Read advance chapters of all my works or want to support me.
https/www.p.a.t.r.e.on/Adamo_Amet
Join us on discord:
https://di..scord.gg/h3kDw7ma
••••••••••••••••••
Chapter 234 Naruto vs Hiruzen part 1
0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0
Naruto placed the green blossom on the Hokage's desk.
A small leafy green flower that had a distinct smell to it.
"This baby boosts chakra regeneration." Naruto said.
Hiruzen and Inoichi looked at the weed. Their expressions communicated a shared and politely contained skepticism.
"How?"
"My working theory is that it accelerates the body's natural stamina recovery process." Naruto said, sliding into his best approximation of a salesman's confidence. "Normally a shinobi needs rest, food, and meditation to bring their reserves back up. This speeds that entire process up by roughly ninety percent."
"Extraordinary claims require extraordinary evidence. The best chakra recovery medicine the Akimichi clan produces improves recovery by approximately ten percent, and it took three generations of refinement to reach that number."
"Try it then." Naruto said. "Look, I want to help my friends survive the Chunin Exams. If they take this weed and make a clone in that boosted recovery state. Even one clone would double their effective training speed."
"There is also the possibility of a placebo effect." Inoichi said. "You are an Uzumaki and a jinchuriki, Naruto. Your chakra recovery is extraordinary by any baseline measurement. What feels like a significant boost to you may simply be imagining it from a normal plant."
"Just try it." Naruto said, keeping his voice polite because he wasn't going to be rude to Ino's father.
"Let's hear the boy out." Hiruzen said, picking up the blossom and examining it once before putting it in his mouth. The old had a hard time with how bitter it was.
The effect came fast.
It started as a warmth in his face. Then his chakra began to accelerate. The sweat came so fast that a green-tinged haze began rising off his skin from the heat of his body and chakra flow.
"Shadow Clone Jutsu."
Three more Hiruzens appeared in the office.
The original felt his reserves climb back toward full at a rate that his body had not managed since his prime. He looked at his hands for a moment.
"This is remarkable." He said quietly. Then, with slightly more urgency, "Tell me you have more."
"I have more. But what do you think of the plan?" Naruto asked.
"I think it could work."
"Could?"
"We still don't know the full effects of this plant on the body. It is a stimulant, and stimulants need to be understood before we distribute them to children." Hiruzen looked at Inoichi. "I need you to find a medical-nin who can take on the task of properly examining and testing these. They have to keep it a secret. This weed could potentially change how konoha approaches training our shinobi."
"As you wish, Hokage-sama."
"These should help get them started." Naruto said, setting a bag of freshly collected blossoms on the desk.
Inoichi tilted his head at at the weeds.
"Naruto. Has this plant ever flowered on you?"
"Sorry?"
Inoichi picked up one of the blossoms and turned it over carefully. "This plant is in its vegetative state. It is putting all of its energy into leaf and stem production. " He set it down. "Every flowering plant has a reproductive cycle. When this plant flowers, it will redirect its energy away from the leaves and toward the bloom itself. The concentration of active compounds in the leaves could change significantly depending on whether you harvest it before or after that transition. A plant harvested in full flower might be weaker. Or stronger. Or simply different in ways we can't predict without testing." He paused. "My point is that what you have here may not be the full picture of what this plant can do."
Naruto stared at the weed. "I have never seen it flower in Lordran."
"That may be a function of the environment rather than the plant." Inoichi said. "Here it might behave differently."
"Something to look into."
"Regardless." Inoichi said, and began to bow to the boy.
"Inoichi-san." Naruto said stopping him. "What are you doing?"
"Showing gratitude." Inoichi said simply. He stayed in the bow for a moment before straightening. "I can't tell you how much anxiety I have carried at the idea of Ino walking into this years' Chunin Exams. She is not ready. None of them are ready. But ready or not, they will go." He looked at the bag on the desk. "If this weed can help my daughter get stronger and survive. I am willing to give you anything you ask in return."
"That's alright." Naruto said. "I want everyone to live and be happy, dattebayo."
He didn't mention the Grass Crest Shield. The shield produced a similar recovery effect through ancient magic. But there was the problem of there being one shield and mant genin. He refused to think about how that particular conversation would go.
He didn't mention the Estus flasks either. He had given away most of his found flasks to Reah and her bodyguards. What remained was a single set that he had no intention of sharing. Even if he found more, a finite flask of golden light was a fundamentally different kind of resource than a plant that could be harvested repeatedly by anyone with hands.
The weed was the right answer. Widely available, easily distributed, no magic with unpredictable side effects, and no impossible decisions about who deserved the one shield more than everyone else.
So the weed it was.
"Naruto." Hiruzen said breaking the boy out his thoughts.
Naruto looked up to find the three shadow clones working through the pile of paperwork on the desk with impressive efficiency while the original sat back and relaxed.
"Do you have any more of that weed? I need more clones to help me with the bane of my existence... paperwork."
"Why don't you just do the paperwork normally?"
"I am an old man." Hiruzen said. "Making shadow clones whenever I please is not ideal for my body."
"So, you are going to use the weed specifically to make clones to do your paperwork."
"I will pay you for the weed."
"Deal."
"Well then, let us… try the weed."
Hiruzen walked towards his hokage portrait. He opened the hidden vault behind it. The old man pulled out a small wooden box.
"Are there vaults beneath every hokage portrait?"
The old man shushed the redhead and flipped the box open. Naruto first spotted a tiny, orange, battered book.
"..."
"Don't say a word," the old man said. "Focus on the other thing."
That was a neatly arranged row of smoking pipes. Some were simple wood with polished stems, others curved elegantly with ivory tips, and one gleamed with silver filigree spirals. Hiruzen's wrinkled fingers stroked them gently, as if remembering each by touch.
"You collect smoking pipes?"
"Not really, I just keep these pipes. With my age, they became a collection. Did you know... I met my wife because of these?"
"Pipes?"
"Yes," Hiruzen nodded, smiling faintly as his eyes drifted to one pipe as though replaying the memory. "Back when I was much younger, I used to whittle my own pipes from spare wood between missions. It was... calming, I suppose. A way to keep my hands busy and my mind still. One evening, I was sitting outside the hospital, carving the stem of a new pipe when a young medic-nin stopped and scolded me."
"Scolded you for carving?"
"For the shavings," Hiruzen laughed softly. "I left wood curls all over the steps without realizing it. She planted her hands on her hips and told me I was littering the entrance of a hospital, of all places. Then she picked up one of my finished pipes, inspected it for all of two seconds, and told me it was shoddy work."
"Let me guess... that was Granny Biwako?"
Hiruzen smile softened, a wistful glow in his eyes. "She didn't mean it cruelly. But I was stubborn, so I challenged her. I said I would carve a pipe so fine, even she would have to admit its worth. She laughed in my face and told me to try."
"And did you?"
Hiruzen nodded slowly. "I did. It took weeks, but I carved one from sakura wood. Smooth as silk, etched with petals along the bowl. When I gave it to her, she accepted it... and then promptly told me she would only smoke with me if I stopped leaving shavings on hospital steps."
"That's cute."
"Yes." Hiruzen's voice grew soft, his thumb brushing the edge of Biwako's pipe. "From then on, every evening when we both had time, we would sit together. I would carve. She would talk. That is how it began."
Naruto and Oscar listened carefully.
"This was her favorite. Shd carried into every mission, every meeting. She said it reminded her that even a stern medic could find time to laugh."
Naruto swallowed hard. He wanted to share his own. The boy dug into his pouch and pulled out his own smoking pipe.
"That is beautifully made, Naruto."
"Well, of course it is. I designed it myself with some help from my favourite tsundere blacksmith."
The Hokage chuckled, shaking his head. "You Uzumaki... always so proud of the things you make with your own hands." His hand hovered over the small collection in front of him before he carefully picked up one pipe.
"Old man. What... what happened to Granny?"
"Biwako Sarutobi. She was one of the first generation of shinobi in Konoha. A medical ninja with a heart of gold, and a will as fierce as any shinobi. She delivered half the children in this village at some point. She was there that night, helping Kushina as her midwife."
"And... she...?"
"Yes. She died that night."
Naruto swallowed hard. "How... how did the Nine-Tails get out, old man?"
"When Kushina became pregnant, special precautions had to be taken. The seal that held the Nine-Tails weakened during childbirth. We kept her pregnancy a secret. The delivery was arranged in a hidden cave. Minato oversaw the seal. I arranged for a barrier to protect the site, with ANBU stationed outside. Biwako was one of the midwives." He closed his eyes briefly. "And then everything went wrong."
"So... I'm the reason it escaped. The reason she—"
"No."
The word cracked through the room like thunder. Hiruzen reached out and clamped his hand on Naruto's shoulder with alot of strength, forcing the boy to meet his eyes.
"Listen well, Naruto. Never let the circumstances of your birth weigh upon your soul. A child is never to blame for the sins of fate. You were not the cause of that tragedy. You were the hope born from it. Remember this: you are not the sum of your beginnings. You are the choice of what you become."
Naruto's lips trembled, then stretched into a small smile. "...Thanks, old man."
Hiruzen exhaled softly, his weathered fingers finally loosening their grip on the pipe. He held it out to Naruto again. "Why don't you try this one, my boy? A pipe isn't meant to gather dust. It's meant to be used."
Naruto hesitated for only a heartbeat before placing a pinch of green blossom inside. He struck a small flame with practiced ease and drew in a slow breath.
"Wow… this pipe hits way better than mine. The pull is smoother, the airflow's perfect. No cracks, no drag. This is the good stuff, old man."
"Then keep it."
"Huh? But isn't this… important to you?"
"Of course it is." Hiruzen admitted. "It belonged to someone I loved. But I would rather it be used than forgotten in a drawer." He reached out and ruffled Naruto's red hair once. "Think of it as a gift between master and student."
Naruto nodded before stopping. He turned around slowly.
"Can you repeat that?"
"I want to train you as my successor." Hiruzen said bluntly.
"You're coming in a little strong, old man." Naruto said in shock. "What? Why? Since when?"
Hiruzen reached for his pipe and took a long pull before answering.
"Troubling times are ahead of us." He said. "Orochimaru and Danzo are moving towards an unknown goal that involves Konoha.. Every major village is converging toward Konoha. And there is the prophecy of a dragon that will destroy this village."
"When you put it like that. Konoha seemed stuck in a rock and a hard place."
"Yes. And I don' know what Konoha looks like in a year from now. And I am scared that I will not have the strength to protect my home from the strom that is approaching."
"Is that why?"
"Yes. What I can do is pass on my will to someone who will."
Naruto blew out a long breath that he had been holding without realizing it.
"Why me? You know I don't care about being Hokage anymore."
"The Hokage's seat is too much to ask of someone your age. I know that." Hiruzen said. Though he wished that Naruto would regain that dream. "But Jiraiya told me what you promisrd that you will protect Konoha against the dragon."
"Yeah." Naruto said. "Of course I will. That's my duty as a knight."
"Is that so?"
"Oscar sensei told me that A knight's purpose is to serve. To stand between those who cannot protect themselves and the things that would destroy them. Not for glory. Not for reward. Because it is right."
Hiruzen looked at him for a long moment.
"I was in my twenties when Lord Tobirama appointed me as his successor. For decades, I wonder what lord second saw in me. But now I think I know what he saw."
Naruto glanced down at Oscar, who had been sitting quietly on his arm through the whole conversation. He chirped out an answer.
Do what you think is right.
Naruto looked back at the old man.
"If you are serious about this." He said. "Then I would be honoured to learn from you."
"The honour is mine." Hiruzen said, as he stood up. "Come on then."
"Where are we going?"
"Your first lesson begins with showing me where you currently stand."
Naruto's eyes lit up. He his his fist into his open palm.
"So we are going to fight?"
[ Location: Mount Huaguo ]
A massive island sat in the eastern sea, far enough from the mainland that most maps marked the space with water and nothing else. Just as Mt. Myoboku belonged to the toads and Ryuchi Cave belonged to the snakes, Mount Huaguo belonged to the Monkey Clan.
The mountain itself was a colossal open caldera. The valley system spread out from its base ran between talls peaks with fog sitting along the ridgelines regardless of season. Large portions of the mountainside ran red and orange. The autumnal foliage dense enough that from a distance the peaks looked lit from within. At the basin of the foothills sat a clear blue lake bigger than Konoha.
Small monkeys moved everywhere. The adults went about their daily life of jobs to do around the island. At the very center of the lake was a massive multi-tiered palace. The home of the monkey
Ninja Art: Reverse Summoning Jutsu!
White smoke rolled across the upper courtyard and dissolved.
Leading the group was the monkey king. White fur ran along his sleeves and the hem of his pants. His long hair was loose and unkempt down his back, but the sideburns and goatee were strangely immaculate. Enma wore a black suit with the mesh underneath and a sleeveless kimono over it with its tiger stripe markings cinched by a red sash.
His gaze moved from Hiruzen to Naruto and stayed there for a half second longer than it moved anywhere else.
"What exactly are you doing, Saru?"
"I need somewhere private to spar with my student." Hiruzen said.
"Right." Enma's eyes went to the courtyard around them. "And I get to clean up the mess."
"Don't worry, we'll fight out of the mountain."
Enma clicked his tongue. He turned with the group following through a bridge of a thousand steps. After the first hundred steps, the monkey king jerked his chin sideways and Hiruzen moved up to walk beside him.
"What did you bring to my home?"
"Is something wrong with Naruto?"
"I don't know why." Enma said, which for monkey king was a significant admission. "But I feel danger coming off that kid."
Hiruzen was quiet for a moment.
In the forty years they had known each other he had never heard the monkey king say anything like that. Enma was an S-rank threat who commanded respect and fear across the entire shinobi world. He had stood beside Hiruzen against Hanzo of the Salamander without once suggesting that the situation made him cautious. His pride was immense. And he was cautious of a thirteen year old boy?
"He's Minato's son." Hiruzen said. "And my student. Both of those things count for something."
"Whatever you say." Enma said. "Just make sure you don't raise another Orochimaru." He drove his elbow into Hiruzen's side hard enough to be felt through the chainmail.
"Naruto is a good kid." Hiruzen said, with the patience of someone making an argument he believed in. "I hope you can trust him."
Enma looked at his summoner for a long moment. The willingness to believe in people. He had never understood it why the man bothered even though it cost Hiruzen more than once.
"Hey. Brat."
"Yes, Mr. Monkey." Naruto said with no fear on him.
The corner of Enma's mouth moved. "You want to become a summoner of the monkey clan?"
Oscar launched himself from Naruto's shoulder straight into the space between them. No way was the lizard going to lose his partner to a bunch of monkeys.
"Oh." Enma looked down at him. "Scary."
He nudged the lizard with the side of his foot. Oscar went for the foot. Enma pulled it back causing thr lizard to bite air.
"You want to go, little guy."
Naruto's hand closed around Oscar mid-launch. The lizard suspended in the air for one indignant moment before being brought back down to chest height.
"No."
Oscar went reluctantly still.
Naruto looked up at the monkey king. "Thanks for the offer. But I already have a partner."
"Fair enough." Enma said, and turned to continue walking.
"You call the boy dangerous and then offer to make him a summoner in the same breath." Hiruzen asked.
"It was a test." Enma said, without slowing down. "A kid who isn't easily tempted by power is a different problem than a kid who is." He glanced back at Oscar, who was watching him from Naruto's shoulder. "Whatever he is, don't let him fall toward the dark side. Keep him honest. Keep him close."
Hiruzen nodded.
Enma faced forward again. He was still not certain whether the danger he felt coming from the boy was the kind that destroyed things or the kind that existed to stand in front of destruction.
Enma smiled to himself. He hadn't been genuinely curious about a fight in a long time.
This was going to be interesting.
The group arrived at the beach. Enma positioned himself at the edge of the treeline as the referee.
Hiruzen removed his Hokage cloak.
Beneath it was a black jumpsuit with mesh segments running along the lower portions of his limbs. A light grey armour plating over the chest and shoulders. With a green gauntlet that covered most of his right arm. An armoured hood sat over his head with a bandanna-style forehead protector tied off with two long straps.
"Nice." Naruto said. His clothes shimmered and the Elite Knight Armour assembled itself piece by piece. The Zweihander materialising last into his two-handed grip. He dropped into the Fool's Guard.
Enma looked the armour over once and said, without looking at Hiruzen, "This is going to be a tougher fight than you think, Saru."
Hiruzen was already reaching down to pick up a stick from the beach.
"Kakashi praised your kenjutsu as one of your strongest skills." He turned the stick once in his hand. "Show me why the Copy Ninja rates you so highly, Naruto."
Naruto didn't take the bait. Hiruzen was going to hold back and meet him at his level. That was obvious. What the old man wasn"t expecting was everything Naruto had brought back from Lordran. He was going to beat him with the foreign stuff.
Then Hiruzen channeled chakra into the stick.
It moved through the wood and then past the wood, condensing along the length of it, hardening and sharpening at the edge until what the old man was holding was a blade of pure chakra.
Samurai Art: Flowing Chakra Blade.
"I want that."
Naruto said while channeling earth chakra down through his boots, hardening a block of sand and drove his front foot forward in a sharp kick. That sent it rocketing toward the old man like a compressed cannon shot.
Hiruzen brought the chakra blade down and cut the block cleanly in half.
Naruto pushed into it, using his weight, and felt the old man's resistance give slightly before Hiruzen freed his off hand and ran a single seal.
"Earth Style: Rising Platform."
The sand beneath Naruto's feet exploded upward. A pillar of compacted earth launched him straight into the air.
"Leaf Style: Crescent Fang Jutsu."
The slash left the blade in a perfect crescent shaped chakra. A jutsu that relied entirely on shape manipulation of raw chakra.
"Shadow Clone Jutsu."
Two clones burst into existence on either side of him mid-air, each pushing away in a different direction as the crescent passed between them. Hiruzen sent two more in quick succession without pausing. Each one forcing Naruto to produce more clones to absorb or redirect.
Oscar crawled from Naruto's shoulder to his chest, and fired a magic bolt downward that met the crescent slash head on and cancelled it in a burst of light.
In the same instant Naruto produced a clone directly beneath himself as a platform. He drove forward into a steep descending line with the Zweihander raised over his head.
Hiruzen set his feet and raised the hilt of the chakra blade high, tip angled down, forming a tight triangular guard. He didn't try to stop the Zweihander. He let it come, angling his blade to catch the flat and shed the force downward. The massive sword sliding along the chakra edge and past him, and as Naruto's momentum carried him through Hiruzen stepped cleanly into the open blind spot and drove a kick into his ribs.
The impact was solid.
The body exploded into white smoke.
Shadow clone.
Hiruzen had one foot still extended from the kick when it happened. The real Naruto had substituted with a clone at the exact moment Oscar fired the magic bolt by using the flash and the bulk of the descending blade as cover.
He felt the crossguard hook behind his ankle.
Half-sword grip as the Zweihander compressed into a levering tool. At the same instant Oscar fired a second magic bolt directly into his chest at point blank range.
Hiruzen went backward.
As he fell Narutonflipped the blade back into a full two-handed grip, and drove it through the old man's skull.
The body dissolved into brownish goo.
Earth Style: Mud clone.
Naruto ran the last ten seconds back through his head trying to find the moment and couldn't locate it.
When did he use substitution?
Water Style: Mist Jutsu.
Water pulled off the ocean's surface broke into dense white mist that swallowed the beach in every direction.
"Congratulations." Hiruzen's voice came from the mist without direction, wrapping the entire area equally, giving nothing away. "Your kenjutsu is genuinely comparable to the skills of a samurai."
"All I'm hearing is that you lost the sword exchange." Naruto said.
"Looks like my first lesson to you is going to be one of humility."
A pair of hands burst from the sand directly beneath his feet.
Earth Style: Double Suicide Decapitation Technique.
Naruto jumped before the hands could close around his ankles, and brought a Rasengan down into the sand in the same motion. A column of sand and smoke rose off the beach and the mist churned around it. When it thinned, all that remained in the crater was a pile of mud.
Another mud clone.
The Knight's Crest pulsed.
Naruto's perception snapped upward and locked.
Was this the real Hiruzen or just another mud clone? The knight didn't know or care.
Ninja Art: Lion's Mane Jutsu.
Red hair exploded outward in a dense spread of hardened spikes that impaled Hiruzen mid-air.
"Looks like your sensory jutsu can only target one person." The clone muttered, already dissolving into mud and then hardening. The stone statue dropped as deadweight due to gravity as Naruto's head snapped backward, his hair still connected to hardened mud.
The original came in fast.
The old man's foot connected with the flat of the Zweihander and sent it spinning out of Naruto's grip, into the air above them. In the same rotation the old man turned on his heel and drove forward with everything he had.
Ninja Art: Iron Mountain Lean.
This was a devastating close-quarters taijutsu. A sudden forward charge that threw the entire body into the opponent at once, shoulder leading into elbow into the full side of the torso. The goal was to break a guard through sheer mass and momentum. The taijutsu send whatever was behind it flying.
The moment Hiruzen hit, chakra sparked off Naruto's armour in visible arcs. He countered in a concentrated burst the instant before contact, the armour hardening under the chakra reinforcement, and the expelled force meeting Hiruzen's momentum at the impact point. Neither of them moved.
The sound that came off it was like a massive gong note that rolled across the beach.
Hiruzen was grinning. He was nowhere near his full output. Not close. But the fact that this boy could stand at this level, and push back with that level of battle instinct. All of this screamed of so much potential.
Schwing.
Oscar's crystal sword cut off Naruto's hair allowing him to throw a sucker punch forward.
The old man slipped the sucker punch with a rotation that turned the dodge into the beginning of the next attack. His arm sweeping wide in a hooking parry that redirected Naruto's momentum sideways.
Naruto answered in Astoran Boxing. He threw a cross that Hiruzen ducked under with a full body bob. The old man came back up on the inside with a palm strike to the chin that Naruto moved away from.
Hiruzen pursued.
The monkey style didn't move in straight lines. It curved and spiraled. The old man came in from a strange angle, his lead hand patting Naruto's guard outward in a light circular motion that felt like nothing. Suddenly Naruto's arm was already off the centerline and Hiruzen was already filling the space it had left. He drove an elbow into the chest plate, bounced off the armour with a sound like a mallet hitting a bell. The old man used the rebound to rotate into a foot sweep.
Naruto hopped the sweep and threw a body hook that caught Hiruzen's forearm.
The old man flowed around it. One hand redirected the hook past him. The other snaked underneath, and before Naruto had fully processed the grip Hiruzen had turned his own forward momentum against him. He threw the boy over his shoulder.
Boom.
Naruto hit the sand flat on his back and left a crater.
The dust hadn't settled when Hiruzen heard a new sound behind him.
He turned.
Oscar stood at the edge of the crater in his ravenous state. The Zweihander held in his mouth by the crossguard. He must've had gone to retrieve it while Naruto and I exchanged taijutsu.
Naruto sat up from the crater and formed a hand sign.
Hiruzen was already reading it.
There was a reason they called him The Professor. He had mastered every shinobi skillset and combat form that Konoha had ever produced. He could watch three hand signs and know the fourth before it formed. He could identify a jutsu before the user's hands had finished a single handsign.
He read Naruto's signs and made a single one of his own.
"Earth Style: Mud River Jutsu."
The beach liquified beneath Oscar's feet. The sand dissolved into a churning brown current that swept the crystal lizard sideways and carried him downstrean.
"Wind Style: Wind Bullet Jutsu."
A dozen compressed spheres of wind chakra, cutting across the space between them at angles that would have been difficult for most shinobi to track simultaneously.
"Earth Release: Earth Dragon Bullet."
The mud river reared upward. A dragon head formed from the current, and opened its mouth. Mud balls launched from it in a rapid volley that met the wind bullets in the air between them.
Naruto clicked his tongue and shifted into a different sequence of seals.
Fire style: Great Fireball Jutsu.
A black-speckled fireball, with a yellow chromatic edge flew out.
Hiruzen countered with wind.
"Wind Style: Wind Dragon Jutsu."
The twisting vortex came out at an angle that missex the fireball's path. However, the fireball's heat fed the vortex. The vortex wrapped around the heat and accelerated it. The two techniques became one thing. A wind-fire dragon came from the side.
"This is bullshit, dattebayo."
"Language."
Boom.
0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0
Author Note: Cliffhanger-kun strikes again.
0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0
Q: Is Mount Huaguo a reference to Sun Wukong?
Yes. Mount Huaguo is the legendary birthplace and home of the Monkey King in Chinese mythology. Since Enma is already a reference to Wukong, I wanted to push that further and give the monkey clan their own equivalent of Mt. Myoboku. It felt like a natural fit.
0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0
Q: What is Samurai Art: Flowing Chakra Blade? Is is a sword of chakra even possible?
Completely possible and actually canon adjacent. In chapter 460 we see a group of samurai channel chakra through their tantos and produce full sabers made entirely of chakra, which they also use to fire slashes, discs, and cross-shaped projectiles. I just gave Hiruzen his own version of it. You can imagine Hiruzen figured it out by observing Samurai in the war.
0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0
Q: Can Hiruzen instantly deduce the impending technique simply from the hand seals?
This is actually canon.
In the fourth and latest databook, Jin no Sho, it is stated that Hiruzen could instantly deduce any impending technique simply from observing the hand seals. Even when he encountered something entirely new, like the Truth-Seeking Balls, he could discern their attributes and limitations from a brief observation alone.
This leads me to a headcanon I have been sitting on for a while.
Why is Hiruzen called the God of Shinobi?
Compared to Hashirama, Hiruzen is lacking. But he is the only other shinobi to ever carry that title. You can argue Hashirama was retconned into being the god of shinobi, but ultimately it is a title. And titles come from somewhere. So rather than looking at it from a meta perspective, let us look at it from an in universe one.
Why would people inside the world of Naruto call someone the God of Shinobi?
The average shinobi did not watch Hashirama versus Madara at the Final Valley. Their understanding of who deserves that title comes from rumours, word of mouth, and feats the world actually witnessed. So what did the world witness from Hiruzen?
From the perspective of the average ninja, Hiruzen is the longest reigning Hokage in Konoha history. He led the village through two wars. He was a direct student of both Hashirama and Tobirama. He trained the Sannin. He is known for having mastered all five chakra natures and learning every jutsu in Konoha ( doesn't matter if he has or not, they would hear rumours about it ). He is an expert across almost every form of shinobi combat.
Now take all of that and imagine the reports coming back from shinobi who actually fought him.
He countered every jutsu they threw before they finished the hand seals. He seemed to already know what they were going to do before they did it. To anyone on the receiving end of that, Hiruzen is like a god. Someone who has already seen everything and already has an answer for everything.
Yes, we as the audience know that Hashirama surpasses him. We know there are dozens of characters stronger than Hiruzen. But in universe, to the average shinobi who never fought Hashirama and never will, Hiruzen is the closest to a god of shinobi. Hence the title.
0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0
That's It… For Now.
And if you can't wait for the next update, the next chapter drops on August 7th! You can read ahead to Chapter 120 on Patreon. and discord
As always, I want to thank you all for taking the time to read, comment, and follow along with this story. Your feedback means more than you know, and it helps push me to make each chapter bigger, sharper, and more true to the worlds of Naruto and Dark Souls.
Until next time, Praise the Sun.
—Adam
0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0
[ Personal Note: First off, thanks a ton to all of you for sticking with this story. Seriously, you guys are awesome. Now, if you're interested in supporting me on P@treon, let me just say that over there, I post these massive 15k-word chapters. But heads up, if you're jumping to P@treon, you'll need to start from Chapter 102, since that's where this chapter lines up with the content there.
To everyone here just reading along, please don't forget to leave a comment! Honestly, your comments make my day, and they let me know you're as invested in this story as I am. So yeah, thanks again, and I hope you have an amazing rest of your day!