Snake – Goat – Monkey – Boar – Horse – Tiger.
"Fire Style: Fireball-"
Just as Sasuke was about to complete the final seal for his Fire Style jutsu, his Sharingan suddenly flickered. To his shock, Kirito, who had been locked in his vision, had vanished without a trace.
Before he could react, a sharp sting struck the back of his neck, and in that moment, it felt like all the strength in his body had been drained away.
"Damn it…"
As unwilling as he was, Kirito had hit a key chakra point. Sasuke couldn't even sense his own chakra now, let alone fight. The so-called genius of the Uchiha had no choice but to yield.
"Whoosh!"
Kakashi appeared in an instant, placing himself between Sasuke and Naruto to stop them from continuing. His voice was firm.
"That's enough. It's over."
"Agh… I haven't even, "
Naruto opened his mouth to argue, but it was pointless now.
Sasuke clenched his jaw tightly, his fists trembling with frustration. His Sharingan burned with resentment and self-loathing.
"Up till now… what have I even accomplished…? At this rate, how long will it take before I have the power to kill that man?!"
"..."
Kakashi's brow furrowed deeply. He looked straight at Kirito and asked bluntly,
"No offense, but… Hyuga Kirito, your skill level is far beyond that of a genin, isn't it? You're lacking in power, yes, but in terms of speed, you're faster than most chūnin I've seen…"
Kirito didn't try to hide anything.
"Unfortunately," he said plainly, "I don't know any ninjutsu or genjutsu. And in the academy graduation exam, taijutsu wasn't scored."
"I see…"
Kakashi's expression shifted slightly. Given Kirito's Hyuga background, it made sense, Hyuga clan members generally leaned away from ninjutsu and genjutsu. But even so, wasn't it a bit too extreme for someone to not know a single one?
"So, what you're saying is… your strength isn't something the official system could ever recognize?"
Kirito simply shrugged.
"Recognition or not… doesn't really matter. I'm not interested in that sort of thing."
Kakashi squinted, eyes sharp as he studied Kirito.
This kid… If he had just shown a little of his real ability, the Hyuga clan would never have cast him out.
But from what Kirito said, and more importantly, what he didn't say, it was obvious he didn't care for the clan or what others thought of him.
He simply ignored everything that didn't interest him.
…
Thus, the small scuffle at the martial arts hall came to a close.
Kakashi left with a bruised Naruto and Sasuke, both of whom had been dealt a serious psychological blow. Rumor had it that, after their defeat at Kirito's hands, the two began training harder than ever to prepare for the upcoming Chūnin Exams.
Kirito, meanwhile, returned to his peaceful routine.
He helped with labor at the weapons shop and worked part-time managing the martial arts hall, both owned by Tenten's family.
After Kirito demonstrated his strength, the initial doubts and resentment from other staff faded.
No one thought of him as someone who had merely used connections to get the job. Quite the opposite, Kirito had ability, worked hard, and was close with the daughter of the household. Their working relationship gradually became easy and even friendly.
As for Asuna, she was still busy with her duties, representing the Land of Fire in its ceremonial diplomacy with Konoha's noble clans. So for the time being, she hadn't returned to pester Kirito about sword training.
Time returned to its calm, predictable pace.
And with it, the date of the Chūnin Exams drew ever closer.
But just three days before the exams began, something finally happened.
It wasn't that anything had occurred in Konoha itself.
No, this time, it was Kirito himself who had a problem.
The [Arsenal System] issued a mission.
[Mission Type: Main Storyline]
[Mission Rank: A-Rank]
[Objective: From this moment forward, protect Princess Asuna of the Land of Fire until she safely returns to the Daimyō's palace.]
[Reward: Mission rewards will be distributed based on phase completion percentage.]
This wasn't Kirito's first system-issued mission, so he wasn't particularly surprised.
What did bother him was the rank, A-Rank. This was by far the highest-tier mission he'd received to date.
According to the system's classification, the higher the rank, the greater the risk. And this one was clearly serious.
Even that near-death encounter with a jōnin-level opponent had only been rated as a B-Rank mission.
But this one… was A-Rank.
Currently, both Kirito and Asuna were inside Konoha, the central stronghold of the entire shinobi world. There should be no safer place.
So why would the system issue an A-Rank mission now?
Kirito thought for a moment and quickly reached the only conclusion possible:
The Chūnin Exams.
And with them… the infamous "Konoha Crush" invasion.
The upcoming attack, orchestrated by the rogue S-rank shinobi Orochimaru, would involve both the Sound and Sand villages launching a full-scale assault on Konoha.
Kirito's mission…
was undoubtedly to ensure Asuna's survival through the chaos of that event.
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