After Hatake Sakumo left the training ground, Hanyu remained there. As he recovered his strength and chakra, he quietly reviewed what he had learned from the day's training.
At the same time, his hands continued practicing Hand Seals over and over without him even realizing it.
A ninja's hands were their most important "weapon." Although Hand Seal practice wasn't the sort of lesson one deliberately set aside time for, it needed to be practiced and reinforced anytime, anywhere—especially for beginners, who couldn't afford to slack off for even a moment. Hanyu's speed and proficiency at forming Hand Seals still fell well short of those of top-tier ninja. But considering when he had become a ninja and how much time he had spent practicing so far, his speed could still be called "fast."
Fast by comparison.
And because Hand Seals were the foundation of a ninja's techniques, reducing the number of seals required for a jutsu—and, even better, performing jutsu without seals—was something all ninja dreamed of. Each seal eliminated meant a ninja could attack that much faster. Such a seemingly insignificant difference in timing could greatly influence the outcome of a battle.
However, both reducing the number of Hand Seals required for advanced jutsu and developing seal-less jutsu were extraordinarily difficult. For most ninja, they existed only in their imaginations.
"Oh, those are all Water Release Ninjutsu seals."
Just as Hanyu was linking one fingertip movement after another in a set sequence, a voice suddenly sounded beside him.
"Huh?" He hadn't noticed anyone approaching, so his first reaction was to become extremely wary. But as soon as he recognized who the somewhat familiar voice belonged to, his wariness instantly faded.
"Third." Hanyu quickly stood up and respectfully lowered his hands.
The person behind him was Sarutobi Hiruzen.
"Are these all jutsu Sanshao has taught you over the past few days?" Sarutobi asked, his hands clasped behind his back.
"Yes, Lord Hokage," Hanyu replied. He wondered why Sarutobi Hiruzen, as Acting Hokage, wasn't exceptionally busy right now. So why had he come here? And why was he alone?
But Lord Hokage didn't address Hanyu's doubts. Instead, he continued, "I watched your practice just now. For someone who's only recently become a ninja, you've made remarkable progress. You really do have a talent for ninjutsu."
Hanyu was just about to respond modestly to the compliment when Sarutobi went on, "But at your age, I was already proficient in all five nature transformations."
"...Heh... heh. As expected of the Third." Hanyu tried to show his respect, but in the end, he couldn't help wearing a smile that didn't reach his eyes. Was this guy here to praise him or brag about himself?
And what had he just said? Had the Third been watching from the sidelines the whole time Hanyu trained with Hatake? So this old man's habit of wandering around the village and spying on people had already started when he was this young... Hanyu couldn't help having this irreverent thought.
Still, from what Hanyu knew, the Third could use more jutsu than anyone else in the Shinobi World. He could even be called unparalleled throughout history. Not even ninja like the First and Second Hokage could compare with him in the number of jutsu they could use.
So Hanyu didn't doubt for a second that Sarutobi had been able to use all five nature transformations in his teens.
Aside from the evidence in Hanyu's memories, there were two other reasons. First, Sarutobi Hiruzen was a direct descendant of the Sarutobi Clan, and his father was an incredible man—a genius capable of using ninjutsu with all five chakra natures. Second, as one of the first generation to grow up after the founding of the Hidden Leaf Village, Sarutobi had been trained by both the First Hokage and the Second Hokage. From an early age, he had been carefully groomed with the hopes of the village resting on his shoulders.
But what could he say? What Hanyu was thinking now was... handing power to young people really wasn't a good idea. Even someone like Sarutobi Hiruzen could be lively, even a little frivolous.
The Third was only twenty-four years old at the time.
Fortunately, the village still had elders like Uzumaki Mito.
"Ahem." Sarutobi Hiruzen soon realized that boasting didn't suit his position as Acting Hokage, so he continued, "Have you tested your chakra nature yet?"
"No. My teacher, Sanshao, told me to focus on practicing Water Release for now," Hanyu said. He wanted to improve his strength quickly, but he understood that trying to do too much at once would get him nowhere.
"That may be so, but once you reach Chunin level, almost every ninja needs to master two Chakra Nature Transformations. Normally, someone your age shouldn't be far from becoming a Chunin, so it wouldn't hurt to get acquainted with another nature sooner..." As he spoke, the Third handed Hanyu a piece of Chakra Paper. "First, let's see if you have any other natural affinities."
Hanyu still didn't understand what the Third was trying to do, but he took the paper as instructed and channeled his chakra into it without altering its nature.
The paper's surface changed.
"First it burned, then it got wet. That means Fire is your most natural chakra nature. Perhaps you only learned Water Release first because of outside influences." After seeing the result, the Third reached this conclusion.
"Fire Release?"
If Fire was his "true nature," would it be better for him to learn Fire Release before Water Release? The Third's words made Hanyu hesitate for a moment.
"You don't need to worry too much. This only means that if you trained in chakra nature transformation under normal circumstances, Fire would probably be the first nature you mastered. Fire Release jutsu would also be easier for you to learn. But since you're doing so well with Water Release, there's no need to fret over it. Still... as thanks for helping the village so much a while back, I can teach you a Fire Release jutsu." The Third spoke.
It seemed he hadn't forgotten the contribution Hanyu had made during his earlier mission to Cloud Village.
"Well? Do you want to learn?"
Hanyu didn't answer directly. He simply stared at the Third without blinking. All ninja were cut from the same cloth: they said you shouldn't bite off more than you could chew, but what they really meant was, I want it all.
"You've already learned Water Release: Water Dragon Bullet, so I'll teach you a Fire Release jutsu of the same rank... Fire Dragon Flame Bullet. I hope you can learn it as easily as you learned Water Release," the Third said.
Whether it was Hatake Sakumo earlier or Sarutobi Hiruzen now, they both made it sound so simple. "Geniuses" had this bad habit: they thought that because they could learn something easily, everyone else could learn it just as quickly. But how was someone who hadn't even learned Fire chakra nature transformation supposed to master a Fire Release jutsu right away?
Was Hanyu supposed to follow the Second Hokage's advanced example and start by putting a hole through him with Fire Release?
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