Night had fallen. The full moon hung high above, casting silver light over a world shrouded in silence.
"Mmm…"
On the forested hills behind Konoha, a boy lying flat on the ground suddenly opened his eyes. They were a brilliant shade of blue—clear, vivid, and shining even in the darkness.
"Passed out again, huh?"
Minato murmured to himself. He was already used to it by now. As a civilian-born ninja with no background to speak of, keeping pace with the kids from powerful clans—the Uchiha, the Hyūga, and the rest—was hard enough. To surpass them? That was a mountain.
So while others rested, he trained. Tirelessly.
Even if he was talented, it didn't matter. Compared to those born with powerful bloodlines, natural talent alone wasn't enough to reach his dream. Without relentless effort, how could he possibly succeed?
That thought alone made all his hard work seem worth it. He pushed himself up.
But then—
"Huh…?"
The heaviness he usually felt after an intense training session was gone. Instead, his body felt light—shockingly light. More than that, he was even faster, more agile than before he'd begun tonight's exercises.
"Wait… did my training really work this well?"
Minato, only seven years old, didn't get too excited. Sure, his training today had been tough—but it was still the basic routine he'd done countless times.
This much progress didn't make sense.
He carefully examined his body, searching for any signs of abnormality… but found nothing.
"Well then…"
Since he couldn't figure it out, his cautious nature kicked in. Time to test it directly.
His gaze sharpened. Chakra surged from his core and gathered in his legs—a movement he'd repeated hundreds of times before.
Whoosh!
In a flash, his body vanished in a blur, leaving only a golden streak behind him—his blonde hair catching the moonlight, giving the illusion of a flicker of lightning.
"Crap!"
This time, though, things didn't go as planned. His speed and distance had both shot past anything he'd achieved before. The chakra coursing through his legs was far more potent than he'd expected.
And straight ahead of him… was a tree.
In that split-second moment, Minato's reflexes kicked in—reflexes far beyond what a kid from the Academy should have. He crossed his arms over his head.
Boom!
He hit the tree hard, the impact shaking the leaves loose. The recoil launched him back several meters. His control over this new chakra wasn't refined yet, and he crashed to the ground, his back slamming into the dirt.
"Ow…"
He winced, forcing himself upright. Leaves drifted down from the swaying branches, scattering around him.
Shaking out his sore arms, Minato stared in stunned disbelief.
That burst of chakra in his legs—he'd never felt anything like it before. The raw power, the speed… it caught him completely off guard.
But now a question started to form in his mind.
"That chakra just now… it's way beyond the level of an ordinary genin…"
He silently evaluated his own condition. Before tonight, he was around genin level in terms of chakra. When using that movement technique, he could barely dash ten meters—and it drained him completely.
But this time? He'd gone more than twice the distance, with far more speed. Even his finely honed reflexes had struggled to keep up.
More importantly, even though he was tired, it wasn't the drained, wrung-out exhaustion he was used to. Which meant—he hadn't gone all out.
From a single night's training… a leap in chakra of this magnitude?
According to what they taught at the Academy, chakra was the combination of physical and spiritual energy. You could build it up over time, through refining both.
But that process was slow. Unless you were born with a special constitution—like the Senju clan's legendary vitality—it took years.
And Minato knew he didn't have anything like that. His parents had been ordinary civilians. When he was little, they went on a trip outside the village and were killed by bandits.
That tragedy was the reason behind his dream. His parents were gone, but Konoha was his home now. He wanted to protect everyone in it. He wouldn't let anyone else suffer the same loss.
To do that, as a normal ninja, the road ahead would be unimaginably tough. But that never once made him hesitate.
The pain was fading. Slowly, Minato stood, brushed the dirt off his clothes, and clenched his fists. Determination gleamed once again in those vivid blue eyes.
"Let's try that again."
This time, he turned, gathered chakra into his legs, and carefully controlled the output—far more cautious than before.
He moved—only about five meters.
"Still not quite there…"
He muttered under his breath. It was far from what he had in mind. In a real battle, if he couldn't control his movement precisely, it could get him killed.
And he couldn't die. Not yet. Not before achieving his dream. Not before protecting everyone in Konoha.
He tried once more.
The movement was a little smoother this time, but the effort drained the last of his chakra.
"Guess it's time to head back…"
After catching his breath, Minato rose. He had class at the Academy in the morning. No point staying out here all night.
A true shinobi always maintained his stamina. That was one of the basics.
So he jogged off, even without chakra to boost him. His body, trained to genin level, still moved with impressive strength and speed.
His home wasn't small—his parents had been merchants, after all—but when he stepped through the door, the silence weighed on him.
No matter how strong he was, he was still just a seven-year-old boy. An age when he should've been curled up beside his parents, carefree.
But they were gone.
Still, as he entered the house, Minato pressed his palms together and closed his eyes.
"I'm home."
After a quick wash, he climbed the stairs to his room.
His window faced the heart of the village—toward the Hokage Rock.
The three carved faces stared down at Konoha: the First, the Second, the Third. Minato looked up at them with awe and admiration.
They were the symbols of everything he respected.
And everything he dreamed of.
To one day become Hokage.