The two men's fists collided head-on.
Hiruzen and Danzō—neither of them used ninjutsu or chakra, as if by tacit agreement.
They tested each other's strength in their natural state.
It was a habit from twenty years ago, one that time had not erased even after twenty years had passed.
It could be considered a classic opening.
After the exchange of punches, it was as though the warm-up had ended. Each of them struck once and immediately withdrew, returning to opposite ends of the training ground.
Danzō's expression remained calm and unruffled, but he pretended to reach for a kunai, drawing his hand behind his back and quickly rubbing it.
That hurts!
'Something's off about Hiruzen's strength. What's going on here?'
'Even though he trained in the Yin Seal, this strength is far greater than when he was younger…'
'Could it be that he's somehow undergone a second growth spurt?'
The thought flashed through Danzō's mind, but his movements did not slow.
In the blink of an eye, several shuriken were already clasped in his hand. Wind Release chakra wrapped around the blades, and their edges instantly expanded several times over.
With a powerful swing, they flew toward Hiruzen at a strange angle, carrying a piercing shriek.
Zzzzt—
Lightning covered Hiruzen's body, stimulating his physical vitality.
Facing the Wind Release shuriken coming at him from all directions, Hiruzen focused intently on their trajectories. Instead of dodging or retreating, he charged straight toward them.
Just as the cutting wind was about to strike him, Hiruzen leapt up like a monkey. His movements were fluid and unrestrained as he slipped through an extremely narrow gap in the attack, his speed not slowing in the slightest.
His neural reaction speed, his physical vitality…
Just as he had sensed, as the village grew, he truly had undergone a kind of "second development."
'Has his combat style become more aggressive?'
Danzō's heart stirred. He took a deep breath, rapidly forming hand seals as he amassed a tremendous amount of chakra.
Wind Release: Vacuum Great Sphere!
A compressed air cannon that was almost tangible roared forward.
Danzō believed that even an expert like Hiruzen—someone capable of releasing multiple ninjutsu simultaneously—would find it extremely difficult to do so while his Lightning Release chakra was surging through his body…
But just as that thought crossed his mind—
A thick earthen wall erupted from the ground, blocking the advance of the Vacuum Great Sphere.
Immediately after, raging flames surged forth like a sea of fire, riding the wind and sweeping toward Danzō with overwhelming force.
'Again, this move…'
'Hiruzen's Fire Release counters my Wind Release too perfectly!'
In an instant, he canceled Lightning Release chakra mode? Not bad, Hiruzen…
Danzō retreated quickly. His clothes were soot-black, and his hair carried a faint smell of scorching.
That was a nasty burn…
As someone who specialized in Wind Release, he did not have a particularly good answer to this kind of combined ninjutsu.
Danzō formed hand seals rapidly. On the surface, he looked like he was scrambling to evade, but inside his mouth, Wind Release chakra was gathering—compressing continuously.
'My Wind Release is even faster now, Hiruzen!'
This was his newest recent gain!
Wind Release: Vacuum Heavy Shot!
Through a more refined balance of nature transformation and shape transformation, it further increased speed and penetrative power—and it was even more covert.
It was perfect for feigning inferiority, then killing with a counterstrike in the instant the enemy grew arrogant.
This technique was inspired by his sensei, Senju Tobirama.
Tobirama had a technique called Water Release: Heavenly Weeping.
The name sounded flashy, but in truth it was compressing water needles and gathering them beneath the tongue.
In close-quarters killing, he would spit them out unexpectedly, piercing the enemy to death.
And amid wind and fire, lightning flashed once again.
Hiruzen charged through the sea of flames, heading straight for Danzō.
Lightning Release chakra mode was simply too useful for enhancing a ninja's battlefield adaptability. On a battlefield covered in flames like this, if he did not have that outer shell…
To force his way through, he would have to slow down—giving the enemy another chance to catch their breath.
Danzō deliberately turned his back, listening to the wind of pursuit behind him, judging the distance.
Then he whirled around.
Wind Release chakra burst out like heavy artillery. Along with an ear-splitting sonic boom, it tore streak after streak of white smoke through the air!
'Got him!' Danzō rejoiced inwardly, but then he immediately realized a problem.
This move was far too insidious; in truth, it was not suitable for sparring. If something really went wrong…
But Hiruzen had no attention to spare for what Danzō was thinking.
In fact, this was exactly the sparring effect he wanted. From the very beginning, he had been fully focused, and he had not underestimated Danzō in the slightest because of their past results.
He was a Kage—Konohagakure's Hokage.
The enemies he had to face were the strongest and most cunning foes in the entire shinobi world. They would not talk to Hiruzen about fairness or morality; they would only do everything possible to put him to death.
At almost the exact moment Danzō turned around—
Hiruzen drove his lightning armor to its absolute limit, ending the operation of Lightning Release chakra mode within his body.
The expanded lightning armor detached from him, like a spherical protective shield.
Hiruzen raised a finger, and in an instant his body entered the reinforced state of Earth Release: Earth Spear once again!
The Vacuum Heavy Shot slammed into the lightning armor. Wind countered Lightning, and the shield was torn apart with ease—yet it ultimately slowed the offensive.
Hiruzen adjusted his posture, bracing himself with one hand against the ground to evade most of the attack. Two of the heavy shots grazed past his shoulder and wrist, producing a metallic clang.
At the very moment his palm touched the ground, behind Danzō, a thick earthen pillar surged upward and smashed toward him.
Danzō spun around sharply, planting both feet against the earthen pillar—but he was still driven forward.
Suspended in midair, he struggled to adjust his orientation. Watching the electric light surge around Hiruzen, his eyes narrowed.
So he's going in for close combat again.
From his mouth, high-density Wind Release chakra was expelled, condensing into a sharp blade.
Wind Release: Vacuum Blade!
But what he did not expect was that the electric light around Hiruzen only flashed for an instant before vanishing as Hiruzen rapidly formed hand seals.
A massive surge of water rose from the ground, forming into a sphere that captured Danzō within it.
In this decisive exchange of ninjutsu, he had won!
Hiruzen used Body Flicker to appear beside the water prison, lightning coiling around his palm.
As water and electricity mixed together, Danzō—who still wanted to resist—was instantly drained of strength, his whole body trembling uncontrollably.
Even so, he tried to gather chakra, unwilling to concede.
Hiruzen smiled, pulled a cigarette case from his pocket, placed a cigarette between his lips, and shook his head. "Then wait a bit, will you?"
After all, he wasn't the one getting electrocuted.
Danzō's face darkened. In the end, he quickly blinked his eyes, signaling surrender.
The water prison burst apart.
The cigarette tip brushed against a dissipating arc of electricity, flaring to life.
Hiruzen exhaled a thick cloud of smoke and stretched his body slightly. "That move of yours—pretty good…"
"If I didn't know how strong you are and stayed on guard the whole time, I might've fallen for it…"
Hiruzen said with a hearty laugh, "Got lucky and beat you again, Danzō."
Danzō weakly twitched the corner of his mouth. Lucky?
He had heard that Hiruzen trained every morning, putting in the effort behind the scenes while looking relaxed on the surface, hadn't he?
The Hokage's aide would not be fooled by that damned monkey!
A moment later—
"You're always 'lucky'… forget it. I never expected to beat you like this anyway," Danzō said sullenly after catching his breath.
"Rest a bit, or get up?" Hiruzen bent down and extended a hand toward Danzō.
After a brief hesitation, Danzō took that hand and slowly stood up with its support.
"Hiruzen—where do you think I'm lacking?" he asked sincerely.
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