"Is that… a three-tomoe Sharingan?"
Uchiha Inabi finally processed what he was seeing, shock flashing across his face.
He'd heard for a long time that Uchiha Sasuke had been called a genius from a very young age, but seeing this in person was still hard to believe.
This was the three-tomoe Sharingan. Once awakened, it basically meant jōnin-level combat power.
And as far as he knew, even Uchiha Itachi had only a one-tomoe Sharingan when he was eight.
Inabi had already been amazed by Itachi's talent before this.
In his mind, Itachi and Shisui were absolutely the most gifted Uchiha in recent years.
But now, compared to Sasuke, they suddenly looked a bit overshadowed.
Inabi took a deep breath and drew a ninja blade.
As an Uchiha, aside from genjutsu and Fire Release, Uchiha-Style swordsmanship was also a must.
He wanted to test just how far Sasuke's three-tomoe Sharingan had gone.
Inabi took the initiative, flickering forward to appear right in front of Sasuke.
Clang!
The ninja blade collided with the Sword of the Thunder God.
The two of them began a contest of swordsmanship.
Their three-tomoe Sharingan eyes could clearly see every movement the other made.
So the sword fight quickly turned into "I predict your prediction of my prediction."
After a few exchanges, Sasuke ended up on the back foot, struggling to keep up.
His three-tomoe Sharingan still wasn't on Inabi's level, especially in terms of perception.
Once Sasuke realized that, he immediately changed tactics.
He poured a massive amount of chakra into the Sword of the Thunder God.
Blinding lightning shot along the blade and raced straight toward Inabi.
Inabi reacted quickly. He let go of his sword, stepped back, and kicked the blade at the same time.
The ninja blade took the force and spun away like a giant shuriken, whistling toward Sasuke.
Sasuke hurriedly raised the Sword of the Thunder God and knocked it aside—
But the power behind the blade still made his body pause for an instant.
Genjutsu: Shiranui!
Right then, Inabi's three-tomoe Sharingan pulsed.
Sasuke felt the scenery in front of his eyes suddenly twist, and he was dragged into a genjutsu.
Fortunately, he'd spent the last three months training under Itachi and knew how to deal with this.
Simply put: use a Sharingan to counter a Sharingan.
The Sharingan could not only cast illusions, it could also see through them and reflect them back.
Sasuke immediately shattered Genjutsu: Shiranui.
But that brief delay was enough—Inabi's follow-up attack was already right in front of him.
He'd chosen the simplest option: ninja tools.
Sasuke saw four kunai flying straight at him and instinctively used the Body Flicker.
Even so, he still got clipped by one of them.
The kunai grazed his shoulder as it flew past, leaving a line of blood on the ground.
Leaf-Style: Willow!
Sasuke ignored his injury. The moment he landed and steadied himself, he raised the Sword of the Thunder God.
Inabi, who'd been about to press the attack, suddenly froze in place.
Genjutsu Release!
Inabi instantly used his three-tomoe Sharingan to break free.
He dispelled the illusion noticeably faster than Sasuke could.
The Sword of the Thunder God shot toward him like an arrow loosed from the string.
Inabi quickly dodged to the left.
At that exact moment, a piercing crackle of lightning rang out.
Right after throwing the Sword of the Thunder God, Sasuke had already launched Lightning Release: Chidori.
His right hand, shaped like a blade, thrust straight toward Inabi.
"Lightning Release: Chidori?"
Inabi's expression shifted—he recognized Hatake Kakashi's signature Lightning Release technique.
Fortunately, he was an Uchiha jōnin with a three-tomoe Sharingan.
In that tiny fraction of a second, he bent backward, dropping his upper body out of the line of attack.
Chidori whiffed past him.
But Sasuke didn't look disappointed at all—he immediately changed the shape of his Chidori.
Lightning Release: Chidori Current!
Blazing lightning surged from his right hand, racing across his entire body before exploding outward in all directions.
"Arghhh!"
Inabi was instantly swallowed by the lightning and let out a scream.
Even as a jōnin, taking Chidori Current head-on was far from pleasant.
The worst part, though, was the natural numbing effect of Lightning Release.
For a moment, his body wouldn't move at all.
Sasuke didn't hesitate. He drew a kunai and aimed it at him.
As the lightning faded, Inabi was already covered in wounds.
He stared at the kunai in front of him, fell silent for two seconds, then said, "I surrender."
Kitazawa immediately walked over to treat him.
Sasuke unconsciously tightened his grip on the kunai, the corner of his mouth lifting slightly.
He'd beaten an Uchiha jōnin.
Even if he'd relied on Lightning Release to do it, it still proved that his current strength really had reached the jōnin level.
"Inabi got careless. He didn't guard against Sasuke's Lightning Release."
Fugaku's tone was calm.
Hiashi's mouth twitched.
He was sure Fugaku was screaming with joy inside.
Both Neji, Hinata, and Sasuke had defeated jōnin, but Sasuke's performance was clearly the flashiest.
Because he'd mainly relied on his Lightning Release, not on ninja tools.
Tools were external things in the end.
Neji and Hinata's bows were indeed powerful, but if they ran into truly top-tier opponents, they wouldn't be nearly as effective.
Of course, with how young they were, using the top powerhouses of the ninja world as the benchmark right now was a bit ridiculous.
"Inabi already did very well."
Aburame Shibi forced down his shock. "It's just that Sasuke's Lightning Release has really grasped Kakashi's essence."
"Since when did Lightning Release: Chidori have this kind of shape transformation?"
Inuzuka Tsume asked curiously.
"Kitazawa-sama modified Chidori and then taught it to Sasuke."
Itachi answered.
"So it comes back to Kitazawa again, huh."
Shikaku let out a sigh.
"If we'd had a teacher like Kitazawa back then, maybe we'd have gotten stronger too."
Chōza said with a laugh.
As exaggerated as that sounded, no one objected.
The Advanced Class kids had already proved the point.
Hands in his pockets, Sasuke walked off the field.
"He's hogging the spotlight again."
Kiba muttered when he saw Sasuke strutting off like that.
"You only get the spotlight if you've got the strength."
Sakura shot back, then immediately ran toward Sasuke.
"Feels like Sasuke's Lightning Release got a lot stronger."
Tenten said thoughtfully.
Before, Sasuke hadn't been able to switch from Chidori to Chidori Current that quickly, and he definitely couldn't instantly dispel genjutsu either.
"It's the boost from the three-tomoe Sharingan."
Neji said in a low voice.
The three-tomoe Sharingan hadn't just given Sasuke incredible perception—it had bumped all his fundamentals up a level.
The most obvious change was his swordsmanship; he was noticeably faster than before.
Besides that, his chakra control and chakra shape transformation had both improved.
"Not just that."
Shikamaru added, "Sasuke's still young. His three-tomoe Sharingan is nowhere near its limit yet."
Neji nodded slightly.
The Fatefeather Bow had helped narrow the gap between him and Sasuke—but only for now. He'd still have to work even harder.
"There's so much pressure in the Advanced Class…"
Ino listened to their analysis and felt a wave of helplessness.
Neji at least still had room to close the gap. Even if she tried her hardest, it wouldn't change much.
Thankfully, she didn't have a super competitive personality, or she'd have broken down from the pressure in this class by now.
Tayuya related hard to what Ino was saying.
Her only feeling in the Advanced Class was: this is way too damn hard.
"Seventeenth match: Kurama Yakumo versus Inuzuka Gaku!"
Iruka shouted.
"Yakumo? I remember her."
Chōza recalled. "She awakened the Kurama clan's genjutsu kekkei genkai."
Back at the exchange event between Konoha and the Mist, Yakumo's instant-kill illusion on one of the Mist's geniuses had left a deep impression on him.
"Her genjutsu really is impressive."
Fugaku praised.
In his view, Yakumo's genjutsu kekkei genkai was probably about on par with a three-tomoe Sharingan.
After all, Sasuke had said more than once that he couldn't break her illusions.
As for the Mangekyō Sharingan, Fugaku didn't think Yakumo would ever reach that level.
"But her opponent is Gaku-senpai."
Shibi thought for a moment. "It's hard to say who'll win this one."
Inuzuka Gaku was a very well-known jōnin of the Inuzuka clan.
During the Third Great Ninja War, he'd fought on the same team as Namikaze Minato, and had earned quite a number of battlefield merits.
He was older than Shibi, which is why Shibi called him "senpai."
"And every member of the Inuzuka clan has their own ninja dog."
Shikaku added. "Genjutsu isn't as troublesome for them."
Fugaku, Shibi, and the others nodded in agreement.
While they were talking, Gaku and Yakumo had already stepped into the field.
Terror Dreamscape!
Yakumo didn't hold back at all—she went straight in with full power.
Even though she knew Leaf-Style Taijutsu and Leaf-Style Sword Style, she also knew those wouldn't do much against a jōnin.
Gaku and his ninja dog were both dragged into the illusion at once.
"What's going on?"
Shikaku frowned.
"Gaku-senpai got caught in a genjutsu?"
Shibi blinked, stunned. "And he still hasn't broken out?"
Fugaku instinctively activated his three-tomoe Sharingan.
He looked carefully at Yakumo—and his expression changed.
Inside her body, there was an extraordinarily dense mass of Yin Release chakra coiled up.
He even felt like that Yin Release power was dense enough to birth a Yin-type monster like Satori.
This is Mangekyō-level genjutsu?
Fugaku froze in place as the realization hit him.
He finally understood why Sasuke had never been able to beat her.
"How can there be illusion of this level?"
Tsume felt a shiver run down her spine as she watched Gaku standing there frozen, completely controlled.
Everyone fell silent.
The Advanced Class students were just as confused.
"Is this even fair?"
Kiba scratched his head. "How come even a jōnin can't break Yakumo's genjutsu?"
"Does that mean her illusions are already on par with a three-tomoe Sharingan?"
Ino asked in shock.
"Most likely."
Shikamaru said, thinking it through. "As far as I know, only a three-tomoe Sharingan can control a jōnin this easily."
"No wonder we could never beat her."
Tenten's expression suddenly cleared.
"The Kurama clan used to be as famous as the Uchiha."
Shino pushed up his glasses.
Sasuke frowned slightly.
Yakumo's illusions were even trickier than he'd imagined.
Which made sense—if her illusions weren't at least three-tomoe level, how could she have beaten the old him?
But things were different now. He had a three-tomoe Sharingan too.
And in his fight against Inabi, he'd already broken free of genjutsu cast by a three-tomoe Sharingan.
That meant he no longer had to fear Yakumo's illusions.
None of them knew the Mangekyō Sharingan existed, so their evaluation was off.
"Winner: Yakumo Kurama!"
Iruka snapped out of it and announced the result.
He'd never expected Yakumo's genjutsu to be so powerful that it could keep a jōnin trapped for that long.
Kitazawa was the only one who looked completely calm.
In the original story, Yakumo's genjutsu had been even more broken than this.
"Eighteenth Match: Uzumaki Naruto versus Sarutobi Asuma!"
Iruka announced the final spar of the end-of-term exam.
"Naruto's opponent is Asuma, huh?"
Maruboshi Kosuke asked with a smile, "Hiruzen, who do you think is going to win?"
Kakashi, Kurenai, and Master Chen also looked interested.
"Either result would make sense."
Hiruzen thought for a moment.
He'd originally wanted to say Asuma had the better chance, but Naruto's performance up to now made it hard to be sure.
"Naruto's advantage is chakra and ninja tools."
Kosuke analyzed. "Asuma's good with Fire and Wind Release, and he's got the advantage in experience."
"Not just that."
Kurenai suddenly remembered Asuma's spar with Kitazawa. "Asuma's also learned a secret art from the Fire Temple."
"He really did improve a lot during his time in the Land of Fire."
Hiruzen nodded.
In the ninja arena—
"Asuma-senpai, you've got this!"
Kotetsu called out. "You're our last hope now!"
"Yeah!"
Ebisu added quickly, "Asuma, you've gotta win at least one back for us!"
"Asuma-senpai, watch out for Naruto's Multiple Shadow Clone Jutsu."
Izumo reminded him.
"He knows Multiple Shadow Clone?"
Asuma asked in surprise. "He's got that much chakra?"
"His chakra is… not normal."
Izumo's mouth twitched.
Asuma paused, then suddenly remembered Naruto's background.
He was half Uzumaki, after all. Having ridiculous levels of chakra was only natural.
"Don't worry. I'm still a jōnin, at least."
Asuma nodded. "Beating me won't be that easy."
He took a deep breath and walked onto the field.
"Uncle Asuma!"
Naruto waved cheerfully at him.
"Naruto."
Asuma smiled. "Long time no see."
"Let's have a youth-filled spar!"
Naruto shot him a thumbs-up, teeth sparkling.
Asuma immediately thought of Might Guy.
He almost grimaced. How did a good kid end up like this?
"Stay sharp, Naruto."
Asuma gripped his chakra blades with both hands.
"Multiple Shadow Clone Jutsu!"
Naruto shouted, and over a hundred clones appeared.
Even though Asuma had been warned, seeing that many clones still made him feel like the world was broken.
This much chakra at eight years old—he really didn't want to imagine how much Naruto would have as an adult.
"Leaf Whirlwind!"
"Dynamic Entry!"
"Leaf Great Whirlwind!"
The clones surged toward him like a tide.
Chakra Blade!
Asuma infused Wind Release chakra into his blades.
A blue glow immediately spread along the metal.
He charged in to meet the clones.
With both blades swinging, he unleashed a storm of slashes.
Everywhere he passed, blue arcs cut cleanly through Naruto's clones.
In an instant, he'd carved straight through the army.
"Uncle Asuma, you're so strong!"
Naruto yelled, fired up. "I can feel my youth boiling!"
"Naruto, if that's all you've got, you're going to lose."
Asuma grinned.
No matter how many clones Naruto had, if they only used taijutsu, they weren't much of a threat to him.
He had chakra metal blades that could slice through iron like tofu, after all.
"Multiple Shadow Clone Jutsu!"
Naruto refreshed his clones again.
"Wind Release: Gale Palm!"
This time, the clones didn't rush in. They all formed hand seals together.
Countless gusts merged into one, forming a violent storm.
Asuma's face stiffened as he suddenly found himself facing a rising whirlwind.
He didn't have time to overthink it and quickly formed seals.
Wind Release: Vacuum Great Sphere!
He took a deep breath and spat out a massive sphere of wind.
The wind sphere crashed into the storm. The ground shook, and rocks and dust were sucked up in an instant.
The two masses of wind locked against each other.
The Vacuum Great Sphere was stronger on its own, but there were so many Naruto clones that they could keep feeding the storm more wind.
"How does Naruto have this much chakra?"
Asuma couldn't figure it out.
But he was still a jōnin, and soon came up with a counter.
Wind Release: Dust Cloud Technique!
Asuma charged directly at Naruto.
Halfway there, he opened his mouth and exhaled a cloud of dense smoke.
Instead of being blown away, the smoke spread quickly in the wind, completely covering Naruto and all his clones.
"Wind Release: Vacuum Shuriken!"
At that moment, a unified shout rang out.
Asuma skidded to a halt.
He'd intended to use the smoke to block Naruto's vision so he could sneak in for a surprise attack.
But his ambush failed before it even started—because a rain of shuriken flew out of the smoke.
Every shuriken was infused with Wind Release chakra; in sharpness and speed, they were far beyond ordinary weapons.
Asuma was forced straight onto the defensive.
He swung his chakra blades frantically, batting the incoming shuriken away—
But the power behind them kept pushing him back.
For a moment, he looked pretty battered.
"Truly… a unique fighting style."
Shikaku had to hold back a sigh.
Honestly, in all his years, he'd never seen a second ninja abuse Multiple Shadow Clone like Naruto did.
"When chakra is that absurdly high, brute force becomes its own kind of technique."
Chōza couldn't help thinking of Minato.
Father and son's fighting styles could not possibly be more different.
"Is Asuma really going to lose?"
Shibi found it hard to believe.
Asuma was no ordinary jōnin.
"Asuma hasn't gone all out yet."
Tsume shook her head.
"And Naruto hasn't gone all out either."
Fugaku had seen Naruto's fight with Chōjūrō.
He still hadn't used Samehada or Rasengan today.
The clanging of metal rang out nonstop.
Sweat beaded on Asuma's forehead.
Do these shuriken ever stop? Just how much chakra do you have?
He realized that if this kept up, he might actually lose.
He stopped hesitating and unleashed Welcoming Approach: Thousand-Armed Murder.
Golden chakra surged out, forming a thousand-armed Kannon behind him.
The moment it appeared, all those hands clenched into fists and punched out.
All of the shuriken were smashed away.
Asuma strode straight toward Naruto.
Wind and shuriken alike were blocked by his thousand-armed Kannon.
"So that's the Fire Temple's secret art?"
Kosuke said in amazement. "The power really is something else."
"It's indeed impressive."
Hiruzen nodded.
"Can Naruto block that?"
Master Chen looked worried.
He'd long since started seeing Lee and Naruto as his real students.
After all, they were the most likely to learn his Konoha Dragon God style.
Kakashi, however, looked relaxed.
He was thinking about Samehada.
Right then, Naruto made his move.
He opened a summoning scroll and pulled out Samehada.
"Give me a hand, you guys!"
He shouted to the clones nearby.
"Wind Release: Gale Palm!"
One clone clapped his hands, wrapping Naruto in wind.
Two other clones took positions at his sides, grabbing his shoulders and waist.
They heaved together and sent him flying.
In midair, Naruto grabbed Samehada with both hands.
He aimed at the golden thousand-armed Kannon and swung down.
"What?!"
Asuma immediately noticed what he was doing.
Wind Release: Vacuum Shuriken!
He instantly threw a wind-imbued shuriken.
But boosted by Gale Palm, Naruto's speed was beyond his expectations.
Naruto twisted aside to dodge the shuriken, and Samehada opened its "mouth," biting down on the Kannon's head.
Asuma froze for an instant—then felt something was very wrong.
His enormous thousand-armed Kannon suddenly shrank by half.
His expression changed drastically, and he quickly dispelled Welcoming Approach: Thousand-Armed Murder.
At the same time, a wave of weakness washed through his body.
It was the backlash from burning too much chakra at once.
"Samehada?"
Asuma recognized the sword in Naruto's hands at a glance.
He immediately remembered Kitazawa killing Hōzuki Mangetsu.
Right now, he had only one question for Kitazawa: why do you keep giving your students these ridiculous weapons?
No wonder half his chakra had been sucked out of the Kannon in an instant.
"Leaf-Style Sword Style!"
Naruto shouted as he came crashing down from above.
Asuma didn't dare let Samehada touch him again.
He quickly retreated.
Boom!
Samehada smashed into the ground, leaving a deep crater.
Fire Release: Ash Pile Burning!
Asuma seized the moment and spat out a cloud of superheated ash.
As the ash spread, the air itself warped, waves of heat rolling outward.
"Samehada: Flying Chain Slash!"
Naruto leapt into the air, and a chain shot out from the sword's hilt.
Samehada flew out, dragging the chain behind it.
It ignored the ash cloud and lunged straight at Asuma.
Wind Release: Vacuum Sphere!
Asuma's face tightened. He hurriedly spat out multiple compressed wind bullets, hammering them into Samehada.
Samehada's speed dropped.
Seeing this, Asuma used a Body Flicker to charge straight at Naruto.
Chakra Blade!
Both chakra blades slashed out together, weaving a blue net in front of him.
Good. I've got this.
Samehada was still midair and couldn't get back in time. Naruto had no way to deal with the chakra blades now.
He'd forgotten about Naruto's clones.
Leaf Double Whirlwind!
Two shadow clones appeared on either side of Naruto and launched twin kicks at Asuma.
"Such a pain…"
Asuma grumbled, speeding up his swings. His blades flashed out.
Bang, bang—
Both clones vanished in puffs of smoke.
Leaf Gust!
Naruto tossed away the sword hilt and spun, driving a roundhouse kick into Asuma's gut.
Asuma's blades were out of position and couldn't be pulled back in time. They were knocked flying by the kick.
Fortunately, his reflexes were still sharp.
Just as the second kick came in, he opened his mouth.
Wind Release: Dust Cloud Technique!
A stream of dust shot into Naruto's face.
Naruto instantly lost his vision and was forced to halt his attack.
But his clones were already swarming in.
Welcoming Approach: Thousand-Armed Murder!
Asuma reflexively formed the seals—but realized a second later he didn't have enough chakra to use it again.
Samehada had drained his chakra far too quickly. There was nothing he could do about it.
He changed signs without hesitation.
Fire Release: Flint Yagura Technique!
Flames from the Sarutobi clan's signature Fire Release spread out, turning the entire area around Naruto's clones into a sea of fire.
Asuma grabbed a breath, snatched up his chakra blades, and dashed toward the dust cloud.
He couldn't drag this out any longer. He had to finish Naruto now.
"Rasengan!"
The moment Asuma saw Naruto, a spinning ball of chakra was already flying toward him.
His pupils shrank, and he reflexively raised his chakra blades.
Empowered by Wind Release chakra, the blades were extremely sharp. They sliced through the Rasengan.
But as the Rasengan slid apart along both sides, it still scraped against him, tearing open his hands and leaving them soaked in blood.
Asuma clenched his jaw against the pain and swung his blades at Naruto.
But as soon as he moved, he felt his arms go weak, and he collapsed to the ground.
He forced his eyes sideways—and saw Samehada had somehow slithered over and sunk its teeth into his thigh.
"Samehada, that's enough."
Kitazawa appeared in front of Asuma.
At his words, Samehada immediately let go.
Kitazawa stretched out a hand to heal him.
Asuma's eyes rolled back, and he passed out.
~~~
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