Chapter 1: I Want to Become Hokage Too

32 years after Konoha's founding.

In November, the cooling after autumn had no impact on Konoha, which enjoyed spring-like weather throughout the year.

The morning sun was still warm, its golden rays piercing through sparse clouds, casting down like flashes of sword light, adding a touch of magnificent color to Konoha.

"I'm leaving, Dad."

"I'm leaving, Mom."

"I..."

In front of each house, neatly dressed children walked out, holding smaller lunchboxes in their hands.

After waving goodbye to their parents, the children all walked together towards a single destination.

Next to the Hokage Building, under the Hokage Rock, lies the location of Konoha's Academy.

In Konoha, anyone with ninja potential enters the Academy to study until they graduate as a Genin, burning themselves out for Konoha's development.

"Granny, I'm off to school."

"Mm, take your time, Minato-kun, don't trip."

"Got it."

In front of a small courtyard, there stood Minato Namikaze with his blond, youthful face, holding an adult-sized lunchbox. He walked briskly backwards, smiling as he waved at his grandmother, who was beaming with affection in front of the door.

Minato's parents passed away early, so he was raised by his grandmother.

Now, only he remains in the Namikaze household.

Fortunately, the Namikaze lineage was once prominent and among the earliest ninja families in Konoha.

Even though they have fallen from their former glory, the Namikaze family still owns several houses, so Minato's life is still quite comfortable.

"Morning, Minato."

"Morning, Yuta."

On the way to school, Minato greeted familiar classmates who greeted him in return with smiles.

Minato's nickname, 'Little Sun,' was well-deserved. Despite his young age, he was already popular getting along well with everyone at school.

But if you were to ask who he was closest to?

That would be Kimura Akira.

"Minato, why did your lunch portion suddenly get so much bigger?"

Seeing Minato still carrying a noticeably larger lunchbox than everyone else, someone curiously asked.

A few days ago, Minato suddenly switched to a larger lunchbox.

Initially, everyone thought it was because Minato's family ran out of smaller ones temporarily.

But come lunchtime, they discovered Minato's large lunchbox was filled with rice balls, enough for even an adult to struggle finishing.

In the following days, Minato continued to bring the large lunchbox.

This made people curious: why did Minato's appetite suddenly increase like this?

Everyone is six years old, why is your appetite so impressive?

"Is it? I don't know."

Minato squinted and smiled, not offering much explanation.

Arriving at school, Minato dashed towards his classroom. To arrive there first, he didn't even enter through the front door but pushed open the back door directly.

As soon as he entered, his gaze immediately went towards the left side by the window in the third row. His eyes lit up and a slight smile appeared on his lips.

After seven days of being empty, the seat finally had someone today.

It was a boy of the same height with short black hair, just like him.

"Good morning, Akira."

Minato sat down and greeted his friend as usual.

He knew his friend was sensitive, so overt displays of concern would only make him feel worse.

However, Minato secretly observed his friend's reaction.

And his friend's reaction... well, for a brief moment, it made him feel a bit strange.

"Morn... Good morning."

Lee Akira instinctively turned back and responded when he realized the other person was indeed greeting him and not someone else.

Because now, he was Kimura Akira, a six-year-old boy in Konoha of the Naruto ninja world, not Lee Akira, the thirty-year-old man from Earth.

He had transmigrated—from Earth to the Naruto world he once loved, becoming the son of a Chunin couple in Konoha as six-year-old Kimura Akira.

He didn't know if this couple triggered some sort of orphanage buff, but on the night Lee Akira transmigrated, they died on a mission.

Thanks to their sacrifice, Lee Akira, who was suddenly transplanted into this unfamiliar environment and panicked due to not inheriting all of his original memories, had an excuse to hide at home and avoid contact, thus getting through the most vulnerable phase.

Looking at the blond little boy in front of him, through the few memories left from the original Akira, Lee Akira immediately recognized him as the future Fourth Hokage—Minato Namikaze.

"Akira, are you... alright?"

Minato placed the large lunchbox in the drawer under the table, then turned to look at his friend with a mix of concern and puzzlement.

For some reason, just a moment ago, he had felt his friend was very unfamiliar, as if... as if he was seeing him for the first time.

It was really strange!

Could it be...

No, no, it must be because of his parents' death that Akira hadn't fully recovered yet.

Minato, who was sensitive to others' feelings, thought so, instantly brushing away the terrifying speculations that flashed through his mind.

"I... I'm okay."

"Thanks for your concern, Minato."

Lee Akira replied with a slight smile.

The current Minato seems so innocent!

However, calling him a child was not entirely accurate; Lee Akira dared not underestimate the subtlety of his thoughts. He couldn't treat him too much like a child.

Or rather, in the world of ninjas, you couldn't treat children too much like children.

At the age of five, Uchiha Itachi, who could contemplate issues from the perspective of a Hokage, was among the exceptional.

Lee Akira quickly recalled memories from his original body owner's interactions with Minato, trying to prevent unnecessary suspicion.

"It seems like you've already moved on."

Seeing his friend's familiar smile, Minato felt relieved. He thought to himself that he must have been mistaken earlier; his friend was still the same, albeit changed by the family tragedy. Stability after such an ordeal was the most reassuring thing.

Things were fine now.

Following Minato's lead, Lee Akira shook his head slightly, his eyes carrying a hint of sadness for his deceased parents from his previous life. He softly said, "People always have to move forward. The only thing I can do now is live well with the intentions of Mother-sama and Father-sama, to become a strong ninja, and then..."

At this point, intentionally looking at Minato, Akira said firmly, "I will become the strongest Fourth Hokage in history."

Once the words were spoken, although it was to adhere to the original self's character setting, Lee Akira did feel a surge of determination in his heart.

Since he had come to the world of Naruto, starting in Konoha no less, he also wanted to try for the position of Hokage.

Upon hearing his friend's declaration of becoming Hokage, Minato's expression immediately became serious, as if accepting a challenge. Without hesitation, he responded, "I am the Fourth Hokage that everyone in the future will recognize."

Becoming Hokage had been Minato's dream since he could remember, and even for his friend, he would not back down. He was going to be Hokage.

Akira smiled and said, "Then let's see who becomes Hokage first."

Minato nodded confidently, "It will definitely be me."

Hehe... Akira smiled without saying a word, thinking to himself: I should be able to handle this now. In the future... I will be... ding ding ding ding.

At that moment, the school bell suddenly rang, interrupting Akira's thoughts.

The playful noises in the classroom quieted down.

Soon, a man wearing a Konoha Ninja headband and a standard Ninja vest appeared. He was their class 2-1's Ninja sensei, responsible for their Ninja training.

"Today... everyone is here."

After walking to the lectern, the Ninja sensei quickly scanned the classroom and noticed Akira's presence, a slight smile of relief appearing on his face.

'This kid has finally emerged from the shadow of his parents' death.'

'Good, he hasn't given up on the Ninja path.'

'He should be able to become an outstanding elite Chunin like his parents in the future.'

"Quiet down, class. It's time for lessons. Focus your attention now and meditate to refine your chakra."

With that, the Ninja sensei withdrew his gaze and started the class without further ado.

The first lesson for all lower-grade Ninja classes was always chakra refinement.

One crucial criterion for determining Ninja talent was the ability to refine chakra.

This step had rejected countless children who dreamed of becoming Ninja.

Don't be fooled by those side characters in anime and manga.

Those who can refine Chakra are actually geniuses.

Think about how Chakra is gathered.

It's a fusion of mental and physical energy in a 1:1 ratio.

The step of merging mental and physical energy is not something ordinary people can achieve.

Those who can achieve this are not ordinary; they are Ninjas.

Even Guy and Lee, who have no Ninjutsu or Genjutsu talent and only Taijutsu, can still gather Chakra.

Otherwise, without Chakra, even with rigorous Taijutsu training, a strong adult is no match for a six-year-old with Chakra.

The difference in strength based on whether one possesses Chakra is immense.

This is why during the Third Great Ninja War, villages preferred to send six or seven-year-old children still in Academy to the battlefield rather than ordinary adults.

At least children with Chakra can serve as cannon fodder, complete simple tasks, and when theyr are unreasonable geniuses like Kakashi, they can even play a certain role.

Ordinary people, even the strongest adults, going to the battlefield is purely to die; they can't even perform the most basic task of transporting supplies.

Because Ninja require sealing scrolls similar to storage space for transporting supplies, sealing and opening the items to be transported.

And sealing scrolls cannot be used by those without Chakra. So, having Chakra makes a huge difference.

Akira is very grateful for his talent in refining Chakra. Otherwise, coming to this world would have been too dull, even though his original self in memory seemed to lack talent.

He barely managed to gather Chakra at the minimum Academy admission age of five, earning eligibility.

The earlier Chakra is gathered, the better the talent.

If one cannot gather Chakra after the age of five, it means they will likely never gather Chakra in their lifetime.

Kimura Akira's talent in this regard made him feel a bit awkward!

He wondered if his transmigration had somehow improved the Ninja talent of this body.

Unfortunately, I did not cross over into those ninja clans.

Those clan members and prodigies seem to naturally condense Chakra, just as if they were born to do so, without needing much concentration. From a very young age, they can naturally condense Chakra.

Of course, condensing Chakra is one thing; being able to control it is another.

Having Chakra without control means Ninjutsu and Genjutsu are basically out of the question. They can only pursue the path of Taijutsu.

Being able to control Chakra is essential to perform Ninjutsu and Genjutsu.

In terms of Chakra control talent, among the students in this class, Minato's talent should be the highest by Akira's estimation, and it's the kind that surpasses ordinary levels.

As Akira suspected, Minato possesses exceptionally high talent in Chakra control.

Because of this, Minato also possesses an extremely rare talent for Chakra sensing. He can sense the Chakra temperature of others.

At this moment, in his focused state of Chakra condensation, Minato's sensing ability for Chakra temperature is at its most sensitive.

"Akira's Chakra temperature?"

"How... it's changed!!!"

After entering the state of refining Chakra for a while, Minato suddenly sensed that his friend beside him had a rapid change in Chakra temperature.

Unable to help himself, Minato slightly turned his head to glance at his friend. Through his sensing ability, he felt a chilling sensation emanating from his friend's Chakra, as if it could freeze the soul, causing Minato's body to involuntarily shudder.

From this, it could be seen how low this Chakra temperature was.

This was completely different from the faint warmth that his friend's Chakra used to emit at all times.

"How could this happen?"

Minato's smooth forehead creased slightly, and he quickly pondered why this situation had occurred.

Since awakening his special Chakra sensing ability, he had sensed a constant Chakra temperature from everyone he encountered.

Up to now, he hadn't sensed any changes in anyone's Chakra temperature.

But now, Akira's Chakra temperature hadn't just changed a little—it felt to him as though... as though it had completely changed, like a different person altogether.

"Hmm... wait, could it be..."

Minato's expression suddenly changed slightly. He recalled the moment when Akira greeted him earlier, the look in Akira's eyes as if he was looking at a stranger.

"Could it not be just a misconception!"

"Is Akira under Genjutsu control? Or has his memories been sealed?"

Considering various possibilities, Minato's mind became unsettled. Subconsciously, he thought of getting up to quietly explain the situation to the sensei.

But then he remembered the family tragedy that had kept his friend from attending classes for seven days, hiding at home all this time. Perhaps during this period, due to the death of his parents, something special had changed in his friend's Chakra, which wasn't entirely impossible.

Even if his friend was indeed under Genjutsu, Minato couldn't act recklessly now. If he acted rashly, it could lead to trouble for his friend.

So Minato calmed himself down, continued to sense his friend's Chakra temperature, and decided that once he fully confirmed what was happening with his friend, he would then decide how to proceed.

At this moment, Akira was still unaware that his behavior had aroused suspicion in Minato.

Thinking that having some memories of Kimura Akira, along with their recent conversation and the excuse of the family tragedy, would be enough to cover up the fact that he wasn't Kimura Akira. 

He was now in ecstasy.

This time, it seemed like he could really compete for the position of the Fourth Hokage.

Previously, when he said he wanted to be the Fourth Hokage, it was just to fit into the role of the original body that also wanted to be Hokage.

In reality, he was self-aware.

In this world that values bloodlines, only the Otsutsuki family can reach the top.

The limit for ordinary people is at Minato's level.

However, the original Akira had abysmal ninja talent. Wanting to be Hokage was just a delusion induced by the Will of Fire.

Akira was very clear that without a cheat, the limit of his life would only be Chunin, the level of a qualified cannon fodder in the Third War.

But now it's different.

His cheats have arrived.