Naruto In My Hero Academia - Chapter 49

“All Might… thanks for talking with me.”

Toshinori was a little confused when he got a call from Izuku of all people, asking to meet up with him first thing in the morning before school. The boy had been showing vast improvements in the One for All Quirk, and with Naruto’s tutoring there had not been much for him to do with the training. He was a little surprised that Izuku wanted to meet with him for some reason.

“Sure my boy, anything. You should feel safe asking me anything-”

“Why didn’t you choose Naruto?” Izuku asked with a serious look. It had taken him awhile, but he had finally worked up the courage to ask this one question that had been haunting him.

Naruto winning the Sports Festival without his Quirk, and seeing his classmate in action so many times just cemented this question. Naruto was clearly the better suited person to inherit One for All, with his body he would be able to easily master the power, and with his own extremely powerful Quirk, he would easily surpass All Might himself as a hero. His undying willpower, courage, and his strong morals and values of a hero were just something that stood out head above the rest of their class. Izuku looked up, and saw Toshinori was visibly surprised, and even a little saddened by the question.

‘… I knew this question might come one day, when Midoriya started to grow stronger.’ Toshinori knew, he knew this would come. As a weakling, Izuku had never had a reason to compare himself to others in a positive way. The gap between himself and others was just always so great, that he could never see the tips of their power.

He was stronger now, and it was natural he would compare himself to others. With his growth in strength, he was finally able to see where others powers lay in comparison to his own power. The gap wasn’t as great as it was before, and Izuku would just keep closing that gap, before he surpassed those who had been ahead of him. No doubt, he had compared himself to Naruto, and upon seeing the gap in power, Izuku had once more been placed back into the position where couldn’t see where a person’s power was in comparison to himself.

“I asked-”

“I heard you… Why?” Toshinori wanted to know if he was right.

“Because, if he had this power, he would be a better hero than I would with it. Even now, after months… I still can’t see how strong he is. I was able to compare myself to Kacchan, one of the strongest guys I know… no matter how strong I get, how much of this power I use, it is like Naruto is always ahead of me, and he’s getting farther away.” Izuku looked down at his hands, which had been broken so many times when he trained with his power. At his strongest, he could use at most 11 percent of his power without completely breaking himself. Even with that power though, he knew he wouldn’t win a fight with Naruto… while Naruto wasn’t using his Quirk.

Toshinori nodded when he heard the explaination.

He sighed.

“When I got this power from my Master, I wasn’t her first choice… the one she wanted to inherit the power, he refused to accept One for All. His name was Minato Namikaze-”

“Thunder God! The previous Number 2 Hero before his untimely demise years ago, famed as a hero who nearly as powerful as you, and having attained the moniker of the fastest hero alive!?” Izuku started to nerd out then and there as he went over everything he knew about the man. It was well known that All Might and Thunder God were both a famed duo at one point, but they went their seperate ways very quickly after realizing they could save more lives when working separate. “Wait, you weren’t the first one picked?” Izuku realized what had been said.

Toshinori smiled.

“Yes, Minato was one of the few people I call a brother to me. My dear friend. He was powerful, kind, strong hearted, and when I was Quirkless, I never even thought of comparing myself to him. While I was training to get this Quirk with him, we shared the same Master… Minato was always ahead of me. No matter what I did, it was like the gap never closed… even after getting this power, I never actually beat him in any of our sparring matches. Hold your horses-” Toshinori saw Izuku about to nerd out again. He was explaining something important, and he didn’t need word vomit being spewed out. That could wait for later on. “-anyway. He helped me honed this power… when my Master chose him as the next One for All inheritor, I felt it was natural… and he refused. Even today, I imagine what it would have been like if he took the power.” Toshinori could imagine Minato being alive, Kushina being alive too, and him being a regular person as he served as an uncle to the family. He couldn’t help himself but smile, since that simple life sounded nice too.

“… Why did he refuse this power?”

“Two heroes can save more people than one hero. He had his own Quirk, and me without a Quirk, wouldn’t be able to become a hero. He could become a hero with his own power, and allow me to become a great hero with this power… The only reason Minato never become the Number 1 Hero instead of me, was simply because Minato wasn’t as popular as I was… That man wanted the world to have more heroes, instead of wanting to take more power for himself.” Toshinori smiled as he thought about one of the few personality traits that Minato had passed down to his son.

“Wait… isn’t Thunder God… Naruto’s dad?” Izuku suddenly realized something else very important.

“Yes, and like his father, when I tried to pass the Quirk onto him, Naruto chose to refuse. He wanted somebody else to become a hero with that power, and when you came along, he promised to help groom you into the role of my successor.” Toshinori couldn’t hide it in good faith. Izuku deserved to know now that he had asked. He was never going to bring it up to the boy on his own, because there was no reason to tell him he was the second choice. Lying to him though, that was out of the question. They were Master and Pupil, they couldn’t build their foundation of trust on lies.

Izuku looked down, unsure, and because of that Toshinori sighed.

It was never easy learning you were only picked because somebody else didn’t want it.

“He’s…” Izuku looked out the window, and saw a massive fox coming from the dorms to the main school building.

“-the only thing that is keeping Naruto from becoming the strongest hero, is his own fear. His worst enemy is himself, and the day he masters his emotions, is the day the next Number 1 Hero is born… he’s your rival.” Toshinori spoke with a grand smile on his face.

Just like his father.

-Years Ago-

“SMASH!”

Toshinori shouted as his fist made contact with his opponent, just at the same time as his opponent touched his hand go both Toshinori and himself. Minato, in full hero costume, and Toshinori in costume as well. Toshinori’s fist was in Minato’s stomach, before Toshinori and Minato switched places instantly. The entire shockwave of the attack, and all of the damage of it, suddenly transferred into Toshinori’s own body as the shock from his punch hit himself. He was blasted away, while Minato landed on the ground with his back to Toshinori.

“Flying Thunder God Mutually Instantaneous Revolving Teleport… that sounds like a great super move name!” Minato explained to himself as he made a mental note to write that down later. By touching himself and his opponent, he could teleport them both at the same time, to where each other were standing. That way, just as an attack would hit him, the aftermath of the attack would be transferred into the opponent’s body and not his own. He just had to make sure to only teleport his own body, and not the vibrations of the attack that were hitting his body. That way when he switched places with his opponent, all of the force of the attack would transfer to them, even though they weren’t being hit by the attack. “Are you okay To… All Might?” Minato asked as he took his helmet off his head, a wide smile on his face.

Toshinori was grinning as he jumped back to where Minato was.

No longer using his Quirk, his massive muscles shrank a small amount, to slightly less massive muscles… for each One for All user, the way they used their Quirk was different. His Master used the Quirk without gaining any muscle mass, while his increased when he used the Quirk.

“Your extremely long Super Move names are the reason you’re not more popular, nobody knows how to advertise you when you’re always making such goofy names. Would you like to continue?” Toshinori asked as he raised his hands up.

Minato waved him off.

“Sure, lets see that new Smash, I have a couple more teleports in me today.” Minato put his helmet back on. “We can’t keep this going long though, I need to get back to Kushina soon, today is the special day she will be…” Minato stopped when the sky turned white. Pink orbs appeared in the air, and an extremely loud roar could be heard. A massive red moon appeared in the sky, all of the clouds turned just as red.

Toshinori was confused.

“It’s the middle of the night…”

“… This is… an Illusion… I’ll be right back… I’m going to check on Kushina.” Minato spoke as he touched himself, and like that, he was gone.

Illusions?

-Present Day-

‘… To think… that would be the last time Minato and I were able to spar… if I had known, I would have gone with him… I could have helped…’ Toshinori help a regret that had never gone away, even after all of the years that had passed by. There was so much he was never able to talk with Minato about, share with him, and Minato would never be able to watch his son grow up. ‘… you’re son is going to surpass you one day… to think… I never won against you, did I?’ Toshinori smiled to himself with an air of regret. Minato was the one person who he had never been able to really beat in a fight.

The bastard was too damn slippery with that Quirk of his, and his highly advanced strategic mind.

“You weren’t the first choice… and neither was I…” Izuku whispered to himself.

In that aspect, he was just like All Might… and his rival, Naruto, was the son of All Might’s rival. Izuku couldn’t help but smile at the mirror between his relationship with Naruto, and All Might’s relationship with Thunder God. If he could close some of the gap between himself and Naruto, then he would be a step closer to becoming the Symbol of Peace that All Might wanted him to be.

“Just as he will surpass his father, you must surpass me, your master.” Toshinori placed high expectations on Izuku, but he knew it was possible for the boy. He just needed to work more, try harder, and push himself beyond his limits.

Izuku gulped, before he nodded.

“Watch me become a hero that surpasses you then!”

‘Tell him…’ Toshinori thought to himself, knowing full well that it was more than likely not going to happen. He had resolved himself to be completely honest with Izuku, but this was something that was a lot harder to talk about.

He gave Izuku a thumbs up.

He felt like a coward.