I started a cult in Naruto world Chapter 6

Chapter 7: Physical Technique Secret Art - Thousand Years of Death

Seeing the two boys' running stances, Hatake Sakumo became interested, especially in the blond boy. He noticed how low his center of gravity was and how he swung his hands behind him—a touch of the ninja style.

However, the self-proclaimed "Old mister" from the Icha Icha book series, who called himself that, wasn't as impressive. He was swinging his hands in front of his chest—a very non-ninja move!

"Be careful, Lord Sakumo!"

Minato Namikaze shouted, unsure of who the ninja before him was. However, he heard Lord Hokage call him Sakumo, so he figured it out.

Meanwhile, the attacks of both Minato and Tatsuma almost simultaneously reached Sakumo. The kunai in their hands were aimed at Sakumo's waist.

Sakumo's eyelid twitched. Though he understood it was due to their height, it still annoyed him!

"Boom~"

In the instant the kunai almost touched Sakumo, he suddenly turned into smoke.

"Tap, tap~"

The kunai of both boys landed on a piece of wood. This was the most basic substitution jutsu, even without carefully choosing the right timing and position. If he did that, it would be too unfair to these kids.

Sakumo knew that Sarutobi Hiruzen had him spar with these two kids for a reason. Therefore, he reappeared about ten meters away from Minato and Tatsuma, just as Sakumo had planned.

This distance was the same distance that lower-grade students from the Ninja Academy practiced kunai throwing at. Just now, these two boys were practicing their kunai throwing at this distance.

Minato and Tatsuma complied with Sakumo's intent, swiftly switching weapons from their worn-out kunai to rusted shuriken.

They had a total of six shuriken, somewhat irregularly aimed at Sakumo. The irregularity stemmed from neither of them having mastered the technique of simultaneously throwing multiple shuriken.

Minato hadn't learned it yet, and although Tatsuma had picked up the skill through his talent in projectile techniques, his natural talent was only at 20%, not enough to fully utilize the technique.

Yet, these six shuriken failed to exert even a fraction of pressure on Sakumo. He traced a circle in the air with his hands, effortlessly catching the shuriken. Then, with a swift motion, he sent them flying back toward the two boys.

Seeing the shuriken, now at least twice as fast as when they were thrown, both Tatsuma and Minato displayed nervous expressions. They quickly tracked the trajectory of the shuriken and wielded their kunai with speed.

"Ding, ding, ding~"

"Ding~"

Tatsuma managed to deflect three shuriken, while Minato managed to deflect only two. However, they both cleanly evaded the last one.

"Not bad!"

Hatake Sakumo rarely boasted, but in the next moment, his figure was shrouded in a cloud of smoke. From within the smoke, Sakumo's voice could be heard.

"Guess which one is me?"

"Puff, puff, puff~"

Three figures of Hatake Sakumo burst out from the smoke, charging towards the two boys. These weren't shadow clones; it was the most basic form of the clone jutsu. However, solely based on appearance, it was enough to confuse and deceive.

At least Tatsuma couldn't discern. He flung his last shuriken towards the middle Sakumo while aiming his kunai at the left Sakumo. In response, Minato swiftly attacked the right Sakumo. Since they couldn't differentiate, they treated all three as real.

"Puff, puff, puff~"

Unexpectedly, all three Sakumos were fakes. Tatsuma pursed his lips and said, "We were misled."

Sakumo's earlier statement made them assume that at least one of the three Sakumos was real, but they didn't expect Sakumo with his thick eyebrows and eyes to play tricks on two five-year-olds. Fortunately, Sakumo had only been amusing himself and didn't follow up with a real attack. Otherwise, Tatsuma and Minato would have been defeated.

"Next, let me show you some advanced ninjutsu!"

Sakumo's voice sounded again. Suddenly, one of the Sakumos charged at the boys from the side. Both boys quickly defended and prepared to assist each other, assuming one was a clone and the other the real Sakumo.

"Boom, boom~"

To their surprise, both figures were tangible this time! Minato and Tatsuma were hit and flew in different directions.

Shadow Clone Jutsu! The information about this jutsu flashed through Tatsuma's mind, but he had no time to ponder, as Sakumo's haunting voice echoed once more.

"A while ago, I developed a physical technique, which I call the Secret Art of Physical Technique! It allows a person to experience the torment and pain of a thousand years in an instant."

"Let you two little brats be the first opponents to experience this Secret Art! If you can endure it, then you win!"

Thousand Years of Death?! Tatsuma's back tensed, and he suddenly felt malevolent eyes behind him.

Not far away, Sarutobi Hiruzen frowned. He hadn't heard Sakumo mention any new physical techniques recently, and using the Secret Art of Physical Technique on these two kids was just ridiculous!

At that moment, the Sakumo that appeared behind Tatsuma and Minato completed hand seals. Seeing the seals, Sarutobi Hiruzen's brow furrowed deeper.

"Tiger Seal? Fire Release? No, he clearly said it's a physical technique."

While analyzing, Sarutobi Hiruzen was also prepared to intervene, as he had seen enough to satisfy his criteria.

He couldn't let these two kids get hurt. If that happened, he wouldn't deserve to be Hokage of Konoha!

"Thousand Years of Death!"

"Minato! Dodge to the side!"

Tatsuma shouted quickly, while both boys rolled sideways without caring about appearances. Minato didn't know why, but he trusted Tatsuma and leaped to the side. Then he quickly looked back to where the original Sakumo had been.

He saw Sakumo crouched on the ground, hands forming the Tiger Seal, thrusting them forward. Seeing Sakumo's pose and the height of his hands, Minato felt a chill down his spine and was grateful for Tatsuma's timely reminder.

"Huh? They actually dodged it? Truly remarkable geniuses!"

"Boom~"

The shadow clone of Sakumo beside Minato disappeared. The real Sakumo, a short distance away from Tatsuma, stood up and scratched his head, looking embarrassed. He had actually missed?

Tatsuma also felt a shiver climb up his spine at this point. This Sakumo had actually used his real self to perform this technique on him. It was simply degrading!

Looking at Sarutobi Hiruzen, Sakumo was about to explain, but he saw Hiruzen's dark expression.

For a moment, Hiruzen thought Sakumo was truly going to harm the village's children. But it turned out to be such a farce! He had wasted his worry! Indeed, his judgment about Sakumo potentially falling into darkness after serving in the Anbu for so long was absolutely wrong. This person was absolutely not qualified to descend into darkness.

"Hahaha~" Sakumo scratched his head and said, "According to the agreement, I lost. Let's go. I'll take you to buy ninja tools!"

"Ding~ Praise and defeat the opponent to gain talents [Speed +1] [Ninjutsu +1]."

Upon hearing the system prompt, Tatsuma's mouth twitched madly. He almost couldn't help but laugh out loud. He could only gain such a minuscule amount of talent?

"Gain."

Ah! Time to eat!