Seeing the two boys' distinct running forms, Hatake Sakumo felt a flicker of genuine interest. The blonde kid—his center of gravity is low, and his hands are pinned back behind him. He's already got the posture of a seasoned shinobi.
On the other hand, the silver-haired kid who had called him "Uncle" was far less standard. His arms were pumping rhythmically in front of his chest. It looked… remarkably un-ninja-like.
"Heads up, Sakumo-sama!"
Minato shouted his warning. He didn't know who this shinobi was, but he had heard the Hokage call him Sakumo.
Minato and Tatsuma's attacks arrived almost simultaneously. Their kunai slashed toward Sakumo's waist. Sakumo's eyelid twitched. He understood that they were aiming there because of their height, but still… it was an annoying target to defend.
Poof—
The moment their blades made contact, Sakumo vanished in a cloud of white smoke.
Thud-thud!
The boys' kunai buried themselves into a plain wooden log. It was a textbook Substitution Jutsu. Sakumo hadn't even bothered to hide the trajectory or the timing; doing so against two five-year-olds would have been punching too far down.
Sakumo understood Hiruzen's intent for this "spar," so when he reappeared, he chose a spot roughly ten meters away. This was the standard distance for lower-grade Academy target practice—exactly what the boys had been doing just moments ago.
Tatsuma and Minato didn't miss a beat. They swapped their battered kunai for… rusted shuriken.
Six shuriken in total flew toward Sakumo in a slightly staggered formation. The reason they weren't synchronized was simple: neither boy knew the technique for throwing multiple projectiles simultaneously. Minato hadn't learned it yet, and while Tatsuma had "acquired" it from Minato's talent, his 20% proficiency wasn't enough to execute it reliably.
The six spinning blades posed zero threat to Sakumo. He traced a casual circle in the air with his hands, plucking the shuriken from the sky with ease. With a flick of his wrists, he sent them whistling back at the boys.
The shuriken returned at double their original speed. Tatsuma and Minato tensed, their eyes widening as they tracked the blur of metal. They swung their kunai in a desperate parry.
Clang-clang-clang!Clang-clang!
Tatsuma successfully knocked all three of his away. Minato deflected two, but the third forced him into a sharp, clean roll to the side to avoid being pinned.
"Not bad!" Sakumo offered a rare word of praise.
Suddenly, his figure was enveloped in another cloud of smoke. From within the haze, his voice echoed playfully: "Guess which one is me?"
Poof-poof-poof!
Three identical versions of Sakumo charged out of the smoke. It wasn't the Shadow Clone Jutsu; these were basic, illusory Clones. However, at his level of mastery, they looked perfectly real.
Tatsuma couldn't tell them apart. He threw his last shuriken at the middle Sakumo while lunging with his kunai at the one on the left. Seeing this, Minato reacted instantly, stabbing at the one on the right. If they couldn't distinguish the real one, they would simply treat them all as real.
Poof! Poof! Poof!
To their shock, all three vanished into thin air. Tatsuma bit his lip. "We were misdirected."
Sakumo's question had tricked them into assuming one of the three had to be real. Who would have thought this heroic-looking elite shinobi would play dirty psychological tricks on two five-year-olds?
Fortunately, Sakumo was only playing around. He didn't follow up with a counterattack. Had he been serious, both boys would have been defeated right then and there.
"Now, let me show you a truly high-level ninjutsu!"
Sakumo's voice rang out again. Suddenly, a Sakumo charged at each of them from the flanks. They both moved to block, bracing themselves for the possibility that they were facing clones and preparing to pivot to help the other.
Bam! Bam!
Unexpectedly, both were solid! Minato and Tatsuma were kicked squarely and sent flying in opposite directions.
Shadow Clone Jutsu! The name of the technique flashed through Tatsuma's mind, but he didn't have time to process it. Sakumo's voice—now sounding borderline demonic—echoed across the field.
"Recently, I developed a taijutsu technique. I call it the ultimate secret of close-quarters combat! In a single instant, it allows the victim to experience the agony of a thousand years of suffering."
"You two will be the first to face this secret art! If you can survive it, you win!"
One Thousand Years of Death?!
Tatsuma's "back door" clamped shut instinctively. He felt a sudden, malicious gaze burning into his rear.
Not far away, Hiruzen Sarutobi's brow furrowed. He hadn't heard Sakumo mention any "ultimate taijutsu" lately. And to use a "Secret Art" on two children? This was getting out of hand.
Sakumo appeared behind both boys simultaneously (thanks to his clone), his fingers already woven into a specific seal. Seeing the hand sign, Hiruzen's concern grew.
The Tiger Seal? A Fire Style? No, he said it was taijutsu…
Hiruzen analyzed the situation rapidly, preparing to intervene. He had seen enough to be satisfied with the boys' potential; he couldn't let them get injured. If he did, he wouldn't be fit to be Hokage.
"One Thousand Years of Death!"
"Minato! Dodge to the side! NOW!"
Tatsuma screamed the warning. He didn't care about looking cool; he threw himself into an ungraceful side-roll. Minato didn't know why Tatsuma sounded so panicked, but his trust was absolute. He leaped sideways and immediately looked back at where Sakumo had been.
Sakumo was crouched on the ground, his hands locked in the Tiger Seal, thrusting forward with terrifying precision. Seeing Sakumo's posture and the height of his hands, Minato felt a phantom pain in his own backside. He sent a silent prayer of thanks to Tatsuma for the warning.
"Eh? You both dodged it? What incredible geniuses!"
Poof—
The Shadow Clone next to Minato vanished. The real Sakumo stood up near Tatsuma, scratching the back of his head with an embarrassed expression. He had actually missed?
Tatsuma felt a cold shiver crawl up his spine. This lunatic… Sakumo had actually intended to use the real version of that move on him. How… how utterly unrefined!
Sakumo looked at Hiruzen, ready to call it a day, but he was met with a face so dark it looked like the bottom of a burnt pot.
For a moment, Hiruzen had genuinely feared Sakumo was going to unleash a dangerous jutsu on the children. To find out it was… this farce? He felt his concern had been a total waste of energy.
Clearly, his theory that Sakumo might "fall into darkness" from spending too much time in the Anbu was dead wrong. This man didn't have the temperament to be a dark villain even if he tried.
"Hahaha!" Sakumo laughed, scratching his head. "Well, a deal is a deal. I lost. Come on, boys—let's go buy you some new gear!"
[Ding! Praise and defeat your opponent. Attributes dropped: SPD +1, NIN +1. Collect?]
Hearing the prompt, Tatsuma's lip twitched. He had almost lost his dignity to the most humiliating move in the shinobi world, and he only got one point of Speed and Ninjutsu?
"Collect."
Better than nothing, he grumbled inwardly.