Enma

BOOM!!!

The entire Third Training Ground seemed to have undergone a small earthquake.

The ground split apart, dirt and rocks flew everywhere, and with Haruno Sakura at the center, cracks spread across the ground like a spiderweb!

Several huge trees nearby collapsed, and even the lake in the distance poured back into the fissures!

Hiruzen Sarutobi rolled his eyes and watched everything before him from the safety of a tree, his heart pounding.

It was...

Way too fucking similar...

If he hadn't known Sakura's background, he would have thought this pink-haired girl was Tsunade's illegitimate daughter!

Sakura panted, feeling the Chakra in her body drain away completely with that punch.

If she fought someone in the future, she needed to control the amount of Chakra she used unless she was certain the hit would land.

After all, whether a hundred-pound block of iron or a ten-pound block of iron landed on someone's head, the only difference was how gruesome the corpse looked.

"Eh?"

"Master?"

"Why did you run up so high?"

Sakura looked at Hiruzen Sarutobi hiding in the tree and waved at him.

The moment Sakura's punch came down, Hiruzen had immediately sensed danger and fled without looking back, scrambling straight up into a tree.

He was terrified that little pink fist would send him off early to have tea with the First Hokage.

"S-Sakura, if you're going to use Monstrous Strength on that level next time, remember to warn this Old Man first."

"These old bones of mine can't take that kind of abuse from you."

Hiruzen looked at the devastated training ground with a toothache.

"But Master was the one who told me to go all out."

"And there wasn't really anything around to hit."

Sakura looked at Hiruzen Sarutobi earnestly.

Hiruzen Sarutobi: (||_)

"O-Okay."

Hiruzen decided not to continue this topic.

He really had lost his mind, asking a Monstrous Strength user to show him how strong she was.

Still, mastering Monstrous Strength to this extent at her age could no longer be described with the word genius.

It was as though Monstrous Strength had been tailor-made for this child.

As he looked at the pink-haired little girl before him, the young Tsunade in Hiruzen's memories gradually overlapped with Sakura.

"Sakura, since I've decided to take you as my disciple, there is one jutsu this Old Man must have you learn."

Hiruzen cast the legendary fat sheep from his mind and once again focused on Sakura.

"What jutsu?"

Sakura was somewhat puzzled.

Hiruzen bit his finger, then began forming hand seals one after another.

Sakura was dumbfounded at the sight.

The Summoning Jutsu?

Was the Old Man planning to entrust the Enma Clan to her?

But hadn't she possibly already formed a contract with Katsuyu?

It wasn't that the Enma Clan was weak.

On the contrary, even Orochimaru had personally acknowledged the Enma Clan as the strongest Summoning Beasts!

Orochimaru had personally witnessed the so-called Three Great Sage Regions.

The toads of Mount Myōboku, the slugs of Shikkotsu Forest, and the giant snakes of Ryūchi Cave.

In Orochimaru's eyes, none of them could compare to Enma.

Not only did Enma possess an Adamantine Body, he could also transform into a giant staff.

Eh?

Thinking about it carefully, Monstrous Strength plus a big staff sounded pretty awesome.

But was that the fucking point?

What if she signed a contract with Enma and ended up summoning a snot-nosed monkey?

Sakura's thoughts spun rapidly, and she immediately raised a middle finger in her mind.

At this point, there was only one option... strike first!

Hiruzen Sarutobi formed the hand seals slowly so Sakura could clearly see which seals they were.

Boar - Dog - Rooster - Monkey - Ram

After finishing the seals, Hiruzen Sarutobi suddenly slammed his hand onto the ground.

"Summoning Jutsu!"

"Enma!"

Bang!!

A fierce burst of white smoke erupted, and a burly black silhouette standing with its arms crossed completely obscured Sakura's tiny figure.

"Hiruzen, this time the enemy is... a little girl?"

Before the smoke had even cleared, Enma's deep, weighty voice rang out.

However, when he looked at Sakura before him, he froze for a moment, and even his stern expression faltered.

As the smoke dispersed, Enma's figure was finally revealed.

He wore a Konoha forehead protector, and his muscular body was clad in leather armor. With white fur and a long white tail, he stood at least two meters tall.

An out-and-out white-furred monkey.

"This is my new disciple. Cute, isn't she?"

Hiruzen Sarutobi looked rather like he was showing off in front of an old friend.

"Eh? Sakura doesn't seem surprised at all."

"Do you already know that Enma is this Old Man's Summoning Beast?"

Seeing that Sakura was not nearly as shocked as he had imagined, Hiruzen Sarutobi could not help feeling a little disappointed.

"Wow~"

"Master has such a huge monkey~"

Sakura played along at just the right moment.

"..."

Seeing the little girl's utterly fake expression, Hiruzen Sarutobi's face fell.

"Hahahahaha, Hiruzen, your new disciple is really interesting!!"

Unlike Hiruzen Sarutobi, Enma burst into laughter.

He did not mind Sakura calling him a monkey in the slightest.

"Ahem, Sakura, this is this Old Man's comrade-in-arms and friend, Enma."

"You should get along well with him from now on."

Hearing Hiruzen Sarutobi's words, Enma immediately understood.

So he was choosing a successor...

Tsunade, Orochimaru, and Jiraiya—none of them had gone on to inherit the Enma Clan.

This little girl before him was the successor Hiruzen Sarutobi had chosen.

Enma had no objections to that.

One was a frail old man in his twilight years, and the other was a pretty, adorable little girl.

Anyone knew which one to choose.

Besides, she was the successor Hiruzen Sarutobi had selected.

Moreover, Enma could not sense Orochimaru's darkness within Sakura.

When it came to judging people, Enma considered himself far more reliable than Hiruzen Sarutobi.

"My name is Haruno Sakura. Enma... sir?"

Haruno Sakura extended her hand toward Enma, hesitating briefly.

"Hahahahaha, just call me by my name. Don't call me sir—it doesn't sound right."

"I am the leader of the Enma Clan, Enma."

Enma boldly sat down cross-legged. Even seated, his massive body was still much taller than Sakura.

"From now on, please take care of me, Sakura."

Enma extended a hand larger than Sakura's head and gently clasped her small palm.

Hiruzen Sarutobi stood to the side, watching everything with a smile at the corner of his lips. Then he said to Enma:

"Since that's the case, let Sakura try summoning some of the other monkeys from the Enma Clan. Bring out that scro—"

Before Hiruzen Sarutobi could finish saying "scroll," he heard a crisp shout.

"Summoning Jutsu!"

!!!

Poof!

Sakura's entire body vanished into a puff of white smoke before the man and the monkey...

"C-Crap..."

"We're done for!"

The man and the monkey stared blankly at the scene before them.