Hiruzen Sarutobi Takes on a Student

"Lord Hokage!"

The Chunin teacher had rushed to report the incident faster than the Yellow Flash.

Moments later, he appeared in Hiruzen Sarutobi's office.

"What is it?" Hiruzen Sarutobi turned toward him, and the teacher hurriedly explained what had happened.

It was the Shadow Clone Technique, perhaps even the Multiple Shadow Clone Technique.

Techniques like that weren't taught to civilian Ninja. Given the rumors circulating through the village that Hiruzen Sarutobi was protecting Kazan, the Chunin teacher naturally assumed the Hokage had taught him the technique.

"Lord Hokage, please stop indulging Kazan!"

"He may have defeated Kakashi, but studying at the Ninja Academy is still the most important thing for him!"

He wanted Kazan to study properly and grow into someone Konoha could rely on.

Kazan had that kind of potential, which made his education all the more important.

Hiruzen Sarutobi understood. The teacher had clearly gotten the wrong idea about him.

Then again, the teacher wasn't entirely wrong. He was indulging Kazan.

But ordinary people often couldn't understand the world of a genius.

"Come with me. I was planning to head over there anyway."

Hiruzen Sarutobi put away the intelligence reports from the border and left with the teacher.

Puzzled, the teacher followed him all the way to Back Mountain.

The closer they got, the louder the noise grew and the more violently the ground shook.

Only when they drew near did the Chunin teacher realize someone was causing it.

That someone was Kazan, recently hailed as one of Konoha's "two prodigies." He was hammering the mountainside with punch after punch.

He was using a mountain to practice his punches.

"Kazan, stop for a moment!"

Kazan turned at the sound of his voice. Seeing Hiruzen Sarutobi and his teacher, he showed no surprise.

His Shadow Clone's memories had already entered his mind along with its Chakra. He knew what had happened at the Ninja Academy.

"You..."

Kazan looked battered. His Observation Haki training had left his face swollen from blows dealt by his own Shadow Clone.

Most alarming were his fists, bright red and looking ready to bleed at any moment.

At the sight, the teacher finally understood why Hiruzen Sarutobi was "indulging" Kazan.

This wasn't indulgence at all. Kazan's training was simply too brutal.

"Do you understand now? To Kazan, the Ninja Academy is just a carefully tended greenhouse."

"I'm sorry, Lord Hokage."

The teacher took a deep breath.

After seeing how Kazan trained, he had to admit the Ninja Academy was like a greenhouse.

An environment like that didn't suit a "beast" like Kazan. What right did he have to insist the boy attend classes?

"But... Kazan is still a child. I think it would be best for him to stay at the Ninja Academy until he graduates."

There weren't many teachers like Iruka, but there were more than a few.

A fair number of Ninja Academy teachers were kindhearted people.

Ninja eager to fight and advance their careers were either out on missions or earning glory on the battlefield. Most who stayed behind to teach had little appetite for fighting.

Kazan's teacher was clearly one of them.

He always gave extra care to children who had lost their parents.

Hiruzen Sarutobi paused, then smiled.

The teacher still didn't understand.

But Hiruzen Sarutobi had no objection to forging a "bond" between Kazan and the village that ran deep into his soul. Only then would Kazan devote himself wholeheartedly to Konoha.

Just like the souls resting in Konoha Cemetery.

He chuckled. "Inoue is right, Kazan. What you should be doing now is enjoying your childhood."

"I'm not going back to school. If I have to, I'll apply to graduate early."

War was looming. He had no time to sit comfortably in a classroom and let the days slip by.

"Kazan..." His teacher was unwilling to give up.

He thought of Kazan as a child like Kakashi.

Both had lost their parents young, leaving their childhoods without the warmth of family.

That was exactly what he wanted to help Kazan make up for.

"There's no need to apply for early graduation. If you don't want to go back, you don't have to."

"Lord Hokage..."

"Let me finish. From now until Kazan graduates from the Ninja Academy, I'll teach him myself."

What?!

The Chunin teacher was stunned again. This was the Third Hokage!

Hiruzen Sarutobi had been only in his twenties when he became Hokage. With the First Shinobi World War breaking out around the same time, he'd had no time to take on students.

Only after the war ended and the Ninja Academy's first class graduated did he take on apprentices.

Those three were now the Sannin, renowned throughout the Shinobi World.

Later, with the Second Shinobi World War and the Ninja Academy finding its footing, Hiruzen Sarutobi had never taken another student.

Even if he would only teach Kazan until graduation, Kazan would still be half an apprentice.

With that in mind, the Chunin teacher had no reason to insist Kazan return to class.

"Then... sorry for the trouble, Lord Hokage. Kazan can be a handful. I hope you'll be patient with him."

Before leaving, he reminded Kazan to study hard under the Hokage and do as he was told.

The Hokage's world might be full of danger, and Konoha might hide plenty of ugly secrets, but the people here really were decent.

"Inoue is a good teacher."

"Yeah."

Kazan didn't deny it.

After spending several years with Inoue, Kazan knew full well that he was a good teacher.

Then he turned to Hiruzen Sarutobi. "Old Man Third, how are you going to teach me?"

Even with the Hokage standing before him, Kazan showed no particular respect.

He figured it was the Garp Template's influence. After all, he was such a fine young man who respected his elders and cared for the young.

Hiruzen Sarutobi didn't mind. Jiraiya, Tsunade, and Kushina all called him that too.

To him, it proved they shared an unbreakable bond.

"They call me the Professor of Ninjutsu, but Taijutsu isn't really my specialty. I don't have much to teach you there."

That was modest of him.

He was hardly poor at Taijutsu. In his youth, his prowess in battle had earned him the title of Ninja Hero. Teaching an ordinary Ninja Taijutsu would be easy for him.

But Kazan was no ordinary Ninja.

"I prepared this technique for you. It should be useful."

He took out a Scroll he had prepared earlier. Kazan accepted it and opened it, only to find the Senju Clan's Monster Strength Fist inside!

Though it was called Monster Strength Fist,

"Monstrous Strength" would have been more accurate.

It was a Senju Clan Secret Technique, an advanced method of using Chakra.

It concentrated Chakra at a single point, then released all of it at once without wasting any.

"My teacher, the Second Hokage, created this A-rank Ninjutsu based on the First Hokage's Adamantine Strength Immovable..."

So Tobirama Senju created this one too.

Kazan had thought it was an ancestral Senju Clan Secret Technique.

Then again, that made sense...

Only when Hiruzen Sarutobi mentioned Adamantine Strength Immovable did Kazan remember that Big Pillar's monstrous strength was a form of Taijutsu combined with Wood Release—or rather, Asura Chakra.

But Hashirama Senju was the only member of the Senju Clan to awaken Wood Release. The Monster Strength Fist naturally owed its existence to the Second Hokage, a master of Ninjutsu.

At this rate, they might as well credit Tobirama Senju with every Konoha technique whose creator was unknown.

"I never mastered this technique myself, but I've seen it used."

Both the Second Hokage and Tsunade had mastered it. Tsunade in particular used it as one of her finishing moves. Hiruzen Sarutobi had seen it often enough that he could teach Kazan.