Meeting Hiruzen Sarutobi (Part 1)

As Zhang Miao walked along, he muttered to himself. If anyone had heard what he was saying, they would have definitely taken him for a lunatic.

Ten Kage-level powerhouses and forty Jonin still aren't enough? Why don't you just fly up to heaven?

One had to know that what truly mattered in the ninja world was high-end combat power. In the face of absolute strength, the advantage brought by numbers was negligible.

Leaving aside Madara, the final arc's big bad boss, just look at Nagato, an early-stage minor boss. He remotely controlled Pain's Deva Path, and a single Planetary Devastation crippled Konoha. That alone showed just how terrifying high-end combat power could be.

In other words, if Zhang Miao could truly bring out ten Kage-level powerhouses and forty Jonin, then even if he wanted to stand on equal footing with the Five Kage, it basically wouldn't be a problem.

As a Naruto fan, Zhang Miao naturally understood what ten Kage-level powerhouses and forty Jonin represented. Yet he still claimed they were not enough. There was only one explanation—

The Recruitment System had spoiled him!

With power so easily obtained, how could he possibly think he had too little? Naturally, the more the better!

However, his voice was too quiet. Even Kakashi, who was walking beside him, could not make out what he was actually saying.

Kakashi occasionally caught words like "Kage-level" and "collecting," but he did not understand them and paid them no mind. After all, there was no such power classification as "Kage-level" in the ninja world.

Throughout the ninja world, only the leaders of ninja villages in the Five Great Nations were qualified to be called "Kage."

For example, Konoha belonged to the Land of Fire, so its village leader was called the Hokage. But Amegakure in the Land of Rain—no matter how powerful its leader, Hanzo of the Salamander, was—could not be called the "Amekage."

To put it bluntly, being a "Kage" was not merely about personal strength. It also represented the strength of one's nation and ninja village!

As for those ninjas whose strength did not fall short of the Five Kage, people generally called them "S-rank Ninja"!

If Zhang Miao had said "S-rank" just now, Kakashi would certainly have paid some attention. But since Zhang Miao had said "Kage-level," Kakashi simply took it as meaningless muttering.

Watching Zhang Miao walk while constantly mumbling to himself, Kakashi's expression softened at once.

"Ryunosuke, are you tired from walking? Want me to carry you?"

"Huh?"

Only then did Zhang Miao snap back to his senses. He immediately smiled and shook his head at Kakashi.

"Haha, no need. Besides, when it comes to leg speed, I might not necessarily lose to you. Want to make a bet?"

"A bet?" Kakashi became interested as well. "What are we betting on?"

"Whoever gets to the Hokage's office first!"

Zhang Miao pointed at the building in the distance marked with the character for "Fire," then grinned at Kakashi. "If I win, we'll go fishing at the stream outside the village tomorrow. How about it?"

"Uh..."

Kakashi had not expected Zhang Miao to challenge him in a contest of speed. In his view, how could an ordinary little kid like Zhang Miao possibly outrun him?

So when he heard Zhang Miao's proposal, he froze.

Seeing Kakashi standing there in a daze, Zhang Miao grinned again and held up three fingers.

"Alright, we start when I count to three. One... two... three!"

The moment he counted "three," Zhang Miao's figure vanished from where he stood and appeared atop a wall more than ten meters away.

Kakashi's eyes widened in shock when he saw this.

"That's the Body Flicker Technique—and a taijutsu-based Body Flicker Technique at that. When did Ryunosuke learn such powerful taijutsu?"

The Body Flicker Technique was a movement method that could surpass the speed of the naked eye. There were roughly three ways to achieve it: Space Ninjutsu, transformation techniques, and taijutsu.

Among them, the fastest was undoubtedly Space Ninjutsu represented by the Flying Thunder God. It could arrive in the blink of an eye, like a flash of light. That was precisely why Minato Namikaze had earned the title of the Yellow Flash.

Using transformation techniques to achieve the Body Flicker Technique required corresponding secret ninjutsu or a Kekkei Genkai, such as Gaara's Sand Flicker Technique and Hanzo of the Salamander's Water Flicker Technique.

As for the final kind, the taijutsu-based Body Flicker Technique, although it could not match Space Ninjutsu in speed or transformation techniques in distance, it was the most common of the three types of Body Flicker Techniques, relying as it did on skillful and efficient taijutsu.

Of course, this "most common" was only relative to Space Ninjutsu and transformation techniques. In truth, even among Jonin, only a very small number had mastered the taijutsu-based Body Flicker Technique.

And Kakashi was one of them.

Kakashi's taijutsu-based Body Flicker Technique relied on Lightning-nature Chakra to stimulate his body's vitality and greatly increase his movement speed, thereby achieving Body Flicker.

The taijutsu-based Body Flicker Techniques of others were more or less the same, generally relying on Chakra stimulation.

But what about Zhang Miao? He had simply gone whoosh and appeared atop a wall more than ten meters away. His movements were clean and crisp, without the slightest wasted motion. Throughout it all, Kakashi had not sensed any Chakra at all.

Although Kakashi was not a sensory-type ninja, at such close range, if Zhang Miao had used Chakra, there was no way he would not have noticed!

That left only one explanation—Zhang Miao's Body Flicker Technique was a taijutsu-based Body Flicker achieved entirely through physical strength!

Such a thing was rare even in all of Konoha. At the very least, Kakashi had never seen it before!

That was why he was so shocked.

"Ryunosuke's taijutsu is incredibly strong. Who taught him? What exactly happened during the two months I was away?"

While Kakashi was still stunned, Zhang Miao did not stop. After a few leaps, he vanished from Kakashi's sight.

So fast!

Kakashi was secretly startled. No longer daring to remain distracted, he leaped onto the wall as well and chased after Zhang Miao.

Kakashi had originally thought that he would catch up to Zhang Miao quickly, but to his surprise, Zhang Miao was far faster than he had imagined.

And whenever Kakashi was about to catch up, Zhang Miao would always pull out things like spatulas, ladles, and small bowls and throw them at him. While Kakashi dodged, Zhang Miao would widen the distance again, leaving Kakashi both amused and exasperated.

Where had this guy found all this random junk?

In the end, Zhang Miao got his wish and reached the Hokage's Office door two seconds ahead, then flashed a grin at the helpless-looking Kakashi.

"Hehe, I won. Let's go fishing together tomorrow afternoon!"

"Mm!" Hearing Zhang Miao say that, Kakashi immediately nodded. "Fishing is fine, but we should see Lord Hokage first!"

With that, Kakashi put his Anbu mask back on, led Zhang Miao to the door of the Hokage's Office, and knocked.

Knock, knock, knock!

"Come in!"

Hearing Hiruzen Sarutobi's voice, Kakashi led Zhang Miao into the Hokage's Office and respectfully dropped to one knee before Hiruzen Sarutobi.

"Lord Hokage, Ryunosuke has been brought here!"

Hiruzen Sarutobi was dressed in a red-and-white Kage robe, wearing the Hokage's hat and holding a pipe in his hand. Upon hearing Kakashi's words, he nodded.

"Mm, rise."

"Yes!"

Only then did Kakashi stand up and step aside.

At that point, Hiruzen Sarutobi turned his gaze to Zhang Miao and asked kindly, "Little fellow, I know you. You're Ryunosuke, the one who likes eating meat, aren't you?"

"Mm!"

Hearing Hiruzen Sarutobi's words, Zhang Miao nodded at once and looked at him with innocent eyes.

"Old man, I know you too. You're Hiruzen Sarutobi, the one who likes using a crystal ball to peek at pretty big sisters while they bathe, aren't you?"

Hiruzen Sarutobi: "Cough, cough, cough, cough..."

Kakashi: "..."