"What is this?"
Minato Namikaze took the scroll and asked, but instead of opening it immediately, he looked at Haruto Saito.
"A training manual for an S-rank forbidden jutsu! Take a look..." Haruto explained, pausing briefly before continuing, "I plan to teach you this jutsu, but I don't know if you have the talent for it."
"Teach me?" Minato's eyes lit up as he lowered his gaze to the scroll. "This is an S-rank forbidden jutsu?"
Any ninja would naturally be interested in high-level jutsu, and Minato was no exception. Although he was not yet a full-fledged ninja—only eight years old—he had a strong desire to become stronger.
After all, he was a boy determined to become Hokage!
"Yes, I'm teaching you," Haruto shamelessly confirmed. "But first, you need to read it and see if you can understand the contents. If you can't even comprehend the basics, it means you don't have the talent for it. This jutsu is quite unique."
"Why? Why are you teaching me?" Minato asked, looking up again.
"Why ask so many questions? I think you have talent, isn't that enough?" Haruto playfully nudged Minato's small head and gestured for him to sit down with him.
The two of them sat cross-legged on the smooth floor. Minato opened the scroll and began reading it carefully.
"Barrier Breaking Jutsu…"
"Can you understand it?" Haruto asked.
"I can understand it, but the content is long. I need to finish reading it first... I'm not sure yet if I can fully grasp it…" Minato replied, his voice trailing off as he focused on the scroll.
Haruto waited for a while and then peeked over, seeing that Minato was only halfway through. After thinking for a moment, he stood up and said, "I'm going to buy dinner. I'll be back soon. You keep reading."
With that, Haruto formed a hand seal and vanished from the training hall.
About half an hour later, Haruto returned, pushing open the door to the training hall. By now, it was almost dark outside. Minato was still reading the manual intently, his brows furrowed in deep concentration. He seemed troubled.
"How's it going?" Haruto placed the takeout ramen next to Minato and asked, "How much do you understand?"
"This is... some kind of space-time ability?" Minato said uncertainly, looking up at Haruto.
"No, it's not." Haruto shook his head.
Barrier Breaking Jutsu wasn't a space-time ninjutsu. It only contained space-time properties. The space-time aspect was relatively minor. The real essence of the technique was converting different materials into teleportation mediums. It allowed the user to use metal, soil, rock, trees, or even ice as a medium for transportation.
Instead of directly crossing space, the jutsu worked by utilizing a "transmission medium" to traverse through matter. The difference was significant. It was similar to how all Jonin mastered the basic Body Flicker Technique—it allowed rapid movement across distances, but it was not classified as a space-time ninjutsu.
Minato clearly had a talent for space-time ninjutsu, as he had already recognized the jutsu's space-time attributes.
Unknowingly, night had fallen.
Haruto had already finished his own portion of ramen, but Minato's bowl remained untouched—it had gone cold. He was still deeply engrossed in the scroll, frowning, murmuring to himself, and even attempting to practice. However, due to his limited chakra and low skill level, he couldn't even perform the basic initiation of the jutsu.
"Tell me your thoughts," Haruto finally said.
"I... maybe... I don't fully understand it," Minato admitted slowly, shaking his head. "There are many aspects that I need to physically test to comprehend, but I don't have enough chakra. My mental energy is completely insufficient..."
"So how much do you actually understand?" Haruto asked again.
"Not much... it's just that..." Minato looked frustrated. His small face turned red as he struggled to articulate his thoughts, but in the end, he simply shook his head again.
"Sigh..." Haruto let out a deep sigh.
It was almost certain—Minato was not the right candidate for this technique. He wasn't suited for learning it. It wasn't that Haruto had overestimated Minato's abilities, but rather, the real difficulty of this jutsu did not lie in its space-time properties. The real challenge required a different kind of aptitude, one that Minato lacked.
"Forget it." Haruto reached out and took the scroll back. "You're not suited for this jutsu."
"Haruto-sama, wait! Let me look at it a bit longer…" Minato called out twice, looking at the scroll with reluctance as Haruto took it away.
"There's nothing more to see. You're not suited for this jutsu." Haruto tucked the scroll into his black robe and ruffled Minato's hair. "Alright, kid, your ramen's cold. Go eat in the village. You have money, right?"
"Haruto-sama, you didn't give me enough time!" Minato protested. "I can do it! Just let me study it a little more! How can you decide so quickly? This is an S-rank forbidden jutsu!"
Haruto had already stood up and shrugged. "Let's go. I have things to do. You need to understand, I don't want to waste your time. You couldn't even come up with a proper insight, let alone understand the basics. How could you possibly learn it?"
In reality, Minato wasn't entirely incapable of learning the Barrier Breaking Jutsu. The real issue was how long it would take him to learn it. If it took him one year, or ten years, the impact on Haruto's plans would be vastly different. If Minato couldn't grasp the fundamentals and provide an accurate analysis within a short time, then Haruto had no reason to continue discussing it with him.
Seeing Haruto about to leave, Minato had no choice but to stand up and follow him outside. But he continued to argue, "But I do have insights! This jutsu contains space-time properties, right? And it requires material conversion… I just didn't have enough time to study it properly!"
"Kid, don't get obsessed with just one jutsu. There are plenty of powerful techniques. You should learn the one that suits you best, not just any random jutsu you come across." Haruto smiled and advised.
"But this jutsu suits me!" Minato insisted, looking up at Haruto. "I can feel it!"
"And why do you think that?" Haruto raised an eyebrow.
"Because I have talent in this field! This jutsu should count as a technique that allows direct spatial movement, right? And I have a high affinity for movement techniques."
"Oh? How do you know you have talent in this area?"
"Because I can do this!" Minato suddenly formed a hand seal. In an instant, he disappeared into a cloud of white smoke, reappearing on Haruto's other side with a gust of wind.
Haruto was momentarily stunned.
Minato actually knew the basic Body Flicker Technique! Despite being labeled as a "basic" technique, it was, in reality, an advanced movement jutsu. Most Chunin couldn't even master it, let alone a child who hadn't graduated from the Ninja Academy yet.
"Let me ask you a question," Haruto suddenly said, an idea forming in his mind.
"What is it?" Minato replied, still looking frustrated about losing the scroll.
"If you could choose to learn any one jutsu, and I mean any jutsu, which one would you pick?"
"Any jutsu?"
"Yes, any jutsu!"
"Then, of course, it would be the Flying Thunder God Technique, created by the Second Hokage, Tobirama Senju!" Minato answered without hesitation. Then his expression turned gloomy as he sighed, "But I'll never get to learn it… It's a forbidden technique in the village. No one is allowed to study it."
Haruto smiled.