While Minato Namikaze had considered what kind of reward the Hokage might bestow, he never imagined that the first-place prize would be to become the Hokage's student. This truly surprised everyone, and even with his youthful intelligence, he couldn't help but be shocked.
After a while, Minato Namikaze finally came back to his senses and said, "Are—are you serious?"
"What, you're unwilling?" Fumori masaki asked with a smile.
"No, that's not what I mean, it's just..." Minato Namikaze didn't know what to say. He just felt that this reward was too generous, making it unimaginable for someone of his commoner background.
Being the Hokage's student was not something everyone could achieve. The current top brass of Konoha Village—including the Hokage—were all disciples of the Second Hokage, Tobirama Senju, which showed the weight of the title of Hokage's student.
To put it simply, as long as one became the Hokage's student, they would at least reach a high-ranking position within the village in the future, and could even become a candidate for Hokage.
Even if Fumori masaki intended to use ability as the sole criterion, past Hokage could at most minimize influence and adopt an ability-first standard. In this era, master-disciple inheritance and bloodline ties were always unavoidable, especially with the existence of secret jutsu and powerful bloodline limit inheritances. In such cases, one's ability wouldn't be too bad. What commoner ninja lacked most was this accumulation of time.
Fumori masaki had already done his best to improve the average quality of commoner ninja, but the best way for a commoner ninja to grow rapidly was still to become a disciple of a powerful ninja. As long as they had talent, they could inherit everything from their master, and even surpass them.
"Since there's no unwillingness, then it's settled. Get some good rest, and come to my office tomorrow," Fumori masaki said.
Fumori masaki had very high expectations for Minato Namikaze, because in another timeline, Minato Namikaze was the youngest Hokage. His master, Jiraiya, said that no ninja had ever possessed talent like his. In this timeline, Minato Namikaze was equally outstanding, and his combat abilities seemed to be on par with that "Fourth Hokage." Perhaps in the future, the Yellow Flash could appear in this world.
It must be said that Fumori masaki intended to cultivate Minato Namikaze to become the Fourth Hokage. However, for now, he could only see Minato Namikaze's combat abilities, and his other abilities were still uncertain, which required careful observation.
One could not become Hokage solely based on strength. As the supreme leader of Konoha Village, one must possess other qualities.
Especially now that Konoha Village was developing rapidly and could no longer be called just a "village." In the future, once Konoha Village gained ruling power over the Land of Fire, the Hokage would have even more areas to concern themselves with, and administrative ability would be essential.
Fumori masaki planned to pay close attention. If Minato Namikaze had talent in this area, he would keep him by his side and teach him well. In the future, he could try to compete for the position of Hokage—in Fumori masaki's vision, with the future democratic reform of the village, Hokage candidates would no longer be decided by the Hokage alone. Instead, suitable candidates would be chosen by the public and then put to a Jonin vote. Although the current Konoha Village required a Jonin vote for Hokage candidates, the candidates themselves were chosen by the Hokage, so in practice, it wasn't truly democratic.
If Minato Namikaze didn't have administrative talent, Fumori masaki still wouldn't feel it was a loss. At the very least, he could cultivate a powerful ninja, which would still be worthy of the title of Hokage's student.
Hearing Fumori masaki's words, Minato Namikaze quickly bowed in gratitude, saying, "Yes, thank you for your kindness."
"Work hard. In the future, contributing to the village will be the best reward for me," Fumori masaki nodded slightly, then looked at the others. "Those who ranked in the top five will all receive rewards. Now, come forward one by one according to the names called."
Minato Namikaze immediately stepped aside, and then Heizo Hattori began calling names. Those whose names were called came forward one by one. Fumori masaki gave them rewards according to their rankings. Although these rewards were also generous, compared to Minato Namikaze becoming the Hokage's student, they seemed almost insignificant.
Minato Namikaze, who had stepped aside, still couldn't calm his emotions. Before joining this aerial combat unit, he never imagined that he would become the Hokage's student because of it. He originally thought that what he had gained earlier was already the best, but he didn't expect something even more astonishing to be waiting for him.
The gazes of the other members of the aerial combat unit were mostly focused on Minato Namikaze, including the second-place finisher, carrying various emotions. To be honest, because of Minato Namikaze's outstanding performance in the aerial combat unit, quite a few people felt a bit jealous and dissatisfied with him, thinking that he was just a commoner ninja, yet he was so prominent.
Although the status of commoner ninja had improved greatly now, the long-established ninja clans still had some arrogance, more or less. If they were of lower or middle status within their families, they might not be so arrogant, but those with more important positions in their families were a different case.
The members of the aerial combat unit were all hand-picked, and among them were important members of powerful ninja clans, such as Hiruzen Sarutobi's son and Danzo Shimura's daughter. Their temperaments were considered good, and coupled with fighting together, although they envied Minato Namikaze a bit, it wasn't malicious.
But in a big forest, there are all kinds of people. There must be people who are very jealous of Minato Namikaze. When the aerial combat unit expands in the future or when he starts interacting with people from other departments, if Minato Namikaze is still just a commoner ninja, he might be subjected to covert manipulations.
The reason Fumori masaki took Minato Namikaze as a student without even confirming his administrative abilities was not without the intention of protecting him. With the title of Hokage's student behind him, anyone would have to think carefully.
When Minato Namikaze grew up and could win over others with his own abilities, then even without the title of Hokage's student, he wouldn't have anything to fear.
Fumori masaki was still very confident about this, because from Minato Namikaze's performance, at least in terms of combat ability and interpersonal skills, he was the same as the Minato Namikaze he knew, or even better. He had never heard from Kushina that Minato Namikaze had any chuunibyou tendencies.
The original Minato Namikaze was able to become Hokage at the age of twenty-four. Although he had Hiruzen Sarutobi's support, his ability to surpass the famous Sannin Orochimaru could not be said to be without the credit of Minato Namikaze's personal charisma. When competing for the Fourth Hokage, Orochimaru insisted that only he could serve as Hokage, but he did not gain the approval of the public. This was the difference in interpersonal skills.
At that time, Orochimaru had already deeply immersed himself in human experimentation. Although no one knew at the time that Orochimaru had committed such terrible crimes, his actions were fully reflected in his temperament: obsessive and gloomy. Moreover, Orochimaru was not the kind of guy who would pretend to be a good person. The difference between him and Minato Namikaze, who supported different battlefields with the Flying Thunder God during the Third Great Ninja War and was warm and friendly, was indeed too great.
After the rewards were given, Fumori masaki looked at Akemi and Orochimaru, who were discussing, and said to Heizo Hattori, "We'll be leaving first. I'll leave the rest to you."
"Yes," Heizo Hattori nodded in response, and along with the others, respectfully saw Fumori masaki, Akemi, and Orochimaru out. After the tests here, the next place Fumori masaki was going was the research department. After the actual test performance, Akemi and Orochimaru might already have ideas for the new Wind Wings.
After Fumori masaki and the others left, the rest immediately gathered around those who had received rewards, especially Minato Namikaze. Those who usually had a good relationship with him offered congratulations, and others did the same, though the sincerity of their feelings would have to be carefully assessed, but it was basically limited to jealousy.
Minato Namikaze was not complacent about becoming the Hokage's student. He was usually a low-key person, but because of Kushina and finding a suitable place for himself in the aerial combat unit, he had become a bit more conspicuous than before. This competition was also mainly because of Kushina.
After getting first place this time, he had originally planned to try to be less prominent in the future, as he knew that being from a commoner background and being too conspicuous wasn't ideal. However, he didn't expect the reward to be so generous, which surprised him.
However, the identity of the Hokage's student did provide a protective umbrella. Fumori masaki was a highly respected figure in Konoha Village. It was said that in high-level meetings, any suggestion made by Fumori masaki was basically never opposed. At the very least, it would be thoroughly discussed, and a satisfactory answer would be given to both parties.
As long as one became the Hokage's student, anyone would have to consider the influence of this status. Minato Namikaze was not so foolish as to not see this point.
But Minato Namikaze also understood that this was both a protective umbrella and a responsibility. He could not become complacent and act recklessly because of it, as that would only damage the Hokage's reputation. Nor could he act without restraint just because he was the Hokage's student.
On this point, Minato Namikaze's mind was very clear. At the same time, he also had some expectations, because he understood how much benefit a powerful master-student relationship would bring him. He was not the kind of person who would become arrogant overnight, nor was he a saint without desires. His past low-key demeanor was self-protection for someone with formidable talent but a commoner background. He would not let go of benefits he could seize.
—I wonder what I can learn from Lord Hokage. Minato Namikaze thought expectantly.
That evening, at the Kazamori household, Kushina was equally surprised to learn from Fumori masaki about Minato Namikaze's results and the reward he received. She had encouraged Minato Namikaze to compete for first place due to her own considerations, but she never expected the reward to be so good. It had been a long time since Fumori masaki had taken on a student.
"Father, do you think that highly of Minato?" Kushina asked.
"Of course, his performance is evident to all. I think he's very suitable for learning one of my teacher's ninjutsu. After my teacher, no one has been able to use it freely," Fumori masaki said with a sigh.
Among Tobirama Senju's seven students, the Flying Thunder God was not a troublesome jutsu for them; it was easy to learn. However, due to their fighting styles and talents, they couldn't use it freely. Fumori masaki might have been the one who could use the Flying Thunder God the most, but also due to his fighting style, he eventually gave up using the Flying Thunder God in combat.
The Flying Thunder God, when used well, was a very powerful ninjutsu. Fumori masaki also felt that he could use it, but it was ultimately incompatible with his fighting style, just as he had never chosen to learn the Rasengan. Was the Rasengan good? Of course, it was powerful, but was it suitable for his fighting style? That was not necessarily the case.
Another point was that Minato Namikaze's Flying Thunder God, which earned him the title of the Yellow Flash, was an improved version. Fumori masaki admitted that he didn't have the talent to improve the Flying Thunder God. The current Flying Thunder God still required a relatively high cost and couldn't be used like the Yellow Flash.
In the Fourth Great Ninja War, Tobirama could use it as well as Minato Namikaze mainly because he was in an Impure World Reincarnation state at the time and didn't need to consider chakra consumption. Although the Impure World Reincarnation had limits on the amount of use, chakra could be quickly replenished in a short time. This was Tobirama's capital for being able to compete with the Yellow Flash using the original version of the Flying Thunder God.
"Are you talking about the Flying Thunder God?" Satomi quickly guessed what ninjutsu Fumori masaki was referring to.
"Hmm, perhaps my teacher's Flying Thunder God will regain its prestige through Minato Namikaze," Fumori masaki said, then smiled at Kushina, "Kushina, you've found a treasure for your father."
"I didn't expect him to be so amazing..." Kushina blinked and said.
"It just goes to show that little Kushina has good taste. It's clear that little Kushina pays close attention to him, otherwise how could she have seen his future majestic appearance when he was still a fledgling?" Akemi said with a beaming smile.
"What are you talking about, Akemi-nee!"
"Why are you so flustered?" Akemi's shoulders trembled with laughter.
"Honestly!"
Fumori masaki smiled as he watched this scene, thinking about how he should teach Minato Namikaze when they met tomorrow. Minato Namikaze had already found the scroll of the Flying Thunder God and Tobirama's insights on its use from the secret archives. In Tobirama's later years, he had already made improvements to the Flying Thunder God, and research data was also preserved in the research department. However, due to the lack of a key figure, the improvements to the Flying Thunder God had not progressed much.
Perhaps in the future, Minato Namikaze could make further contributions to the improvement of the Flying Thunder God, after all, wasn't it Minato Namikaze who improved the Flying Thunder God in the original timeline?
Fumori masaki was very much looking forward to meeting Minato Namikaze tomorrow.