Chapter 5

"Hahaha! You basically just got smashed there. I can't blame you though, that Sasuke kid is extremely good. Only Hane can beat him at Taijutsu. I still want to smash his handsome face though. How can God be so unfair to give such an ugly face?" Naito said with an ugly impression while they ate lunch.

"Tsk. It's not god's fault, you just have bad genes." Hiriku teased. He kept massaging the corner of his eye. Although he got healed earlier, it still felt a little uncomfortable.

"Are you saying that is my parents are ugly?! Do you want to get beaten up again?... Well, it's true though, my dad is so ugly. Just how was he able to marry my mom?" Naito pretended to be ugly while insulting his father's looks.

"Why don't you ask him?" Hiriku after sipping the soup that cleared his throat.

"I actually did. He nearly smashed my face. Since then, I never dared to ask again." The two talked nonsense while they ate. They also shared their food since Naito's was a bento while Hiriku brought his own from the cafeteria.

Thanks to Naito's constant but not over the top blabbering, Hiriku managed to figure out how his predecessor lived.

His previous assessment of the young man was overturned.

The reason the previous Hiriku always got up late was that he would train late. Although Naito would join him, Hiriku would let Naito go home first to be left in the dark to train alone.

His grades were also not bad, average but consistent.

Hiriku finally learned his mother's name... Himura Kaede. Although her history is still unknown, it did not matter. As long as she remains kind and caring to her children, Hiriku will make her proud and protect his family.

...

"Let's go to Iruka-sensei!" Hiriku put his hands in his pocket and walked straight to the teacher's office with Naito.

The two knocked on the door before entering. Coincidentally, they met a chubby teacher who was about to go out.

"Why are you here?" The chubby teacher asked.

"Good afternoon, sensei! We would like to see Iruka-sensei." Hiriku said politely.

Seeing his attitude, the chubby teacher smiled pleasantly and pointed at the farthest seat and walked out.

"Thank you!" The two expressed at the same time.

"What's wrong, Naito-kun, Hiriku-kun?" Just like usual, Iruka sensei smiled at them warmly. The wound on the bridge of his nose did not tarnish his kindness at all.

"Sensei, I think... I think I awakened a Kekkei Genkai!"

"What? Kekkei Genkai?" Iruka turned serious.

"Right, sensei!" Hiriku retold what he told Naito earlier. He even showed some of the Devil Fruit's quirks.

With a serious expression and trembling hands, Iruka sprung up from his seat and dragged Hiriku.

"Follow me! Naito-kun, return to the classroom!"

"Yes, sir!"

...

"Teacher, where are we going?!" Hiriku suddenly got nervous for some reason.

"Don't be tense, we will go meet the Hokage! Make sure to be respectful when you meet him, Okay?"

"I understand!"

"Good!"

...

"Come in!" Hiriku heard the familiar elderly voice of Hiruzen Sarutobi, the Hokage. The moment they entered, the stench of tobacco assaulted their nose.

On the Hokage's seat, Hiruzen was seated holding his pipe elegantly with a pile of paper on the table. He wore his Kage's hat so his wrinkled face became more noticeable.

"Hokage-sama!" the two greeted with a slight bow.

"Oh, Iruka-sensei! What brings you here?" the old man asked as he puffed the smoke from his lungs.

"It's something important, sir! This student here is Himura Hiriku, and he has awakened a Kekkei Genkai! Now, Hiriku-kun, tell the Hokage your story."

Again, Hiriku recounted the story. As he spoke, he noticed the old Hokage frowning in confusion as well as doubt.

However, his doubt was instantly dispelled when Hiriku turned his hand into a flame. He looked at Hiriku seriously. The glint in his eyes had excitement in it.

"Who else knows that you have this ability?!" Sarutobi asked loudly as he stood closer to Hiriku in an attempt to probe Hiriku's body.

"Just the three of us and Naito. But don't worry, Hokage-sama, he won't tell on me!" Hiriku reassured.

They seemed to have been surprised by his calmness and confidence as they both raised an eyebrow.

"It's true, Hokage-sama. Naito-kun might be a chatterbox but he knows what's to gossip and not!" Iruka also added.

It was his job to teach and observe his students. He would watch them and judge everything about them and send them to the Hokage for assessment.

Being a Shinobi is not something as simple as being strong. They need to be loyal and smart. They are ninjas, but they are no different than soldiers.

"That's good! Now, follow me to the underground arena. Lead the way, Iruka-sensei!" while the two walked out of the door, they did not notice a shadow that suddenly appeared behind the Hokage.

It was a man in a tiger design white mask with only some features on it. He wore a gray vest and had his arms uncovered showing a red tattoo on his upper arm.

He's an ANBU. The Black Ops of the village. Only the Hokage can make them move.

Hiruzen glance at the masked-man in the corner of his eyes and said with a barely audible voice.

"Make sure that no one else will know about this."

"Understood..." With that, the masked-man disappeared like he was never been there in the first place.

...

Their footsteps echoed in the dark as they descended the steps. Before long, they reached the underground arena that Hiriku was familiar with.

The giant hands clasped in the universal seal of ninshu. This was the place where the legendary match: Rock Lee vs. Gaara occurred.

The three stood in the middle of the arena.

"Now, show us what you are capable of." The Hokage puffed out another lung-full of smoke.

"Alright. I suggest you back off, otherwise, your clothes might get burnt." Hiriku said with a grin, earning him a helpless smile from the two.

After stabilizing his breathing, Hiriku took a punching stance. He willed his chakra to his right arm and it instant. Not just his arm, but his sleeves too.

"What a strong fire signature and chakra control!"

It again shocked the Hokage and Iruka. Especially the Hokage who was a high-level sensory ninja and master of chakra control. He could feel that Hiriku effortlessly controlled his chakra, leading it to his arm. Especially the flaming energy he felt coming from Hiriku.

He frowned, not from disappointment but from nervousness. A child who had already mastered chakra control at his age was extremely rare. He was frightened.

They watched as Hiriku threw a punch with a scream.

"Hiken!!"

"Shuuu~!!!!" The flaming hand of Hiriku was suddenly propelled by a massive tail of fire. It only took an instant for it to reach 10 meters away before hitting the cement made ground.

"Booooooooooom!!" It exploded, creating a 1 foot deep and 3-meter diameter mini crater.

"What?!" Iruka's face dropped a sweat.

"...this!" Hiruzen's voice trembled.

"How was it? That was about one-fourth of my chakra!" Hiriku smirked after seeing their reaction. He wanted to put half of his chakra in that attack but he was afraid that it would raze the ground. Furthermore, the Fire Fist attack was not

It was only when the dust settled that Hiruzen cleared his throat. While Iruka kept imagining his end if he got blasted with such an attack.

"Wonderful! That's good! Haha..." The Hokage chuckled in delight. However, Hiriku could not guess what the old man was thinking.

"That's not the only ability I have, Hokage-sama! Iruka-sensei, please try and attack me. Don't worry about hurting me." Hiriku said.

"What?! I can't do that!" Iruka immediately refused, as expected.

"Don't worry. This is another part of my ability!"

"Are you sure?" Hiruzen asked.

"Of course!" Hiriku reassured.

Seeing Hiriku's confidence, the Hokage nodded to Iruka.

"Then please be careful!" Still hesitating, Iruka punched with half of his strength. However, what he expected as a hit did not come, instead, he saw his sleeves get burnt and he instinctively pulled his hand out.

He looked dubiously at Hiriku like the kid was a rare monster.

Even the Hokage could not react as his eyes widened in shock. His pipe paused in mid-air and said with a trembling voice,

"What in the world?!" He could not believe it.

"That is another part. Physical attacks can't hurt me as long as I turn my body onto flame! However, I still have not tested with ninjutsu! Iruka-sensei, please try attacking with weaker ninjutsu!" Hiriku said. It is was not a lie. He wanted to know if Chakra based attacks might hurt him as Haki does.

"No! I will do it my self!" It only took a moment for Hiruzen to calm down. He was an old man with experience.

Iruka retreated without saying anything. He was still in shock after seeing his fist pass through Hiriku's body. There was a hole in his sleeve after getting burnt by Hiriku's flames.

"Don't be nervous... Now, let's see if Water Release Jutsus will affect you." The old man smiled, however, he hands created after images before ending with a clap.

"Here I go!" Hiruzen spat out a stream of water aimed at Hiriku. Hiriku also reacted instantly and his full body turned into flames that lit up the surroundings like a candle.

The moment the water made contact with Hiriku's flame body, steam rose up as most of the water passed through his chest.

The outermost of the water even evaporated from the heat.

This result made Hiriku and Hiruzen grin. Iruka however was even more dumbfounded.

"Hahahaha!" Hiriku laughed as he made a victory fist and swung it in the air.

"Huehuehue..." Hiruzen followed. He now looked at Hiriku like he was a treasure.

"..." Iruka.

After a while, the laughter died down. Now, the Hokage's face was back to normal. He looked at Hiriku who could not hide the sly smile on his face.

"Now that you have proven your "uniqueness", what do you want?"

"Oh, it is simple! I just want some resources to strengthen my body and... I want someone to protect me!" Although he did not add some honorifics, Hiriku's tone was extremely respectful and polite.

"Oh? You are indeed smart kid, not bad. I can certainly give you what you ask for, but what can I get in return?" Hiruzen puffed another lung-full of smoke.

Hiriku's smile did not fade, instead, it deepened and he said, "Well... is my loyalty enough, Hokage-sama?"

"Hehehe... You really are not bad. Alright! But I have one condition!"

"Please..."

"You must keep your ability a secret! Don't reveal it to anyone, including your family or any close to you at all. It was already a mistake that you have told your friend about it, but we'll do something about it. You don't know, but there are certain people with certain goals." Hiriku nodded.

"It was indeed my oversight on that part, Hokage-sama. It won't happen again." In fact, the only reason he told Naito about was that he wanted to collect information about his predecessor and some knowledge about how the village worked. It was the fastest way he could think of.

"Then we have a deal!"

"Agreed!"

The two shook hands.

Just then, in the corner of his eyes, Hiriku saw Iruka collapse with a loud "Thud!". His eyes widened when he saw a masked man with a rabbit-designed mask.

'ANBU!' Then he heard the Hokage say,

"Now you should have some idea of how secret this needs to be..."