Free Web NovelChapter 225: The Golden Boy
"...."
Asuma had been violently blown backward by the massive shockwave. Fortunately, his elite Jonin-level durability and physical conditioning saved his life, but his iconic outfit hadn’t fared as well. His flak jacket was heavily singed, and smoke was actively billowing from a very conspicuous, still-smoldering burn hole right over his buttocks.
"It burns! Ouch! Ouch! Hot! Hot!" Asuma yelped, furiously patting out the embers on his pants.
"...." The entire field stared in absolute, dead silence.
"Anbu, escort my idiot son to the hospital burn ward," Hiruzen sighed, rubbing his temples, though he still ensured Asuma got immediate medical attention.
"Old Man, what the hell was that?!" Asuma demanded, completely ignoring the burning pain in his rear end as he glared indignantly at his father.
How could a twelve-year-old kid create such a terrifying, apocalyptic jutsu out of baking supplies? Naturally, Asuma assumed Hiruzen had secretly taught it to him! Why else would the old man let a genin wield that kind of firepower?
"That was entirely his own creation. He took my signature technique and practically reinvented it," Hiruzen stated, stroking his goatee with an incredibly smug, highly satisfied grin that left everyone utterly speechless.
"...Then why didn’t you ever teach me how to do that?" Asuma grumbled, feeling a sudden, intense wave of jealousy. It felt like his father vastly preferred this random kid over his own flesh and blood.
"I DID TEACH YOU, BUT YOU NEVER LISTEN, BUT YOU DON’T WANT TO LISTEN TO ME!"
Hiruzen suddenly exploded, his booming voice echoing across the training grounds!
All of Hiruzen’s personal jutsu were technically incredible. While they might seem mundane and far less flashy than a massive Rasengan or a Chidori, they were all incredibly lethal, highly efficient applications of chakra. By mastering the absolute basics, Hiruzen could humiliate and defeat opponents without ever needing to exhaust himself with S-Rank jutsu.
Yet, what did Asuma do? He had coasted on his natural talent and overly relied on his expensive chakra trench knives!
"...."
Asuma was momentarily stunned into silence. He rolled his eyes defensively, feeling thoroughly humiliated. Despite being a grown man and a veteran shinobi, he was currently getting scolded by his elderly father in front of a bunch of genin.
Deep down, Asuma knew he was at fault. He had never truly paid attention to his father’s tedious lectures on chakra theory. He simply never imagined that Hiruzen’s most famous jutsu—the Shuriken Shadow Clone Technique—could be weaponized in such a devious, unconventional way.
"If you possessed half his creativity, you would have combined your own jutsu—that ash technique of yours—with my replication jutsu..." Hiruzen sighed, waving his hand dismissively. He didn’t need to finish the sentence. He knew Asuma had finally connected the dots.
"..." Asuma.
He wanted to argue, but the words died in his throat. It was terrifyingly clear. If he applied the Shadow Clone multiplication principle to his Fire Release: Ash Pile Burning, the resulting cloud of explosive ash would be large enough to level an entire mountain range.
Meanwhile, Suzuki stood quietly on the sidelines, his face perfectly calm. He didn’t say a word, but his Manager was already rapidly analyzing and archiving the data he had just extracted from Asuma.
[Notice: Fire Release: Ash Pile Burning has been fully analyzed.]
[Notice: Flying Swallow (Chakra Flow) has been fully analyzed.]
[Would you like to integrate these into your combat repertoire?]
No. Archive them for later, Suzuki mentally commanded.
If Suzuki had to evaluate it objectively, Asuma’s ash technique was genuinely brilliant. Instead of relying purely on raw thermal combustion, Asuma utilized the secondary, physical byproducts of fire—dust, soot, and superheated ash—to create a lingering, explosive hazard.
As expected of the Sarutobi Clan.
Many people foolishly assumed the Uchiha Clan possessed the absolute strongest Fire Release jutsu in the world. But Suzuki disagreed. If you were talking about raw, overwhelming firepower fueled by massive, freakish chakra pools, then yes, the Uchiha won.
But if you evaluated the sheer depth of research, tactical versatility, and chakra efficiency, the Sarutobi Clan—led by the ’Professor’ himself—were the undisputed masters of Fire Release. They possessed an entire arsenal of jutsu that required minimal chakra but yielded devastating tactical results.
While Suzuki calmly organized his newly stolen jutsu library, the rest of the spectators were still paralyzed in a daze, staring at the massive, blackened crater in the middle of the field.
Using cooking flour to create an explosion?
If they hadn’t witnessed it with their own eyes, they would have called it completely impossible. Yet, the smoking crater was undeniable proof. And along with that proof came a terrifying realization.
Suzuki was strong enough to effortlessly defeat an Elite Jonin!
How old was he? Twelve? He was technically still a kid! (Though, having recently lost his innocence during his travels, he was physically and mentally much more of a man than anyone realized. Still, it was best to keep that highly classified.)
While Kurenai was currently experiencing a massive existential crisis—horrified by the realization that her genin subordinate was vastly stronger than she was—Ino and Hinata stared at Suzuki with shining, deeply enamored eyes.
Shino, Shikamaru, and Choji were utterly dumbfounded, but a profound wave of relief quickly washed over them. Thank god Suzuki was their friend.
"Suzuki-kun," Hiruzen called out gently.
"Yes, Sensei."
Hiruzen looked at him with immense fondness. "Go home and rest. You only just returned to the village today. If my foolish son hadn’t forced you into this spar, you would probably be fast asleep by now."
"It’s perfectly fine, Sensei. I actually learned quite a lot from Asuma-san." Suzuki turned gracefully toward the burned Jonin and offered a polite, shallow bow. "Thank you for the highly educational lesson, Asuma-san."
"....."
Asuma wanted to cry. He was the one who had just been violently educated!
But Asuma wasn’t stupid. He wasn’t going to hold a petty grudge against a kid with this level of freakish talent. In fact, Asuma realized that making an enemy out of Suzuki would be political suicide. Just look at the boy’s connections: Tsunade, the Hokage, the heirs and heiresses of the major noble clans, and likely several hidden black-market contacts.
As a future pillar of the Sarutobi Clan, Asuma was a calculating man. If he ever wanted to learn how to apply that Shadow Clone amplification theory to his own jutsu, he needed to get firmly onto Suzuki’s good side.
I should probably offer to teach him my wind techniques to smooth things over, Asuma thought practically. He wasn’t going to hoard his skills. He had already observed that Suzuki was incredibly generous to those within his inner circle.
The Ultimate Optimizer.
That was the exact phrase Hiruzen had used to describe Suzuki in private. As long as a theoretical jutsu was placed in front of him, the boy could deconstruct it and recreate variations that no one else could even fathom.
Suzuki was the ultimate tactical asset to Konoha, and he needed to be protected at all costs. More importantly, because Suzuki was a civilian-born ninja, any jutsu he invented wasn’t restricted by clan laws. It could theoretically be shared with the entire village military! If Hiruzen hadn’t taken him as a disciple, it would have been an act of sheer political negligence.
This, of course, was exactly what Suzuki had meticulously planned. By publicly demonstrating his overwhelming value, he ensured that no one in the village would dare cross him or disrupt his business empire. fгee𝑤ebɳoveɭ.cøm
However, as he boldly displayed his terrifying potential in the light, a deeply sinister figure was naturally watching from the absolute darkness.
"I see..."
Standing deep in the shadows of a distant rooftop, a man heavily wrapped in bandages slowly rubbed his chin. His singular visible eye gleamed with cold, calculating greed.
"It is such a waste for such a perfect weapon to be coddled by Hiruzen’s soft ideals," Danzo Shimura murmured. "A talent like that... belongs exclusively in my hands."
"WHAT WAS THAT MASSIVE EXPLOSION?!"
"Naruto, wait! Don’t just run ahead!"
Just as the smoke from the blast finally began to clear, Naruto Uzumaki and the rest of Team 7 came sprinting toward the training grounds, drawn entirely by the sound of the destruction.
"WHOOAAA?! WHAT HAPPENED HERE?! GRAMPS! SUZUKI-KUN! WHAT’S GOING ON, DATTEBAYO?!"
While Naruto loudly demanded answers, buzzing with his usual, chaotic curiosity, Sakura stood frozen behind him, her hands trembling nervously. She wasn’t an orphan with close ties to the Hokage like Naruto, nor did she possess elite status like Suzuki or Sasuke. Seeing a crater this massive right in the middle of the village terrified her.
Sakura wasn’t the only one stunned. Kakashi Hatake and Sasuke Uchiha stopped dead in their tracks, staring at the devastating aftermath of the spar.
Neither of them had any context for what had just occurred, but as they stared at the massive, smoking crater, they shared the exact same grim thought.
Compared to the brutal, life-or-death trauma they had just survived in the Land of Waves... this ’friendly spar’ looked infinitely more dangerous.
