Shizune excitedly stood in front of Enma, inside the arena of the Central Tower, waiting to hear what her Training was going to be about.
"Do you know what your Primary Elemental Affinity is?"
"Water," She answered and he nodded to her.
"How many Shadow Clones can you create?"
"Six. Master already made me train with Shadow Clones..."
"Quiet."
Even though the word was light, it still made her flinch.
"Do you know how to create a Water Shadow Clone?"
"Yes."
"Good." He said and two Chakra chains suddenly shot out of his back and impaled themselves in her back, making her feel that same cooling sensation again.
Shizune's eyes widened when she felt the raw chakra course through her, and her body started trembling in these new sensations.
"Create thirty Water Shadow Clones."
Even though her limit was only two Water Shadow Clones, she did not question his command and started weaving hand seals.
She was shocked when she was able to compensate for her lack of Chakra with the Chakra that poured out of his Chains into her.
When the Arena was filled with thirty of her Water Shadow Clones, she was a little dizzy, not because of exhaustion, but because it all felt like a dream to her.
"Now, all of you, sit down and meditate. Move your Chakra around your body, in any safe way you would like, and focus only on the flow of it. Nothing else."
More chains sprouted from his back and connected themselves with her Water Shadow Clones as they all sat down and started meditating.
For some strange reason, she felt even more familiar with her own chakra. It was a little weird but very comforting.
Enma smiled when he watched her fall into a meditative state very quickly.
She completely trusted him and was also very talented and skilled.
Since it was a day off and she did not need to go to the hospital, he let her meditate for hours to come.
In the afternoon, when he understood that she was in the right state of mind, he destroyed one of her Water Shadow Clones, and the original trembled and furrowed her brows at all the experience that she received.
One by one, with a gap of a few minutes, he destroyed more of her Water Shadow Clones until her head started hurting.
Fifteen was her limit right now, and any more could prove dangerous for her mind, so, instead of destroying her clones, he sucked them dry of their Chakra to the point where they ceased to exist without transferring any experience to her.
Shizune opened her eyes when she lost connection to the rest of her Water Shadow Clones and was immensely relieved that none of them remained in the arena.
She slowly stood up, and even though she was physically fine, she was mentally fatigued.
"Nap time. You have 180 minutes. Supper will be ready when you wake up." Enma said as he unsealed a bed from one of his Storage Scrolls.
She quickly followed his instructions and lay down on it.
Sleep came to her very easily, and she slept like a baby, not caring that he would be watching her sleep.
He had already seen all of her.
As he had promised, her meal was ready when she woke up, and after eating it, her training resumed.
She was again put into a meditative state, and then he connected his Chakra Chains with her.
"Your task is to try and protect your chakra from getting stolen." He told her, and within a few minutes, she was sweating all over as she exercised her control over her chakra, protecting it from getting sapped by his chains.
She managed to last for 33 minutes before she lost the battle, and half of her chakra was instantly sapped away, leaving her feeling nauseous.
When she caught her breath, she stood up, only to receive another order.
"Jump up and stand upside down from the ceiling."
She pouted but did what he asked, and soon he joined her there, facing her.
"Do not move your feet from their place." He said to her before he targeted her head with a stick, and she had to dodge it by moving and bending her body awkwardly.
It was a very simple-looking exercise, but it soon became difficult for her, and sweat dripped down on the floor almost like a dripping shower head.
A couple of hours later, he ended the exercise, and she immediately jumped down and landed on the floor, panting heavily.
Enma walked out of the arena but left an order for her that made her blush hard.
"Take a shower and come to my bed."
Even though she felt quite tired, she entered his room after taking a shower, wearing only her bathrobe, and knowing what they were going to do, she removed it on her own accord.
Enma, who was wearing his pyjama bottoms and doing push-ups on the floor, quickly stood up and lunged at her like a beast once she was naked.
He then fucked her hard and well until she was completely exhausted, and she fell peacefully asleep in his arms.
The next day, they followed the same routine, and he ended the night in the same fashion.
On the third day, he made her perform some basic Chakra Exercises before they left for the Konoha Hospital and the Hokage Tower.
Enma has been sending his Shadow Clone to the Hokage's side for the last two days, but this time, he personally went and attended the meeting with the Advisors and the Jonins, planning the security of the village during the upcoming Chunin Exams.
He did not get free until 6 pm, and when he returned to the Central Tower of the Forest of Death, he found her preparing their dinner.
She could cook really well, and he honestly complimented her, which made her very happy.
After the meal and an hour of rest, he made her go through the Water Shadow Clone Meditation and the Chakra Defence Exercise, and at midnight, he picked her up and took her to their suite and his room, where he made love to her and put her to sleep.
The routine stayed the same for the next four days until she did not have classes to take, and those two days were the most gruelling days for her in the week.
Shizune, however, never once complained, not minding how hard he pushed her, and even though she felt a little lost on the nights he did not stay with her and went back home, she never said anything about it.
Without realising it, she had started getting too attached to him, but given how close they were, it was only natural.
A month later, when she was able to handle the mental load of all thirty of her Water Shadow Clones and their hours of experience, she was also able to protect herself against his Chakra Absorption for a good hour.
The progress was truly remarkable, and she had finally started noticing the improvements in her Chakra Control. Surprisingly, her Chakra Pool was also growing at the same time, and now, even without his help, she could produce seven Shadow Clones without letting her chakra fall to dangerous levels.
One more than what she could do a month ago, but one more Shadow Clone was a significant leap.
On March 30th, Anko, Karin, Shizuka, Ino, and Shikamaru returned to the Village after finalising the details of the Chunin Exams.
Enma was present in the Office with the Advisors when they gave their report, and his sister was grinning at him all the time.
In the end, she finally revealed what she had to share.
"Gaara has a student now. Her name is Matsuri, and I am 100% sure she is in love with him."
"200%." Ino grinned too.
The two did not care who was in the room as they gossiped, probably because they knew that none of them minded it.
"Good for him. He needed that." The Uzumaki Heir smiled a little.
"He's also the favourite to become the Fifth Kazekage," Karin suddenly said, much to the surprise of the Hokage and the Advisors in the room.
"Suna hasn't decided it yet?" Tsunade raised her brow.
"No. They are assessing Gaara's performance. He's the strongest in the village, and Suna does not want to make someone else Kazekage if they have the option of making him their Leader," Anko informed them. "However, due to his young age and past actions, they are hesitant and taking their time in making the final decision."
"The decision is already made. Gaara is the Fifth Kazekage. Unless he shows any alarming signs for the rest of the year, I think he will be attending the Chunin Exams as the Kazekage of the Hidden Sand." Shikamaru lightly said.
"That's good for us if the Hidden Sand is not being led by someone carrying hatred and resentment towards Konoha for their losses in the Great Wars." Hazuki lightly said, and the two Advisors nodded their heads.
"A fourteen-year-old Kazekage." Shikaku smiled. "Times are changing fast."
"If this stupid boy was not running from responsibilities, I would gladly name him the Sixth Hokage and focus only on the Hospital and the Training of Medical-Nin," Tsunade suddenly said something that shocked everyone in the room.
She had pretty much just announced who was going to be her successor, making things very clear to her Advisors, and those words made Enma's brow twitch.
"You are not getting an early retirement, Hokage-sama. Please, stop being so lazy..."
"Yeah? Sit in this seat for a day and you will realise how much work I have to do every day."
"You are young and wise, you can manage it." He shook his head.
"Yeah, and you are old and dumb, and extremely rude to your superior."
Shibi and Shikaku held back their smirks.
None of them dared to talk back to her. None of them but Enma, but even he knew when to take a step back.
"My apologies, Hokage-sama." He politely bowed, and she stopped narrowing her eyes at him.
"How's Shizune's training going?"
She had not asked that question for the last month, and she finally did, and did it in front of everyone.
"She is doing fine, and everything is on track."
"Shizune-sensei in training under you?" Ino surprisedly asked.
"I am just helping her out with something." He lightly said, not giving any details, and they all knew that they should not be asking more questions.
"Team 5 and Team 10, I have a mission for you."
At the Hokage's words, both Anko and Shikamaru became attentive.
Suddenly, there was a knock on the door, and when Tsunade gave her permission, Asuma entered the office and closed the door behind him.
"Asuma, Anko, your two teams will be taking on this A-Rank Mission, and you will be accompanying the actress, Fujikaze Yukie, as she completes the filming of her next project in the Land of Snow. You are responsible for her protection, and no harm must come to her." She stressed her last words and then threw Anko a scroll. "The details are in this scroll, and you and Asuma will go through them before meeting Yukie at the gate tomorrow morning."
"Fujikaze Yukie? Princess Gale?!" Ino instantly became excited, and it was the same for Mito, who was grinning ear to ear.
"Mama! You are the best!" She brightly said, but then froze when her mother narrowed her eyes at her.
"If any harm comes to our client, I will make it so that you can never graduate from the rank of a Genin. Do you understand, Mito?"
"Yes..." she nervously said.
"Dismissed."
The two teams bowed to her before they quickly left the office, and when the door closed, Enma raised his brow.
"May I ask what's so special about the actress, Hokage-sama?"
The Advisors had the same question on their minds.
They could not understand why Tsunade had assigned two Teams to this mission, and why this was not a C-Rank or a B-Rank Mission.
"She's the daughter of the former Daimyo of the Land of Snow, and the current Daimyo is her Uncle, who is after a key that she knows about. She is also a threat to his rule."
"Are we removing him from power?" He lightly smiled, and Tsunade narrowed her eyes and smiled as well.
"Only if he makes a move on her life. After all, our job is to protect her, at all costs." She lightly said. "Enma, assign two members of Akaisen to secretly go with them. They must only reveal themselves and take action if Team 5 and Team 10 truly need their help."
"Yes, Hokage-sama." He accepted the command and used Lightning Body Flicker to go inform two of his team membership about their new mission.
Yugao and Shin, who were sitting on a bench, silently enjoying their popsicles, jumped up in alarm when they sensed a sudden presence behind them and the crackling of electricity.
"Captain!" The two instantly relaxed when they saw that it was him, and then bowed in a greeting.
"Yugao, Shin, I am sending you two out on Holidays in the Land of Snow..." he smiled and then gave them the details of their mission, which they accepted without any questions.
When he returned to the Hokage's side, only a few minutes later, she smiled.
"Whom have you selected?"
"Yugao and Shin."
She nodded her head.
"How's she doing now?" She lightly asked.
"Better. It will take a while for her to get over Hayate's death, but she has found comfort in Shin's presence now, so, it will help a lot."
"I see." Her eyes became a little vacant, and then she dismissed everyone for the day.