Sparring

Hiruzen Sarutobi first accepted the mission, then went with his friends, Torifu, and Uchiha Chirori to their usual training spot, atop the Hokage Rock.

"Torifu, are you really sure you want to spar with me?"

Hiruzen asked again. He still couldn't figure out why the boy was so stubborn.

But he didn't think Torifu could actually fight him to a draw. Hiruzen admitted that the boy was very talented, but Torifu was only six years old, after all.

"Big Brother Hiruzen, I'm serious."

Torifu spoke calmly. The two stood at the ready, and a fight was about to break out.

Koharu shook Danzo's arm beside them, asking if he could stop the fight.

"Hiruzen's already interested in this fight. You know what that means—there's no stopping it now."

Danzo spoke calmly.

Koharu said no more. If even Danzo said there was nothing they could do, then all they could do was hope Hiruzen wouldn't get carried away during the spar.

"You make the first move. I'll give you one free shot," Hiruzen said confidently.

Torifu nodded. Since Hiruzen had offered him an opening, there was no need to hesitate. He went straight in.

He sprang toward Hiruzen, quickly crouched, and swept his left leg toward Hiruzen's feet.

But a basic move like that was no match for Hiruzen. He easily avoided it with a single leap.

Then, from who knew where, he produced an iron staff. Just before landing, he planted it on the ground and used it to vault back into the air.

Gripping the staff in both hands, he spun once in midair and brought it crashing down toward Torifu.

Torifu immediately rolled aside. The staff slammed into the ground, splitting the earth beside him with countless cracks.

"Pretty nimble, Torifu."

Torifu ignored Hiruzen's teasing. He had already gotten a rough idea of Hiruzen's strength.

He needed to take this seriously. This was his first time facing a shinobi of this caliber; one mistake could cost him the fight.

Without hesitation, he sprang to his feet and put some distance between himself and Hiruzen.

"Crystal Release: Hexagonal Shuriken Dance!"

Torifu hurled countless hexagonal crystals at Hiruzen from every direction. Sunlight glinted off them in dazzling flashes.

One or two wouldn't have been a problem, but now there were countless crystals attacking from nearly every angle. Combined with the blinding reflections, it made this technique one Torifu really liked.

It wasn't especially powerful, but it could force an opponent to leave an opening. Even a single second was enough to be fatal!

Hiruzen didn't panic at the storm of crystal shuriken.

He grinned, planted his staff beside him, then threw several shuriken of his own. But those weren't nearly enough to counter Torifu's technique.

"Shuriken Shadow Clone Technique!"

But as soon as Hiruzen finished forming the hand seals, the handful of shuriken multiplied more than tenfold!

The shuriken and crystals collided, sending sparks and fragments flying everywhere. When the resulting cloud of dust settled, neither of them had a scratch.

Hiruzen was growing more and more curious about the child before him. He wondered whether he should take the fight a little more seriously.

Torifu wasn't surprised by what had happened. He just hadn't expected Hiruzen to have developed the Shuriken Shadow Clone Technique already.

Now that Hiruzen's interest was piqued, he didn't want to waste any more time. He grabbed his staff and swung it at Torifu.

Torifu quickly pulled a scroll from his pocket, undid its seal, and took out his family heirloom: the Heming Sword!

The instant the sword left its sheath, a clear crane's cry rang out. Torifu had no time to admire it; he swung the sword to block Hiruzen's attack.

But what happened next took everyone by surprise. The moment the iron staff touched the Heming Sword, it seemed to turn to mud—and snapped in two.

Hiruzen was stunned. How had his staff broken? The Old Man had spent a fortune having it made!

"What kind of sword is that? It's so sharp!"

Torifu replied calmly, "The Heming Sword of the Kumonaka Clan!"

Then he thrust the sword at Hiruzen. Without a weapon, Hiruzen's offensive weakened sharply, and Torifu gradually took control of the fight.

But being kept on the defensive made Hiruzen increasingly irritable. At last, he bit his right thumb and smeared the blood on his left hand.

"Summoning Technique!"

With a bang, white smoke billowed up from beneath Hiruzen's feet. When it cleared, a small monkey wearing clothes stood before them.

"Enma! Let's show him what we can do!"

The little monkey didn't yet know what was going on, but it immediately answered Hiruzen's command.

Its body twisted, transforming into a long black staff with two yellow sections.

The friends watching from the sidelines grew worried when they saw Hiruzen summon Enma. They hoped he would know when to stop.

Seeing Hiruzen's Summoning Beast made Torifu a little envious, but there was nothing he could do about it. Finding a high-quality Summoning Beast was incredibly difficult.

Hiruzen's Summoning Beast belonged to a family that had made a contract exclusively with the Sarutobi Clan. They were highly intelligent and powerful; it was impossible for anyone else to make a contract with them.

While Torifu was thinking, Hiruzen had already charged in, swinging the staff. The Adamantine Staff could extend and retract at will, growing longer or shorter and leaving Torifu with nowhere safe to stand.

Hiruzen's attacks grew more and more ferocious. Torifu could only barely defend himself with the Heming Sword. With Enma fighting alongside him, Hiruzen's strength had risen dramatically.

"Give up, Torifu. I admit you're pretty strong, but going on missions is still too dangerous for you."

Torifu remained calm. Though he was on the back foot, he wasn't worried in the slightest. When Hiruzen charged at him once more, Torifu's eyes suddenly narrowed.

He said evenly, "I haven't even tried yet."

Torifu suddenly poured a large amount of Chakra into the Heming Sword. Light shimmered all around it.

As Torifu breathed, thick clouds of mist gathered around him and began to swirl.

"Cloud Sword Art: Crane Cry!"

Gripping the hilt with both hands, he swung hard, unleashing a tremendous wave of sword energy. The mist swirling around him swept out with it.

This was the Cloud Sword Art, a sword style developed by the Kumonaka Clan specifically to work with Cloud Release. Torifu had only just learned the barest hint of its first form.

Under the influence of the sword energy, the mist took the shape of a flying cloud crane. In an instant, it struck Hiruzen, and the cloud mist shaped like a crane surged into his body.

The massive wave of sword energy, infused with Cloud Release Chakra, sent Hiruzen flying and left his entire body stiff and unable to move. He crashed heavily to the ground.

The sensation of being frozen soon passed, but a chill still lingered in every joint.

Using the Adamantine Staff to support himself, he got back to his feet. His gaze at Kumonaka Torikaze had turned much more serious.

He had never seen such a strange sword technique before. And that mist that had entered his body must have been the Cloud Release his father had told him about.

It was awful, feeling like he was about to freeze to death. Even now, his body still felt cold.

"I admit you're strong. You can come with us!"