"Round one is over. After a fifteen-minute break, we'll start round two."
Umino Iruka announced.
"Everyone's training has really paid off."
Sarutobi Hiruzen said with a cheerful smile. "Every single one of you has improved."
"The biggest improvement has to be Lee."
Maruboshi Kosuke thought for a moment, then said, "Leaf Dragon God made his strength skyrocket."
"That's thanks to Guy—he gave Lee a rock-solid foundation in taijutsu."
Master Chen said modestly.
Even though Uzumaki Naruto had learned Leaf Dragon God too—just like Lee—everyone tacitly avoided bringing it up.
After all, Naruto's strength was already on a completely different level.
"Once he learns the Eight Gates, he'll be the next Guy."
Maruboshi Kosuke chuckled. "Really looking forward to that."
Hatake Kakashi tugged at the corner of his mouth.
The only thing he wasn't looking forward to was that Lee's personality was basically a carbon copy of Might Guy's.
Add Naruto into the mix, and it was practically a forbidden "youth" trio.
"The one worth looking forward to isn't just Lee."
Hiruzen said with deep satisfaction. "All the students who made it into round two are more than qualified to be the future pillars of Konoha."
"That's all thanks to Kitazawa."
Maruboshi Kosuke sighed. "The genius class just keeps getting more and more geniuses."
Back when he first became the genius class instructor, there weren't nearly this many prodigies.
More accurately, the genius class back then only had geniuses who were born in Konoha.
Now, because of Kitazawa's influence, plenty of non-Konoha talents had joined too—like Kaguya Kimimaro, Shion, and Chino.
"I'm just doing my job."
Kitazawa replied casually.
Strictly speaking, the genius class still hadn't reached its true limit.
Maybe one day, they'd gather the top talents from all Five Great Villages into a single class.
"If nothing goes wrong, they'll all become jōnin someday."
Yūhi Kurenai said with a subtle expression. "At that point, a lot of them will probably be stronger than me."
She knew her own limits.
Even with Kitazawa's help—learning techniques like Rasengan, super strength, and the Self-Cursing Seal—her talent simply wasn't outstanding.
Compared to Uchiha Sasuke, Uzumaki Naruto, Hyūga Neji, and the others, she fell far short.
"That's a good thing."
Maruboshi Kosuke said indifferently. "When students surpass their teacher, that's proof the teacher knows how to teach."
The break ended amid everyone's chatter.
"Round two, match one: Inuzuka Kiba versus Aburame Shino!"
Iruka announced loudly.
"Seriously… why does it have to be Shino?"
Kiba stood up with a headache.
"Woof woof!"
Akamaru barked in agreement.
"Akamaru looks pretty happy."
Tenten said, rubbing Akamaru's head.
"He's never fought Shino before, so he's excited."
Kiba paused, then said, "Whatever. Don't overthink it—just do my best."
"You can't give up before you've even fought!"
Naruto raised a thumbs-up. "Kiba—let your youth bloom!"
"Go for it!"
Yamanaka Ino and the others cheered Kiba and Akamaru on.
Two people and one dog walked to the center of the field.
The moment the fight started, Kiba formed hand seals and created a shadow clone.
Three-Headed Hellhound!
Kiba, his clone, and Akamaru fused together.
Shino adjusted his glasses.
In the first round, Kiba hadn't used the Three-Headed Hellhound.
Shino had assumed that adding Akamaru would change it somehow, but it looked no different than before.
War Stomp!
The three-headed beast lifted its forelegs and slammed down.
The ground shook violently, and chunks of debris blasted up from the earth.
"So his chakra increased a bit?"
Shino immediately understood and raised a hand.
Akamaru was a ninja dog—he had chakra of his own.
With Akamaru added in, Kiba could save some of his own chakra and funnel it into techniques to increase their power.
But that level of power still wasn't enough against Shino.
A swarm of earth-colored kikaichū poured out of Shino's sleeves.
Every piece of flying debris was blocked.
Kiba froze for a split second.
There were kikaichū in that color?
Earth Release: Earth Fang Shot!
The three-headed beast threw back its head and opened wide.
Earth chakra gathered and became three stone bullets, blasting forward at high speed.
Boom!
The defensive wall made of earth-colored kikaichū shuddered.
Shino's expression didn't change. He flicked his hand again.
Even more earth-colored kikaichū surged up to reinforce it.
"What?!"
Seeing his Earth Fang Shot stopped, Kiba's eyes widened.
"These are mutated kikaichū with resistance to Earth Release."
Shino didn't hide it and explained.
Kiba immediately felt helpless.
So those really existed…
He knew Shino had been experimenting with mutations for his kikaichū.
After all, the "fire" and "water" variants had already made appearances before.
Adding an "earth" variant made sense.
Thinking that, Kiba had the Three-Headed Hellhound charge straight at Shino.
Its huge body leapt, and its claws came down from midair.
Summoning Jutsu!
Without hesitation, Shino bit his thumb.
A queen bee appeared—its size not inferior to the Three-Headed Hellhound.
The two sides fell into a brutal close-quarters brawl, shaking the training field nonstop.
From the look of it, the Three-Headed Hellhound held a slight advantage.
But the queen bee wasn't fighting alone.
Honey Technique!
Seizing the chance, Shino released bees carrying waxy honey.
In the middle of the fight, the Three-Headed Hellhound instinctively slapped at them.
Honey wax splattered out and stuck to its hand.
The queen bee immediately rose into the air, flicked its tail, and launched a venomous stinger.
Fang Bullet!
Even with one forelimb stuck, the Three-Headed Hellhound reacted quickly and spat out three chakra bullets.
The stinger was knocked away midair.
The queen bee beat its wings and dodged the three chakra bullets.
At the same time, dense swarms of bees burst out around Shino.
Bee Senbon Technique!
The bees raised their tails and fired stingers one after another.
The stingers pierced deep into the Three-Headed Hellhound's fur.
"Gaaah!"
The beast howled.
That brief delay was enough for the queen bee to spray huge amounts of honey wax.
The Three-Headed Hellhound was completely immobilized.
Poof!
Kiba and Akamaru reappeared.
Both were stuck to the ground with honey wax, looking absolutely miserable.
Shino walked over and helped clean the wax off them.
"Winner: Aburame Shino."
Seeing that, Iruka announced the result.
"So Shino has five kinds of mutated kikaichū now?"
Ino asked instinctively.
"From what we've seen, yeah—five."
Shikamaru paused, then said, "Someday he might even have Yin Release and Yang Release kikaichū too."
"That's ridiculously broken!"
Sakura couldn't help saying.
"Their power is limited."
Sasuke said calmly.
He'd seen Shino's fire kikaichū before—they weren't completely immune to Fire Release, just able to withstand it for three to five seconds.
Against high-level Fire Release, lasting even a second was their limit.
"Limited for you, maybe. Not for the rest of us."
Ino shook her head.
"True."
Chino agreed.
The longer she stayed in the genius class, the more ordinary her own talent felt.
Even with the Ketsuryūgan, she still couldn't even crack the top ten—terrifying.
"Round two, match two: Uchiha Sasuke versus Nara Shikamaru!"
Iruka's voice cut through their discussion.
"My luck really is awful."
Shikamaru twitched his mouth and stood up.
"Last a few more seconds and that counts as a win."
Ino comforted him.
"Winning or losing doesn't matter anymore—just don't get hurt."
Chōji grinned dumbly.
"…"
Shikamaru looked like he wanted to say something, but in the end he said nothing and walked onto the field.
Sasuke approached with a blank expression.
He activated his Sharingan without hesitation.
If he got caught by the Nara clan's secret techniques, it would be extremely dangerous.
But their techniques weren't impossible to track—they had to travel through shadows.
Sasuke's plan was simple:
He would keep his Three-Tomoe Sharingan locked on Shikamaru's shadow the entire time.
Shadow Imitation Shuriken!
Shikamaru had already guessed what Sasuke was thinking.
He had no real way to counter that.
If anything, he also had to watch out for Sasuke's Three-Tomoe Sharingan—so he wouldn't get hit by a genjutsu out of nowhere.
Shikamaru threw six shuriken.
Sasuke returned six of his own.
With a flick of his hands, Sasuke knocked away Shikamaru's six shuriken—then two of his own suddenly accelerated, aiming straight at Shikamaru.
That was the Manipulated Shuriken Technique.
Shikamaru sighed inwardly.
His Shadow Imitation Shuriken hadn't even had time to take effect before it was neutralized.
Leaf Body Flicker!
Shikamaru turned into leaves and vanished from the spot.
Fire Release: Great Fireball Jutsu!
Sasuke formed hand seals quickly.
A massive fireball chased after the leaves in midair.
Shikamaru's heart jumped. He immediately poured in more chakra and shot forward at top speed.
A sharp, piercing chirp filled the air.
Sasuke's whole body was wrapped in crackling lightning.
Shikamaru glanced around.
After dodging the fireball, he landed in the shadow of a tree at the edge of the field.
Sasuke used Body Flicker to close in fast.
A powerful sense of danger hit.
At the critical instant, Shikamaru formed hand seals.
Shadow Substitute Technique!
He vanished instantly.
Sasuke slammed to a stop.
Frowning, he scanned the area, but couldn't spot Shikamaru anywhere.
"Since when does he have that technique?"
Kiba scratched his head.
"That's Shadow Substitute—created by Kitazawa-sensei."
Ino planted her hands on her hips, speaking proudly.
"Then why didn't Shikamaru use it earlier?"
Sakura asked, confused.
"He only learned it recently."
Ino replied.
"No wonder."
Sakura nodded, then asked again, "Did Shikamaru disappear? Why can't we find him?"
"Tree shadow."
Neji activated his Byakugan and spotted Shikamaru hiding inside the shadow.
More precisely, Shikamaru was hiding inside his own shadow, which was covered by the tree's shade.
That was why Sasuke hadn't noticed him right away.
A classic "hiding in plain sight."
"He can't stay hidden for long."
Kurama Yakumo shook her head.
Shadow Imitation Technique!
Shikamaru knew Sasuke's Three-Tomoe Sharingan would eventually find him.
While Sasuke's gaze was elsewhere, he quickly formed hand seals.
A shadow shot outward and spread fast.
"So you were in the shadow."
Sasuke snorted and leapt into the air.
In midair, the lightning around him burst outward in every direction.
"I forfeit!"
Seeing the lightning rushing at him, Shikamaru shouted immediately.
Kitazawa flashed over and pulled him out of the lightning's range.
"Winner: Uchiha Sasuke."
Iruka announced.
"That technique is pretty good."
Hiruzen commented.
"Kitazawa's talent for creating jutsu isn't much worse than the Second Hokage's."
Kosuke nodded.
"And the techniques he creates can benefit entire ninja clans."
Master Chen said with a smile.
Kakashi thought of Lightning Release: Kirin and Lightning Release: Chidori.
The former had been created from an idea Kitazawa inspired.
The latter had been modified by Kitazawa, producing variants like Chidori Stream and other Lightning Release offshoots.
When it came to creating and improving jutsu, Kitazawa truly had few equals.
"That shows Kitazawa has extremely deep research into all Seven Releases."
Hiruzen said with a chuckle.
If he had to choose a successor in Konoha, he would pick Kitazawa without hesitation.
Unfortunately, like Naruto, Kitazawa had too many gifts.
Having him as a successor would just be icing on the cake.
Whether Hiruzen taught them or not didn't really change much.
Kurenai didn't speak, but her expression was full of pride.
After all, that was her man.
"Round two, match three: Uzumaki Naruto versus Lee!"
A moment later, Iruka called again.
"It's Lee?"
Naruto's face lit up with excitement.
"Naruto—let's have a battle overflowing with youth!"
Lee said with an eager grin.
"Bring it!"
Naruto replied. "Let's unleash our youth!"
The two of them practically charged in like they'd been injected with adrenaline.
Bang bang bang—the sounds of impact rang out.
Naruto didn't use Multiple Shadow Clone Jutsu.
He rushed in and traded pure taijutsu with Lee.
Leaf Whirlwind, Leaf Great Whirlwind, Leaf Rock-Destroying Rise—one taijutsu after another was unleashed.
"Both of them are extremely skilled in taijutsu."
Hiruzen said, smiling.
"But Naruto's physical specs are stronger—he has the edge in power and speed."
Master Chen shook his head.
"Most likely, the winner will be decided with Leaf Dragon God."
Kosuke guessed.
As for who would win, none of them even bothered discussing it.
The answer was obvious.
"Naruto!"
After half an hour, Lee was panting hard. "It's time to burn our youth with Leaf Dragon God!"
"Leaf Dragon God!"
Naruto raised his arms and started spinning.
"Leaf Dragon God!"
Lee followed immediately.
Two green dragons crashed again and again across the field, making Kitazawa think of those spinning-top anime cartoons he'd watched as a kid in his previous life.
But in the end, Naruto held the advantage.
After less than thirty seconds of collisions, Lee could no longer maintain Leaf Dragon God.
"Winner: Uzumaki Naruto."
Iruka watched with sweat beading on his forehead.
Before Lee learned Leaf Dragon God, Iruka thought he could still beat him.
After all, pure taijutsu fighters had big weaknesses.
But now that Lee had Leaf Dragon God, Iruka knew he had zero chance.
He even suspected that if he joined the genius class's combat exam, he wouldn't even make the top twenty.
Kitazawa thought Lee could be called someone who'd finally made it after enduring hardship.
Lee had always worked hard, but taijutsu had serious limitations—and the other students were absurdly talented—so his ranking had stayed low.
Time passed.
"Round two is over. After a fifteen-minute break, we'll enter round three!"
Iruka shouted.
By round three, there were fewer than ten students left in the genius class.
But every single one of them was a genius among geniuses.
In other villages, producing even one or two talents like that would already be impressive.
"Iruka."
Kitazawa walked up and said, "I'll handle round three."
First, he wanted Sasuke and Naruto to face each other.
Second, once they reached round three, the fights would intensify enough that Iruka might get injured as referee.
"Alright, Kitazawa-senpai."
Iruka nodded and walked over to Hiruzen and the others.
Teachers stood together to watch, and students gathered together to watch—clearly separated.
"So the referee for round three is Kitazawa-sensei?"
Ino's eyes lit up.
"Looks like it."
Shikamaru had a feeling Kitazawa was about to rig something, but he forced the thought away.
"Doesn't matter who the referee is."
Kiba said casually.
"It does matter."
Ino tilted her head, smiling. "If Kitazawa-sensei is the referee, I'll definitely perform better."
"What kind of logic is that?"
Tayuya asked, baffled.
"Kitazawa-sensei taught us so many jutsu—we have to prove ourselves to him!"
Ino clenched her fist.
"…"
Tayuya clicked her tongue.
She thought there was some special reason, but it was just that?
Still… it did kind of make sense.
Losing in front of Kitazawa would be way too embarrassing.
Hinata nodded unconsciously.
She felt the same.
"Ino's right!"
Naruto raised a thumbs-up. "Later I'm going to show Kitazawa-sensei the results of my training!"
Sasuke's eyes sharpened.
What kind of training had Naruto been doing?
He'd find out soon enough.
Fifteen minutes passed in the blink of an eye, and round three officially began.
Kitazawa raised his hand and reached into the drawing box.
Under everyone's gaze, he pulled out two slips of paper.
"Round three, match one: Uchiha Sasuke versus Uzumaki Naruto."
Kitazawa said with a smile.
"Yes!"
Naruto cheered.
Sasuke slowly exhaled.
What was coming was inevitable.
He would see with his own eyes what new jutsu Naruto had learned.
Could it really be more ridiculous than Multiple Shadow Clone Jutsu plus Leaf Dragon God?
"That's insane."
Kiba complained. "Only Naruto would draw Sasuke and be happy about it."
"Woof woof!"
Akamaru barked twice.
"Akamaru's got a point."
Tenten teased.
"You can understand him?"
Ino asked, surprised.
"Nope."
Tenten laughed. "I'm just guessing."
"Sasuke-kun, good luck!"
Sakura clenched her fist and waved.
Sasuke was afraid she'd say more, so he immediately walked to the center of the field.
"Sasuke!"
Naruto stepped in front of him. "I can feel—"
Sasuke silently pulled out the Sword of Thunder God.
He poured chakra into it, lightning immediately spreading across the blade.
With a sharp swing—
A dazzling arc of lightning formed in midair like a crescent sword wave.
Naruto had no choice but to swallow the rest of his sentence. He grabbed the great blade Samehada and whipped it hard.
The chain shot out, and Samehada flew—biting clean through the lightning wave halfway and snapping it apart.
Fire Release: Great Fireball Jutsu!
Sasuke spat out a huge fireball.
"Wind Release: Gale Palm!"
Naruto casually tossed Samehada aside.
Howling wind formed out of nowhere, instantly turning into a surging gale.
Under the gale's force, the massive fireball changed direction and shot straight back at Sasuke.
Body Flicker!
Sasuke dodged the fireball, chakra exploding from his feet as he rushed forward.
At the same time, he activated the Three-Tomoe Sharingan.
Genjutsu: Unknown Fire!
His Sharingan trembled sharply, and an invisible mental shockwave spread outward.
Naruto could break genjutsu in an instant—but even that instant took time.
It was short, but for Sasuke's Three-Tomoe Sharingan, it was enough to seize.
Hatake-Style Technique!
Seeing Naruto fall briefly blank, Sasuke accelerated and thrust forward.
But just as the blade was about to land, dark-red chakra burst from Naruto's body.
That chakra split into two streams—like a pair of hands—and grabbed the Sword of the Thunder God.
"What?!"
Sasuke froze for a beat—he'd never seen anything like this.
"Leaf Whirlwind!"
Once Kurama broke the genjutsu for him, Naruto kicked out.
Sasuke yanked his sword free and retreated, dodging the kick while creating distance.
Naruto didn't chase.
He stood in place as the dark-red chakra rapidly spread.
The next instant, a tail appeared behind him.
"???"
Sasuke's face filled with question marks.
At the edge of the field, the genius class erupted into commotion.
"Why does Naruto have a tail?!"
Tenten rubbed her eyes.
"Naruto's showing his true form! I knew he wasn't human!"
Kiba blurted out, eyes wide.
"Woof woof!"
Akamaru barked.
"This chakra feels so evil…"
Karin said instinctively.
She didn't even need to say it—everyone could feel the violent, ferocious aura filling that chakra.
"What's going on?"
Chino asked, confused. "Is Naruto really not human?"
"Naruto is the Fourth Hokage's son. Of course he's human."
Ino shook her head.
"This looks like tailed-beast transformation."
Shikamaru's eyes suddenly lit up.
"Tailed-beast transformation?"
Sakura looked at him, completely puzzled.
"Do you remember the Fourth Mizukage, Yagura Karatachi?"
Shikamaru reminded them. "He was Kirigakure's Three-Tails jinchūriki."
Defeating Yagura was widely regarded as the start of Kitazawa's rise to fame.
As Kitazawa's students, they'd all learned about that battle through one channel or another.
"So Naruto is the Nine-Tails jinchūriki?!"
Ino suddenly realized and cried out.
Neji, Shino, Yakumo, and the others all looked stunned.
Not far away, Hiruzen and the adults were much calmer than Kiba and the other students.
They'd known for a long time that Naruto was the Nine-Tails jinchūriki.
Including Iruka.
He wasn't top leadership, but he'd lived through the Nine-Tails incident.
"Naruto already learned how to borrow the Nine-Tails' chakra?"
Hiruzen asked, surprised.
He knew Kitazawa had been taking Naruto to the Forest of Death for special training lately, but he hadn't expected Naruto to reach this level in just two months.
"He and the Nine-Tails get along pretty well."
Kitazawa smiled.
"I see."
Hiruzen raised his brows, anticipation appearing on his face. "So he might become a perfect jinchūriki?"
The Nine-Tails jinchūriki was the strongest, but a perfect jinchūriki had never appeared.
During the Third Shinobi World War, Kumogakure had already shown how terrifying a perfect jinchūriki could be.
Besides that, there was also Yagura.
Even though he only had the Three-Tails, he could unleash combat power far beyond other jinchūriki.
But becoming a perfect jinchūriki was extremely difficult.
And with Uzumaki Kushina dying young, Hiruzen had no choice but to abandon that hope.
"Hard to say."
Kitazawa replied ambiguously. "Naruto's still young. Whether he can become a perfect jinchūriki… we'll see when he's older."
"True."
Hiruzen nodded. "No matter what, this is a very good start."
"Once Naruto uses the Nine-Tails' chakra, his jinchūriki identity will definitely be exposed."
Kosuke said worriedly. "We'll need to increase his protection from now on."
"Of course."
Hiruzen chuckled. "But there's no need to worry too much—Konoha isn't what it used to be."
A few years ago, he truly wouldn't have felt safe.
But now, Konoha was packed with strong shinobi—its most flourishing era in the last ten years.
"With Kitazawa around, Naruto will be fine."
Kurenai said with a bright smile. "Because he's already mastered the Flying Thunder God Technique."
"What?!"
Hiruzen, Kakashi, and Kosuke all looked shocked.
"Just luck—turns out I had a bit of talent for it."
Kitazawa said, pulling out a Flying Thunder God kunai.
After he learned Flying Thunder God, he'd only told Tsunade and Kurenai.
Not because he was deliberately hiding it—Flying Thunder God simply wasn't useful for him yet.
So Hiruzen and the others had never seen it.
"Then we really don't need to worry about Naruto anymore. With Flying Thunder God, no matter where he is, Kitazawa can get there in time."
Kosuke sighed. "I never thought the Yellow Flash would appear in Konoha again."
Kakashi opened his mouth slightly, thinking of Namikaze Minato.
More than anything, he felt stunned.
As Minato's student, Kakashi had naturally tried learning Flying Thunder God himself.
But unfortunately, he had zero talent for it.
"Then it should be called the Black Flash."
Master Chen froze for a second, then corrected.
"Titles are given by enemies."
Hiruzen shook his head. "With Kitazawa's strength, enemies will definitely come up with a fitting name for him later."
A sharp chirping sound filled the air.
Everyone immediately stopped chatting and looked toward Sasuke and Naruto.
Even though Sasuke still hadn't understood Naruto's sudden transformation, overthinking in battle was pointless.
Brilliant lightning spread.
Sasuke moved at high speed, closing to Naruto's front.
Lightning Release: Chidori Stream!
Dazzling lightning surged like a pack of snakes, snapping toward Naruto.
Sasuke followed right behind, gripping the Sword of the Thunder God.
But before he could raise the blade, he felt his breathing seize.
Naruto's tail swept sideways—shattering the lightning stream.
The dark-red tail didn't lose momentum. Packed with massive chakra, it slammed in like a sledgehammer.
Sasuke hurriedly raised the Sword of Thunder God in front of himself.
A terrifying force hit.
His body was forced backward.
But Sasuke didn't panic.
He steadied himself and locked eyes with Naruto.
Leaf-Style: Willow!
Sasuke's sword flickered into afterimages.
"Wind Release: Shuriken!"
Naruto wasn't affected by the immobilization at all—he simply flung a shuriken.
Sasuke's pupils shrank. He immediately stopped Leaf-Style: Willow and dodged left.
Boom!
The shuriken—boosted by Nine-Tails chakra—hit the ground.
The earth split, leaving a deep crater.
Sasuke's eyes widened.
Why was it that strong?
His Wind Release: Shuriken had always been decent, but never to this level.
Sasuke took a deep breath.
The more he fought, the more eerie that dark-red chakra felt.
His first instinct had been that Naruto learned something like a Yang Release chakra mode.
But he quickly rejected it.
Because he'd never heard of a jutsu that could grow a tail.
"Sasuke!"
Naruto raised a thumbs-up. "Next is my real training result!"
"…?"
Sasuke instinctively tightened his grip on the sword.
This isn't your training result already?
What kind of training makes your chakra explode like this?
How is that even reasonable?
"Multiple Shadow Clone Jutsu!"
Naruto shouted while forming hand seals.
Why Multiple Shadow Clone Jutsu?
Sasuke didn't understand.
Did that even require training?
But in the next second, he understood.
A dense sea of shadow clones—over two thousand of them—surrounded him completely.
The entire training field became cramped in an instant.
Sasuke froze on the spot.
"Th-That's… outrageous."
Even Kosuke paused in shock.
"…?"
Kakashi tugged at the corner of his mouth.
That chakra had to be a hundred times his.
"Jinchūriki really do have an overwhelming advantage…"
Kurenai stared, dumbfounded.
"Not every jinchūriki has chakra this absurd."
Hiruzen thought of Senju Hashirama.
Naruto already had that kind of "chakra presence."
The pity was—he couldn't use Wood Release.
If Kitazawa, who could use Wood Release, also had chakra like that, then Konoha would be invincible.
After a deathly silence, the genius class instantly erupted.
"Am I under genjutsu?"
Kiba stuck out his leg. "Akamaru—bite me."
Akamaru opened his mouth and bit down.
"Ow, ow, ow!"
Kiba sucked in a breath. "It's real?!"
"Someone count them—how many clones is that?"
Ino felt her vision turn green—everywhere she looked was Naruto's green jumpsuit.
"There are at least over a thousand."
Shino forced down his shock.
"I'm starting to think Naruto really isn't human."
Tayuya shook her head unconsciously.
"Same."
Karin echoed.
"That's the horror of a jinchūriki."
Shikamaru let out a sigh.
Before this, Sasuke, Yakumo, Neji, and the others could occasionally beat Naruto.
But from now on, that probably wouldn't be possible anymore—because Naruto had mastered the Nine-Tails' power.
Neji clenched his fist, then loosened it, a dejected look appearing on his face.
He'd thought that with the World-Ending Arrow, he could fight Naruto to the death.
Now it seemed that was just wishful thinking.
After all, a jinchūriki possessed something even more terrifying than the World-Ending Arrow—a Tailed Beast Bomb.
"This chakra… it's even more than a fully released Cursed Seal."
Jūgo felt like his eyes were being opened.
Kimimaro fell silent.
As unwilling as he was, from today on he completely gave up the idea of fighting Naruto.
He couldn't win.
There was no way.
Shion thought of Mōryō from the Land of the Demons.
No wonder the Five Great Villages were the strongest forces in the shinobi world.
Compared to tailed beasts, Mōryō was still far weaker.
"Sasuke, come on!"
Two thousand Narutos spoke at once, their voices like a gale sweeping through.
Sasuke's head buzzed.
But that was a small problem.
The biggest problem was despair.
Looking at the endless Narutos, he felt the urge to forfeit for the first time.
He was usually confident—but now the gap between him and Naruto was so obvious it was visible to the naked eye.
In the end, Uchiha pride kept him from surrendering outright.
He immediately formed hand seals and drew out every bit of chakra in his body.
Lightning Release: Chidori Stream!
In an instant, massive chakra transformed into violent lightning.
Nearby shadow clones were swallowed up, screaming as they vanished.
With his Three-Tomoe Sharingan, Sasuke rapidly searched for Naruto's real body.
"Wind Release: Shuriken!"
Naruto shouted and threw a shuriken first.
Body Flicker!
Sasuke locked onto Naruto's position and accelerated straight to him.
Yin Release: Rasengan!
Sasuke raised his hand and slammed it forward.
"Yang Release: Rasengan!"
With Kurama's chakra, Naruto found it even easier to use Yang Release chakra.
Because the Kurama inside him was the Yang Nine-Tails—while the Yin Nine-Tails was sealed inside the Reaper's stomach.
Boom!
A yin and a yang Rasengan collided.
The two chakras immediately created a violent, chaotic airflow.
But in the end, Naruto's chakra overwhelmed Sasuke's.
Dark-red chakra surged like flame, shredding the green Yin Release Rasengan and rolling toward Sasuke.
Body Flicker!
Sasuke retreated instantly.
But the field was already packed with Naruto's clones.
The moment he landed, he was hit with a barrage of attacks.
Lightning Release: Chidori Stream!
Sasuke dodged and formed seals again.
Lightning shot like arrows, and nearby clones exploded into smoke.
Sasuke took a breath.
Lightning Release: Dual Chidori!
He rushed at Naruto—the real one—without hesitation.
Sasuke understood he couldn't play a drawn-out fight.
He didn't have the means to.
One person trying to outmaneuver two thousand clones was an impossible task.
With that piercing chirp, Sasuke slashed left and right toward Naruto.
"Leaf Dragon God!"
Naruto spun.
A gigantic dark-red dragon manifested.
Sasuke's pupils shrank, but he couldn't stop anymore—he drove both Chidori forward, crashing into it.
In an instant, lightning and red light exploded everywhere.
Sasuke was blasted backward.
He hit the ground, and the surrounding Naruto clones immediately kicked and pummeled him.
"Naruto. It's decided."
Kitazawa appeared in front of Sasuke at once.
Naruto scratched his head and dismissed the Multiple Shadow Clone Jutsu.
Kitazawa looked down at Sasuke.
Sasuke lay there bruised and swollen, eyes empty—like his soul had been knocked out of him.
Kitazawa raised a hand, and pale-green light flowed out.
Sasuke had only minor injuries. Nothing serious.
In just a few seconds, he recovered.
But Kitazawa knew Sasuke's worst injury wasn't physical.
Ever since joining the genius class, Sasuke and Naruto had competed side by side, pushing each other forward.
But this fight left Sasuke feeling powerless—and hopeless.
"Naruto is the Nine-Tails jinchūriki."
Kitazawa said slowly.
Sasuke looked at him instinctively.
His understanding of jinchūriki came from the Fourth Mizukage, Yagura.
So it was the Nine-Tails…
No wonder.
Sasuke found a reason for his defeat.
One loss was bearable.
What he couldn't accept was losing every time.
Would he ever be able to beat Naruto again?
Obviously not.
"Do you know what the Nine-Tails fears the most?"
Kitazawa asked again.
"What?"
Sasuke asked, unable to stop himself.
"The Mangekyō Sharingan."
Kitazawa answered.
"Mangekyō Sharingan…?"
Sasuke's eyes lit up.
After his crushing loss to Kurama Yakumo, his father Uchiha Fugaku had mentioned the Mangekyō Sharingan to him.
And Sasuke had also seen Itachi's Mangekyō Sharingan.
"That's right."
Kitazawa nodded. "Back then, Uchiha Madara once controlled the Nine-Tails and fought the First Hokage at the Valley of the End."
"Then how do I awaken the Mangekyō Sharingan?"
Sasuke asked urgently.
He'd asked Fugaku and Itachi before, but the answer was always: You're still too young. You'll understand when you're older.
"That requires special training. As long as you can endure it, I guarantee you'll awaken the Mangekyō Sharingan."
Kitazawa said confidently.
"I can definitely endure it!"
Sasuke immediately came alive, blurting out.
"Good."
Kitazawa patted his shoulder. "Once winter break starts, we'll begin special training."
"Thank you, Kitazawa-sensei!"
Sasuke clenched his fist.
He would never forget this helpless defeat.
Once he awakened the Mangekyō Sharingan, he would repay Naruto for it.
Kitazawa smiled faintly.
Comforting Sasuke was truly simple.
Especially when the Uchiha clan hadn't been wiped out.
~~~
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