章節 29: Personal Chunin Exam (2)
A/N: Triple Release (3/3)! Get the Story to 600 powerstones by Sunday, for a double release. This story's continuation depends on your support—so don't forget to give the story powerstones! New Goal: 600 Powerstones!
Goro and Hiruzen had arrived at the training grounds, accompanied by a dozen Anbu.
"Prepare yourself," Hiruzen said, biting his thumb.
'The Summoning Jutsu! Does he plan to have me fight Monkey King Enma? The Third Hokage thinks highly of me, yet he's never seen me fight. I've got a feeling the incident with Kakuzu and the rogue Cloud ninja has something to do with it…'
Blood dripping from his thumb, Hiruzen pointed his hand to the ground and yelled, "Summoning Jutsu, I call thee, Monkey King Enma!"
As Hiruzen uttered the last word, a plume of smoke arose, with a white tail being the first thing visible.
As the smoke cleared, the dominating figure of the monkey became more visible. Trying to figure out the situation, Enma began scanning the area, his eyes stopping on Goro.
"You're too late in your years to take another brat as your apprentice, Hiruzen," Enma said in a matter-of-fact tone.
Hiruzen laughed at Enma's remark. "I think I've still got some time left, and besides, the child isn't my apprentice. I'm hosting a personal Chunin exam for him," Hiruzen explained.
Crossing his arms and analyzing Goro, Enma commented, "So you want me to spar with a Genin? I'd say that's a little overkill, isn't it? No matter how talented he is, to pit him against me is too much for him to handle."
'The big monkey is in for quite the surprise.'
Hiruzen's laughter grew louder as he repeatedly slapped Enma's back. "Don't underestimate the boy, Enma. If he never ceases to amaze me, you're bound to be in for a shock. I'd keep my guard up if I were you," Hiruzen said.
Taking a deeper look at Goro, Enma noticed something he had failed to see before. "Hoh… The child is quite muscular. That shirt is extremely deceptive," Enma thought.
Refusing to spend any more time chit-chatting with Hiruzen, Enma took on a fighting stance and stared Goro down.
Scratching the back of his head, Goro looked at Enma and pointed at him. "I'm fighting your summon then?" Goro asked.
Enma, not taking kindly to the way Goro described him, interrupted, "I'm not just any summon, brat! I'm the King of all Monkeys, Enma!" Enma announced.
'I don't recall Enma being able to use ninjutsu, so this should be an easy bout. He's at best at the level of an average Jounin.'
Getting into a fighting stance, Goro prepared for the match to commence.
"If both sides are ready, you may begin in 3, 2, 1, go!" Hiruzen shouted.
Enma immediately went on the offensive, rushing towards Goro. As he got closer, Enma cocked back his fist, ready to swing at Goro.
Goro waited without moving, allowing Enma to get into range. Once he was sure Enma was close enough to prevent evasion, Goro jumped up and landed a dropkick to Enma's head.
Enma was sent hurtling back, but Goro wasn't done. Using the momentum gained from the dropkick, Goro transitioned into a backflip and pretended to weave the hand signs required for the Fireball Jutsu.
'I've got to remember to pretend to weave the hand signs for each jutsu, otherwise I'll be caught. For the Fireball Jutsu, it's best I use only 4% of my chakra, as I have a x5 on my fire affinity.'
Intending to use only 4% of his chakra, Goro sent a large fireball hurling towards Enma, who was still recovering from the kick to the head.
Enma instantly rolled over to evade the attack, then jumped up onto his feet, rushing towards Goro once more.
"This child is incredibly talented. Hiruzen was right. If he's able to push back a Jounin-level summon like me at his age, there's no telling what he'll accomplish once he's older. He needs to be kept on the right path…" Enma pondered.
Jumping up to take advantage of Goro's diminished mobility, Enma tried to land a kick of his own while Goro was still in the air.
'Shoot.'
Immediately adjusting to the situation, Goro summoned a Shadow Clone to take the brunt of the attack on his behalf.
The Clone absorbed most of the damage, but Goro was also slightly pushed back from the strength behind Enma's attack.
The Clone disappeared into a plume of smoke, and Goro landed on the ground, having sustained barely any damage.
"You've got talent, kid, I'll give you that," Enma said as he landed on the ground.
Hiruzen watched the bout in awe. He couldn't believe that Goro was able to go toe-to-toe with Enma, even pushing him back, without any assistance.
Hiruzen had believed that Goro had contributed to defeating Kakuzu, but he had assumed that Asuma had done most of the work, allowing Goro to deliver the finishing blow. Watching the match, his opinion on what truly happened that day with Kakuzu slowly began to change.
Realizing that he failed to land a successful assault every time he went on the offensive, Enma decided to switch strategies and stay on the defensive.
'He's shifted from his original game plan. Everyone knows that Plan A is always better than Plan B, so I can expect to find it easier to deal with him now.'
Raising one hand and weaving a hand sign, Goro muttered, "Hidden Mist Jutsu."
A thick mist began to spread throughout the forest, concealing the location of both combatants on the training grounds.
Goro pulled a kunai from his pouch and flickered around within the mist. The mist began to stir.
From Enma's point of view, there was movement all around him, making it impossible to pinpoint Goro's location.
"This kid… What is he up to?" Enma wondered, frantically looking around.
Stroking his beard, Hiruzen intently watched the match. "Where did he learn that jutsu? And how's he able to move so fast? There's so much we don't know about this child," Hiruzen mumbled.
Realizing that he was outmatched, Enma accepted the reality that he was beaten. The child he hadn't thought much of had overwhelmed him. "If this were a fight to the death, I'd be dead," Enma mused.
Unaware that Enma had already conceded, Goro put his kunai to Enma's throat, but to his surprise, he faced no resistance.
"I'm beat, kid," Enma admitted, his hands still up.
Goro returned his kunai to his pouch and exited the mist.
Greeting him outside the smoke were Hiruzen and an Anbu member holding a green jacket.
Hiruzen took the jacket from the Anbu member and presented it to Goro.
"Congratulations, you've passed. You are now a Chunin," Hiruzen congratulated.
Reminder: Triple Release (3/3)! Get the Story to 600 powerstones by Sunday, for a double release. This story's continuation depends on your support—so don't forget to give the story powerstones! New Goal: 600 Powerstones!
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