Watching the two children run with surprisingly proper stances, Hatake Sakumo's interest piqued a little. Especially the blond kid—he kept his center of gravity low, hands trailing behind him, very ninja-like.
But the curly-haired kid who had called him "uncle" didn't look nearly as proper. His hands flailed in front of his chest—definitely not ninja style!
"Watch out, Sakumo-sama!" Minato Namikaze shouted. He didn't know who this ninja was, but when the Hokage had called the name "Sakumo," he'd heard it.
At that instant, both Minato and Tatsuma's attacks reached Sakumo almost simultaneously. Their kunai flew straight toward his waist.
Sakumo's eye twitched. He knew it was because of the kids' short stature, but it still annoyed him.
Bang!
The moment their kunai reached him, Sakumo vanished into a puff of smoke.
Thunk! Thunk!
The kunai struck a piece of wood instead—a basic substitution jutsu. Sakumo hadn't even bothered to choose the timing or angle carefully. If he had, it would have been far too unfair to these two five-year-olds.
Sakumo knew why Hiruzen had sent him to "spar" with them, so he reappeared about ten meters away.
That distance was perfect—the standard distance for lower-grade ninja students practicing tool projection. Tatsuma and Minato had been training exactly at this range.
As expected, the two quickly switched weapons from the chipped kunai to rusty shuriken.
They each had three shuriken, thrown unevenly. The discrepancy came because neither had mastered simultaneous multi-shuriken throwing.
Minato hadn't learned it yet, and although Tatsuma had inherited some throwing talent from Minato, his skill was only at 20%, far too low to wield it effectively.
Even with six shuriken flying, Sakumo didn't even flinch. He traced a circle in the air with his hands, caught the shuriken, and flung them back at twice the speed.
Seeing shuriken flying faster than before, Tatsuma and Minato tensed, tracking their paths carefully while swinging their kunai to defend.
Cling! Cling! Cling!Cling! Cling!
Tatsuma knocked three shuriken aside, Minato only two. The last one slipped past cleanly.
"Not bad!"
Sakumo rarely complimented anyone, but before they could bask in it, he vanished into a puff of smoke. His voice echoed from within.
"Guess which one is me."
Poof! Poof! Poof!
Three Sakumo figures burst from the smoke, charging at the two kids. Not shadow clones, just basic clone jutsu—but visually, they were indistinguishable.
Tatsuma couldn't tell which was real. He threw his last shuriken at the center, stabbing his kunai toward the left figure.
Minato jabbed toward the right figure. If they couldn't identify the real one, they treated all as real.
Poof! Poof! Poof!
To their surprise, all three were fake. Tatsuma pursed his lips.
"We've been tricked."
Sakumo's earlier words had led them to assume one figure was real—but this big-browed, deep-eyed ninja was playing a trick on two five-year-olds!
Luckily, he wasn't following up with a real combo attack; otherwise, both Tatsuma and Minato would have been defeated instantly.
"Next, it's time for you to see a high-level taijutsu!" Sakumo's voice rang out. Suddenly, two Sakumo figures appeared to their sides.
The children braced, assuming they were clones and preparing to support each other.
Bang! Bang!
Unexpectedly, both were real! Minato and Tatsuma were struck and sent flying in opposite directions.
Shadow Clone Jutsu? Tatsuma's mind raced to process it, but there was no time. Sakumo's mischievous voice sounded again:
"Recently, I developed a new taijutsu—I dare call it the Secret Technique of Taijutsu! It can make someone experience a thousand years of torment in an instant. You two will be my first opponents! Survive, and you win!"
Thousand Years of Death?!
Tatsuma felt a chill crawling up his spine. Someone behind him was watching maliciously.
Not far away, Hiruzen frowned. He hadn't heard of any new taijutsu development, let alone using the Secret Technique on children. Preposterous!
At that moment, Sakumo completed his hand seals behind Tatsuma and Minato. Seeing the tiger seal, Hiruzen's frown deepened.
"Tiger Seal? Fire Style? No… he said it's taijutsu."
He quickly analyzed the situation while preparing to intervene if necessary. He had already seen enough to be satisfied—but he could not let these kids get hurt. Not on his watch.
"Thousand Years of Death!"
"Minato! Dodge to the side!"
Tatsuma shouted and rolled sideways, pulling Minato along. Minato, unsure why, trusted him completely and leapt to the side, glancing back at Sakumo's former position.
Sakumo crouched, hands forming the tiger seal, thrusting forward. Seeing his stance and the height of his hands, Minato's back stiffened. He was grateful for Tatsuma's timely warning.
"Ah? We dodged it all? Amazing geniuses!"
Bang!
The Sakumo clone near Minato vanished. The real Sakumo near Tatsuma stood, scratching his head, embarrassed—he had missed?
Tatsuma shivered. Sakumo had tried to use the real body for this technique—how undignified!
Sakumo looked at Hiruzen, ready to report, but saw his expression—black as a pot bottom. For a moment, he feared he'd actually angered the Hokage by threatening children, only to realize it was absurd theater.
Hiruzen's earlier judgment that Sakumo might fall into darkness after years in ANBU was completely wrong. This man wasn't capable of being truly evil!
"Hahaha," Sakumo said, scratching his head. "As agreed, I lost. Let's go—I'll take you to get ninja tools!"
Ding! Praise and defeat opponent. Talent acquired: [Speed +1] [Ninja +1]
Tatsuma twitched uncontrollably. After nearly shattering the sky with his effort, this was all the talent he gained?
"Acquire."
Ah! Eat that!