Kimimaro slowly took off his shirt.
If he didn't, he'd ruin a piece of clothing every time he fought.
He looked at Uzumaki Naruto and raised both hands.
The skin in his palms split open, revealing snow-white bone.
"Whoa, that looks as cool as Sasuke's Sharingan!"
Naruto blurted it out at once.
Though honestly, the Sharingan is cooler.
Sasuke couldn't help but curl his lip.
Figures—what an airhead.
Kimimaro shook his head.
With a personality like Naruto's, he wouldn't survive three days in Otogakure's "test-subject genius" brawls.
"Begin!"
Kitazawa announced.
"Multiple Shadow Clone Technique!"
Naruto shouted, and—poof—hundreds of clones burst out of the smoke.
Kimimaro's opening step froze.
His pupils tightened as he took in the Narutos blanketing most of the training field.
Jūgo stared, dumbfounded.
Even after entering Sage Transformation, he could barely muster this much chakra.
"How are there this many clones?"
Tayuya was stunned.
She hadn't learned the Multiple Shadow Clone Technique, but she knew the basics: it's a massive chakra hog.
In her experience, even elite Oto jōnin could spit out maybe a dozen or two at once.
But Naruto making a hundred plus? Was that a normal ninja's chakra pool?
"This is Naruto. You'll get used to it," Ino said, patting her shoulder.
"But…"
Tayuya opened her mouth, then didn't know what to say.
"Don't rush it," Shikamaru said casually. "This is just the start. The real shock is coming."
"...?"
Tayuya glitched out at that.
More shocking than Multiple Shadow Clones?
He's seven, for crying out loud.
She wanted to swear, but the fight yanked her attention back.
"Leaf Whirlwind!"
Two clones charged Kimimaro together, both lifting their right legs.
"Dynamic Entry!"
Another clone leapt in with a flying kick aimed at Kimimaro.
"Leaf Adamantine Whirlwind!"
Two clones flashed to his left and right rear, blasting in with heavy back roundhouse kicks.
Tayuya held her breath.
Kimimaro was ringed in by Naruto's clones—five up close, with an endless stream barreling in from outside.
Shikotsumyaku: Dance of the Willow!
Kimimaro crossed his arms; segments of bone sprouted all over him.
He moved, the bones in his palms stabbing like blades through the two clones in front.
Pop, pop—both clones burst into smoke.
He hopped back to evade the midair kick and snapped his elbows back.
Bones jutted from his elbows and smashed into two clones' right legs.
Both howled.
Kimimaro snapped a knee up; the bone at his knee spiked through both clones in succession.
"Leaf Rock-Destroying Rise!"
One clone switched tactics in time, elbowing for Kimimaro's head.
"Leaf Great Whirlwind!"
At the same moment, another clone's spinning kick scythed in.
Kimimaro brought both forearms up to guard his head.
The elbow strike thudded against bone and dissipated.
He lifted his leg—bang—catching the roundhouse on his shin.
A full-on melee exploded.
"Uh-oh. My ranking's in danger," Kiba muttered, surprised at Kimimaro's showing.
He'd figured Kimimaro was around Tayuya and Jūgo's level. Apparently not the same tier.
"So that's Shikotsumyaku?" Ino breathed. "No wonder it's so famous. It's nasty."
"Lasting this long under a storm of Naruto's clones—there aren't many in the Advanced Class who could," Tenten nodded.
Neji kept his thoughts to himself, but the matchup looked prickly.
Gentle Fist's point strikes have to land on tenketsu. Hit bone instead and it does nothing.
And those bones extend and retract at will—like he's covered in blades—naturally counters Gentle Fist.
Air Palm would work, sure, but on its own it probably wouldn't be enough.
Neji pondered.
The win condition would be Byakugan plus Eight Trigrams Sixty-Four Palms.
Use Byakugan to read his movement, slip around the bones, then finish with Sixty-Four Palms.
Sasuke frowned slightly.
Shikotsumyaku really did live up to the hype.
He reflexively opened his two-tomoe Sharingan and felt a little better—two tomoe were enough to read Kimimaro's motion.
"I still think Sas—"
Sakura cut herself off.
Probably best not to jinx it until Sasuke and Kimimaro actually fought.
"Well?" Tayuya asked proudly, hearing the chatter.
Naruto's strength had exceeded her expectations, but at least Kimimaro was holding the line.
Shino adjusted his glasses, about to speak—when Naruto yelled:
"Violent — Leaf Adamantine-Strength Whirlwind!"
Catching an opening, Naruto flooded his leg with chakra and booted Kimimaro clean across the field.
Tayuya's face froze.
In the original timeline, Kimimaro shredded Naruto's clones with Dance of the Willow.
But that Naruto barely knew taijutsu—he just brute-forced veterans with endless clones.
This Naruto was different—he'd been learning taijutsu under Might Guy.
And today's Kimimaro wasn't at peak.
In straight hand-to-hand, Naruto wasn't actually worse—he was just hard-countered by Shikotsumyaku.
"Your taijutsu's great—it's got my youth boiling!"
Naruto flashed a thumbs-up; his teeth sparkled.
Kimimaro climbed to his feet, eyes serious.
The only reason he'd lasted this long was Shikotsumyaku—or more precisely, bone as hard as forged steel.
Without it, in pure taijutsu he was worse than Naruto.
He drew a long breath and pulled a bone blade from his left arm.
Shikotsumyaku: Dance of the Camellia!
In a blur he was on Naruto, bone blade slashing into a flurry of afterimages.
Clones rushed to cover him, but the blade's multihit arcs chewed them to smoke before they got close.
"Samehada!"
Naruto tossed out a summoning scroll.
A seven-year-old lugging the Greatsword Samehada around on his back looked a little insane, so Kitazawa had given him a fix: use a summoning scroll as a "sheath" and call it out in combat.
Since Samehada is, in essence, a summoned beast rather than a mere sword, it worked.
Kimimaro's bone blade chopped the scroll in half.
Smoke billowed.
Kimimaro's heart lurched—his bone blade refused to go another inch.
A bizarre sword filled his vision.
Its backward-facing barbs had locked his blade in place.
Kimimaro's eyes narrowed as the "sword" opened a mouth and snapped at him.
He immediately sprang back.
Samehada missed and smacked its lips.
"Leaf-Style Swordsmanship!"
Naruto lunged in with both hands on the hilt and hammered down with Samehada.
Kimimaro moved on instinct to parry with bone.
The force dragged his right arm down—and Samehada's jaws snapped for his hand.
Troublesome.
He yanked his hand back.
Samehada slammed into the ground, gouging a crater.
Naruto heaved the blade up and chopped like an axe.
Kimimaro sprang clear, riposting with a descending diagonal cut.
"Samehada: Flying Chain Slash!"
Naruto twisted the grip.
Samehada shot out, arced in the air, and hooked around to strike Kimimaro from behind—its handle linked by a chain.
Kimimaro didn't want a double KO; he rolled his wrist and caught the attack with his bone blade, while two spikes erupted from his back.
Samehada crashed into the bony protrusions.
The impact blasted Kimimaro off his feet.
He landed without real injury and turned back to face Naruto.
Clearly, he was on the back foot again.
He didn't get it.
Naruto didn't have a kekkei genkai—so why was his power this ridiculous?
"Is that still Leaf-Style?" Sakura groaned, hand to forehead.
She'd seen Sasuke's Leaf-Style—sleek, elegant, effortless.
"But it suits Samehada," Shikamaru said, lacing his hands behind his head. "I, for one, wouldn't beat that."
Sasuke frowned.
Naruto's Konoha-Style looked crude, but the whole point was "hit like a truck."
If it came down to pure swordplay between them, it might actually be a toss-up.
"Is that even a sword?" Tayuya muttered, finally recovering from Naruto's display.
"You know the Seven Ninja Swordsmen of the Mist?" Ino asked back.
"No."
Tayuya shook her head.
She'd spent her days brawling with test-subject "geniuses" in an underground hall—Kirigakure lore wasn't on the syllabus.
"Samehada's one of the seven blades," Ino explained, then added the kicker.
"So why is it in Naruto's hands?" Tayuya asked.
"Kitazawa-sensei gave it to him," Ino said, and gave her the quick version of Kitazawa's greatest hits.
"…"
Tayuya fell silent.
Kitazawa being able to beat Orochimaru—that, she'd expected.
But Naruto's strength had blindsided her all over again.
"What's that?" Sasuke suddenly blurted, face tightening.
Tayuya looked over on reflex—Kimimaro's whole body was crawling with black curse marks.
Already pushed this far?
"That's the Cursed Seal of Earth," Jūgo said simply. "A seal that temporarily boosts your power."
For a heartbeat Sasuke was tempted—but he shook his head.
First, it was ugly.
Second, he didn't need it—or rather, Uchiha really didn't.
In Kitazawa's words from a previous life: with the Sharingan you already walk the unbeatable path—why borrow crutches?
In the original, Sasuke accepted the Cursed Seal of Heaven because revenge fried his brain.
Now? He was happy. No need for crooked shortcuts.
"Orochimaru-sama created it!" Tayuya said, instantly proud.
Everyone knew the name Orochimaru; eyebrows rose all around.
"And the price?" Shikamaru asked, eyes on the fight.
With Curse Mark: State One, Kimimaro's strength, speed, and chakra all spiked.
He'd been trailing, but now he was roughly even with Naruto wielding Samehada.
He still wasn't about to let himself get bitten, though.
"Stay in it too long and you lose control—maybe even yourself," Jūgo said, blunt as ever.
That killed Sasuke's interest for good.
The others dropped it too.
"It does look a bit like Proto–Sage Mode," Hiruzen observed after a moment.
"The Sage Mode from the Three Great Sacred Lands?" Kosuke Maruboshi asked.
"Mm," Hiruzen nodded. "It's called the Curse Mark of Earth. Orochimaru crafted it off his research into Sage Mode."
He'd read Tsunade's files and knew it well.
"No wonder he's your student," Kosuke said to Hiruzen, impressed. "It looks effective."
"The strain on the body is huge," Kakashi said, Sharingan exposed as he watched.
"If it had no downside, Otogakure would've eclipsed the Five Great Villages already," Kosuke said dryly.
"Orochimaru's working on an optimized version," Hiruzen added after a pause. "If he actually succeeds, that'd be a boon for Konoha."
"Think Naruto wins?" Kosuke changed the subject.
"Do we even need to ask?" Hiruzen chuckled. "He hasn't gone all out yet."
Kakashi's mouth twitched.
Naruto had picked up Guy's habit of testing people with taijutsu.
When fists didn't finish it, he'd switch to range and drown you in chakra.
And about that chakra…Kakashi ran out of complaints.
At seven, Naruto already had more than he did. It was absurd.
"What's he doing—giving up on close combat?" Tayuya said, noticing Naruto open space.
"Here it comes," Kiba guessed at once.
"Multiple Shadow Clone Technique!"
Naruto dropped Samehada and flashed through seals.
Pop, pop, pop, pop!
Another hundred clones erupted.
Kimimaro watched him, breathing hard.
The longer the curse mark stayed on, the heavier the toll—especially in a fight this intense.
He could still manage State One.
Was Naruto going for another clone swarm?
Kimimaro actually felt relieved.
Given a choice between Naruto with Samehada versus a carpet of clones, he'd pick the clones.
But… what was this?
He stared as Naruto's clones split into two neat ranks.
"Wind Style: Gale Palm!"
The first rank clapped their hands.
Chakra rolled between their palms, compressing into wind.
A low howl rose.
Gale after gale poured out, knitting into a sky-blotting storm.
"Wind Style: Vacuum Shuriken!"
The second rank whipped out shuriken—each one sheathed in Wind chakra.
"???"
Even Kimimaro couldn't keep a straight face at that.
Without a second thought he triggered Curse Mark: State Two.
His skin darkened; huge bones burst from his back.
The storm hit.
He crossed his arms; bones erupted everywhere.
The crushing pressure slammed into him.
His hair and clothes streamed straight back.
With a roar, he planted his feet and held—sheer power keeping him upright in the gale.
Then the wind-infused shuriken arrived.
Shikotsumyaku: Dance of the Camellia!
He swung in ceaseless flurries.
Clang, clang, clang—the shuriken pinged away, but the combined force of the blades and the storm drove him backward step by step.
With only the thought of Orochimaru in his head, Kimimaro hacked until the bone blade became a blur.
He could not fall here.
"Am I in a genjutsu?" Tayuya muttered, watching Kimimaro like a weed in a typhoon, ready to be ripped up any second.
It was her first time seeing him this haggard—even in State Two.
"He's strong," Kiba said, genuine.
He meant Kimimaro.
"Kimimaro would probably place top five in our class," Shikamaru assessed.
Ino glanced at Tayuya—who'd been talking about cracking the top five in the field exam.
"…"
The words "top five" broke something in Tayuya.
Even at her cockiest, there was no way she'd still say that out loud.
"Kimimaro's at his limit. If he doesn't drop the curse mark now, the side effects kick in," Jūgo said, worried.
At that moment, Samehada slipped around behind Kimimaro.
Its jaws opened, clamped down—and began gulping chakra.
A huge chunk of his chakra vanished. He was forced to cancel Curse Mark: State Two on the spot.
Kitazawa flickered forward.
He clapped his hands; a wall of earth surged up in front of him, blocking the storm and the rain of shuriken.
He turned to Samehada.
It hastily let go.
"Give it back," Kitazawa said.
Without a word, Samehada pulsed and poured chakra back into Kimimaro.
"It can absorb chakra… and share it?"
Tayuya felt her entire worldview wobble.
~~~
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