Naruto : Minato back to the past

In the blink of an eye, it was the day of the Ninja Academy graduation exam again.

Itachi, now seven years old, took the graduation exam this time, just like Shisui and Kakashi had done before him.

Shortly after the exam, a total score form was handed to Minato in the Hokage's office.

Minato picked up the form and saw the name of the first-place student, which was not unexpected.

[Uchiha Itachi]

Itachi's scores, whether in theoretical knowledge or practical courses, were all perfect.

This achievement had only been accomplished by two people since the establishment of the Ninja Academy, and Itachi was the third.

However, Minato knew in his heart that the assessment had an upper limit, and the actual abilities of this child were likely even more impressive than what was reflected on the form.

This was evident from the surprised expression on the face of the Academy teacher who came to deliver the results.

Itachi's graduation exam was arranged by Minato because, like with Shisui, the teachers at the Academy had told him more than once that they had nothing left to teach Itachi.

These two geniuses from the Uchiha clan were quite similar in their styles and talents.

But this was no wonder, because Itachi had been taught by Shisui since he was very young.

What made Minato feel a little concerned was that he couldn't find a very suitable person in the village to serve as Itachi's jonin mentor.

Because he wanted to train Itachi to be a master of genjutsu, and there was no one among the village's jonin who was truly proficient in genjutsu techniques.

As far as Minato knew, the strongest person in genjutsu in the village was also Shisui.

It's just that Shisui was not old enough to serve as a jonin.

However, this matter was not urgent enough to be arranged immediately, so Minato planned to assign Itachi to a small team first, so that he could accumulate mission experience.

After all, he was younger than the other graduates.

In the evening, after handling a day's affairs, Minato went to Mikoto's house to pick up Naruto.

A few days ago, Kushina had gone out of the village to carry out another mission.

This time it was an important commission from a key figure in the Land of Fire to transfer a cultural relic to a certain location.

This artifact seemed to have been coveted by the top leaders of the Land of Lightning.

So Kumogakure had also been commissioned to send ninjas to carry out a mission related to it.

This was an S-level mission, and Minato had assigned it to Kushina because of her sensor perception ability.

For such a mission, the village certainly sent more than just Kushina—Nawaki and Kakashi were also involved.

So Minato was not worried about her safety.

Swish!

Minato teleported to the Uchiha clan district in an instant.

In recent years, the relationship between the village leadership and the Uchiha clan had been constantly improving, and the Uchiha clan had gradually shown more support for Minato as the Hokage.

Just as he was about to bypass the street and head to Mikoto's house, a special chakra signature appeared in his consciousness.

Minato's face changed immediately.

Every time Kushina went out of the village on a mission, Minato would give his Flying Thunder God marker to her or the ninjas on the same team, just in case.

After sensing the movement of the mark, he left a shadow clone in the village, and then followed the marker's signal and teleported away.

In a dense forest, the ninjas of Konoha and the ninjas of Kumogakure were confronting each other.

"Lady Kushina, are you okay?"

Kakashi asked, standing protectively in front of Kushina.

"It's you again."

Kushina leaned against a tree, shook her head, and then raised her eyes to look at a middle-aged man among the Kumogakure ninjas.

This man was C, who had attempted to kidnap Kushina more than a decade ago.

Although Kushina had been mostly unconscious at that time and couldn't see his appearance clearly, she remembered C's chakra signature.

"It turned out to be you."

C stared at Kushina for a while before recognizing her through her distinctive long red hair.

Immediately, his face turned quite sour, and he glanced at the holes in the tree trunks around them.

Those were all caused by the special chains that had extended from Kushina's back.

But for some reason, the chains had suddenly disappeared.

"Kushina, do you know him?" Nawaki at her side stared at C with a gloomy expression.

Kushina nodded immediately and said, "This guy kidnapped me before. If it weren't for Minato, I would have been taken back to the Cloud Village by him."

Kakashi and the others were shocked when they heard this.

C looked at the team of Konoha ninjas in front of him with a serious expression.

At this time, a figure suddenly appeared beside Kushina.

The figure wearing a white Hokage robe appeared too quickly, and the Cloud ninjas didn't see it clearly at first.

Minato, whose reaction time was much faster than theirs, first glanced at the Kumo ninjas. When he saw C, the expression in his eyes also changed slightly.

However, he immediately turned his attention to Kushina beside him and asked, "What happened? You're not injured, right?"

Seeing Minato suddenly appear, Kushina was stunned, and then glanced sharply at Kakashi.

Kakashi averted his eyes, looking a little embarrassed.

Minato's marker was on him.

"Don't blame him, this is the task I gave him," Minato noticed Kushina's expression and immediately stepped in to defend Kakashi.

"I'm fine," Kushina said, pouting slightly with dissatisfaction.

"Hehe."

Minato chuckled. It was true that Kushina did not have any visible injuries, but for some reason, her chakra fluctuations seemed a little disordered.

At this time, the Kumo ninjas all focused their attention on Minato's sudden appearance.

"He is..."

One of the Cloud ninjas murmured, and then noticed the words embroidered on the white robe of the blond man who had suddenly appeared.

"The Fourth Hokage!?"

"He is... the Yellow Flash!!"

Although Minato had now become the Fourth Hokage, the ninjas from Kumogakure almost instinctively blurted out his battlefield name from the previous Ninja World War.

Immediately, everyone's faces changed, and the look of fear could not be suppressed in their eyes.

"Why is he here?"

A Cloud ninja exclaimed. This was a time of peace, so even for this kind of mission, the Kage should not be getting involved.

At this time, Minato turned his eyes and glanced slightly in the direction of the Cloud ninjas.

Although there was no murderous intent, Minato could not say that he had any good feelings for C, who had kidnapped Kushina.

Seeing this, the sturdy C trembled violently, and then hurriedly shouted: "Retreat!"

Swish!

As soon as the words left his mouth, all the Cloud ninjas fled at full speed without any hesitation, and disappeared from Minato's sight in an instant.