Chapter 216: Shikamaru vs Hiruzen II

Finally, the Spider and the man collided. Hiruzen was agile like a monkey, he easily escaped the attack of the spider's sharp legs, parried the blow with a staff and, turning over in the air, swung his staff. Obeying his comrade, Enma expanded sharply and literally drove Hata into the ground, inflicting a crushing blow on the head.

"Ha, to be expected ... This monkey is not so simple" - it turned out that Hiruzen would have no problem suppressing Shikamaru's summons. Hatu simply could not twitch, with one crushing attack of the diamond staff, he simply lost the opportunity to continue the fight. The spider's head is the most vulnerable place, so Hatu just lay and twitched, and then disappeared altogether in a cloud of smoke.

Tumbling in the air, Hiruzen laughed and grabbed his staff and landed on the ground, glancing at Shikamaru with a grin:

- You have a terrible call to the guy. Only he is not very agile, it's a pity.

- Ha, are you still gloating? Who knew you were so smart at seventy.

- Seventy?! - the old man grunted indignantly: - I'm only sixty-eight! Remember it well!

Laughing, Shikamaru nodded.

- A good number, well, but I'm thirteen!

- Oh, you ... - smiling, Hiruzen sighed:

- OK OK! You have won! Don't show off your talents here!

After a moment of silence, Shikamaru took a step forward and spoke gravely. Even his aura changed instantly:

- Teacher, even if you didn't teach me often, I remembered everything. In this battle, I will manage without my Sun Mode, without the powers of Dojutsu and Sage. If you can defeat me in Ninjutsu, I will not get involved in the affairs of the village. But if you fail, I hope you can hand over your post to Tsunade with a clear conscience.

- Tsunade? - The old man immediately changed in his face and asked in surprise: - What does she have to do with it?

Shikamaru calmly explained:

“As I said, I need someone worthy to accept the position of Hokage. I'm not that power-hungry, and I'm not the type to give out boring orders. - remembering the past, the guy just grinned. Then he simply did not have a choice, in the world of people the power of one person is an empty phrase. But, in the shinobi world, everything is different!

With a gleam of determination in his eyes, the guy continued:

- I strive for my own strength. But Konoha is my homeland and yours too. Here is my clan, all the people who are important to me. I want to protect this place, but I am not capable of being a worthy leader. You yourself saw how I resolved the issue with the Hyuuga, so I better just be the one to keep the peace. I have no need for wealth ... - raising the stone, Shikamaru folded a row of one-handed seals and the stone in his hands instantly transformed into a piece of gold. Hiruzen froze in shock, and Shikamaru simply threw away the valuable nugget, as if it were a simple cobblestone.

- I can create metals and wood. In any part of this world, I can get wealth. In the worst case, I have a power that I am always happy to use. But, as I said, it's time for you to rest. There are not many worthy candidates to take your place in Konoha. Jiraiya will disagree, and Tsunade may well make a difference if I cover her. Of course, she is only a temporary heir to power. The time will come and Konoha will have someone more ready for this responsibility.

Hiruzen thought for a bit, and then asked:

- Does she know about what you have planned?

"Oh," Shikamaru smiled. "Why should my wife give up on this?"

- W-wife ?! - the old man's face, twisted in shock and surprise, was worth seeing. He almost choked, but pulled himself together in time and said with a hoarse laugh:

- You're not joking bad ... Ha-ha ... You're not serious, are you?

- Quite. Once I defeat all the Kage in the great villages, she will be mine. Such is the deal, and I doubt she will have the opportunity to refuse!

Hiruzen froze again, he was silent for almost half a minute, and then shook his head and sighed:

- This is news ... I can't believe it! You and Tsu ... This is unthinkable! She's good for you! I know she uses technique, but you're my student, you're not so blind!

- Oh, you mean it. Well, - Shikamaru shrugged his shoulders. - I can return her youth without any problems. I have a technique for this.

- What?! Is there such a ninjutsu ?! - Hiruzen was amazed, he did not believe that his student was lying, but for some reason he did not want to accept his words. He knew hundreds of techniques, but he had never heard of something like this in his life!

Shikamaru shrugged his shoulders nonchalantly again.

- Anything can happen. I still want to hear your answer. Are you ready to hand over your post to my future wife?

- W-wife ... - Hiruzen again muttered the word incredulously. He was amazed at his disciple more and more. Not only his strength, but his actions are simply too amazing ... He and Tsunade are both his students, there is nothing surprising that one student marries another, of course, if they are of different sexes. But, they are completely different generations! Such a thing could not fit into my head, especially when you realize that Shikamaru is only thirteen!

Still with difficulty, but Hiruzen accepted this, still doubting and sincerely wanting to learn the truth from Tsunade. She couldn't agree! Although, knowing her character ... After another sigh, Hiruzen raised a thoughtful look and nodded:

- So be it. I still wanted to retire for a long time. If I had not been asked, I would have remained an elder. Except, I wanted to take a look at your true power Shikamaru. I am not a fool if you decided to make her your wife ... If you decided to put her in my place, it is not difficult to understand who will have the power in his hands. Even though you said that it doesn't matter to you, I want to be sure if you can speak such loud words!

Laughing, Shikamaru shook his hands sharply and bared his teeth.

“This is the conversation of a true shinobi! - at the same moment, a terrifying wave escaped from Shikamaru in all directions, several trees immediately sagged and broke. The earth cracked and even the water from the river began to soar in an amazing way in the air!

The visible silver chakra swirled in currents around Shikamaru's body. Hiruzen immediately swallowed tensely, it was not the first time he saw something like that, but for the first time he encountered a stronger manifestation of chakra than that of Tobirama and Hashirama. Even then, in the Hyuuga quarter, he realized that the current Shikamaru has not been inferior to his teacher for a long time. This youngster is a real monster, he is so strong that even his body has matured ahead of schedule!

After folding a couple of one-handed seals, Shikamaru slammed the ground sharply.

- Earth Release: Hell of a Thousand Spears! - instantly the soil trembled and the sharpest earthen peaks began to break out everywhere. Hiruzen immediately jumped into the air and, swinging his staff, broke the oncoming earthen points. They were no less than trees, abusing huge ones!

"His Ninjutsu is strong ..." - quickly moving, in a jump, the old man folded a row of seals and spat out:

- Earth Release: Mud Stream!

A wave of mud burst from his mouth onto the ascending earthen spears, quickly turning all the soil into liquid. Only, the spears continued to break free. In a radius of thirty, more than a dozen huge sharp columns have grown dead around them, and then tree branches will begin to grow earthen spears. Hiruzen immediately broke into a sweat if he underestimated Shikamaru and naively stayed between these columns, as anyone could do, now he would turn into a sieve. This technique was really scary, it looked like it just created columns, but at the end a meat grinder began between them!