt to inscribe the Flying Thunder God formula had failed.
Minato focused, placed his hands on the kunai, and closed his eyes.
A moment later, he opened them again.
It was done.
On the kunai, a complex black pattern appeared briefly, then faded into the metal, leaving behind only a faint inscription.
"Space time gale flash sword."
The Flying Thunder God Technique was divided into two parts, the mark and the formula. The formula was the core, while the mark served as its carrier.
For example, Tobirama's original mark resembled a stylized Senju symbol.
According to historical records, Tobirama had originally considered using the Senju clan emblem as the mark, but abandoned the idea because it could expose clan identity too easily.
So he modified it into a more abstract pattern inspired by it, making it difficult to trace its origin.
Minato's own chosen mark carried the name "space time gale flash sword."
He thought it sounded fitting.
After successfully engraving the first mark, Minato immediately began producing more kunai.
At first, his success rate was low, but as his control improved, it became more stable.
A faint excitement rose within him.
Two years of study had finally reached a breakthrough point.
Minato gripped a marked kunai and vanished from the tent in an instant.
---
Outside, Jiraiya was walking through the encampment.
Although he often acted careless, as a commander he was highly responsible, personally patrolling every night.
After Kumogakure once ambushed the camp, he had become even more vigilant.
Suddenly, a kunai flew across the night.
The sound was faint, but Jiraiya detected it instantly.
An attack
He did not immediately sound the alarm. Instead, he observed carefully.
Then a figure appeared beside the kunai.
The figure paused briefly, threw the kunai again, and vanished in a flash.
Under the moonlight, the movement looked like a streak of golden light.
Jiraiya froze.
Minato
He rubbed his eyes, unsure if he had seen correctly.
But he knew Minato's usual speed, and this was on another level entirely.
It was not movement. It was disappearance and reappearance hundreds of meters apart.
Jiraiya suddenly recalled a forbidden technique from history.
The Flying Thunder God Technique.
Without hesitation, he moved to follow the direction Minato had gone.
===
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