Mitarashi Anko

The next day, Uzumaki Hane was training at the training ground when Might Guy came running over on his hands.

Uzumaki Hane stopped training and said, "Teacher Kaido, what is it?" During this time, Might Guy had been looking after Rock Lee and generally didn't come by in the mornings.

Might Guy said, "Hane, Lord Hokage wants to see you."

Uzumaki Hane wondered why Tsunade wanted to see him, but he replied, "All right."

Uzumaki Hane left the training ground and went to the Hokage's office.

Tsunade was standing at the window, looking out over the whole village. She turned around and stared intently at Uzumaki Hane. "Uzumaki Hane, do you like this village? Will you always protect your comrades and this village?"

Hearing Tsunade's question, Uzumaki Hane tried to recall the righteous speeches from his previous life, but the figures of Tanaka and Koromo came to mind instead. He remembered that when his parents had brought him to the village, only Yamano Koromo had been willing to approach him because of his hair. Later, after his parents died, Yamano Koromo had stayed by his side through his lonely childhood.

Later, when he became a Genin, he was fortunate enough to be with Hyuga Tanaka and Yamano Koromo. Tanaka was cold on the outside but warm on the inside, and the three quickly became comrades, training and carrying out missions together. As he recalled those warm memories, a warm smile appeared on his face without his realizing it. The smile vanished in a flash, and Uzumaki Hane shook his head, dismissing it inwardly. This must be my predecessor's influence. But he couldn't bring himself to say the words.

Tsunade had been watching Uzumaki Hane the whole time, so she naturally noticed his fleeting smile. She said, "Uzumaki Hane, would you be willing to become my disciple?"

Uzumaki Hane froze at her words, then said in delight, "I would." Although Uzumaki Hane had become Tsunade's disciple, she had only just become Hokage and had so much to attend to that she couldn't teach him for the time being.

Uzumaki Hane left the Hokage's office and wandered the streets alone. Becoming Tsunade's disciple today had indeed been a pleasant surprise. He happened to come across Tanaka walking down the street with a cold expression. From the look of him, he had clearly just returned from training.

Uzumaki Hane went up to him and said, "Tanaka, are your injuries all right now?"

When Tanaka saw Uzumaki Hane, a smile appeared on his cold face. "Hane, my injuries have completely healed. I need to train harder and get my strength back as soon as possible. Konoha is short on manpower right now, so it's about time we went on a mission too."

Uzumaki Hane said, "Yeah, we've been idle for so long that my bones are itching."

Just then, a delighted voice came from the dango shop beside them. "Hane, Tanaka, over here!"

The two went into the shop and saw Yamano Koromoha eating glutinous rice dumplings with Mitarashi Anko.

Yamano Koromo came over and sat down. "This is Mitarashi Anko," she said, then pointed at Hane and Tanaka. "These are my teammates, Uzumaki Hane and Hyuga Tanaka."

Mitarashi Anko simply nodded at the two of them, then looked at Yamano Koromo and said, "Hey, Koromo, I want to eat the glutinous rice dumplings you make. I haven't had them in ages."

Hyuga Tanaka and Uzumaki Hane had naturally eaten Yamano Koromo's glutinous rice dumplings before. They were sweet without being cloying and extremely tasty. Hearing Anko, they looked at Yamano Koromo too.

Suddenly, a thought struck Uzumaki Hane. He remembered that Mitarashi Anko could use Fire Style too, so he leaned over and whispered in Yamano Koromo's ear. Uzumaki Hane's sudden movement made Yamano Koromo's face turn bright red, like a ripe red apple. A faint, delicate fragrance came from her, and Uzumaki Hane couldn't help taking a sniff. Realizing what he had done, he felt it was improper, stepped back, and awkwardly rubbed the back of his head.

Yamano Koromo's cheeks were crimson as she said to Anko, "Anko, if you want glutinous rice dumplings, you have to agree to be Uzumaki Hane's sparring partner."

Mitarashi Anko looked at Uzumaki Hane and readily said, "No problem."

Mitarashi Anko then took Uzumaki Hane to the training ground. Tanaka had something to do at home, so he left first, while Yamano Koromo went home to prepare the dumplings.

Training ground

Mitarashi Anko and Uzumaki Hane stood facing each other.

Mitarashi Anko said, "I won't go easy on you."

Uzumaki Hane said, "That's fine. I need you to attack me with Fire Release Ninjutsu."

Mitarashi Anko didn't hold back. Her hands quickly formed seals, and she shouted, "Fire Style: Dragon Fire Technique!" A straight stream of flames shot rapidly toward Uzumaki Hane.

Uzumaki shouted, "Magma Wall!" A wall of lava blocked the flames and quickly devoured them. This was a Ninjutsu Uzumaki Hane had created specifically while training in Dog Biting Crimson Lotus. He turned his arm into lava and formed it into a wall, allowing it to come into contact with Fire Style over a wide area and helping him absorb it quickly.

Mitarashi Anko hadn't expected Uzumaki Hane to break her Ninjutsu so easily. Her expression turned dangerous, and she shouted again, "Fire Style: Dragon Fire Technique!" The flames were once again absorbed by the Magma Wall.

Suddenly, Mitarashi Anko charged up to Uzumaki Hane and shouted, "Hidden Shadow Snake Hands!" Several snakes flew from her hand and rushed at him.

Uzumaki Hane hadn't expected Mitarashi Anko to come at him and attack so suddenly, and he was caught somewhat off guard. But his hard training over the past few days allowed him to quickly turn into lava before the snakes reached him, burning them to ashes.

Uzumaki Hane hurriedly stepped back twice and said, "What are you doing?"

Mitarashi Anko said strangely, "Uzumaki Hane, you're pretty strong. Let's have a fight." With a flash, she appeared in front of him, a Kunai in her right hand, and slashed at him.

A Kunai appeared in Uzumaki Hane's hand as well, and he blocked Mitarashi Anko's weapon. Just then, Anko Mitarashi shouted, "Hidden Shadow Snake Hands!" Countless snakes shot from her right hand again. Uzumaki Hane shouted, "Lava Clone Technique!" The clone was destroyed by the incoming snakes, turning into a mass of lava that burned them to death.

Uzumaki Hane appeared on a tree branch and said, "We can fight, but we need to put something on the line."

Mitarashi Anko looked intrigued and asked, "What's the wager?"

Uzumaki Hane said, "If you lose, you teach me the Fire Release Ninjutsu you know. If I lose, I'll have Koromo make you dumplings for seven days straight, as many as you can eat. How about it?"

Mitarashi Anko thought of Yamano Koromo's delicious dumplings and readily said, "All right, I accept." She charged straight at Uzumaki Hane.

Mitarashi Anko flashed forward and appeared in front of Uzumaki Hane again. "Multiple Hidden Shadow Snake Hands!" Even more snakes shot from her hand. This time, Uzumaki Hane didn't even dodge. His body quickly turned to lava, and all the snakes were burned to death.

Uzumaki Hane then spun around and kicked at Mitarashi Anko's right shoulder. She raised her right arm and blocked the kick, but she couldn't match his strength and slid several meters backward.

Mitarashi Anko shouted, "Fierce Snake Ravage!" She instantly released two giant pythons that lunged at Uzumaki Hane.

Uzumaki Hane stood where he was and shouted, "Hell Hound!" Both his hands turned to lava at once, each grabbing a python by the head. The pythons struggled wildly but couldn't break free. In the end, their heads were burned to a crisp, killing them.

Uzumaki Hane shouted again, "Dog Biting Crimson Lotus!" His lava arms took the shape of dogs and surged toward Mitarashi Anko.

Mitarashi Anko formed hand seals and shouted, "Summoning Technique!" She summoned a giant python to stand in front of her.