Hiruko, arriving at the training area, found a secluded spot not too far from the area the battles were going to take place in in order to make sure he could hear when his name was called. While waiting, he was subtly practicing the press-press fruit, adding a small gravity increase to the rock.
A small circle of transparent energy appeared under the rock, and the rock began to slam into the ground with more intensity, the ground adopting cracks as it struggled to bear the force of the rock. Then Hiruko tried reversing the gravity; the rock then floated lightly a few inches above the ground.
'I wonder how much I can affect the gravity of an object before the strain becomes too much.' But before Hiruko could test his thoughts, his teacher, Dan Nakamura, appeared, his stern voice reaching across the training ground: "Listen up. As I said before, 1-on-1 matches—if you forfeit or are deemed to not be able to continue, stop fighting.
Now first up is Jariyah vs. Orochimaru." As he said this, Jariyah, in his energetic fashion, jumped to the center of the platform, yelling loudly.
"Oh yeah, Orochimaru, Lord Jariya is going to show you true power."
Orochimaru, walking up to the platform with his same calm demeanor, adopted a small smirk. "Oh, is that right, Jariya? I guess we'll see." His tongue, though not as long as in the anime, was still creepy as he licked his lips.
'Still an unsettling weirdo.' Hiruko thought
"Take your positions and form the seal of Confrontation," Dan Nakamura said as he officiated the battle.
Jariya and Orochimaru, after forming the seal, immediately began their battle. Jariya rushing in, closing the distance, launched a kick that Orochimaru blocked with his arm before counterattacking with a punch.
Jariya, catching his punch with one hand, tried attacking with the other, but Orochimaru, seeing this, caught Jariya's punch.
Now locked in a deadlock, Jariyah pulled Orochimaru in and did a backflip, creating distance while hitting Orochimaru's face, drawing blood.
Jariya, now a couple of meters away, locked eyes with Orochimaru. Orochimaru, seeing this, felt a small smirk tug at his lips. Wiping the blood off from the corner of his mouth, he said, "What happened? Lord Jariya retreated with the first sign of trouble?" his tone dripping with mockery.
"Oh, I'm just getting started, Orochi," Jariya said, taking out a kunai and running back in again. As he rushed in, he formed a series of hand signs, and with a puff, a clone in his likeness appeared beside him. Then both Jariyas, with a burst of speed, attacked Orochimaru, holding their kunai to his throat.
"Well, sorry, Orochi, seems like you lost," Jariya said triumphantly, his grin as big as the sun. But that smile soon turned into a frown when Orochimaru disappeared in a puff of smoke, and what replaced him was a log.
"What, where'd Orochi go?" Jariya said in confusion. Just as he was about to turn and scan the area, he saw a metal kunai pointed at his throat.
"I'm right here, Jariya." Orochimaru said, his voice calm but with a hint of pride. "That makes 301 wins on my side and 0 on yours."
However, instead of being sad at his 301 lost, like most thought he would, Jariya instead smiled even brighter. "It's okay, I'll win next time for sure, Orochi," he said, forming the seal of reconciliation. Orochimaru, showing a small smirk, said, "Yeah, sure, Jariya, I'll be waiting for your next loss." Orochimaru also formed the seal of reconciliation before both turned and walked off the stage.
On the sidelines Dan Nakamura was thinking about their battle.
'Both boys are way ahead of their peers when it comes to their fundamentals. Though the battle was short, they showed good ninjutsu and taijutsu talent for their age. Orochimaru's intellect and ninjutsu talent shined, being able to outsmart Jiraiya by casting the substitution Jutsu in a single hand sign and so quickly.'
It must be said that while most just saw Orochimaru just puff into a log, Dan, being a Jonin, could obviously see the hand signs of a child with Genin capabilities; however, to his surprise, it only required Orochimaru one hand sign to complete the Jutsu, which is something most Jonin can't even do.
Turning back to Jariya's performance, Dan thought, 'Jariya, on the other hand, doesn't seem to excel in anything in particular, almost as if he hasn't found his calling yet, but even then he is still keeping up with Orochimaru. Though they are not battlefield ready, I have faith they will be; once they get a good jonin teacher, their capabilities will skyrocket. Dan said with a small smirk before looking at the next names.
As he saw the names, he was a bit disappointed. 'Looks like this next fight will be pretty lackluster. I doubt the First Hokage's granddaughter will be able to show off much of her talent.
"Next Tsunade Senju vs. Hiruko." Hiruko, hearing his name, got up, walking lazily to the ring. Waiting for him was Tsunade with a mischievous smirk, looking as if she was thoroughly going to enjoy this.
"Form the seal of Confrontation," Dan said. Hiruko, forming the seal, relaxed his posture and every muscle. Everyone watching this was confused; a thought collectively formed within everyone's mind: 'What is he doing? Is he trying to die?'
Across from him, Tsunade, seeing his complete disregard for their battle, was overtaken by anger; her fist snapped shut, and she immediately charged in, wanting to pummel Hiruto. Using her chakra-enhanced strength, though not as refined as when she was older, was still formidable. This strength was aimed at Hiruko as she immediately swung at him. 'That'll show him not to—' but before Tsunade could finish her thought, to her surprise, Hiruko dodged her attack.
While Tsunade was standing there confused, Hiruko was more focused on a luminescent blue screen in front of him.
[Host, you have a mission.]
[Defeat Tsunade Senju
Reward: Observation Hak]
'There goes one more reason to give this battle my all.' Hiruko thought with a smile as he backflipped, disengaging from the battle.
Tsunade, on the other side, recovering from her stupor, charged in again. 'Maybe it was a fluke. Yeah, I'm sure of it. There's no way Hiruko could dodge me.' Tsunade thought her voice was tinged with pride and a hint of denial. She swung her fist once again at Hiruko's face, but to her surprise, once again, Hiruko dodged again and again like a piece of paper folding in many different ways to avoid her attacks.
'This paper art is really useful, but it's time to end this,' Hiruko thought, stopping a couple meters away from Tsunade, who was trying to catch her breath. Hiruko extended one hand toward Tsunade. At her feet a circle of transparent energy appeared.
'Press' Hiruto thought as Tsunade felt an inexplicable pressure fall on her; caught off guard, she immediately fell to one knee.
On the sidelines Dan and the other students sat awestruck. Dan, with more knowledge than the kids, immediately thought of what Hiruko's power could be. 'A kekkei genkai with no hand signs? But Hiruko is a regular civilian, Dan said with a slight frown.
The Hokage needs to know about this.' He said, forming hand signs next to him; a shadow clone formed immediately, disappearing to inform Hiruzen.
While Dan was thinking about Hiruko's new power, Hiruko was focused on Tsunade, who was resisting his gravitational pressure. 'I guess the bloodline of the First Hokage won't fall so easily. Well, I guess I'll increase the pressure… Press' Hiruko thought as he increased the gravity on Tsunade to 2x more than normal human gravity. 'This is my limit, Hiruko,' he thought with a frown. 'It seems to be working, though.'
On the other side Tsunade lay flat on the ground; a testament to her strength, she could still move somewhat but was unable to get up. Hiruko put his outstretched hand back into his pocket and walked over to Tsunade.
With a grin, he looked at her; bending down slightly at that moment, his red eyes met her hazel ones. Tsunade, a bit flustered, saw Hiruko smile, his teeth shining, but the moment she heard his next words, she took everything back. "You cryin?" Hiruko asked in his voice, teasing and full of amusement. At these words Tsunade felt a sense of helplessness, but more than that, she was pissed. But before she could strain herself even more, Dan appeared in the ring, grabbing Hiruko's shoulder. "This battle is over. Tsunade is unable to continue, so stand down, Hiruko," he said in his voice, leaving no room for argument.
This was the First Hokage's granddaughter a ninja with immense prestige and potential; he wouldn't hesitate to attack if he thought it necessary. "No problem, Teach," Hirko said, releasing the pressure on Tsunade, who then weakly got up, trying to hold back her tears.
All eyes were on Tsunade, filled with worry, surprise, or a bit of both, especially Jariyah's. The shinobi kids knew of her background and had never seen her cry. She was usually brazen and headstrong, but now she was crying like a regular child. However, while all of their eyes were on the Princess of Konoha, a pair of snake-like eyes were on Hiruko, who was lazily walking off the platform, ignoring both Tsunade and the children's chatter, and going back to his secluded spot to watch the next battles.
Dan, his gaze lingering on Hiruko's figure, thought to himself, 'Looks like we have another genius in the mix,' before walking off the stage with Tsunade announcing the next battle, "Might Duy vs. Nono Yakushi."
Hiruko, however, in a world of his own, paid no attention to the subsequent battles.
[Congratulations, Host, on defeating Tsunade Senju.]
[You have earned Observation Haki.]
At that moment Hiruko felt a sharp pain and a change in his body. It was weird; it's like a whole new world was opened, one filled with intent and emotions.
His gaze swept over the training area. 'Weird, I sense many hidden presences.' He didn't know exactly where they were, but he knew they were there. ' But I can't sense their emotions. Maybe it's because I'm not physically looking at them or I'm not proficient enough? … or they have no emotions at all, Root!' Hiruko thought, realization dawning on him, but quickly his face turned back expressionless.
'Well, it's not like I can do anything. Danzo probably already knows. I just have to hope Hiruzen intervenes and takes me for himself.' Hiruko thought, closing his eyes as if he was taking a nap.