"Everyone fall back!" the ANBU captain roared. His voice cracked through the chaos, urgent and commanding.
Sasuke and Hinata wasted no time, each grabbing Konohamaru by the arms and pulling him back with them. The instant they moved, the ground they had been standing on splintered apart with a thunderous crack, collapsing into a yawning pit.
Two colossal forces Naruto's whirling gale-kick and the Third Hokage's five-element barrage collided in the center of the training ground. The air of the entire Hidden Leaf Village seemed to freeze in terror as space itself warped under the crushing weight of their clash.
The earth fractured like shattered glass, spreading in web-like patterns out from the epicenter. Molten rock and churned soil gushed upward from the fissures, merging into a thick, bubbling torrent that surged across the broken terrain.
The ANBU scattered in panic. Some scrambled away on all fours, others were hurled through the air by violent shockwaves. Roaring flame, crashing water, searing lightning, grinding stone, and Naruto's spiraling blue wind blades all crashed together. The brilliance of it blinded the onlookers.
Both Naruto and the Third Hokage stiffened, hearts sinking. This wasn't good. Their attacks were far too powerful. If this energy spread unchecked, it wouldn't just destroy the training field it would devour the village.
Hiruzen thought grimly of the Sarutobi clan compound. It would be reduced to rubble in an instant.
Hinata activated her Byakugan, veins bulging at her temples. "Three o'clock! There's an empty zone with no one around!" she shouted.
In the chaos, her voice was the thread of salvation.
Naruto and the Third met each other's eyes for a heartbeat, and in that unspoken moment, they both understood.
Hinata's chakra flared to life, erupting from her body like an azure blaze. It hissed in the air, wild and raw.
"Shadow Clone Jutsu!"
A clone sprang to life beside her and immediately sprinted out of the danger zone. Hinata's plan was simple: use her unique Eight Trigrams technique to pull the runaway energy into a new path.
Her real body slammed both palms into the earth. "Eight Trigrams: Energy Shift!"
A massive seal of interlocking trigram lines spread across the battlefield, glowing faintly as it strained to draw the chaos inward. But the torrent of fire, water, lightning, earth, and wind was simply too much for her alone. The seal shuddered violently, and Hinata's hands dug into the soil, trembling.
Naruto surged forward, reinforcing the pull with his wind chakra. Hiruzen followed suit, weaving hand signs to stabilize the destructive storm.
Three wills aligned, and for a moment the battlefield seemed to hold its breath.
With a final groan, the torrent was sucked into the shifting channel Hinata had created. The unstable power vanished in a stream of light, pulled far beyond the village walls.
Outside the Leaf, a colossal beam of crimson-gold shot into the sky, exploding in a brilliance so blinding it turned night into day. A second sun seemed to rise above the horizon. Trees within miles were ripped from their roots, flung into the heavens like drifting feathers.
The ground heaved. A mushroom cloud of dirt and smoke clawed its way upward, the shockwave slamming outward like a tidal wave. Every villager, every shinobi, felt the rumble in their bones.
"What just happened?" voices cried across the village.
"Are we under attack?"
"Don't be ridiculous. Who could possibly attack the Leaf?"
Ninjas poured from every district, leaping across rooftops toward the explosion. The village buzzed with alarm as shadows darted back and forth, converging on the source.
By the time they reached the Sarutobi training grounds, the battlefield was unrecognizable. What had once been a flat expanse was now a gargantuan crater, so deep it seemed to reach the earth's heart.
Water gurgled up from underground springs, filling the hole with bubbling streams. It wouldn't be long before this wound in the land became a lake.
"What kind of jutsu could do this?" a stunned chunin whispered.
ANBU swept the area quickly, searching for intruders. Finding nothing, they relayed a coded signal to the Hokage: No danger do not intervene.
The assembled shinobi exchanged uneasy glances. Some muttered guesses.
"Could it have been an S-rank technique in testing?"
"Look at the destruction… only someone like Kakashi-senpai could manage this besides the Hokage."
But whatever they speculated, the truth remained buried in secrecy.
Back at the crater's edge, Konohamaru nearly bounced with excitement. He bolted up to Naruto, eyes sparkling.
"Naruto-nii! That move you and Grandpa's clash what was that called? It was amazing!"
Naruto laughed, ruffling his hair. "That? That was my own original taijutsu. I call it the Wind God Kick. But listen, Konohamaru if you ever want to use it, you'll have to train your body until it's tougher than steel. And your wind chakra needs to be refined to its very peak. Only then will it be at full power."
Konohamaru clenched his fists tight, his expression filled with fiery resolve. "Don't worry, Naruto-nii! I'll work as hard as I have to!"
Naruto grinned, patting his shoulder. "Good. When you finally master it, not even your Grandpa will be able to stop you."
Konohamaru's eyes gleamed with anticipation. His dream had always been simple: to surpass the Third Hokage, his grandfather.
Hiruzen, standing nearby, half-squinted in weary amusement. So that's my fate, huh? Beaten into retirement by my own grandson. By the time you learn that jutsu, Konohamaru, I'll be old enough to need a walking stick. Will you kick me straight into the retirement home?
Naruto turned back to him, his tone suddenly earnest. "Old man, that five-element barrage you used… can you teach it to me?"
The Third gave an exaggerated sigh, rolling his shoulders. "You cheeky brat. You nearly cracked my back with that match, and now you dare to make requests?" He groaned dramatically, rubbing his spine.
Naruto chuckled and immediately stepped forward, kneading the old man's shoulders with practiced hands. "How's this? Am I hitting the right spot?"
Hiruzen closed his eyes with a pleased hum. "Not bad… not bad at all. Hmph. Fine. Since you're showing such sincerity, I suppose I can share it with you."
In truth, Hiruzen had long wanted to pass the technique down. The problem was that no one in the village possessed the aptitude to wield it. Few shinobi were born with all five elemental affinities, and fewer still could master them to such depth.
Not even Kakashi could accomplish it. Perhaps once, long ago, he might have had the potential. But too much time had slipped by.
And Hiruzen himself did not know how many years remained for him. He couldn't bear the thought of his greatest creation the Five-Element Barrage dying with him. A technique born from decades of research, binding the five elements together through perfect synergy, amplifying each one in devastating harmony.
Against Naruto, he had only unleashed part of its power. If he had used the full combined force, the result might have leveled half the district.
Whether Naruto had been holding back in return, Hiruzen could not say. After all, this was a sparring match, not a battle to the death.
Naruto's grin widened. "Score one for me. And hey, about the genin team assignments me, Sasuke, and Hinata have been together forever. We're tight. You're not gonna split us up, right?"
Hiruzen gave a small nod. He had watched those three train side by side since childhood. Whenever time allowed, he had even guided them personally. To him, they were more than students they were the future pillars of the Leaf.
Seeing Naruto's growth now, he knew the boy could already stand on his own. Sasuke and Hinata were a step behind, but with time, they too would rise. He still had a few years left to shield them, to give them the chance to grow.
One day, they would be strong enough to hold the village upon their own shoulders.
And with Naruto's current strength, he no longer needed to fear assassination attempts or foreign plots. Which meant, finally, there were truths the boy deserved to hear.
Hiruzen's expression hardened slightly as he looked at Naruto.
Yes. Some things can no longer be kept secret. It's time he knew.
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