Ninja Ice House

Chapter 584 Upper and Lower Limits

Looking at her familiar hometown in the sky, Tsunade rarely showed a hint of nostalgia.

"Jingyin, go pour me two jugs of wine..."

"At this moment, Lady Tsunade..."

"You've become quite worldly over the years. When it's business, you call me the Fifth Hokage; when you want to dissuade me, you call me Lady Tsunade to get closer to me. That silly little girl is gone! She's all grown up and changed."

Tsunade waved her hand, indicating that what she had just said should be ignored, and then changed the subject:

"Back then, everyone said that we, the 'Three Legendary Sannin,' were the present, and Minato Namikaze was the future. For the first time in decades since the village was established, a genius was born who was highly anticipated and had the best chance of approaching the First Hokage. The rising 'little sun,' when he reaches his zenith, he will surely, like the First Hokage, subdue the entire ninja world."

If Hashirama Senju at his peak is a perfect score of 100, then Minato Namikaze's potential ceiling is only 85. It seems like a big difference, but among the Five Kage throughout history, only a few can "pass" with a score of 60. Among the so-called "Sannin," only Jiraiya is confident of getting close to 70, Tobirama Senju has 75, and Orochimaru and Tsunade, for various reasons, can barely be considered "passing".

As for someone like Sarutobi Asuma, giving him 40 points would be overpraising him, while 30 points seems a bit of an underestimation.

As for the numerous Chunin and Genin, having a strength score of double digits is considered quite skillful.

Given this disparity in strength, whether it's 100 points, 90 points, 85 points, or 80 points, there's basically no difference; they're all invincible anyway.

Hashirama Senju at least had a 98-point rival, Madara Uchiha. The two of them teamed up and performed a "two-person show" for decades, leaving behind a legendary tale.

"Minato was truly a prodigy, somewhat similar to the First Hokage, someone who seemed capable of bringing about positive changes to the world. What a pity!"

After a pause, Tsunade muttered to herself:

"Ordinary villagers and smaller ninja clans are still vying for the position, but our higher-ups anticipated this long ago. Minato Namikaze was destined to become the Fourth Hokage. Even if Orochimaru truly desired the position and acted more proactively, or if Jiraiya personally stepped in to 'steal' the Fourth Hokage's place, it would only delay things for a few years at most. The Fifth Hokage would inevitably be Minato. Since the First Hokage's death and Madara Uchiha's disappearance, the village has reached an astonishing consensus on one thing for the first time, with almost no disagreement: the future belongs to Minato. He will lead the village from one victory to another, creating new glories! Just give him two or three more years. Orochimaru defected, Jiraiya went after him, and I left too. The weakened village exposed its weaknesses and was attacked..."

Some things happen, and there's no use in regretting them afterward. The general consensus at the time was that the "Three Legendary Sannin," especially Jiraiya, raised the bar for Konoha, while Minato Namikaze determined its potential.

Unfortunately, after the Nine-Tailed Fox attacked the village, all expectations vanished like smoke.

Jiraiya's obsessions were almost all born within those one or two years. His prized disciple Minato Namikaze died, Kushina Uzumaki died, Orochimaru defected, and the Nine-Tails attacked the village, resulting in heavy losses.

Anyone who puts themselves in Jiraiya's shoes would wonder if the outcome would have been very different if they had been there or done something better.

For Jiraiya, obsession was the desire to make up for regrets.

Only Tsunade truly understood why that man was unwilling to wake up.

Tsunade, after the deaths of Senju Nawaki and Kato Dan, was once similar to Jiraiya, and her long-standing hemophobia was born from this.

Many years later, Jiraiya found Naruto Uzumaki again, a boy who was equally outstanding, but very different from Minato Namikaze.

It seems that the dim hope is beginning to show some signs again.

However, no matter what, the bond between the "Three Legendary Sannin" is something that Jiraiya, Orochimaru, and Tsunade can never erase in their lifetime.

"It's time to wake up. There's a limit to being willful. I know you're tired, everyone's tired. In this world where we have to fight against fate, it's impossible not to be tired if we want to live comfortably and make those around us happy. But, once you've rested enough, you still have to get back on the road..."

In life, comfort is not the norm; dissatisfaction and striving are the normal state.

With Jiraiya's intelligence, he shouldn't be unable to understand this, even after experiencing severe trauma, the "Snake Shedding Technique" still has some influence on deep thinking.

The Jiraiya of the past and the Jiraiya of the future are both him, two different profiles of the same person. Now, at this crucial juncture, it is his turn to "turn around" and face reality.

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Finally standing shoulder to shoulder with his teacher, Minato Namikaze saw that Jiraiya was covered in blood and his clothes were tattered. Fortunately, they were just some superficial injuries and not serious, so he was slightly relieved.

"Teacher, I'm sorry to have kept you waiting."

"Minato, as expected, you're the first one to arrive."

The two stood atop Gamabunta's head, facing a group of young ninjas who were eyeing them menacingly.

"They're all good kids. People these days can't believe the future will turn out like this. Even I almost got caught off guard..."

"You've noticed it too, teacher..."

"At first, it might be overlooked, but... the answer is right there in the open from the start, isn't it obvious?"

"That's true! Fortunately, the most dangerous time has passed..."

"But the problem isn't solved yet. We have the answer, but the problem is nowhere to be found..."

"Do we need to find the problem as soon as possible?"

"At times like these, once the answer is given, the key is to find the problem."

"Let's leave that aside for now. Jiraiya-sensei, why did they ambush you?"

“You see, you’ve raised a good question, and this question is very close to what we’re looking for.”

"Uh?"

Minato Namikaze scratched his temples with some embarrassment and said...

"As you know, I'm not good at solving riddles, and Jiraiya-sensei doesn't seem to like speaking in riddles!"

"So... what do you think my personality should be like?"

"This……"

Upon hearing this, Minato Namikaze was about to offer a few polite words when he suddenly realized that Jiraiya's tone was unusually serious.

"People who act faster than they talk are careless about small things but shrewd about big things, and they almost never make mistakes."

"Maybe!"

Jiraiya pointed to the many opponents ahead and said...

"Then... Minato, would you be willing to come with me and test these kids' skills? If you want to defeat me and make me submit, you can't just rely on clever tricks!"