On the Ninja Academy's training ground, Sarutobi Nuoyi was leading a practical combat test.
A year had passed since enrollment.
Sarutobi Nuoyi had slowly gotten used to being a teacher, and now he was accustomed to getting along with his classmates, no longer maintaining a stern face. Of course, this was inseparable from a certain impish Xiao Huang Mao.
At this moment, Sarutobi Nuoyi held a form, recording the practical combat scores of the students.
“Next group! Minato Namikaze versus Bei Xuan!”
“Bei Xuan, it’s finally our turn. This time, you should be able to show your full strength, right!”
Minato Namikaze heard his name, his eyes filled with anticipation as he stepped onto the combat stage.
However, Bei Xuan looked unenthusiastic. Over the past year, while he hadn't pretended to be a rookie, he also hadn't deliberately shown how strong he was.
Given Konoha's current situation, for commoners, the path of moderation was most suitable. Bei Xuan was not Minato Namikaze; he wouldn't be swayed by the Fire Will. So, if he displayed great talent, there was a high probability he would be targeted by a certain extremist underground.
Although Bei Xuan was unenthusiastic, the surrounding classmates were very excited, continuously cheering for Bei Xuan, hoping he could teach Minato Namikaze a lesson.
They all knew in their hearts that Bei Xuan wouldn't be a match for Minato Namikaze, but that didn't stop them from wanting someone to teach the class's top student a lesson.
Minato Namikaze had always maintained a dominant first place in this class, even though it was mostly composed of clan members.
Bei Xuan didn't find it strange, after all, when he was flirting under the moonlight later, he instantly took down three Cloud Ninja. Even if those Cloud Ninja were weak, they should have Chunin strength.
After all, while Cloud Ninja were muscular, they weren't brainless; they wouldn't send a few Genin to kidnap a Village's Nine-Tailed container.
“Bei Xuan, can you use your full strength to spar with me?”
Minato Namikaze looked seriously at Bei Xuan, who was forming the Hand Seal of Confrontation.
“I can't beat you, so why should I ask for a beating?”
Bei Xuan yawned, pondering in his mind, had he ever exposed his strength? No, right? Or was this Xiao Huang Mao special?
And using full strength… I'm afraid I'd kill you.
“No chitchat! Match start!”
As soon as Sarutobi Nuoyi finished speaking, Bei Xuan and Minato Namikaze moved.
Practical combat at the Ninja Academy… just watch it.
As soon as Sarutobi Nuoyi finished speaking, the two immediately quickly approached each other and began close-quarters combat.
In this year, Bei Xuan and Minato Namikaze had fought many times, on and off.
There was no other way; a certain shameless teacher wanted Minato Namikaze to help him teach Bei Xuan, this disrespectful brat, a lesson.
Minato Namikaze rushed forward with a straight punch, aimed directly at Bei Xuan's face. Bei Xuan simply crouched to dodge the punch, while simultaneously launching a sweeping kick at Minato Namikaze's lower body.
Seeing his straight punch dodged, Minato Namikaze changed his fist to a palm and pressed down on Bei Xuan's shoulder. He then grabbed Bei Xuan's shoulder and moved into the air, dodging Bei Xuan's attack.
Seeing this, Bei Xuan reached out and grabbed Minato's hand on his shoulder, using force to try and throw Minato Namikaze away.
As Bei Xuan grabbed Minato Namikaze's hand, Minato Namikaze also grabbed Bei Xuan's hand in return, twisting his entire body. The two engaged in a struggle of strength.
Finally, with Minato Namikaze's twisting kick, the two separated.
Seeing Minato Namikaze forming a Hand Seal, Bei Xuan immediately raised his hand.
“I surrender!”
Bei Xuan's surrender immediately caused public outrage. The classmates watching from below began to boo. In their opinion, even if you couldn't win, you should fight with all your might, not surrender directly.
A hint of regret flashed across Sarutobi Nuoyi's face; he hadn't gotten to see that little rascal get beaten up again.
Seeing Bei Xuan surrender, Minato could only lower his Hand Seal and walked over to Bei Xuan, saying somewhat helplessly,
“It’s always like this. Bei Xuan, you should have more strength than this.”
Bei Xuan then put his hand on Minato Namikaze’s shoulder.
“Didn’t I say, if I can’t beat you, why should I fight? It’s clearly Nuoyi-Chun’s Nasty Plot to sow discord between us.”
Although Minato Namikaze's strength was overwhelmingly superior in the entire class, his relationship with his classmates was excellent. After all, he was the Little Sun; his charisma was simply maxed out.
And Bei Xuan, naturally, also had an excellent relationship with Minato Namikaze. With Mr. Ziren's philosophy, just a few words could make Minato Namikaze ponder for a long time.
If at first, Bei Xuan only wanted to build a good relationship with Minato Namikaze to have a backer after he became Hokage.
Then now, it was because of Minato Namikaze's personal charisma that Bei Xuan truly recognized Minato Namikaze as his friend.
Bei Xuan was not a child, which also led to him not being able to have too much interaction with other children in the Ninja Academy. Their topics simply couldn't align.
Even if children in the Ninja World were precocious, they were still just precocious; essentially, they were still children.
The first time Bei Xuan sat in the classroom, looking at these children, he could never understand those who, after transmigrating, talked about love and romance with children.
Being a child physically doesn't mean being a child psychologically. And looking at an immature face, can one really go through with it?
In Bei Xuan's view, although his body was still a child, his actual age should still be the same as before he transmigrated. It was just that his physical body was something he couldn't decide, and he was still in a child's body. So.
Don't understand, don't respect, right, Tang San?
“Bei Xuan, wake up, school’s out.”
After school, Minato Namikaze walked over to Bei Xuan and woke him up from his Qi cultivation.
“Already? Let’s go.”
Bei Xuan stood up and stretched as he walked alongside Minato Namikaze. His whole body felt a bit stiff after lying down all afternoon.
Minato Namikaze looked at Bei Xuan's appearance with a touch of helplessness. He wanted to persuade Bei Xuan, but then remembered what Bei Xuan had said to him before, and stopped the words on his tongue.
“Let go of personal quality, enjoy a life of moral depravity, refuse mental exhaustion, just go crazy when things happen. Rather than wronging yourself, it’s better to trouble others. Minato, you’re a genius, and you work so hard, so why should I even try? I can’t catch up anyway.”
“As the saying goes, if effort was useful, what would we need geniuses for?”
Although Minato Namikaze always thought Bei Xuan was also a genius, he had never seen any signs of genius from Bei Xuan.
As for why he had this thought, had you ever seen someone who didn't train hard, or rather, didn't train at all, able to directly confront the class's top student without falling behind?
Although Bei Xuan would surrender very quickly, he could at least fight back and forth with him. Minato Namikaze knew very well how serious his own training was.
Minato Namikaze led Bei Xuan towards the edge of the Village, where their small base was located. Minato Namikaze usually trained there, while Bei Xuan “slept” there.
Upon reaching their destination, Minato Namikaze began training his Ninjutsu. What made Bei Xuan quite curious was what level of Ninja Minato Namikaze's family was.
After all, his own father had left nothing behind except Chakra refining techniques, while Minato Namikaze had several Wind Release scrolls. Although not high-level, they were still scrolls.