"About that fight just now... I bet on you to win. Now I owe someone a barbecue dinner."
After a short silence, Tsunade looked at Minato's sunny, cute face and said this with a straight face.
She didn't ask why he forfeited. She could guess the reason without him saying a word.
"Sumimasen (I'm sorry)."
Minato scratched his head and fished out a few bills from his pocket. "Um... I have some money here..."
"Hah? Who do you think I am?"
Tsunade's face darkened. She liked scaring kids, but stealing their money? She'd never go that low.
Sure, she constantly scammed her little brother out of his allowance with a clear conscience, but that was different. He was her brother.
Anyone with a younger brother knows that brothers are born to be their sisters' slaves.
She glanced at the cash in Minato's hand and raised an eyebrow.
"That's a lot of allowance money, kid."
"Actually, that's my grocery budget for the week..."
"Grocery budget..."
Tsunade realized something. Her mouth twitched.
"You're..."
"An orphan."
Hearing that crisp, matter-of-fact answer, Tsunade silently put Minato down. Inside her head, she slapped herself.
Dammit! I'm the worst!
The kid is an orphan!
Wait, I should have realized that earlier. What normal family lets a six-year-old go to an entrance exam alone?
Thinking of this, Tsunade suddenly felt awkward and didn't know what to do.
Seeing Tsunade's expression shift rapidly, Minato stood there blankly.
He actually needed something from her. As the granddaughter of the First Hokage, her family definitely had a collection of secret Wood Style scrolls.
Since Tsunade had unexpectedly approached him, he didn't want to waste this chance.
But Minato was naturally introverted and bad at schmoozing with girls. In both his past life and this one, girls were always the ones approaching him. He had no idea how to start a conversation to get closer to her.
Seeing Tsunade stay silent, Minato tentatively spoke up: "How about... I cook dinner for you?"
"Cook dinner?"
Tsunade was currently debating which kneeling posture would be best to apologize without traumatizing the child. Hearing this, she felt relieved, but also amused.
"Oh? Trying to wine and dine a girl at your age, kid?"
"Um—"
Minato pressed his lips together, realizing he couldn't think of a smooth excuse. Finally, he just slapped the back of his head and laughed awkwardly. "Actually, I have a favor to ask you. Haha..."
So he wants something. No wonder he's being so nice.
Tsunade raised an eyebrow. "What is it? Spill."
Minato shook his head and glanced subtly toward the school. "If you don't mind... can we take a little time? My cooking skills are pretty decent."
Looks like it's something complicated...
But hey, I brought this on myself.
Tsunade sighed helplessly. "Fine, let's go. Let's see what you've got."
Minato looked delighted. He made a hand sign, poof, and created a Shadow Clone to go buy groceries.
"You know the Shadow Clone Jutsu?" Tsunade looked stunned.
"It was in the scrolls my father left behind."
Minato nodded and led Tsunade toward his house.
Minato's house was the same one seen in the Road to Ninja movie (the Infinite Tsukuyomi world).
The location was great—inside the second ring, not far from the Hokage Rock. A lot of big clans lived nearby; even the Uchiha clan was currently in this area.
Because of the slope of the road, the building sat on a two-meter-high stone platform. It had two main sections.
One part was the living area. You took the metal stairs up to the second floor, and the second and third floors were where he lived.
The other part looked like a giant thermos bottle. It was connected to the living area. The first floor was storage, the second was a study, and the third was a tea room. Because it was high up, the third floor had a great view of most of the village.
As soon as they got inside, Minato went straight to the kitchen.
Tsunade leaned against the doorframe, crossing her arms over her impressive chest. Watching Minato wash and prep vegetables like a pro, her tone softened. "Your house is in a great spot. Right in the center of the village. How come I've never seen you around?"
"Yeah. After my parents passed, I didn't go out much. But I've started getting up early to train recently."
"Early morning training..."
Tsunade chuckled. Unless she had a mission, she had zero discipline for that. No wonder she hadn't seen him.
As for why he knew her? That wasn't surprising. Granddaughter of the First and Second Hokage, student of the Third, plus she was both beautiful and powerful. It would be weirder if someone in the village didn't know her.
"So you only started training recently?"
Minato shook his head. "I started refining energy about six months ago. My dad left some training scrolls from when he was a ninja. I taught myself some simple spells. I only started physical training recently because I heard there was a fitness test for the exam."
He chopped the vegetables quickly. The Shadow Clone returned with the groceries, handed them to Minato, and then dispersed.
"Self-taught? What spells have you mastered?" Tsunade asked curiously.
"Um... the Three Basic Academy Jutsus, Wind Style: Vacuum Sphere, Water Style: Water Vortex, Earth Style: Earth Wave, and Shadow Clone."
"Those are all basic... Wait!"
Tsunade suddenly straightened up, putting a hand on the doorframe and staring intently at Minato. "Wind, Water, Earth? You can use all of them proficiently? What about your energy nature? Have you tested it?"
Minato nodded. "I have all five: Wind, Lightning, Water, Fire, and Earth. But I don't have scrolls for Fire or Lightning spells at home. Except for the Vacuum Sphere, everything else is just a common D-rank spell."
Of the five, Wind was probably his original affinity.
Water and Earth likely came from Hashirama Senju. Fire and Lightning probably came from Madara Uchiha.
And since he inherited Hashirama's passive healing (Yang Release) and Madara's Sharingan (Yin Release), that meant he had Yin and Yang, too.
"All five natures..."
Tsunade looked at him like he was a rare treasure. Then she smiled smugly. "So, let me guess. Your request is that you found out you're a genius but don't have any advanced spells, so you want me to be your teacher, right?"
"Be my teacher..."
Minato paused. He honestly hadn't thought about that.
In the original story, his teacher was Jiraiya.
But while this Minato had the same personality as the original, his memories and worldview from his past life made him fundamentally different.
Jiraiya wanted people to understand each other. He spent his whole life looking for the "Child of Prophecy" who would bring peace. He was a true, thorough idealist.
But ideals without reality are just empty talk.
Minato believed people could understand each other, but understanding didn't solve problems.
War is the continuation of politics. And politics, at its core, is about interests.
If you can't solve the problem of resource distribution, conflict will never end.
Minato admired Jiraiya's idealism, but he didn't agree with his philosophy.
They weren't on the same path. He didn't plan to become Jiraiya's student like in the original story.
But Tsunade? Even if she couldn't teach him much, she definitely had the Wood Style legacy. After all, Mito Uzumaki, the First Hokage's wife, was still alive right now.
Seeing Minato's reaction, Tsunade realized she had gotten ahead of herself. She pouted. "What? You don't want a teacher?"
Minato waved his hands quickly. "No, no, no! I would love to be your student, Lady Tsunade!"
"Too late. I don't like your attitude."
Tsunade huffed, but deep down, she was even more curious about what Minato wanted.
He clearly had incredible talent, yet he had a secret he didn't want to show outsiders.
The only thing she could think of... was a Bloodline Limit.