The afternoon sun cast long shadows across the training ground outside Tsunade's house. Hanekawa launched himself upward, clearing an impressive height before landing smoothly on his feet.

  Asuma Sarutobi watched from the sidelines, his expression uncertain. "Does this kind of training actually work?"

  "Why aren't you training?" Hanekawa glanced over at him, already moving into his next set of jumps.

  "I don't need this kind of training," Asuma said hesitantly.

  Hanekawa landed and turned to face him. "Train however you normally would. I'm not here to teach you—I'm here to be your sparring partner."

  Asuma's eyes lit up. His father, the Third Hokage, had once told him that ninja combat was fundamentally about information warfare. He'd sparred with Hanekawa three times already and lost decisively each time. But that was before he understood Hanekawa's fighting style. With repeated exposure, with a real sparring partner who could adapt and teach through combat itself...

  Maybe he could finally win.

  As the son of the Hokage, Asuma had access to elite instructors, but they held back. They were cautious. Here, with Hanekawa, there were no such restrictions.

  Asuma plucked a leaf from a nearby tree and held it carefully in his palm. Hanekawa perked up immediately—this was exactly the training he'd been hoping for. But he didn't rush. Instead, he returned to his physical conditioning, letting Asuma work.

  Time passed. Sweat dripped from Asuma's forehead as he focused intently on the leaf, channeling his chakra with precision. Finally, after what felt like an eternity, the leaf split cleanly in half.

  Asuma exhaled sharply and collapsed onto the ground, exhausted.

  Hanekawa walked over and handed him a water bottle. "What kind of training is that? I've never seen it before."

  "Of course you haven't," Asuma said, pride evident in his voice as he caught his breath. "This is wind-style nature transformation training. Only chunin are supposed to learn it."

  "Impressive," Hanekawa admitted. "I'd like to hear more about it."

  "Sure!" Asuma was thrilled to explain. He launched into a detailed description of the three-step process: mastering the cutting property of wind chakra by slicing leaves, increasing chakra output to cut through waterfalls, and finally integrating it with actual jutsu to maximize power.

  Hanekawa listened intently, filing away every detail. This is perfect. I can definitely work with this. Even if someone discovered him training this way, it didn't matter. He had Tsunade backing him.

  "Thanks for teaching me," Hanekawa said once Asuma finished.

  "No problem!" Asuma waved dismissively. "If you have questions later, just ask. I actually enjoy explaining this stuff." He paused, then added with a slight grin, "Now I understand why the old man nags at me constantly."

  Stolen from its rightful author, this tale is not meant to be on Amazon; report any sightings.

  Hanekawa glanced at the sky. The sun was already descending toward the horizon. "Will you stay for dinner?"

  "Not today," Asuma said, shaking his head. "I didn't tell my family I'd be out this long."

  "Understood. See you next time."

  Hanekawa headed inside, already thinking about the shower he desperately needed before preparing dinner.

  ---

  Asuma returned home in excellent spirits. When his father, Sarutobi Hiruzen, heard the door open and saw the smile on his son's face, he turned from his paperwork with curiosity.

  "You seem happy. Did you finally defeat Hanekawa?"

  "No," Asuma admitted, "but we trained together today. We're becoming friends."

  Hiruzen's eyebrows rose. "Is that so? What happened?"

  Asuma recounted the afternoon's events, explaining how Hanekawa had offered to be his sparring partner and how he'd learned about wind-style nature transformation training.

  Hiruzen stroked his beard thoughtfully. Hanekawa is more perceptive than I gave him credit for. But then again, a six-year-old wouldn't have the energy to maintain a false persona all day. And wind-style training wasn't classified information—it was standard curriculum for advanced students.

  What mattered most was Asuma's development. His son had genuine potential to become Hokage one day.

  "That's good," Hiruzen said warmly. "Hanekawa is indeed worth befriending."

  Asuma nodded and headed upstairs to shower.

  Not long after, the front door opened again.

  "Jiraiya?" Hiruzen looked up from his desk. "When did you return?"

  "Just arrived," Jiraiya explained, holding up a book. "Used the Reverse Summoning Technique. But look what I brought back—the new Rai Kaen novel!"

  Hiruzen's expression became complicated. "You're still reading those?"

  "Still reading?" Jiraiya's eyes widened. "The latest one is even better than the last! The worldbuilding is incredible. You absolutely have to—"

  "I don't read that sort of thing," Hiruzen said quickly, noticing his wife emerging from the kitchen. "I read more... serious literature."

  "Stop pretending, old man," Jiraiya said with a knowing smirk. "I know you better than that."

  "What book are you talking about?" Biwako asked, stepping into the room with a stern expression.

  Jiraiya's face went pale. He quickly shoved the book behind his back. "Ah... we were discussing the Will of Fire. Very important philosophical text."

  Biwako's eyes narrowed. "I appreciate your visits, but I don't appreciate being lied to. That was clearly not what you were discussing."

  "I... have somewhere else to be!" Jiraiya bolted for the door without another word.

  He didn't stop running until Hiruzen's house was completely out of sight. Only then did he pause to catch his breath, perched safely in a tall tree.

  "Good luck with that, old man," he muttered with a grin.

  Jiraiya settled onto a sturdy branch and pulled out the novel he'd been so eager to share. He opened it carefully, already anticipating the contents.

  "Rai Kaen is a genius," he murmured after reading several pages. "Elves, demons, angels, beautiful serpent women..." He paused mid-thought, his expression shifting to something more contemplative.

  Beautiful serpents. He'd actually encountered those before—the three snake princesses of the Ryuchi Cave could transform into human form. They were snakes by nature but could take human shape at will.

  I wonder if Myoboku Mountain has similar creatures? Or Shikkotsu Forest? His mind began to wander through the possibilities. What about the tailed beasts? The Nine-Tailed Fox was definitely intelligent enough to...

  "No. Stop," Jiraiya said firmly, shaking his head to clear the thoughts. "That's not... that's not appropriate."

  He took a deep breath and refocused on the book, though his mind remained pleasantly distracted.