Hiruzen Sarutobi exhaled a puff of smoke from his pipe, eyes half-lidded as he handed a report to Nara Kazuki.
"It’s me," Kazuki nodded calmly. No point denying it.
"But it doesn’t look like you." Hiruzen’s eyes held a glint of satisfaction, though he kept his voice neutral.
"That’s because I used to be thinner— cough, no, I mean... I was experimenting with something new at the time," Kazuki cleared his throat quickly.
He’d almost said something from the wrong universe by accident.
Still, staring at the intelligence file left Kazuki with a strange mix of emotions.
He had anticipated something when he first used Enma Form in the Land of Earth—but he hadn’t expected Ōnoki to go this far.
Just look at this description:
Suspected New Kekkei Genkai
Extremely Proficient Fire Release User
High Threat Level – Potential Successor to the White Fang of Konoha
Kazuki actually blushed reading it.
This kind of wording was clearly bait, carefully crafted to incite tension between him and the village leadership—designed to push him to the brink of defection, or force the village to suppress him. A classic destabilization move.
"Not bad," Hiruzen said, exhaling slowly. "It seems you’ve put real effort into mastering Fire Release. Do you have any questions about ninjutsu lately?"
Kazuki was surprised. He’d been fully prepared for Hiruzen to interrogate him about Enma Form.
But instead, the Third Hokage offered help. No pressure. No suspicion. Just guidance.
"You’re wondering why I’m not prying into your secrets, right?" Hiruzen smiled knowingly, the wrinkles in his face folding gently.
Kazuki twitched at the corner of his mouth.
Old man Sarutobi... it’s a good thing I’m not a woman. That line might’ve gotten you canceled for harassment. And with that ’family, who understands this pain?’ speech? Straight to viral hell with you.
"Wherever the leaves dance, the fire will burn. The strength of Konoha has never come from forcing its own shinobi to surrender their jutsu," Hiruzen said gently. "No one will demand that you give up your secrets. Rest easy."
As he spoke, a leaf fluttered down from the branches above and landed in his palm. Hiruzen knelt down, gently pressing it to the roots of the tree nearby.
Kazuki smacked his lips. Damn, even the leaves are setting the mood now?
But Hiruzen’s words truly eased his mind. At the very least, he didn’t need to worry about the higher-ups trying to force his jutsu out of him. Even though Hiruzen had retired, his influence remained. And after the death of Biwako Sarutobi, Minato had grown even more respectful toward the Third.
"Old man Sarutobi, I do have some questions about the Great Fire Dragon Technique..." Kazuki took the chance to ask. He brought up some issues he’d been having with chakra nature transformation and blending elements into new ninjutsu.
Hiruzen responded readily, even enthusiastically. Kazuki walked away with several new insights.
In particular, Kazuki was still struggling with the Fire Release: Rasengan. It wasn’t as simple as transforming chakra’s nature. To properly infuse the Rasengan with an elemental attribute, one had to understand the unique properties of that chakra nature at high-speed rotation.
Each element had a different maximum rotation speed it could tolerate, and the differences between nature affinities were far more pronounced than he’d expected.
After the lesson, Kazuki went off to eat. Hiruzen lingered by the tree a little longer—his wife had planted it, after all—but duty called. The Sarutobi clan still needed him, and so he eventually returned home.
Before leaving, he told Kazuki that he’d teach him a new jutsu tomorrow—something to add to his offensive arsenal.
Kazuki was intrigued.
After all, Hiruzen Sarutobi wasn’t just any old man. He was the "Professor," master of all five chakra natures, and well-versed in a wide variety of jutsu.
Passing by the dango shop, Kazuki decided to grab a stick. As he reached to pay, he noticed someone crouching nearby, cigarette dangling from his lips, trying far too hard to look cool while flirting with a girl.
Kazuki recognized him instantly—even though he was younger now, there was no mistaking that face.
Because of Biwako’s death, Asuma had returned to Konoha. Probably wouldn’t be long before he was off joining the Twelve Guardian Ninja.
Kazuki didn’t care much for him either way. What did amuse him, though, was how Asuma didn’t seem particularly close to his father. Made Kazuki wonder—do all Hokage sons have daddy issues? Even Boruto had a mountain of complaints about Naruto.
"You know Asuma?" Kakashi appeared beside Kazuki, casually snatching the dango skewer from the vendor’s hand and taking a bite.
"...Didn’t you say you don’t eat dango?" Kazuki squinted at him.
"I dunno. For some reason, stealing food from you makes dango taste better." Kakashi chewed contentedly as he spoke. Kazuki rolled his eyes.
He was still holding a grudge over that barbecue dinner, clearly. Just because Kazuki had eaten a bit more than expected...
Kazuki didn’t argue. He just bought another stick for himself.
"No, I’ve seen him before. He probably doesn’t know me," Kazuki said between bites, though his mind was elsewhere.
Because in the bounty list Hiruzen had shown him earlier... a new name had been added to the ledger.
Honestly, the nickname fit. After all, the jutsu he’d used was Enma Form—a completely unique technique, unknown to others and currently unreplicable. It had become something of a signature move.
Just like Shisui had earned the moniker "Shisui of the Body Flicker" for his mastery of genjutsu and the Shunshin no Jutsu, Kazuki could carve out his legend under the title "Kazuki the Enma."
"You’re gonna be famous soon," Kakashi said with exaggerated seriousness. He’d seen the bounty sheet, too—and the descriptions on it were ridiculous.