Chapter 40

"Inu, did you see what happened?" Hiruzen looked to the side and asked an Anbu agent wearing a dog mask.

"Yes, Lord Third. She displayed exceptional speeds. She went past all the obstacles easily, almost as if she knew where they would be coming from or moving towards, before arriving near Bear. There was nothing special after that." Inu explained in one breath not taking his eyes of the duo on the destroyed training ground.

"What do you mean?" Hiruzen enquired.

"I meant, Lord Third, it was nothing more than a simple leg sweep. That is all she did." At this point, Hiruzen could no longer contain himself as laughed boisterously while walking out from behind the trees with his Anbu commanders and the Haruno family in tow. He was more than pleased.

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"You have done well, young Sakura. You have truly exceeded all expectations. I am pleased to say, you have more than passed the test." Hiruzen looked to his side at his Anbu commanders by his side, who shook their heads indicating they had no problem. How could they? The young girl before them just took down a veteran Anbu agent and she was what, ten, eleven years old?

I frowned at his words. 'Is that really all there is to the Anbu test?' It made no sense. This was Anbu after all.

I got off from Big bear and extended my hand to help him up. It was merely a gesture. He looked at the hand for a while before sighing. His mind was clear and he had thought things through. He felt his rage was him being petty and making excuses for his weakness and failure.

Of course, Bear was in no way weak. It was unfortunate he had met her. He had not been given the opportunity to launch a proper attack of his during the entire fight. After thinking about the direction the fight had taken, for the first time he felt he could improve more. Maybe not in terms of chakra improvement but in terms of fighting styles. It would take a while, but he could definitely improve.

He took my arm as I pulled him into a sitting position. He nodded to me to which I smiled and nodded back. He picked himself up, bowed to everyone present and flickered away. Quite honestly, I was surprised he took my gesture; I was expecting a much more hostile approach. Still, it was nice he did. As they say; better to make a friend. Made no difference to me though.

Hiruzen spoke to his commanders who bowed and flickered away. The test was over. He walked over to me smiling and spoke, "That was a good fight Sakura."

"Sakura-san really is amazing." Aoi happily commented, almost skipping, with Kouki nodding vigorously with stars in his eyes.

"Aoi-chan. How many times do I have to tell you? Sakura. Just Sakura." I pulled on her cheeks while she complained.

"Haha. Such a lovely family." Hiruzen interrupted. "Your test is over, and as I said earlier, you have passed with flying colors. There is one more test I would like to administer. Optional of course. If you win, I will directly promote you to commander." His statement made me frown inwards.

'I expected it, but what is this wrinkly bastard planning now?'

With an intrigued face, I asked, "What test jiji?"

"Sakura." Mebuki rebuked with an indifferent face. The same face she's had on the entire time, as if my win was nothing to celebrate about.

"Haha. It's fine. I quite like it. Makes us feel much closer." Hiruzen stroke his small beard while smiling and continued, "You would have to fight one more person. However, don't assume it will be easy. Your opponent will be me." He pulled off the Hokage robes, showing his battle attire.

'Mm? So that is his plan. Cheeky bastard.' My body shook slightly as I watched the old man raring to do battle. If I was right, then he either wanted to see the full extent of my ability by forcing it out himself, or he intended to 'break my arrogance' early my beating me. Showing there is always a mountain above a mountain, so to speak. Maybe.

As slightly naïve as I am portraying myself to be, I would rush into it thinking it to be an ordinary spar with nothing to lose and all to gain, with which he could implement his plan. If I refused, I would or might not seem as naïve as I claim to be? This was getting frustrating. Why am I bothering with schemes with a man who would die soon anyways?

I did not want to be in his radar as I felt I was not yet strong enough to beat him. Even Orochimaru, one of the Legendary Sannin with all his modifications and jutsus still had to resort to unleashing defective First and Second Hokages; and still lost his arms. I would not have cared if that damned monster had not told me she would no longer take care of my safety. I am your daughter you crazy woman! Honestly, how truly frustrating.

"How about it? As I said earlier, if you decide to take this test and you pass, you would directly be directly promoted to Anbu commander. You don't have to be afraid; I will hold back." He spoke again when he saw my body shake.

'He mistook my excitement for fear. I was almost tempted to actually go for the kill. Let's forget it, if I had completed that ability, I would have used it to 'innocently' caused a serious injury. Whatever, let's just stick to the plan. He will die soon anyway.'

Himura Kenshin, the battousai said, usually top-notch fighters never revealed their fighting spirits or battle intents; they keep it locked up. It was not that they did not possess it, it was that they were so high level that they were able to hide it so their opponents were unable to predict their movements, or worse, just like Big Bear giving into his anger, easily manipulate their opponents.

My aim however was the right hand of Makoto Shishio, Seta Sojiro. His ability made him seem to not have any battle spirit or intent whatsoever. According to Kenshin, Sojiro looked to him like a child holding his katana as if it were a toy. No one, unable to know how he would react in anyway or in any situation. It was stated that for Seta Sojiro to reach that level, he had somewhat discarded his emotions.

Let's put it this way. Imagine a two-year-old was swinging a real knife around playing hero. Your reaction would most likely be 'Aww, that is cute.', or 'that is dangerous' intending to take the knife away. (Ok, maybe not aww, that's cute). You would never imagine the two-year-old to actually able to 'playfully' or 'accidentally' slit your throat when you got near him or her right?

A crude example, but you get the idea. Since my fighting style was mainly based on killing arts, an ability like that would suit me perfectly.

I had been trying for so long to replicate that ability. To me, that was the ultimate form of assassination. I tried with Big Bear, but I noticed him stop and go on full guard just as he was about to move during the beginning of our battle. It was an utter failure. If big bear was able to easily detect it, then for the crafty old man before me who had been dubbed the 'God of Shinobi', it would be child's play.

I had been trying for almost a year, and yet I had been unable to produce any results. It had been so difficult; I had felt so many times to just discard it. Yet, each time I thought about the endless possibilities, I could not help but continue to try.

For instance, just now Hiruzen may have perceived my excitement for fear, but he definitely perceived my intent to battle. And if I had intended to fight him and use that 'fear' advantage to try and kill him, he would have definitely perceived the killing intent, no matter how slight.

But if I had that ability, then killing him without him realizing and without showing the slightest battle intent or killing intent, especially capitalizing on his notion of my 'fear' and him holding back, would have been so easy.

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1000 stones = 5 chapters.

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