He couldn't believe it.
With an offer like his, how could anyone turn him down?
And the other person was only a twelve-year-old child.
"Why wouldn't you want to? There are plenty of benefits. Don't you want to learn ninjutsu?"
Ninjutsu was the most important thing for a ninja.
Guy, who wasn't good at ninjutsu, had nearly failed to graduate back in the day.
Yet Yeyu wasn't interested.
Hiruzen couldn't believe what he'd just heard.
Yeyu knew perfectly well that he had already mastered all of Akainu's powers.
Ninjutsu wouldn't add much for him. It would only waste his time.
Yeyu didn't explain.
He simply said, "I'm not interested."
The corner of Hiruzen's mouth twitched. "All right, all right. That's certainly a straightforward reason."
He didn't know what to say.
This was the first time Hiruzen had faced such a setback.
He'd come all the way over to teach the boy ninjutsu, only to be rejected.
If it weren't just him and Yeyu here, this would've been mortifying.
After a moment of silence, he composed himself.
Hiruzen smiled. "Well, have you tested how strong you are now?"
Yeyu's expression finally changed. There's a chance, Hiruzen thought.
"Does Lord Hokage want to test me?"
Hiruzen smiled. "You've got guts, challenging the Hokage. But it's been a long time since I've stretched my muscles, too."
Everything Iruka had told him was based on what he'd heard. Hiruzen hadn't seen Yeyu's abilities with his own eyes.
Even though he had no reason to doubt Iruka, he still needed to see just how strong Yeyu really was.
The two soon reached the depths of the forest.
The place where Yeyu lived was already in the forest, on the outskirts of Konoha.
It was quite suitable for the two of them to spar.
Yeyu had only just obtained all of Akainu's powers, and he really wanted to test them out.
They stood facing each other beside a lake in the forest.
A breeze swept over the grass.
As Hiruzen looked at Yeyu, he finally sensed the aura of a powerful fighter emanating from him.
In that moment, Hiruzen knew Yeyu really was strong. He had no idea just how strong, but there was no doubt about it.
Hiruzen took off his Hokage robe.
Underneath, he wore a ninja's combat uniform.
Hiruzen always wore his combat uniform.
Yeyu nodded at him. "Lord Hokage, we can begin."
Hiruzen was a little speechless. Yeyu was the one calling the start.
And facing him, Yeyu wasn't afraid in the slightest.
He wasn't sure whether that was a good thing.
"Yeyu, be careful. I won't hold back."
"Boom!"
"Whoosh!"
Hiruzen had barely finished speaking when Yeyu vanished from where he stood. Almost in the same instant, he appeared right in front of Hiruzen.
Hiruzen was stunned. "So fast!"
He really was fast—so fast that Hiruzen couldn't react in time.
He was moving fast enough to break the sound barrier.
Akainu's Taijutsu might not have been as good as Garp's, since Garp specialized in it.
But Akainu's Taijutsu was at the level of a Marine Admiral.
The Marines' Taijutsu training was extremely brutal in the early stages.
Akainu and Kizaru had even been called that generation's monsters.
Besides, a Devil Fruit's power was sustained by physical stamina.
How could his Taijutsu possibly be weak? It was just that he often combined it with his Devil Fruit abilities, causing people to overlook his physical skills and focus only on the astonishing destructive power of his fruit.
The instant Yeyu appeared in front of Hiruzen, Hiruzen hadn't even had time to react.
But Yeyu didn't attack.
"Lord Hokage, focus. Don't let your guard down just because I'm young."
Hiruzen immediately used the Body Flicker Technique to put some distance between himself and Yeyu.
He was shaken. "He's so fast. How can pure physical strength reach this level?"
He'd heard that sonic boom loud and clear.
Yeyu's speed had far surpassed the speed of sound.
The most frightening thing was that his body had withstood moving so fast.
He seemed completely unharmed, and he hadn't even used chakra to protect himself.
It was absurd.
"Is this boy's physical strength even more terrifying than the Third Raikage's?"
Hiruzen had no choice. In a purely physical fight, he was no match for Yeyu.
That brief exchange had been enough for him to understand the gap between them.
Hiruzen bit his finger and began forming Hand Seals. "Summoning Jutsu!"
"Poof!"
A cloud of white smoke appeared.
From within it stepped an armored ape.
"Third, why did you summon me?"
This was Hiruzen's Summoned Beast, Enma.
Hiruzen said seriously, "I want to spar with that boy over there. His Taijutsu is powerful."
Enma looked at Yeyu, standing across from him.
Then he glanced at the terrifying footprint in the ground some distance away—the mark Yeyu had left when he moved.
Dozens of cracks stretched out from around the footprint, some more than ten meters long.
Enma's eyes narrowed, and his expression turned serious. "This boy's Taijutsu is powerful."
"If he weren't strong, why would I have summoned you?"
Enma said nothing more and immediately transformed into a staff.
Hiruzen held the Adamantine Staff.
"Yeyu, you probably don't know ninjutsu, so I'll test you in Taijutsu instead."
Yeyu looked a little exasperated. "Lord Hokage, are you sure?"
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