Chapter 1: Dreams

The night was deep, the full moon hung high, and everything was quiet and still. 

"Ugh..."

On a hill behind the Village Hidden in the Leaves, Minato Namikaze suddenly opened his eyes as he lay on the ground. His eyes were a beautiful, bright blue that seemed to glow even in the darkness. 

"Did I pass out again?" Minato muttered to himself, used to this happening. As an ordinary ninja with no clan background, keeping up with his classmates from prestigious ninja families like the Uchiha and Hyuga was no easy task.

All he could do was practice ninjutsu during the times when others were resting. Even though he was talented, those clans were born with powerful bloodline abilities. Without immense effort, how could he achieve his dream?

Thinking this, Minato didn't feel his efforts were too much. He got up.

"This..." To his surprise, Minato didn't feel the usual heaviness in his body. In fact, he felt lighter and nimbler than before starting his training session.

"Could it be that this training was a success?" 

At only seven years old, Minato didn't feel overly excited about his apparent progress, since his training today was just basic routine work. Such a leap in ability made no sense.

Minato carefully examined his body but found no abnormalities.

"Well, if that's the case..."

Unable to identify any issues, the cautious Minato decided to test the results of his training.

He focused his chakra into his legs, a motion he had practiced countless times before.

Swish!

His form seemed to blur into an afterimage, his golden hair giving the illusion of a flash of light for an instant.

"Uh oh!"

But this time was different - his speed and distance were far greater than usual. He hadn't expected to unleash such powerful chakra.

And right in his accelerated path stood a large tree!

Reacting with preternatural speed for a ninja academy student, Minato crossed his arms to protect his head just in time.

*WHAM!*

With a loud crash and the tree shaking slightly, Minato's momentum finally halted. Unable to fully control the chakra, the counterforce sent him tumbling backwards several meters to slam into the ground.

"Oww..." Wincing, Minato struggled into a sitting position. Leaves from the tree drifted down in front of him.

Shaking out his numb arms, the young boy's face wore a look of shock. That sudden burst of leg strength was unlike anything he'd felt before. Caught off guard, it had overwhelmed him completely.

But another realization came to mind:

"That chakra... it was far beyond a normal genin's level!"

Minato evaluated that his prior chakra levels were indeed around genin standard. But the ninjutsu he had just performed allowed movement over twice the distance he could previously manage, at a speed he could barely react to.

More importantly, while feeling fatigued, Minato didn't have that total depletion he usually experienced. It was as if he still had more chakra reserves remaining.

Just one training session, and his chakra had made a qualitative leap? 

According to the ninja academy's teachings, chakra stemmed from physical and mental energies, which ninja constantly refined to increase their reserves.

But that process was exceedingly gradual, unless one had a special constitution like the Senju clan's powerful life forces.

Minato knew he didn't have such an inborn trait - his parents had been ordinary civilians, sadly killed by bandits when he was very young.

That loss motivated his dream to become a protector of the Leaf Village, to prevent others from suffering as he had. As a common ninja, the difficulty would be unimaginable, yet nothing could impede his ambition.

As the residual pain subsided, Minato stood, brushing off the dirt with a look of renewed determination in those blue eyes.

"Let me try again!"

Channeling chakra into his legs once more, this time consciously limiting the output, Minato moved a short distance of around five meters before his depleted reserves gave out.

"Still not enough control..."

For a ninja, being unable to precisely maneuver in battle could mean death. How could he properly guard the village if he couldn't even control his own movements?

After a brief rest, the drained Minato started heading home, needing to be rested for ninja academy classes the next day. Maintaining one's energy was fundamental for a ninja.

Minato's home wasn't small, as his late merchant parents had been affluent, but returning to the empty house, a pang of loneliness tinged his eyes. He was just a seven-year-old boy who should be coddled by his parents.

Entering, Minato clasped his hands together and closed his eyes. 

"I'm home."

After a simple washing up, Minato went to his upstairs room, whose window overlooked the iconic Hokage Rock carvings - the three revered predecessors who embodied his dream.

Hokage - the highest aspiration of the Konoha ninjas.

(End of chapter)