"Kizaru-nii, aren't you coming back with us?"
At the Academy gate, Shimura Yoshihiko, Shimura Yuki, and Shimura Tanin clustered around Kizaru.
"I'm heading to the training ground to practice a bit," Kizaru said. "You three go on ahead."
He had just received another physical boost, so he planned to head out and get used to his newly strengthened body.
The moment Yoshihiko heard that Kizaru was going off to train, his eyes lit up.
"Kizaru-nii, can we come too?"
Kizaru instinctively pulled his right hand from his pocket, about to knock Yoshihiko lightly on the head like usual—
Then he remembered that his body had just been strengthened, and he still hadn't fully adjusted to the increase in power.
His hand paused halfway before he casually lowered it again.
"Not today," he said. "Head back first. I'll come find you in the evening."
Yoshihiko, having been rejected, didn't notice that brief pause. He only lowered his head with obvious disappointment.
"Don't cling to Kizaru-nii like some little tagalong all day," Yuki said coldly from the side.
Yoshihiko immediately spun around and glared at her.
"And you've got room to talk?" he shot back. "Who's the one always calling for Kizaru-nii the second she gets home? You're the one who even wants to sit next to him when you eat, and you're acting like this?"
A trace of embarrassment flashed across Yuki's face, and even the tips of her ears reddened.
Still, she forced herself to keep that frosty expression.
"Go already," she said stiffly. "Stop wasting Kizaru-nii's time."
"Hmph!"
Yoshihiko snorted, then turned back toward Kizaru.
"Kizaru-nii, we're heading back first."
"Alright, get going," Kizaru said, giving the three a lazy wave. "And watch yourselves on the way back."
He stood there and watched them leave.
"This kid's pretty popular, isn't he?"
Not far away, Tsunade crouched atop a large tree near the Academy, one arm resting against the trunk as she looked down at the scene below.
"He's really six?" Jiraiya, perched on the other side of the same tree, stared at Kizaru's tall, lean figure and let out the exact same kind of disbelief countless others had already voiced.
Orochimaru, who hadn't climbed the tree at all and was simply standing behind the trunk below, was also quietly observing his future student.
Six years old?
How, exactly, had this child grown like this?
At that moment, Orochimaru's curiosity—and his researcher's instincts—were both thoroughly stirred.
Once the three little ones were finally out of sight, Kizaru withdrew his gaze and slid his right hand back into his pocket.
Then he turned his head slightly to the right and swept his eyes across the area.
He had the distinct feeling someone was watching him.
Ohh~? That's unusual, Kizaru mused as he walked on. So the one spying on me this time isn't that old pervert Hiruzen?
Konoha had fifty training grounds of various sizes scattered throughout the village.
The one Kizaru had chosen was near the outskirts—remote, quiet, and usually deserted.
The Academy, on the other hand, sat near the center of the village beneath the Hokage Rock, quite a distance away.
Since Kizaru had no intention of wasting time on the trip, he used the Body Flicker Technique and headed out at speed.
After rushing the whole way, he reached the training ground in around ten minutes.
The place was overgrown, with weeds already beginning to creep up across the field. From the look of it, no one had used this ground in quite a while.
Kizaru was very satisfied with that.
For the moment, he didn't want too much of his strength exposed inside the village.
It wasn't because he was trying to hide his power and play weak.
He simply intended to save the real show for the early graduation assessment—win big, stir up the whole village, and use that surge of reputation to push the Template System even further.
Standing in the middle of the training field, Kizaru began loosening up, moving his body lightly while carefully adjusting to the increase in strength.
As he warmed up, the three future Sannin, who had been following him from a distance, quietly slipped to the outer edge of the field as well.
Using the dense brush as cover, the three crouched low and glanced at one another, preparing to decide what to do next.
"Jiraiya," Tsunade whispered, "you go."
Jiraiya's eyes widened immediately.
He pointed at himself, then began waving both hands in refusal.
Tsunade didn't waste time arguing.
She simply raised her right fist.
The meaning was perfectly clear.
Cold sweat broke out on Jiraiya's forehead at once.
For the sake of his continued survival, he could only nod helplessly.
Seeing that, Tsunade smiled in satisfaction and flicked her hand toward the training ground, urging him to hurry it up.
Still nodding miserably, Jiraiya formed seals in silence, used the Transformation Technique to alter his appearance, and then slipped away from the brush.
Watching him move, Tsunade turned her gaze back toward Kizaru, her face full of curiosity and anticipation.
The potential of the First Hokage, huh? Some unmatched genius, huh?
Then let me see what you've really got.
Compared to Tsunade's open excitement, Orochimaru remained much calmer.
He said nothing at all, only kept his eyes fixed on Kizaru.
That alone was enough to show just how interested he really was.
Jiraiya landed lightly on a branch overhead. In his transformed state, he now looked like a dark-skinned middle-aged man with short brown hair.
He didn't attack recklessly right away.
Instead, he stayed there for a moment, studying Kizaru's movements.
Then he drew two shuriken from the holster strapped to his thigh and struck while Kizaru was bending forward to stretch.
The two shuriken flew from different angles, one aimed at his thigh and the other lower—painful targets, but not fatal ones.
Kizaru, who had one hand braced against the ground, caught the sound of movement from behind and to his right.
He pushed off the ground with both hands and straightened up in one smooth motion, like a spring snapping upright.
The instant he rose, the two shuriken flashed into view.
Kizaru remained perfectly calm.
He didn't even move his feet.
He simply twisted at the waist, then leaned back just enough—
And both shuriken slipped past him by a hair, slicing through empty air before driving into the ground behind him.
His eyes dropped briefly to the blades embedded halfway into the earth.
Then, in his head, he gave the hidden attacker a quiet little rating.
Mm~ not bad. Whoever threw that had a pretty solid arm.
As usual, Kizaru slid both hands into his pockets, then glanced around and spoke in a relaxed tone.
"That was close~"
He sounded like he was commenting on a sudden breeze.
Looking completely at ease, calm as ever in a way that was honestly starting to get on people's nerves.
"What a brat," Tsunade muttered under her breath from the brush. "He really knows how to act."
Before her complaint had even settled, Jiraiya moved again.
Pushing off from the branch, he blurred forward and appeared behind Kizaru in an instant, kunai in hand as he drove it forward in a fast, vicious thrust.
Kizaru reacted as though he had eyes on the back of his head.
His body tilted left and forward, slipping past the surprise attack with barely any room to spare.
The thrust missed.
Without missing a beat, Jiraiya caught the kunai on his index finger, flipped its grip from horizontal to vertical, and slashed downward in one fluid motion.
Kizaru, still bent forward with his back to the attacker, responded immediately.
He pivoted on his left foot, turned sharply, and drove out a fast, brutal side kick with his right leg.
He moved before the kunai could land.
Boom!
Because he had approached with the mindset of testing a child, Jiraiya had underestimated him for a split second.
And that split second was all it took.
Kizaru's kick struck cleanly and sent him flying.
Jiraiya crashed hard into the base of a large tree in the distance.
Crack!
A deep hole splintered into the thick trunk from the impact.
Jiraiya coughed violently the moment he hit, blood rising in his throat as the force rattled through his body.
Serves you right for underestimating him…
Wiping at the corner of his mouth, Jiraiya gave a bitter smile as his expression finally turned serious.
That kick alone told him enough.
The brat in front of him already possessed monstrous physical power—
So much so that, in raw impact, it was already edging frighteningly close to Tsunade's style of strength.
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