Shadow

Chapter 18: Shadow

Under the gazes of the two gate guards, Haruno Sakura stepped onto the stairs leading up to the Hokage's Office.

"Wonderful..."

"It looks like the village is about to gain an outstanding ninja."

The ninja who had questioned Sakura earlier spoke with a gentle expression.

The special code on the scroll Sakura had shown him was of a remarkably high level.

For someone so young to receive an advanced technique from Hiruzen Sarutobi spoke for itself.

"Hmm? I remember your boy is only two or three years older than this girl, right?"

His companion beside him teased him with a mischievous grin.

The gate guard's mouth twitched at that. Thinking of his own little brat, his face darkened as he said:

"Don't mention him. That kid has been driving me crazy lately."

"He actually smeared hair removal cream on the Inuzuka clan's ninja hounds."

"Now more than ten of the Inuzuka clan's dogs have become completely bald, hairless mutts. Every time they see that little brat, they chase after him and bite him..."

Sakura arrived on the second floor of the Hokage Building. Looking at the worn-down decor around her, she could not help wondering whether she had really come to Konoha's central institution.

It looked like it would leak whenever it rained.

The Hokage's Office was easy to find; there was a sign reading Hokage's Office hanging on the door.

The office door was slightly ajar. Sakura merely knocked, and it opened on its own.

"Is that Sakura?"

"Come in."

Hiruzen Sarutobi's somewhat aged yet resonant voice sounded from inside.

Sakura pushed the door open and entered. An old man in a red-and-white ceremonial robe, wearing the Hokage's hat, sat behind the desk directly facing the entrance.

"Lord Hokage."

Sakura first bowed respectfully. Just as she was about to take out the scroll, Hiruzen Sarutobi stood and came over to her with a smile.

"No need to be so restrained. Just call me Hokage Grandpa."

"Okay, Hokage Grandpa!"

Sakura immediately went along with it without the slightest hesitation.

"Hahahahaha, what has brought Sakura to see me today?"

Hiruzen Sarutobi took Sakura to sit on the sofa to one side and asked with a smile.

He had originally thought that the child would come looking for him within a day or two after he gave her the scroll.

Yet a full half month had passed before she finally came.

That made him rather curious. Could it be that the training for Monstrous Strength had not troubled her?

Sakura took out the scroll Hiruzen Sarutobi had given her, spread it flat over the coffee table, and pointed to the final section concerning how Chakra could circulate through the body simply and efficiently.

Hiruzen Sarutobi looked at the child before him in surprise. She did not mention any of the previous training methods and only asked about the final Chakra training method.

Could it be that she had already mastered Monstrous Strength in half a month?

However, Hiruzen Sarutobi suppressed his doubts and began explaining it carefully to Haruno Sakura.

As the Ninjutsu Doctor, Hiruzen Sarutobi was proficient in every nature transformation and shape transformation of the Five Elemental Ninjutsu. On the battlefield, he had once been called the Ninja Hero for his peerless mastery of ninjutsu and the Enma Clan's Adamantine Staff.

His understanding of techniques was outstanding even among the small group at the very pinnacle of the ninja world.

"So, Sakura is still too young. Once you grow a little older and your meridians become sturdier, Chakra will be able to flow through your body more efficiently."

Hiruzen Sarutobi gently answered the child's question, but he finally voiced the doubt in his heart.

"Sakura, are you asking this because you've already learned Monstrous Strength?"

There was a faint expectation in Hiruzen Sarutobi's voice. If she had learned Monstrous Strength in half a month, then that truly would be...

"Yes."

Sakura answered as if it were only natural.

Then, those emerald eyes swept around the room before settling on the unremarkable-looking tea set atop the coffee table.

Before Hiruzen Sarutobi's shocked gaze, Sakura crushed a pitch-black teacup between her fingers.

Hiruzen Sarutobi was momentarily speechless at the sight.

What was Monstrous Strength?

It was Tsunade's self-created signature technique, with a training difficulty close to that of an S-rank technique. Even among A-rank ninjutsu, its difficulty was absolutely at the T0 level.

This child had only taken half a month...

Back then, he had given her the method for training Monstrous Strength because of her strength, which was extremely similar to Tsunade's, as well as her excellent precise Chakra control.

He had not expected her to give him such a genuine surprise.

It was just a pity about his antique tea set.

Seeing Hiruzen Sarutobi remain silent, Sakura tilted her head. She thought that perhaps he felt crushing only a teacup was not much of a feat.

She then reached for the teapot. With a sharp crack, it too was destroyed.

"Sto-stop!"

Hiruzen Sarutobi looked painfully at his antique teapot, which had been ruined in the blink of an eye, but it was already too late.

"Huh?"

"Hokage Grandpa, do you think I didn't do something right?"

Sakura's gaze drifted to Hiruzen Sarutobi's desk as she searched for something that could be used to test her strength.

"No, very, very good."

"Sakura's talent exceeds my expectations."

Hiruzen Sarutobi blocked Sakura's predator-like gaze. He felt that if he had been any slower, who knew what this child might have torn apart.

Just then, the office door was shoved open with a swish. An old man and an old woman appeared directly before Sakura and Hiruzen Sarutobi.

"Hiruzen..."

The old man, who was about the same age as Hiruzen Sarutobi, began to speak instinctively, but noticed Sakura and abruptly stopped himself.

Looking at the two of them, Sakura roughly guessed why Hiruzen Sarutobi had known she was coming so quickly.

So other people simply did not knock at all...

"Hokage Grandpa, if you have matters to attend to, I'll be leaving first..."

When Sakura saw Mitokado Homura and Utatane Koharu, two elderly people who appeared to have one foot in the grave but could actually keep hopping around for decades more, she knew it was time for her to leave.

"Sakura, wait. I have something to give you."

With that, Hiruzen Sarutobi ignored his two old friends and returned to his desk to rummage through something. He then took out another scroll and handed it to Sakura.

"Go on. Once you learn it, come find me again."

Hiruzen Sarutobi patted Sakura's head and spoke with a smiling expression.

"Thank you, Hokage Grandpa!"

When Sakura saw the old man take out another scroll, her eyes immediately lit up. Hugging the scroll, she swiftly vanished from before the three elders.

Watching the pink-haired little girl leave, Mitokado Homura looked at Hiruzen Sarutobi in confusion.

"Monkey, who was that child?"

From the moment he entered, he had been observing Sakura. His old friend seemed exceptionally patient with that child.

"Konoha's future."

Hiruzen Sarutobi gazed through the window at Haruno Sakura leaving the Hokage Building, looking somewhat wistful.

"Isn't that a bit exaggerated, Hiruzen?"

Utatane Koharu frowned slightly beside him.

"Not exaggerated. In that child, I saw Tsunade's and Minato's shadows..."