Then Come Down

Hokage Office.

The window stood open, and a gentle early-summer breeze drifted in. A fair, manicured hand caught a leaf floating on the wind.

Holding the leaf, Tsunade gazed out over Konoha's streets in the distance. "This place seems like it's never changed. It almost makes me wonder whether it looked exactly like this sixty years ago, when Grandpa and the others founded the village."

"Hehehe..."

The Third Hokage tapped his pipe against the table. "The village was much smaller back then. Over the past sixty years, the population has grown and the buildings have expanded. Every ten or fifteen years, the range of the sensory barrier covering the entire village has to be reset. How can you say it has never changed?"

The old man exhaled a puff of smoke. "So long as the fire burns, new shoots will sprout. So long as new leaves grow, Konoha's flame will burn ever brighter. One day, it will illuminate the dark skies of the shinobi world."

"..."

Tsunade crushed the leaf in her hand and swirled her wineglass. "Don't waste your breath, old man. I'm not taking your position and becoming Hokage."

The Third Hokage stood before the Hokage's desk, speechless. "Then could you at least get out of my chair?"

Tsunade sat in the Hokage's seat with one leg crossed over the other, taking a sip of wine. "Minato got suckered into believing in the Will of Fire and became Hokage. And what happened? Not only did he die, but his wife died with him, and their newborn child became a Jinchuriki. That's what becoming Hokage gets you. It's all bullshit! The village is bullshit, the Hokage is bullshit, and the Will of Fire is the biggest pile of bullshit of all! My grandfather, Dan, Nawaki... If they hadn't believed in that bullshit, how could people as capable as them have died so young?"

Hiruzen Sarutobi said calmly, "Silence is the greatest form of contempt. Someone who truly disdains Konoha, the Will of Fire, and the legacy of the Hokage's ideals would not speak as fiercely as you do, Tsunade."

"..."

Tsunade turned her face away without speaking, merely drinking.

"In any case, since we've made a wager, we just need to wait for the results."

The Third Hokage looked out the window. "The outcome of your match against me will probably take a little longer."

Whoosh! Whoosh!

On Hokage Mountain behind the Hokage Building, Tsunade's and Hiruzen Sarutobi's Shadow Clones raced along the cliff face toward the depths of the forest atop the mountain.

"It has been a long time since I last fought my adorable students. It really brings back memories of the days when I served as your Jonin instructor." Hiruzen Sarutobi's Shadow Clone cast aside his Hokage hat, revealing armor beneath his battle attire.

Tsunade smiled. "Old man, you really have gone senile. At your age, do you still think you can take on me, Jiraiya, and Orochimaru all by yourself?"

"If we don't try, who can say?"

Hiruzen Sarutobi adjusted his arm guard and sighed. "If there truly could be another day like that, I would gladly give these old bones of mine for it."

"Say that to Orochimaru!"

Tsunade snorted and sat down cross-legged. [Haotu, gather Nature Energy. I'll borrow your power and combine it with my Chakra to create Sage Power...]

"How long do I need to wait for you?"

Hiruzen Sarutobi formed hand seals with both hands, then with a poof, summoned the Adamantine Staff. Leaning on it, he asked, "I remember that brat Jiraiya's Sage Mode was quite troublesome to activate, and it took a lot of time..."

"Five more..."

"Five minutes? That's already quite fast!"

"Four, three..."

"..." Hiruzen Sarutobi smiled.

This Tsunade—she was already old enough to be a grandmother, yet she had learned how to joke around. But he soon could not smile anymore. Tsunade's ears had become pointed, and deep crimson Three-Eyed Sage Face Markings appeared on her face.

Sage Mode had activated in the time it took to draw five breaths?

Tsunade opened her eyes and glanced toward the eastern side of Konoha. By now, Kakashi and the others' training exercise should have begun as well, right?

"They hid pretty well..."

Kakashi Hatake walked along the riverbank of the deserted Third Training Ground. Once the exercise began, all four Genin, including Wu Yu, had immediately vanished into hiding.

Erasing one's presence was a basic skill for a shinobi.

Since he was somewhat curious about Wu Yu, the rather unusual Genin, Kakashi instinctively gathered Chakra in his nose. His sense of smell instantly sharpened ten thousandfold, and he easily picked up the scents of Sakura Haruno, Sasuke Uchiha, Naruto Uzumaki... Hm?

Why were there so many Naruto scents?

Kakashi's eyes went dead as he looked speechlessly at the Naruto Uzumaki Shadow Clones emerging one after another from the forest around him...

"I heard the four of you trained together at Sasuke's house yesterday. So, Naruto, this is the straightforward surrender tactic you trained?"

"The one who should surrender is you, Kakashi-sensei!" Dozens of Naruto Uzumakis shouted in unison, their voices buzzing together. "We've got an overwhelming advantage in numbers!"

"Yes, several dozen times the stupidity."

Kakashi Hatake pulled a copy of Icha Icha Paradise from his waist pouch. "To keep myself from getting bored enough to doze off, I'd better keep reading. All right, you—oh, sorry, all of you—may attack."

"You're looking down on me!!"

Naruto Uzumaki flew into a rage, shouting as he charged forward with the others. Piles of Shadow Clones immediately flooded over Kakashi.

Kakashi Hatake continued reading as he casually deflected the fists and kicks coming at him from every direction. Even without pulling up his forehead protector to reveal the Sharingan in his left eye, his combat experience was not something a newly graduated Genin like Naruto Uzumaki—whose Ninja Academy grades had barely been passing—could compare to.

He did not even need to consciously assess the situation. Relying solely on his body's instincts, he could... Hm?

His body sent him a signal of danger. Kakashi instinctively sharpened his focus. Three Naruto Shadow Clones attacked him at once from the front, their moves as full of openings as every attack so far. Yet at the same time, a Naruto Shadow Clone behind him seized the chance to launch a tricky sneak attack.

The timing of this Naruto's ambush from behind, the angle of his punch, the way he exerted force—they're all excellent. Is this really the Naruto whose Taijutsu had barely passed at the Academy?

Kakashi dodged the clumsy feints of several Naruto shadow clones in front of him while casually using the open novel in his hand to catch a punch coming from his blind spot behind him, slamming it into the attacker's face with a bang.

"And he's already gotten the hang of using shadow clones..."

Behind Kakashi Hatake, one Naruto grabbed another Naruto's hand and spun him around on the spot before hurling him at Kakashi. The thrown Naruto launched into a Rocket Headbutt and crashed heavily into Kakashi's back, producing a clear crack.

"It hurts!!" The Kakashi who had been standing there was replaced by another Naruto shadow clone. His arm had already been broken by that Naruto's Rocket Headbutt. With a poof, the broken-armed Naruto shadow clone dispelled, while the other shadow clones clutched their arms and cried out in a chorus, "It hurts!!!"

"He even understands the characteristics of shadow clones so well. This isn't the level of someone who only learned this jutsu the night before last..." Kakashi Hatake hid in a nearby tree, parting the leaves as he observed the Naruto shadow clones. "Looks like someone taught Naruto to speed up his training with such a reckless method. The only likely suspect is probably Lady Tsunade's disciple, Nakamori Wu Yu..."

Suddenly, the hairs on the back of Kakashi's neck stood on end. He whipped around and saw Sasuke had somehow appeared behind him. His hands had already completed the seals, his chest swelled, and he spat a Great Fireball at Kakashi.

The roaring flames forced Kakashi to leap down from the tree.

"One of the ninja tactical principles: ninjutsu." Sasuke Uchiha grinned down at Kakashi from the tree.

"Number two: taijutsu!"

Before Kakashi Hatake could land, Naruto Uzumaki skimmed toward him along the ground as if flying. This time, however, it was not a headbutt, but a tricky flying kick.

"Teacher Kakashi, you seem slower than Wu Yu!—Take my Naruto Flying Kick!"