"Nothing is impossible to a willing heart."
Hatani used to believe that proverb was a profound truth. Now, he felt it was nothing more than a bowl of "chicken soup for the soul"—the kind that had been simmering for so many hours that the bones had dissolved, leaving behind a thick, gelatinous sludge of toxic positivity.
He considered himself highly talented in Wind Style. After all, he had the blessing of his Windranger traits. His progress over the past few days—mastering nature and shape transformation through the B-rank Vacuum Wave and Vacuum Sphere—seemed to prove it. Even Nagato hadn't been able to keep up with his pace in those specific techniques.
Naturally, he'd felt a bit smug.
Because of that, when Minato arrived, Hatani couldn't resist showing off a little. He also wanted the trio to understand his current combat level so they could coordinate more effectively if they ran into trouble on the way home.
He never expected that Minato, who also possessed a Wind affinity, would listen to his description, think for a mere thirty minutes, and then successfully fire off a Vacuum Sphere right in front of him. As for the more difficult nature transformation of Vacuum Wave? It didn't hold out much longer. An hour later, Minato used a blade of wind to fell a nearby tree.
As Hatani stood there, slack-jawed and dumbfounded, he felt the sheer, cold malice of the universe.
We were born to the same parents! How can the gap be this big?!
"Namikaze Minato."
While Hatani was busy silently cursing the unfairness of fate, Jiraiya—who had been quietly observing Minato ever since Dan Kato goaded him—could no longer sit still.
"Lord Jiraiya?" Minato looked up, feeling a bit apprehensive as the Sannin suddenly appeared beside him with a Flicker, wearing a grave expression.
Minato had no idea how much of a shock he had just delivered. He assumed Jiraiya was there to reprimand him. After all, ninjutsu were precious resources, especially high-level B-rank techniques.
"Would you like to be my student?"
Before Minato could offer an apology, Jiraiya blurted out the question. His eyes burned with a mix of blatant admiration and... greed.
A student who was kind but not weak, charismatic, possessed excellent leadership skills, and had such monstrous talent for ninjutsu? You couldn't find a student like that if you begged for one. There was no way Jiraiya was letting him go.
"I... I would be honored!"
Stunned, Minato blinked a few times before his brain caught up. He nodded vigorously in agreement.
"Good."
Jiraiya let out a sigh of relief, his heart swelling with satisfaction. He had been worried that Minato already had a mentor back in the village. At the same time, he felt a wave of disdain for the Jonin back in Konoha.
Such a perfect gem was right in front of you, and not one of you noticed? You're all getting senile.
Fortunately for Jiraiya, he wasn't in Konoha, and those Jonin couldn't hear his thoughts. Otherwise, they would have probably formed a mob to storm his house and curse him for being a "shameless thief."
With Minato's talent, how could he not have been noticed? Even if the Jonin were too busy to pay attention, the fact that Minato was friends with the Ino-Shika-Cho trio—and was clearly their leader—was enough to draw everyone's eyes.
At the very least, the previous generation of Ino-Shika-Cho had definitely noticed him.
But Hiruzen Sarutobi had noticed him, too. The Hokage might not have had the energy to mentor a child himself, but saving such a "good seed" for his own student was a very attractive prospect.
As Jonin, their ability to read the room was top-tier. Hiruzen's "little plan" was practically written on his face; nobody was going to risk offending the Hokage or the rising fame of the Sannin by trying to snatch Minato away.
Even Danzo—who was practically salivating over a civilian genius who specialized in Wind Style—hadn't tried to pull Minato into Root. Having known Hiruzen for years, he understood his old friend's nature perfectly.
You can have what I don't want. But you can't touch what I've claimed—and if I ask for it, you'd better give it up.
That was exactly how Kinoe would later be moved from Root to the Hokage's personal Anbu to become Yamato. Danzo would literally rescue the boy from Orochimaru's discarded experiments, raise him, and personally mentor him as a son—only for Hiruzen to swoop in and take him the moment the boy caught his eye.
In the morning, as Minato emerged from Jiraiya's room, everyone's reactions were different.
Choza and Inoichi were genuinely thrilled. Coming from major clans and being the heirs to their respective houses, their primary training involved their family's secret techniques; they didn't strictly need a Sannin for a mentor. But for a civilian like Minato, this connection meant his future was now limitless. As his best friends, they were overjoyed.
Hatani, meanwhile, was feeling a bit indignant.
Think about it: to become Jiraiya's student, he'd had to scheme and plot, change his "persona," and even risk exposing his biggest secrets. Only then did he get what he wanted.
And even then, Jiraiya's "teaching" mostly consisted of tossing him a scroll and letting him figure it out, only stepping in to offer pointers when Hatani was stuck.
But with Minato? After that initial "tsundere" hesitation, Jiraiya had practically turned into an "Automatic Teacher." He'd sought Minato out, asked him about his difficulties, and invited him into his room to spend the limited time they had together paving the way for the boy's future training.
Even knowing that Minato was destined to be Jiraiya's student, and even being happy for his brother, Hatani couldn't help but feel a twinge of envy.
Whatever. I have the system. Otherwise, I'd be just like Sasuke—living forever in the shadow of a monster brother.
Nawaki, standing beside Hatani, felt nothing but simple joy. He was still caught up in the excitement of returning to the village. As a Senju whose teacher was already Orochimaru, he couldn't quite grasp the gravity of a civilian ninja landing a Sannin as a mentor.
As for the orphans—Yahiko was happy for his new friend, while Nagato and Konan watched from the sidelines. Having lived with Jiraiya for so long and viewing him as family, they were perhaps truly feeling the weight of his identity as a Konoha ninja for the first time.
Inside the room, Dan Kato felt a sliver of regret. If he'd known Minato was such a monster, he wouldn't have goaded Jiraiya; he would have snatched the boy up himself.
Fine, Jiraiya. You can have the student. But I won't be so generous regarding other things.
His gaze dropped to the necklace hanging around his neck. The regret vanished, replaced by a cold, hard resolve. After these days of reflection, he had made his choice.
The moment this war was over, he was going to confess to Tsunade!
Unfortunately, Hatani was too busy watching Minato and Jiraiya to notice the look on Dan's face. If he had, he would have likely kicked the man to the ground and screamed at him:
Are you serious?! You're raising a death flag RIGHT NOW?! Do you have a death wish or something?!