When the class began, Minato honestly thought he might see Kushina on the very first day itself, but that didn't happen.
The first day for academy students was mostly basic theory. Understanding the shinobi world, how chakra works, its properties, all that standard stuff.
And of course, the lecture about the Will of Fire and how the Third Hokage is the greatest and strongest. That part was unavoidable.
The classes were boring for Minato, but there were still some useful bits here and there about chakra and how the shinobi system worked.
He also noticed a few familiar faces.
Shikaku Nara. Inoichi Yamanaka. Choza Akimichi. The future Ino Shika Cho trio.
Shibi Aburame.
Tsume Inuzuka.
Seeing them in person felt strange, but he didn't react much.
Soon, it was lunch break. Minato didn't waste any time and headed straight to the spot they had agreed on.
Fugaku was already there.
"Follow my apparition."
Without waiting, Fugaku disappeared.
Minato followed immediately.
Apparition was not something just anyone could track. Even elite aurors struggled with it. As long as the magical signature was masked properly, tracking became nearly impossible.
This time, Fugaku led him somewhere different.
A hidden underground shelter.
"Where are we?" Minato looked around.
"One of the old Uchiha shelters. From the Warring States period."
"…No wonder it feels creepy."
Fugaku's face twitched slightly.
'Ignore him. Just ignore him. You know how he is.'
"Do you have anything to eat?" Minato asked, stretching a bit. "I skipped lunch because of you."
Fugaku didn't reply. He just took out a soldier pill and tossed it toward him.
Minato caught it, stared at it for a second, then made a face and threw it back.
"Keep that for yourself."
He waved his wand casually and summoned pastries.
Fugaku didn't react. He just swallowed the soldier pill.
"You know this is actually useful. Nutritious. Helps with training."
"Yeah, yeah, you enjoy your nutrition. I'll stick to this."
Minato took a bite, clearly enjoying himself. Clearly, the Dumbledore template was done justice.
Fugaku sat down across from him.
"Eating can wait. We need to talk about what we're doing next."
"Oh yeah," Minato nodded. Then suddenly remembered something. "Wait, what was the dung bomb for?"
Fugaku didn't even hesitate.
"Hokage Tower."
Minato blinked.
"…Seriously?"
"Watching Hiruzen stand there and repeat that Will of Fire speech every year for the past two years is enough to make anyone sick. Thought I'd… improve the atmosphere a bit."
Minato let out a short laugh.
"That's nice and all, but how exactly are you planning to pull that off? The security there isn't a joke."
"That's the problem," Fugaku admitted. "I made it using basic alchemy and runes, but actually placing it there is… complicated."
They both went quiet for a moment.
Then, Minato suddenly leaned forward.
"I've got an idea."
Fugaku looked at him.
"I can transfigure it. Turn it into an insect or a messenger bird. Let it fly inside. Once it reaches the core area, we trigger it."
Fugaku frowned slightly.
"This is an alchemical item. Transfiguration shouldn't…"
He stopped mid-sentence.
Dumbledore.
"…Right. You can probably pull it off."
"But how do we trigger it remotely?" Fugaku asked.
"Leave that to me. I can tweak the structure. At least in theory. My alchemy is decent on paper."
He scratched his cheek.
"Practically though… I'm kind of stuck. No gold. No materials. So I can't really go beyond theory.
That's why my potions are also lagging."
Fugaku's expression changed slightly.
"I'd help if I could, but I'm already pushing it. I've spent a lot of gold on books and materials. My parents are starting to question it."
He let out a breath.
"I've already been told enough times that shinobi shouldn't care about gold or luxury."
Minato leaned back.
"Then we only have one option."
Fugaku looked at him.
Minato grinned.
"Let's rob the nobles."
There was a pause.
Fugaku actually thought about it.
"That might actually be the only option."
Then his expression turned serious.
"But before that, we need to plan properly. Apart from Gold, we need to deal with Madara. Black Zetsu. Otsutsuki. And whatever that god-level problem is."
Minato nodded.
"Yeah, let's not jump ahead too much. Step by step."
He leaned forward again.
"First comes Obito. We already know how things go. With detection wards and tracking charms, finding Zetsu won't be that hard."
"And the Killing Curse," he added. "It targets the soul. Plus sealing wards that can lock space."
Minato didn't even try to hide it.
He really didn't like Obito.
Fugaku listened, then raised a question.
"Can magic actually interfere with space manipulated through chakra? Like, how a phoenix can ignore the anti-apparition wards."
Minato paused.
"That's the problem, isn't it?"
Fugaku continued.
"And Avada Kedavra… it works on humans and wizards, sure. Even legendary wizards like Slytherin can fall to it. But even in the Harry Potter world, phoenixes survive it. Dragons resist it."
Minato nodded slowly.
"Yeah, but if you increase the output or stack spells, even they can go down eventually."
He leaned in, more serious now.
"So that brings us to the main point."
A small pause.
"We need to combine magic and chakra. And before that, test on the limit of how much magic can help us against Shinobis."
Fugaku went silent. He had thought about it before.
Tried it even. It never worked.
But now, with Minato involved, "That might actually be possible."