The Shimura Actually Has Ice Release

On the training field of the Ninja Academy, a "closely matched" team battle exercise was underway.

From Class Two, the three students stepping onto the field were the seemingly frail Shimura Takeshi, the perpetually exhausted-looking Hatake Kakashi, and the laid-back Sarutobi Asuma.

The moment these three appeared, Ito Makoto and Genjin both felt their hearts leap to their throats.

"Ito-sensei, are you sure you didn't rig the team assignments?" Genjin whispered nervously to the teacher beside him, Ito Makoto.

How could it be such a coincidence that the three most prominent figures of Class Two just happened to end up on the same team?

These three weren't ordinary kids. At their age, most students were still struggling with taijutsu, while they were already mastering ninjutsu.

Especially that one from the Shimura clan—he wasn't even graduated yet, but he'd already used a Wind Release to break a teacher's Earth Release technique. Among the elite students throughout the Academy's history, only Sarutobi Hiruzen back in the day had shown similar ability.

Genjin was already starting to worry about the students from his class who were about to go up against them.

"I'm getting seriously nervous." Ayame Raidō muttered quietly to his teammates as he dragged himself toward the center of the training field, watching Takeshi and the others already standing there.

"H-Hmph. N-Nervous, nervous about what? We—we're not exactly pushovers, y'know!"

Hibari Kabutomaru, whose head was half-wrapped in bandages, forced himself to speak with some bravado, lips trembling slightly as he tried to encourage Ayame Raidō.

"Yeah! We all have two heads and one shoulder to carry them—no reason to be nervous,"

Yamashiro Aoba chimed in, wearing the same little dark sunglasses as Ebisu. Though his speech wasn't as stuttered as Hibari Kabutomaru's, his illogical bravado gave away his own nerves.

"Ahem. So, just to confirm… Aoba, you do know ninjutsu, right?" Hibari Kabutomaru coughed and composed himself a little as he checked tactics with his teammates.

At his question, Yamashiro Aoba nodded.

"Don't expect too much, though. My ninjutsu is pretty average."

Having witnessed Takeshi's ninjutsu firsthand, Aoba felt that his own little Fire Release tricks were utterly insignificant in comparison.

"That's good enough." Now fully composed, Hibari Kabutomaru's confidence surged back.

Stepping between the two of them, Hibari Kabutomaru struck a pose.

"I'll launch a feint! You two follow up!"

...

The voice came from a ninja whose body was wrapped in tattered bandages and who bore no headband or symbols indicating allegiance to any village. He raised his blade, preparing to take the head of the Leaf ninja before him.

A flash of white light streaked by, and blood sprayed across the face of the Konoha shinobi.

The Leaf ninja, who had already shut his eyes in despair, reached up to feel his head and opened his eyes with a trembling whisper.

"My… my head's still here?"

As soon as his eyes opened, what he saw was the now-headless corpse of the enemy ninja before him.

The blood splattered on his face had come from the clean cut at the enemy's neck.

"You alright?"

A warm, gentle voice rang out, instantly giving the shaken Konoha ninja a sense of security.

"Sakumo-sama!"

Sakumo stepped from the shadows, sheathed his blade, and gently placed the enemy's severed head on the ground. Then, he crouched to check the wounded shinobi's injuries.

"Sakumo-sama, don't worry about me. I can handle this injury. Please—go help Duy and the others…"

Leaning against a large tree, the Konoha ninja waved him off, urging him to prioritize rescuing their comrades who were still caught in enemy entanglement.

"They're already safe. I came to find you only after hearing from them."

Sakumo crouched and pulled a medical kit from his pouch, beginning to bandage the wounds.

"But…"

Sakumo's hands froze mid-motion, his sentence unfinished as he vanished in an instant.

"Not good!"

A hidden ninja, who had been carefully observing from the shadows, instinctively shouted and bolted from his hiding spot, sprinting toward the border without even looking back.

The moment he leapt out, Sakumo's famed White Fang blade stabbed hard into the ground—right where the enemy had been. Had he been even a second slower, he would have been pinned in place.

In desperation, the fleeing ninja hurled all his smoke bombs behind him, hoping to stall for time.

"That white flash… it has to be the White Fang of the Leaf! Why would such a big name show up at the border?!"

From just two exchanges, he had already confirmed Sakumo's identity from his technique and speed.

He had to get this information to the higher-ups—make them abandon any plan to infiltrate Konoha!

But a moment later, the fleeing ninja realized his body was no longer responding to him.

He looked ahead, watching his own headless body continue to sprint forward, unable to make a sound.

Such a fast blade.

The sight of his own collapsing, headless body was the last thing he ever saw.

"That's the last of them."

Sakumo sheathed his blade and crouched to examine the corpses, hoping to uncover some clue about the enemies' identities.

Several minutes passed. After Sakumo had finished handling the aftermath, his teammates finally arrived.

"Captain Sakumo! We're late!"

A group of Konoha ninjas wearing standard vests gathered around him, too winded to speak properly and full of apologies.

Sakumo waved it off, showing no displeasure.

Considering how fast he'd moved ahead of them, they had done well just to catch up.

"Report this to the Third-sama."

...

At the same time—

Sarutobi Hiruzen, unusually, was not in the Hokage Office, but in the Academy's faculty office.

Standing beside him was a young man with bright blond hair, watching the training field along with him.

Despite his youthful appearance, the vest he wore marked him as a jōnin.

Such a young jōnin was rare even in all of Konoha.

"So, Minato—what do you think of this year's kids?"

Hiruzen puffed on his pipe, chuckling as he looked out at the sweat-drenched children giving their all on the training field.

The young man beside him was not only his student's student, but also the lover of the Nine-Tails' jinchūriki, and the youngest jōnin in the entire village—a firm supporter of the Hokage faction.

Thus, Hiruzen held Namikaze Minato in very high regard, not only bestowing him with powerful ninjutsu but also intentionally shaping him to become the next "White Fang of the Leaf."

"Their talent is impressive. To be able to achieve this level at their age… they're doing far better than I was back then."

Minato gave his signature warm smile, speaking with characteristic humility.

----------------

Pls Drop some Power Stones

+100 chapters and support me on Patreon(.)com/Jixo