Inside the small wooden house, the atmosphere became strangely quiet.
Hiruzen Sarutobi stared at Yoruha for several seconds.
He genuinely could not understand it.
A twelve-year-old child—
Rejecting personal guidance from the Hokage himself?
It sounded ridiculous.
“Why?”
Hiruzen finally asked.
“There are countless benefits to training under me.”
“Don’t you want to learn powerful ninjutsu?”
For shinobi, ninjutsu represented status, power, and survival.
Even specialists like Might Guy nearly failed to graduate because of poor ninjutsu aptitude.
Yet Yoruha refused without hesitation.
The problem was—
Yoruha truly did not care.
He already possessed everything inherited from Sakazuki.
Top-tier physical strength.
Battle instincts.
Observation Haki.
Armament Haki.
The Mag-Mag Fruit.
Compared to those abilities, most ordinary ninjutsu simply held little value.
Learning dozens of elemental techniques would only waste time.
Still, Yoruha did not bother explaining any of this.
“I’m not interested.”
The Third Hokage’s lips twitched slightly.
“…What a direct answer.”
For perhaps the first time in years, Hiruzen felt genuine frustration during a recruitment attempt.
Normally, talented ninja either respected him deeply or feared his authority.
Yoruha did neither.
After calming himself briefly, Hiruzen changed topics.
“Then have you at least tested your current strength?”
This time, Yoruha’s expression finally shifted slightly.
The Third Hokage immediately noticed.
Interesting.
“Does Hokage-sama want to spar with me?”
Hiruzen smiled faintly.
“You certainly have courage.”
“But it has been a long time since I exercised properly.”
In truth, Hiruzen needed verification personally.
Everything Iruka described was secondhand information.
Even if he trusted Iruka completely, witnessing Yoruha’s abilities himself was necessary.
Soon afterward—
The two moved deeper into the forest outside Konoha.
Yoruha’s home already stood near the village outskirts, making the nearby terrain ideal for combat without attracting attention.
Beside a quiet lake surrounded by towering trees, the two finally stopped.
Moonlight reflected across the water.
Wind rustled through the grass softly.
The atmosphere became tense.
Yoruha stood calmly opposite the Third Hokage.
At this moment, Hiruzen finally stopped suppressing his perception fully and carefully sensed Yoruha’s presence.
Instantly—
His expression changed.
Heavy.
Oppressive.
The chakra hidden inside Yoruha’s body felt terrifyingly dense.
Even without fully releasing it, the pressure alone already exceeded most elite Jonin.
The old Hokage slowly removed his ceremonial robe, revealing the dark combat uniform beneath.
Unlike civilian politicians, Hiruzen never abandoned the habits of a shinobi.
Even in old age, he remained battle-ready.
Yoruha nodded slightly.
“Hokage-sama.”
“We can begin.”
Hiruzen felt somewhat speechless again.
The one initiating the fight was actually the academy graduate.
“You really aren’t nervous at all…”
Then his expression sharpened.
“Yoruha.”
“Be careful.”
“I won’t hold back.”
BOOM!!
Before Hiruzen even finished speaking—
Yoruha disappeared.
The ground beneath his feet exploded instantly.
A deafening sonic boom erupted across the forest.
The Third Hokage’s pupils contracted violently.
“So fast!”
The movement speed was absurd.
Pure physical acceleration had actually broken the sound barrier.
Even more frightening—
Yoruha’s body showed no signs of damage despite such violent movement.
Ordinary shinobi required chakra reinforcement merely to endure high-speed movement safely.
Yet Yoruha’s physique handled it naturally.
That level of bodily toughness was monstrous.
Although Akainu was not as physically specialized as Monkey D.
Garp, Marine Admirals still possessed terrifying raw physical abilities.
Especially Sakazuki.
The Marine Headquarters’ training methods were notoriously brutal, and Sakazuki alongside Borsalino were considered monsters even among that generation.
Devil Fruit users at the Admiral level required overwhelming stamina and durability to sustain their abilities during prolonged warfare.
The ten-day battle on Punk Hazard alone proved Akainu’s monstrous endurance.
And now—
All of that existed within Yoruha’s body.
The next instant—
Yoruha appeared directly before Hiruzen.
The old Hokage barely reacted in time.
Yet Yoruha did not attack immediately.
Instead, he looked calmly at Hiruzen.
“Hokage-sama.”
“Focus.”
“Don’t underestimate me because of my age.”
Hiruzen’s instincts exploded with danger signals.
Without hesitation, he immediately used the Body Flicker Technique to retreat dozens of meters backward.
His expression became extremely serious.
“That speed…”
“How can pure physical ability reach this level?”
The sonic boom still echoed faintly through the forest.
And the most terrifying thing—
Yoruha was clearly not relying on chakra enhancement.
That meant his body alone surpassed most shinobi.
Hiruzen narrowed his eyes.
“This child’s physique…”
“It may even exceed the Third Raikage’s at the same age.”
Realizing direct close combat was dangerous, Hiruzen immediately bit his thumb.
Blood emerged.
Hand seals formed rapidly.
“Summoning Jutsu!”
POOF!
White smoke exploded outward.
A massive armored ape appeared beside him.
Enma.
The Monkey King looked toward Hiruzen impatiently.
“Hiruzen, why did you summon me this late?”
Hiruzen spoke solemnly.
“That child over there possesses extremely powerful taijutsu.”
Enma looked toward Yoruha.
Then his gaze shifted downward toward the shattered ground nearby.
The footprints alone had created long cracks across the earth from explosive acceleration.
Enma’s eyes narrowed instantly.
“…That’s no ordinary child.”
Without wasting further words, Enma transformed immediately into the Adamantine Staff.
Hiruzen grasped the weapon firmly.
“Yoruha.”
“You likely lack offensive ninjutsu.”
“So let me test your taijutsu properly.”
Yoruha looked at him strangely.
“Hokage-sama…”
“Are you certain?”
Hiruzen nodded calmly.
“My taijutsu is not weak.”
Indeed, Hiruzen was highly skilled in close combat.
Unlike Guy’s purely extreme taijutsu style, Hiruzen combined refined physical combat with chakra control and Enma’s support.
During the Nine-Tails attack years ago, he even managed to physically force Kurama away from the village using Enma’s staff form.
However—
Comparing ordinary shinobi taijutsu to Admiral-level physicality was fundamentally unfair.
Yoruha slowly clenched his fist.
WHOOSH.
Black Armament Haki instantly coated his hand.
The surrounding air distorted faintly from pressure and heat.
Hiruzen’s eyes sharpened immediately.
“What is that…?”
It was not chakra.
Yet it carried astonishing oppressive force.
Before Hiruzen could analyze further—
BOOM!!
Yoruha vanished again.
Even with full concentration, Hiruzen could barely perceive a blur.
“Too fast!”
CLANG!!!
Yoruha’s fist slammed directly into Enma’s staff.
The impact resembled a meteor strike.
The ground beneath Hiruzen exploded instantly.
RUMBLE!!!
Dozens of meters of earth collapsed violently.
Massive fissures spread outward like spiderwebs.
Nearby trees shook violently from the shockwave alone.
Hiruzen’s arms trembled fiercely.
An overwhelming force surged through the Adamantine Staff into his entire body.
His internal organs shook violently.
Blood rushed into his throat immediately.
Even Enma struggled.
The supposedly indestructible Adamantine Staff trembled heavily under the pressure.
Inside the weapon, Enma himself felt horrified.
“That punch…”
“It nearly forced me out of transformation!”
This was no longer ordinary taijutsu.
It was absolute physical oppression.
Hiruzen finally coughed blood.
His expression became shocked.
“How…”
“How can this power exceed even Tsunade’s?!”
Tsunade possessed Konoha’s greatest monstrous strength due to her perfect chakra-enhanced attacks.
Yet Yoruha’s raw physical force clearly surpassed hers.
And the most frightening part—
Yoruha was still holding back.
If he infused Armament Haki fully into the strike instead of merely coating his fist externally, the destructive force would penetrate directly into Hiruzen’s body.
Without Haki defenses of his own—
The Third Hokage’s body might have exploded instantly upon impact.
At this moment, Hiruzen finally realized something terrifying.
Choosing to compete with Yoruha in close combat…
…was an extremely bad decision.