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Minato Namikaze did not hide his praise for Kakashi Hatake.
Hearing these words, Kakashi couldn't help but feel pleased, though his mask concealed his emotions well. Only the brightness in his eyes betrayed his joy.
But just as Kakashi was enjoying the moment, Minato's tone shifted.
"Your strength is already comparable to that of a newly graduated Genin," Minato began, but quickly followed with, "However, your shortcomings are also quite clear."
"You don't have enough physical strength," Minato continued, picking up the wooden sword and weighing it in his hand. "Your father, Sakumo Hatake, was an incredible swordsman. But you seem to be overly focused on replicating his style. Perhaps because you've only been using a wooden sword, your strikes lack weight."
Kakashi was visibly dissatisfied upon hearing this. He could create a gust of wind with his sword swings—how could Minato call them "light"?
Still, Minato smiled and handed the wooden sword back to Kakashi. "You're young, though. Once you gain more physical strength, this flaw will naturally disappear. But for now, I would place your strength at the level of a freshly graduated Genin."
Kakashi clenched the sword but remained quiet. Minato then turned his attention to Yuichi Yuu, who had been silent during the exchange.
Minato hadn't anticipated Yuichi's performance, especially the appearance of the scarlet Magatama Sharingan. He wasn't shocked that Yuichi had awakened the Sharingan—thanks to Kushina Uzumaki, Minato knew about Yuichi's mixed Uzumaki and Uchiha heritage.
What surprised him was that Yuichi had unlocked the Sharingan at such a young age. Realizing what this must have entailed, Minato looked at Yuichi with sympathy, imagining the emotional trauma he must have gone through to awaken such a powerful ability.
Before he spoke, Minato's expression softened even more, filled with pity.
Yuichi noticed this and frowned. "Brother Minato, why are you looking at me like that?"
Minato didn't answer directly, instead asking softly, "You must have had a hard time growing up, haven't you?"
Yuichi blinked, confused. What is he talking about? He quickly pieced it together—Minato had seen his Sharingan and must have assumed he had gone through some great hardship.
After a brief pause, Yuichi spoke cautiously. "Is there a possibility... that I haven't suffered?"
"I understand," Minato nodded, believing that Yuichi was trying to maintain his pride. He assumed this was just youthful stubbornness, and instead of arguing, he simply nodded in agreement.
Yuichi could barely hold back his frustration. He considered playing along with Minato's assumption to gain more sympathy and help, but there was no point. He didn't need more support—Yuhi Shinku and the achievement system he had access to provided him with more than enough resources.
Seeing Kakashi giving him the same sympathetic look, Yuichi sighed in defeat. He finally confessed, "To be honest, I didn't go through any emotional turmoil. Yesterday, I met Uchiha Obito at the training ground, and he was trying to open his Sharingan with eye drops."
Minato and Kakashi stared at him, perplexed.
"So, I borrowed his eye drops and tried it myself. And then... I unlocked my Sharingan."
Silence followed as Kakashi and Minato processed his words. Kakashi looked at Yuichi thoughtfully, wondering if eye drops really were the key to unlocking the Uchiha's powerful dojutsu. Minato, on the other hand, knew better. The Sharingan was an incredibly difficult ability to awaken, requiring intense emotional stress. But he couldn't sense any deception in Yuichi's explanation.
For a while, none of them spoke, and the air grew awkward. Finally, Minato cleared his throat, breaking the silence. "Well, in that case, let's continue discussing your abilities."
Yuichi and Kakashi both straightened up. Kakashi was eager to hear Minato's thoughts on Yuichi's skills, hoping to learn more about his weaknesses for their future encounters.
Minato smiled, satisfied with their focus, and continued, "Yuichi, your strength surpasses Kakashi's at this point."
"But," Minato added gently, "you clearly don't specialize in swordsmanship. So why did you choose to use a wooden sword in this spar? Could you explain your reasoning?"
Minato's tone wasn't accusatory; it was purely inquisitive. He was well aware that Yuichi had used the sword as bait, but he wanted to understand the boy's mindset better.
Yuichi shrugged casually. "I don't actually need to use a sword. But the purpose of any weapon is to make yourself more powerful, right? So, it made sense to use the wooden sword as a distraction before switching to illusion techniques."
Before Minato could respond, Kakashi, who had been quietly observing, couldn't hold back any longer. "If you don't care about swords, you'll never be able to master them!" he snapped.
Kakashi was deeply connected to the sword, having been trained from a young age in the Hatake sword style by his father, Sakumo. He wasn't the same Kakashi from the future who had been broken by his father's tragic end; this Kakashi still loved swords with all his heart.
Yuichi smirked, glancing at Kakashi. "Swords aren't that important," he muttered dismissively.
"You—!" Kakashi sputtered, pointing a finger at Yuichi, too frustrated to form a proper retort.
Minato watched the two with amusement, chuckling softly. This is youth, he thought to himself.
Intervening before the conversation escalated, Minato said, "Yuichi, your approach isn't wrong. When fighting, you must use every resource and opportunity available to you. You did well in using the sword as a distraction."
"However," he continued, standing up and motioning for Yuichi to do the same, "your moves are too predictable." He then demonstrated how their sparring session had played out, using simple movements to review the fight. "If I hadn't held back, you could have been seriously hurt."
"When you fight, you need to think about not just your own abilities, but also your opponent's strengths and weaknesses. You must also adapt quickly, based on the flow of battle."
"Take the second part of the fight for example," Minato said, "You capitalized on my momentary underestimation and used your Sharingan's Genjutsu effectively. That was smart."
"In terms of using your surroundings, your tools, and even your opponent's mindset to your advantage, you're already stronger than many Genin."
Both Yuichi and Kakashi listened attentively as Minato finished his assessment.
Finally, with his signature bright smile, Minato added, "And to celebrate how well we've worked together, how about we all go for some ramen? My treat!"
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