Chapter 94: The Hokage vs. The Flash; Asuma Becomes a "Dad-Simp"
Konoha. A private training field near the Hokage Residence.
Hiruzen Sarutobi and Minato Namikaze stood forty yards apart, conducting a series of rhythmic warm-up stretches as they prepared for the morning session.
The Hokage was a man of action—once he decided a skill was necessary, he didn't wait. Having finalized the initial administrative hurdles of the new budget, he had summoned Minato (who was currently between mission rotations) to act as his high-speed sparring partner.
He needed to familiarize himself with the rhythm of a Flying Raijin user.
Minato, for his part, was more than happy to oblige. Aside from the obvious prestige of being mentored by his "Grand-Sensei," he had a practical problem: he had hit a plateau.
In his own generation, there was no one who could provide the "High-Pressure" environment he needed to test his limits. Most Jonin were either unfamiliar with his style or too busy with the village's expanding border security to spend four hours a day being a human punching bag.
A duel with a standard ninja followed a predictable "Trade and Counter" logic. But Minato's system—centered on the Flying Raijin with Sealing and Taijutsu as the branches—condensed an entire battle into a single, lethal point:
How do I stop the kunai from landing?
If an opponent couldn't answer that question, the spar was over in three seconds. It was making Minato's growth stagnant. He needed an opponent who could not only track him but retaliate with overwhelming force.
And Hiruzen was that opponent.
Truth be told, Hiruzen was also struggling to find a challenge. Sparring with Danzo was becoming tedious; until the Assistant mastered his "Wind Style Mode," Hiruzen could outmaneuver him using raw stats alone.
So, the Hokage had initiated Modular Specialized Training.
For reflexes and CQC, he used Sakumo and Minato. For Ninjutsu barrages, he "interrogated" Jiraiya—who had inherited a fair portion of the Professor's elemental versatility. And for Lightning Style calibration, he would eventually use Danzo (the master of the elemental counter).
"How is your Lightning Mode coming along?" Hiruzen asked, his body suddenly erupting in a soft hum of electricity.
"I'm still at the entry-level, Grand-Sensei," Minato replied, a confident smirk playing on his lips as a jagged aura of yellow lightning wreathed his own frame.
To an outsider, the scene would have looked like an exchange between two elite ninjas from the Hidden Cloud.
Minato watched Hiruzen's lightning armor with a look of pure respect. His sensory abilities—a prerequisite for the Flying Raijin—were off the charts. He could feel the quality of chakra.
To Minato, Hiruzen's chakra felt different than it had during the previous audit. It wasn't just "Heavy" or "Massive" anymore. It felt like a deep, lightless lake—tranquil on the surface, but possessing a depth that his senses couldn't reach.
"Grand-Sensei... have you achieved another breakthrough?" Minato couldn't help but ask.
Minato was a prodigy, but he was still a teenager. He was genuinely curious. I'm supposed to be in my prime growth phase, but is the old man actually keeping pace with me?
"Hah! Not likely," Hiruzen chuckled. "At my age, I'm lucky just to keep the lights on. I'm a fading sunset, Minato. The future belongs to monsters like you."
Minato gave him a look of pure disbelief. He had told the same lie to Obito and Kakashi just a week ago. He knew exactly what a "Hokage-level humble-brag" sounded like.
I guess the 'Konoha Sun' is just a natural counter to my 'Little Sun' persona, Minato thought. I can't break his guard even in a conversation.
Hiruzen studied Minato's chakra cloak. "You're prioritizing internal cellular activation over external discharge. Good. A thick cloak interferes with the flow of precise jutsu. For someone who relies on sealing formulas like you, a 'Lean' Lightning Mode is the correct path."
"Exactly, Grand-Sensei! I want to maximize my base physical stats before I worry about the 'Shield' aspect."
"Good. Then show me what you've got. Give me your absolute best."
"Treat me as an enemy you intend to kill. Every strike, every teleportation—if you hold back even a fraction of a percent, I will not be merciful, Minato."
"I know Jiraiya told you I used to be a conservative teacher. That Hiruzen is dead. I'd rather you bleed in front of me than die in front of an enemy."
Hiruzen's voice dropped, and his Lightning Armor flared with a violent, white-blue intensity.
Minato's expression turned clinical. He stepped back and bowed. "Thank you for your guidance, Grand-Sensei! I won't waste this opportunity!"
At that moment, a very depressed Asuma Sarutobi happened to be walking past the training field.
His eyes were immediately drawn to the light. Interestingly, he didn't notice his father first. He noticed the "Yellow Demon"—the man who had single-handedly humiliated the Azure Dragon Brotherhood with a stick of lipstick.
The Brotherhood had been a legend for exactly one day. Now, they were officially the "Azure Dragon Study Group."
The name change had been a total PR disaster. Asuma went from "Gang Leader" to "Class President." The loss of street cred was staggering.
The Academy elites had become terrified of the "real world." Every time they asked a parent about Minato, they got the same answer: "Oh, Minato? He's just a talented average guy. There are plenty of people like him out there."
To Asuma, this meant the outside world was populated entirely by teleporting blonde monsters. It had unified the Academy students in a state of productive, desperate paranoia.
"Dad! Watch out!" Asuma screamed, seeing Hiruzen standing in the center of Minato's "Kunai Rain." "That guy is a monster! He's crazy fast!"
Minato's lip twitched. Ouch. Being a 'Low-Level Fan' really is the same as being a 'High-Level Hater,' he thought.
"Don't worry, brat. I've got this," Hiruzen shouted back, his aura growing even more oppressive.
"Come on, Minato! Show me this 'Monster' power!"
Minato didn't hesitate. He flicked his wrist, and a dozens of custom three-pronged kunai scattered across the field like a storm of steel.
Hiruzen remained motionless. He didn't bother blocking the projectiles; he needed Minato to have his anchors, or the exercise was pointless.
FLASH!
Minato appeared directly behind Hiruzen's blind spot, his hand already swinging a kunai toward the Hokage's neck.
In that millisecond of lag where a teleporter must stabilize, Hiruzen was already moving. He didn't even turn around. He simply leaned his head an inch to the side and threw a blind, lightning-coated elbow back into Minato's ribs.
Minato's eyes widened. He reacted to the displacement?
He teleported again to avoid the hit, but he was half-a-second too slow. The shockwave of the elbow grazed his shoulder, numbing his entire left arm.
Hiruzen slammed his palms together. "Water Style: Wild Water Wave!"
A massive surge of heavy, viscous water flooded the arena floor, soaking the ground and burying the fallen kunai.
"Checkmate," Hiruzen smirked. "I've changed the medium. Can you still feel your anchors through the chakra-conductive water?"
Minato grit his teeth, the pain in his shoulder sharpening his focus. This was exactly the "Lethal Pressure" he needed. He dove back into the sensory fog, tracking his marks through the interference.
FLASH. FLASH. FLASH.
Hiruzen moved like a streak of blue lightning, intercepting Minato at every anchor point. To the watching Asuma, the two were just blurs of gold and blue light, accompanied by the constant, deafening sound of sonic booms and crashing water.
This is... a battle of gods, Asuma thought, his jaw hitting the dirt. Dad is... Dad is handling the Yellow Demon? He's actually winning?!
Hiruzen was enjoying himself. He was using his "System-boosted" brain to perform a live-data analysis of the Flying Raijin's trajectory. He was adapting. He was learning.
As Minato's chakra began to flag from the sheer volume of teleports, Hiruzen stepped up the pace.
"Strike for the kill, Minato! Don't look at the eyes—look at the weight distribution! Anticipate the turn!"
"Faster! You can do better than that!"
The spar lasted another ten minutes before Hiruzen finally called a halt.
Minato collapsed onto one knee, gasping for air, his clothes soaked and his left arm hanging limp. But his eyes were burning with a manic, joyous light. Under the Hokage's crushing pressure, he had pushed his "Neural-Bridge" to a new peak.
Hiruzen walked over, his own breathing perfectly steady. He placed a hand on Minato's shoulder, his palm glowing with the emerald light of the Palm Sage Jutsu.
"Incredible," Hiruzen said, and for once, there was no "Kage" act. "To match my current state at sixteen? Minato, you are a freak of nature."
"Grand-Sensei... looking at you... I don't ever want to be called a 'genius' again," Minato laughed weakly. "I feel like a toddler."
"Nonsense," Hiruzen shook his head. "I have fifty years of training on you. It's an unfair comparison. Your growth curve is steeper than mine ever was."
"Come see me when you've had a few days to rest. I like having you around—it keeps me from getting lazy."
Minato nodded, his mind already beginning to formulate the same question Asuma had: Are all the 'Kage' this terrifying? If so... the Ninja World is a much scarier place than the textbooks say.
Asuma, meanwhile, was standing on the sidelines, vibrating with pride.
I need to get back to the Academy, Asuma thought, a wicked grin spreading across his face. I have to tell the 'Study Group' that the Boss of the Bosses just put the Yellow Demon in his place!
One Month Later. The Hokage Office.
Danzo Shimura returned to the village, his traveling cloak covered in the dust of a dozen nations. He walked straight into Hiruzen's office and slammed a thick binder of documents onto the desk.
"The intelligence phase is complete, Hiruzen."
"I have the maps. I have the personnel rosters. I have the rotation schedules."
"The Hidden Grass is ripe for the harvest."
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