In the face of intense physical exhaustion, one must maintain speed while guarding against possible attacks from all directions. For the first training, Jiraiya asks Minato to complete this difficult regimen. Even Jiraiya himself does not hold much hope that Minato can complete forty laps before noon under these conditions.
Energy, willpower, and instinct—multiple difficult tests. Even the Chunin Exam is no more challenging than this. For a seven-year-old child, it is a bit too harsh.
There are few people on the streets of Konoha at noon, and Minato runs around the village, staying primarily on the periphery of Konoha, so there are not many people on the road.
Whoosh! At first, the attacks on him are not fast, and Minato's body quickly adapts to this rhythm. This is all thanks to his more developed reflexes than ordinary people, because although ninjas of the level of Genin and Chunin have speeds beyond ordinary people, few pay attention to adapting to this speed. When everything in the surrounding environment becomes fast, visual capture becomes slow and blurred. Minato has always insisted on this training method, so he can break through the teacher's obstruction by relying only on his visual nerves and body movements.
However, his adaptation speed is so fast that it is amazing. In just half a lap, he can dodge various attacks while maintaining a faster speed.
Not only that, the fatigue in Minato's body is gradually fading, and he has never used chakra to restore his physical strength. Jiraiya, watching from the shadows, sees all this, and the expression on his face gradually changes.
"Strange." Jiraiya even doubts himself. In the past, he has done similar training. But the result of the first time was confusion caused by attacks from the dark.
Even if his current skills are not as good as those of the Third Hokage who once taught him, they are not much worse. Moreover, the Third Hokage taught Jiraiya and two others to practice at the same time, while he only has Minato as a disciple. But the progress of this practice is too fast, right?
Minato thinks he is relying on his visual nerves to coordinate body movements to dodge these attacks, but Jiraiya can see that most of the reasons for his success in dodging are not because of these. Rather than saying that Minato relies on body control under his own consciousness, it is better to say that he relies on his instinct.
This is like a person who has experienced war, who can clearly feel the murderous aura from a person with bad intentions. This is a reaction that can only be achieved after years of training and fighting.
However, Minato is only seven years old this year, and he has only been in the ninja school for one year at most. Not to mention him, even Uchiha Yoruki, a classmate who has been trained by the Uchiha clan since childhood, can't have this ability.
"Jiraiya-sensei, your attack has become slow." Just when he is distracted, Minato on the street smiles and notes that Jiraiya's recent attacks have become much slower.
"Perhaps, this can only be explained as a talent of his?" Jiraiya is stunned, and finally, he can only come to this conclusion. Just like Minato had comprehended the Body Flicker Technique by himself, in terms of speed, Namikaze Minato seems to be more talented than ordinary ninjas.
This also proves that the training direction he chose for him is not wrong. Perhaps Minato could become the new generation of "the fastest ninja in the ninja world" after the Second Hokage, Senju Tobirama.
After collecting his thoughts, Jiraiya's attacks in the dark become fierce again. Although Minato's cheeks are covered with sweat, he is smiling all the time and seems to enjoy the process very much.
This kind of training of running at high speed while dodging attacks consumes more physical strength and energy than simple running, so when it comes to the 39th lap, even though his physical strength has recovered, Minato begins to breathe heavily.
But he still grits his teeth and maintains his speed. There are several traces of dust on his body because Jiraiya's attack on him is not only with shurikens but also stones from the ground. Even though he is quick in reaction, he is hit several times. Although Jiraiya has reserved some strength, the places where Minato is hit still hurt.
He endures the pain and persists until finally, three minutes before the time stipulated by the teacher, he completes the training of lapping Konoha forty times. Minato lowers his eyes slightly, leans down with a tired look, and presses one hand on the ground to support his shaking body.
Although his body is still very tired, Minato does not let it relax completely because after intense exercise, if the body immediately enters a resting state, there will be a certain discomfort reaction.
Gradually relaxing his body, Jiraiya appears in front of Minato, holding one of Minato's arms and helping him up. "You did a good job," Jiraiya smiles, his eyes full of praise.
Minato, who looks exhausted, gives a bitter smile and says, "I'm still far from it. Jiraiya-sensei, you have been following me and helping me practice, but you look fine. I'm still too weak."
Jiraiya has been attacking him secretly and has to hide his whereabouts, but he doesn't show any signs of fatigue. This kind of strength is much greater than Minato's now.
"Haha, is that so? Your performance has given me a long-lost sense of defeat." Jiraiya sighs. His current achievements are the result of more than ten years of training.
When he first practiced this kind of training, he did worse than Minato, and he didn't complete it. Hearing the teacher say this, Minato is stunned, and then smiles. Which jonin or teacher in Konoha would say such a thing when teaching a disciple?
"Teacher, what about the afternoon training?" Minato is not proud of this but is looking forward to the afternoon training even more, although he looks a little exhausted at the moment.
"Haha, have you forgotten the three rules I set for you?" Jiraiya says. Such a training volume is already very difficult for a child of Minato's age.
The reason why he mentioned afternoon training was, first, to arouse Minato's curiosity, and second, to test whether he has remembered his rules in his heart.
Minato smiles awkwardly. He has indeed forgotten. Looking at the expectation in his eyes, Jiraiya smiles and says, "As for the training, it will come to an end today, but you can follow me to meet someone. After all, he is your senior."
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[More Chapter available at p@treon.com/goldengaruda]
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