The Next Day –
Hiruzen was now standing in the Hokage's private training ground today. Yesterday after lunch he went back to his office to do a bunch more paperwork and decided to check what his System was telling him… after making sure nothing changed, he looked down at the 'Mission' section of the tab and suddenly had a thought. Why do all this boring stuff when he should be getting back to full strength…
So that is what he was doing now, he dismissed his guards and told them to have the day off to which they obeyed and now he was by himself as this will allow him to test out his current level. The first thing he did was test out his Kido, cause from what the System is saying, even though he has knowledge of how to perform all the Kido up to the #90's, it seems that he isn't strong enough yet to use them and only has access to #40's instead… so he decided to start small:
"Hado #4 – Byakurai!" (White Lightning!) shouted Hiruzen as he held up his finger and a beam of sharp lightning shot out of it, piercing through multiple trees in front of him before dissipating. The result was holes the size of his head in each of the trees that were smoked black by the high intensity of the electricity. Hiruzen saw this result and gave a small nod and thought:
'It is alright for now, after all that would be considered a high C-Rank Jutsu from a Chunin level Shinobi that has decent Chakra Control… although I am quite pleased that it didn't take much Reiryoku to use Byakurai' thought Hiruzen who decided to crank it up a bit, and looked at another set of trees off to the left, held up his hand and spoke:
"Hado #31 – Shakkahō!" (Red-Fire Cannon) chanted Hiruzen and an orb of crimson red fire materialised in front of his hand, floating and waiting for his directive, suddenly it shot out at extreme speeds towards the tree line and with a mighty bang the orb of fire detonates in a great explosion, fire combusted everywhere in a rage and the trees in the impact range were charred and turned to ashes in an instant, while the fires from the combustion greedily ate up the grass and trees, but before the flames could burn any further Hiruzen waved his hand and the flames dissipated due to his will.
Hiruzen had a small smirk seeing the power behind Shakkahō, and while he didn't use the full incantation for the chant which reduced its power by a bit, he can honestly say that the technique left him satisfied. This technique by Shinobi standards would be around a high B-Rank to A-Rank Jutsu, but if using the full chant, it could be around mid to high A-Rank in power with his current strength… Hiruzen thought about it and decided to do something different, he made his way over to some training dummies in the centre and clutched the Cane Form of Ryujin Jakka in his hand and said:
"Onibi!" (Oni Fire) shouted Hiruzen as he thrust the top end of his cane at the dummy with extreme speed and power, the thrust was so powerful it caused a sonic boom, and instantly the attack blew a massive hole in the dummy, with only its legs remaining from the technique. Not only that, but the force from his thrust carved a massive hole in the ground behind the dummy even though it didn't connect with the ground itself…
Hiruzen grinned seeing the result as even though he put a bit of strength in into the thrust, it still caused such destruction, but he didn't dwell on it further and decided to stop messing around with Zanjutsu and Kido for a bit and decided to try out a few Jutsu instead.
Hiruzen placed Ryujin Jakka on the side which caused it to stand perfectly upright without any help, but Hiruzen wasn't focused on that as he decided to try out a personal favourite of his and started going through hand seals…
Snake – Dragon – Rabbit – Tiger
"Fire Release: Fire Dragon Jutsu!" shouted Hiruzen, and he opened his mouth to breathe out what was supposed to be a fire dragon, but all that came out of his mouth was hot air, nothing more. Hiruzen when seeing this frowned, he then tried a different Jutsu…
Tiger – Hare – Boar – Ram
"Earth Release: Earth-Style Wall!" he slammed his hand on the ground which left a slight crater from the force of his hand, but same as the dragon, the Earth Wall that was supposed to rise from the ground didn't happen. Hiruzen was now a bit angry and couldn't help but think:
'Why can't I do Elemental Ninjutsu?! Jutsu and Kido aren't that different from my knowledge, but the only things that are different are Reiryoku and Chakra… while Chakra is a natural phenomenon that possesses the affinities of Nature itself, Reiryoku and Reiatsu are strictly energy from the Soul itself, but half of Chakra itself is Spiritual or Soul Energy… I would understand if the Jutsu would be weaker than it should do to not possessing the Yang Element but not being able to do it at all?!' thought Hiruzen as he couldn't figure out why he couldn't do Ninjutsu, after all in his office he was able to manipulate his Reiryoku into a small flame…
But he didn't think about it for long as while Jutsu were much more flexible and it has almost an endless amount of applications compared to Kido, it doesn't matter much though as Kido itself is much more powerful than Jutsu, so he wasn't that annoyed, but he kind of hoped that he could still use Ninjutsu… after all he spent many decades practicing and mastering all of the five basic elements; Water, Earth, Wind, Fire, and Lightning, but he guesses that it all led up to this point so he was at least grateful somewhat.
After realising that Ninjutsu wasn't going to work, he naturally ruled out Genjutsu since that was another application of Ninjutsu. He doesn't have to worry about his Taijutsu though as he naturally assumes that he can still use the many styles he has mastered with a few changes and adjustments with Reiryoku this time instead of Chakra… anyway there seems to only be a few more things that he can try now since Ninjutsu seems to be down the drain, next something he hopes still works, Fūinjutsu or Sealing Techniques. Hiruzen hopes and prays to the Sage and Soul King that they work otherwise he will burn everything to ash with Ryujin Jakka!!
*Shwoom*
After using Shunpo to temporarily disappear from the training grounds, he appeared in his home in the Sarutobi compound in a few seconds and quickly gathered up all his sealing supplies he keeps around and once again used Shunpo to return to the training grounds again.
He then calmly sat down on the ground, not minding that it would dirty his Shihakushō, and organised all of sealing supplies into the correct places he likes… then he took a blank piece of parchment and took out his brush from the high-quality sealing ink it was in and started making a basic Storage Scroll, used generally for storage of various items… he calmly and masterfully started drawing the seals necessary on the scroll, and after a few seconds he was finished as he is considered a Fūinjutsu Master so making something so simple would hardly take so little time.
After finishing the last stroke, he calmly with a hint of nervousness in his eyes imbued the Kanji with his Reiryoku and the kanji actually glowed for a second before fading… this caused Hiruzen to be a bit excited since this is the first time anything from the Shinobi world has actually worked with Reiryoku. To test to make sure he isn't being deceived he took a rock he found on the ground and put it into the middle of the scroll, he then made a half-Ram Seal with his left hand and said:
"Fūin!" (Seal) called Hiruzen and to his extreme delight, the rock vanished from its place with a plume of smoke and all that was left was the scroll with the Kanji and Hiruzen with a surprised, and delighted expression left on his face.
He calmly put down the brush that was in his right hand and decided to test the scroll, he put his finger back onto the Kanji and channelled some more Reiryoku into the Kanji, and once again a plume of smoke sounded in the training grounds and it cleared to reveal the same rock that was sealed away into it a second ago.
Hiruzen picked up the rock to make sure that nothing was wrong with it and to be sure that there weren't any weird side effects because of his Reiryoku… and after a few seconds of inspection he noticed nothing wrong with the rock and he calmly tossed it away and smiled a genuine smile to himself and thought:
'It works! Yes, finally something that works!! I thought I would turn this place to ashes if it didn't work but thank the Sage and the Soul King that it works…' thought Hiruzen, and he decided to use the storage scroll in his hand and resealed all of his equipment that he has laying around and calmly tossed the scroll into his Shihakushō for safe keeping. Afterwards he mentally summoned the System for him to check something…
[Name: Hiruzen Sarutobi (Third Hokage)]
[Character: Yamamoto Genryusai Shigekuni]
[Age: 68 Years]
[Gender: Male]
[Abilities:
[Kido: Hado #1 – Hado #40, Bakudo #1 – Bakudo #40, Kaido (Beginner) (Unlocked)] [Zanjutsu: Onibi (Unlocked), Hitotsume: Nadegiri (Locked)] [Hakuda: Ikkotsu (Locked), Sōkotsu (Locked)] [Hoho: Shunpo (Intermediate) (Unlocked)]
[Props:
[Zanpakuto: Ryujin Jakka – Shikai (Locked), Bankai (Locked)]
[Character Progression: 20%]
[Daily Mission: Swing Ryujin Jakka 5000 times a Day – Reward: +0.10% Character Progression (Replenishable Task)]
[Main Mission: NONE (Currently)]
He specifically looked down at the bottom of the panel and saw his 'Mission' assigned by the system to help increase his Character Progression, and although it didn't seem like a lot it was still progress, he was after all a very dedicated and disciplined individual in his youth so he didn't care how long it would take to see some progress or anything like that, he just went and did it. He calmly picked up Ryujin Jakka which was standing quietly near him and held it out the staff, tilting it horizontal to himself and calmly spoke:
"Ryujin Jakka" and the reaction was immediate, after saying his Zanpakuto's name, the wooden staff stripped away as if it was disintegrated and what was left in his hand was the scabbard of a beautiful katana. The scabbard was a combination between dark red and orange colouring, with the top of the scabbard near the hilt wrapped in dark orange string… finally the hilt of Ryujin Jakka was a deep purple with the guard being an oval shape in gold colouring...
Hiruzen feeling the familiar grip of his Zanpakuto couldn't help but show a slight smile at his friend, a friend who was with him for millennium's on end and was always by his side no matter what… he then used his free right hand and gripped the hilt of Ryujin Jakka and unsheathed the blade from the scabbard, showing the world the magnificent black and white coloured metal of the blade, then with the blade free from the scabbard, the scabbard itself went up in flames and disappeared into the wind…
Hiruzen didn't mind that his scabbard just up and burnt away as it is an ability that is both useful and useless for Ryujin Jakka, the scabbard is formed from the power of Ryujin Jakka so when he wants/wills to re-sheath Ryujin Jakka it just conjures up the scabbard around the blade and turns back into its Cane Form when not in use.
Hiruzen then dispelled these thoughts and started swinging Ryujin Jakka, cause although he has gained a new body, it is best that he get used to his new strength because during the last two days he is being very gentle in not trying to break anything… he started noticing that he needs to retrain his swordsmanship again as well… huhh so much to do, so little time… wait…
Will he even live as long as he did in his previous life? No… the System wouldn't do that would it? After all… well… he is Yamamoto and a Soul Reaper, and considering his insane lifespan from his last life, his original body was also carved in the image of his past life as well… could he really be alive for many centuries?!
Hiruzen stopped mid-swing and put down Ryujin Jakka for a second as this was serious, after all, if the System was even considerate to transform his uniform into his Shihakushō and Haori combo, along with all the other clothes he owns. What is stopping it from adding this small thing as well… but just as his thoughts about his scabbard weighed on his mind, it was ultimately dispelled with him thinking:
'Bahh, it won't matter much… if I get to live longer, so be it, if not, I am fine with that as well… anyway let's get back to training.' thought Hiruzen and resumed the sword kata's he was going through, and eventually shifted into swinging his sword, eventually Hiruzen was lost in the sensation of swinging the sword.
A Few Hours Later –
[Ding! 'Daily Mission' has been Completed!]
[Reward: +0.10% Character Progression!]
Rang the System, and Hiruzen stopped swinging his Zanpakuto… he titled the blade horizontally like before once more and the flames gathered around the Zanpakuto without burning Hiruzen and then the scabbard of the blade manifested around the sword and further transformed with the wood of his cane growing out of the Zanpakuto, with it finally transforming back into its Cane Form once again. After gripping the now wooden staff, Hiruzen opened his system to have a look at it.
[Name: Hiruzen Sarutobi (Third Hokage)]
[Character: Yamamoto Genryusai Shigekuni]
[Age: 68 Years]
[Gender: Male]
[Abilities:
[Kido: Hado #1 – Hado #40, Bakudo #1 – Bakudo #40, Kaido (Beginner) (Unlocked)] [Zanjutsu: Onibi (Unlocked), Hitotsume: Nadegiri (Locked)] [Hakuda: Ikkotsu (Locked), Sōkotsu (Locked)] [Hoho: Shunpo (Intermediate) (Unlocked)]
[Props:
[Zanpakuto: Ryujin Jakka – Shikai (Locked), Bankai (Locked)]
[Character Progression: 20.10%]
[Daily Mission: Swing Ryujin Jakka 5000 times a Day – Reward: +0.10% Character Progression (Replenishable Task)]
[Main Mission: NONE (Currently)]
[WARNING!] [Task Currently on Cooldown – 1 Day Remaining]
After seeing his panel, Hiruzen gave a small nod of satisfaction, cause although his progress isn't much, he had to admit that seeing his training in such a form gives him the feeling that it will all be worth it in the future… now he also saw that his 'Daily Mission' is currently on cooldown for the rest of the day, it is best if he goes back to his office to see if there is anything else he needs to do before going to enjoy the rest of his day.
So, with these thoughts in his mind Hiruzen with the Hokage Training Ground's destroyed from his training, disappeared from site using Shunpo…
After a few seconds he arrived back at his office and made sure there was no more of that accursed paperwork, he checked his calendar to make sure there wasn't anything important happening and stopped when he noticed what today was…
Today was the True Genin Assessment, to see who will truly become Genin and who will be sent back to the Academy for another year of education. The Jonin should have already picked up the new graduates on their own yesterday and are currently conducting the assessment today… Hiruzen mentally groaned because he was hoping that he wouldn't have to stay in this office for much longer, but at least he was productive today and made a start towards becoming the Captain-Commander once again.
Hiruzen then after he got out of his thoughts looked up at the clock on the wall and noticed that the Jonin would be back in an hour or two, so he just decided to call for his secretary, who came after a few seconds and asked her to prepare a pot of tea for him while he waits for his Jonin… Tsurumi immediately nodded and exited the room, because she would not like to be scolded like she was earlier yesterday and went downstairs to prepare the tea he asked for.
Two Hours Later –
As Hiruzen was waiting for his Jonin, he had his back to the door with his chair facing the window and looking outside to view his village… basking in the view of the prosperity that Konoha is experiencing, but suddenly his eyes shifted as his enhanced senses and his Spiritual Sensing Technique picked up multiple energy signatures approaching his office, but he didn't do anything as he recognised them as his Jonin coming back from the Genin Assessment.
Hiruzen didn't even react that his door opened and multiple people started filing in and lining up in order behind him, he just kept staring outside with an absent look… after a few minutes everyone but one Jonin was inside of the room, Hiruzen noticed with his Spiritual Sensing that the Jonin that was missing was late and decided to speak while not getting up from his chair or facing his Jonin:
"Genma… has Kakashi finished his Assessment? If he has please grab and if you must drag him here as I rather not wait for him, you know his habits… if he hasn't finished just wait for him to finish and then drag him here…" spoke Hiruzen and Genma Shiranui who was among the Jonin raised his head in surprise for a second but then replied as he wasn't expecting to called on:
"y-Yes Hokage-Sama, I believe I saw Kakashi and that he was finished… I shall fetch him now…" and with a quick bow, Genma vanished in a Body Flicker and disappeared in seconds… everyone else was a bit surprised that the Hokage wasn't going to wait for Kakashi like he usually would, but everyone after a second nodded as they rather not wait three hours for him when they can get this meeting done in about half an hour.
After a minute there was a blur in the office, which materialised as two men, one was the recently departed Genma, and the other was a Jonin with spiky silver hair, wearing a mask that covered most of his face, his Hitai-ate covering his left eye, and holding a small orange book. This man was Kakashi Hatake… and after Hiruzen sensed their return, he decided it was time to begin, so he slowly stood up from his chair and walked to the front of his desk to begin the meeting…