The night was deep and still. The bright moon hung high in the sky, and the world was wrapped in silence.
"Mm…"
On the back mountain behind Konohagakure, the boy lying flat on the ground suddenly opened his eyes.
They were a pair of deep blue eyes—clear, beautiful, and full of life. Even in the darkness of night, they shone with a striking brilliance.
"Did I faint again…?"
Minato Namikaze muttered softly to himself.
By now, he had grown used to it.
As a civilian ninja with no powerful clan backing him, keeping pace with—let alone surpassing—the children from the great clans and prestigious ninja families of the village was far from easy.
All Minato Namikaze could do was train harder than anyone else.
While others rested, he practiced ninjutsu.
Even though Minato Namikaze possessed natural talent, compared to clans like the Uchiha Clan and the Hyuga Clan, whose members were born with powerful bloodlines, how could he possibly achieve his dream without relentless effort?
Thinking about this, Minato Namikaze felt that all of his hard work was completely natural.
With that thought, he stood up.
"…Huh?"
The heavy fatigue he expected to feel never came.
Instead, Minato Namikaze felt incredibly light.
His body felt even more agile than it had before he began tonight's training.
"Could this be the result of today's training?"
At only seven years old, Minato Namikaze didn't feel excited about this sudden improvement.
Yes, today's training had been intense, but it had still been basic practice.
Such a dramatic increase in ability didn't make sense.
He carefully examined his body.
But he found nothing unusual.
"…In that case…"
Unable to find any problems, the cautious Minato Namikaze decided to test the results of his training.
His eyes sharpened.
Chakra began gathering in both of his calves—a technique he had practiced countless times.
Whoosh!
Minato Namikaze's body blurred like an afterimage.
Combined with his golden hair, for a brief moment it truly looked as though a flash of light had streaked across the mountain.
"Not good!"
But this attempt completely exceeded Minato Namikaze's expectations.
Both his speed and the distance he traveled were far greater than usual. He hadn't expected to refine such powerful chakra.
And directly in the path of his movement—
stood a large tree.
In that critical moment, Minato Namikaze's reaction speed was astonishing—far beyond what anyone would expect from a child in the Ninja Academy.
He crossed his arms and protected his head just in time.
Bang!
A loud crash echoed.
The tree shook slightly as Minato Namikaze finally stopped.
But the force of the collision sent him flying backward several meters. Unable to perfectly control the chakra surging through his body, he slammed heavily onto the ground.
"Ow…"
Minato Namikaze winced in pain as he forced himself to sit up.
Leaves fell from the massive tree before him, drifting down onto the ground.
Shaking his sore arms, a look of astonishment appeared on his young face.
The power that had burst from his legs just moments ago was something he had never experienced before.
Caught completely off guard, he had ended up in such a miserable state.
However, a question quickly formed in his mind.
"This chakra… it's almost beyond the level of an ordinary genin…"
Minato Namikaze evaluated the situation silently.
Previously, his chakra reserves had already reached the level of a genin. But whenever he used this movement technique before, he could only move less than ten meters—and it would completely drain his strength.
But this time, the distance had more than doubled.
The speed was incomparable.
Even the reflexes he had developed through long hours of training had nearly failed to keep up.
More importantly, although Minato Namikaze felt fatigue filling his body, he didn't feel the usual complete exhaustion.
In other words—
even after all that, he hadn't used his full strength.
Could a single training session truly cause such a qualitative leap in chakra?
According to the theories taught at the Ninja Academy, chakra was the product of physical energy and spiritual energy. A ninja could increase their chakra by continuously refining it through training.
However, that process usually took a very long time.
Unless someone possessed a special physique—like members of the Senju Clan, who were born with extraordinarily powerful bodies.
But Minato Namikaze knew very well that he didn't possess such a constitution.
His parents had been ordinary people.
When he was very young, they once left the village for business. On the road, they were attacked by bandits and killed.
That was also the reason Minato Namikaze held onto his dream so fiercely.
Although his parents were gone, Konohagakure was still his home.
And he wanted to protect everyone in that home, ensuring they would never suffer such harm.
For someone born without a clan, the hardships he would have to endure were unimaginable.
But none of it could stop him from pursuing his dream.
Gradually, the pain in his body faded.
Minato Namikaze slowly stood up and brushed the dust off his clothes.
Determination gathered once again in his deep blue eyes.
"Let's try again."
He turned around.
Chakra once again flowed into his calves, but this time he carefully controlled the amount he released instead of letting it surge out uncontrollably.
However, after the massive chakra consumption earlier, this attempt only carried him less than five meters.
"My control still isn't good enough…"
Minato Namikaze murmured.
This result was still far from what he wanted.
As a ninja, if you couldn't control your movement distance and direction during battle, it could easily lead to death.
But Minato Namikaze still had a dream to fulfill.
He still wanted to protect everyone in the village.
How could he possibly die before achieving that?
He tried once more.
This time, the result improved slightly.
But after that, the chakra in his body was nearly completely exhausted.
"…Time to go home."
After resting for a short while, Minato Namikaze stood up.
He still had to attend the Ninja Academy tomorrow, so he couldn't stay here all night.
For a ninja, maintaining sufficient stamina was a basic rule.
He jogged down the mountain.
Even though his chakra had been depleted, Minato Namikaze still possessed genin-level reserves, and his physical condition was naturally better than most children his age.
His house was not small.
After all, his parents had once been merchants.
But every time Minato Namikaze returned to this quiet, empty home, a trace of loneliness appeared on his face.
No matter how mature he tried to act, he was still only seven years old.
This should have been the age when he could cling to his parents and seek comfort in their arms.
But…
His parents were gone.
Still, when Minato Namikaze stepped inside the house, he clasped his hands together and closed his eyes.
"I'm home."
After quickly washing up, Minato Namikaze returned to his room on the second floor.
Directly outside his window stood the symbol of Konohagakure—
the Hokage Rock.
Three great faces were carved into that massive cliff.
They were the legendary leaders of the village—heroes whom Minato Namikaze admired deeply.
At the same time, they represented the dream he carried within his heart.
Hokage.