Bang. Bang. Bang.
A string of heavy impacts rang across the field, and the spectacle unfolding before the teachers and students was so outrageous that for a moment no one could even speak.
Minato Namikaze had already been blasted into the air by Gojo Yoru's first punch, but before his body could even hit the ground, he was struck again and again by three different Yorus, tossed around like a ball in the middle of the arena.
If they had been a body and two shadow clones, the scene would still have been impressive. But that was not what everyone was seeing.
Each time one Yoru smashed Minato away, another Yoru would burst forward even faster, intercept him in midair and strike again. And every time that happened, the charging Yoru would pass straight through Minato's body as if he were a ghost.
Minato tried to fight back. He really did. But every counterattack produced the same impossible result—his fists, his kicks, even his instinctive attempts to intercept, all passed right through Gojo Yoru without resistance.
It was as though all three Yorus were nothing more than intangible illusion clones, yet any one of them could become real for a split second and deliver a crushing blow.
Neither Yuya nor the medical ninja had ever seen a technique like this. The students, with their far more limited knowledge, were even more lost.
They knew for certain that the two extra Yorus had come from the most basic Clone Technique. They had seen the hand seals. They had watched the smoke.
But why didn't those illusionary doubles disperse when struck? Why could they flicker between illusion and substance like that? No one present could explain it.
And then the scene turned even more shocking.
Minato had already put on the involuntary pain-mask all children made when they were being beaten too hard, and Gojo Yoru had leaped into the air, one leg rising into a downward split that clearly meant to drive Minato into the ground for the finisher.
That was the moment Yuya finally snapped out of his shock. He shot forward in a blur, caught Minato before the next hit could land, and shouted, "The match is over! Winner decided!"
The instant those words rang out, the Yoru in the air, the Yoru on the ground, and the two Yorus in motion all burst into puffs of white smoke and vanished.
Only the real Gojo Yoru remained, walking forward with his hands lowered and his expression calmer than anyone expected.
"Sorry. I got carried away for a second," he said, which was rare enough by itself that several students simply stared. "Are you okay?"
Supported by Yuya, Minato forced himself upright. His whole body hurt, but he still shook his head and answered honestly, "I'm fine."
Then he gave a helpless, sincere smile. "I lost, Yoru-kun. That technique was incredible."
Gojo Yoru's lips curved into a smile that most of their classmates would have thought impossible to exist on his face.
"Your Wind Release was strong too," he said. "If I hadn't already learned Earth Release, that might've ended it in one move."
Then he raised his hand, extended two fingers, and offered the sign for reconciliation. "Thanks for the match."
Minato stared at him for an instant, then returned the gesture and completed the reconciliation seal.
Somewhere in the back of his mind, a faint sense of strangeness stirred.
Had Yoru changed?
It was subtle. Maybe it was just the smile. Maybe it was the atmosphere around him. But Minato could not shake the feeling that the Gojo Yoru standing in front of him now was slightly different from the one who had entered the field a few minutes earlier.
He would never know how right that feeling was.
For years, Minato Namikaze had existed in Gojo Yoru's heart as more than just a rival. He had been pressure. A warning. A living reminder that there were monsters in this world who could leave ordinary geniuses choking in their dust.
To a transmigrator who knew the future and understood exactly what kind of man Minato would become, that pressure had been even heavier than it should have been.
Minato had not merely been an opponent. He had been an inner demon.
A symbol of the fear that no matter what Gojo Yoru did—no matter how desperately he planned, performed, schemed, cultivated, concealed, and sharpened himself—there would always be someone more absurdly gifted waiting ahead.
But now he had defeated him.
Not by luck. Not by tricks alone. Not because Minato had stumbled.
He had beaten Minato head-on, in a no-rules duel, in front of everyone.
And in that instant, something that had coiled around Gojo Yoru's heart for years quietly snapped.
Minato would still grow stronger. Of course he would. He was Minato Namikaze.
But Gojo Yoru no longer needed to treat him as an unbeatable nightmare looming over the future. The fear that had once suffocated him was gone.
The performance could end here.
He no longer needed to wear mask after mask, no longer needed to act every waking moment as though one single mistake would condemn him forever. From now on, he could begin living as himself.
His talent was real. His strength was real. His cheat was real.
And with those things, he could take what he wanted.
Minato, of course, knew none of that.
Still curious, he looked at Gojo Yoru and asked, "Yoru-kun… if you don't mind me asking, were those two shadow clones? How were you switching between an illusion and a real body like that?"
At once, every eye on the training ground locked onto Gojo Yoru.
Gojo Yoru only tilted his chin a fraction, the corners of his mouth still raised. Then he said with open arrogance, "Not shadow clones. That was something I developed myself."
He paused just long enough for the silence to tighten around him.
"The Phantom Body Flicker Technique."
"Phantom Body Flicker Technique?"
The name alone stunned the students. Several repeated it under their breath, trying to memorize it on the spot.
Then Yuya and the medical ninja both reacted at the same time. Their expressions changed sharply, and they blurted out, almost together, "Body Flicker? That was just the Body Flicker Technique?"
Minato's eyes widened as well. "But then why didn't your clones disappear after being hit?"
Gojo Yoru only smiled and said nothing.
It was the kind of silence that felt more dramatic than any answer.
Then he turned and walked away, leaving an entire field of people frozen in place, still trying to digest what they had just witnessed.
Kushina Uzumaki, who had already finished her own assessment, hurried after him at once.
Once they were a little farther from the others, she couldn't hold it in any longer. "Yoru, was that really just the regular Clone Technique and the Body Flicker Technique?"
Gojo slipped his hands into his pockets and gave her a sidelong glance. "If you want to know, then get stronger."
He let the answer hang there for a beat, then added, "Once your strength reaches a certain level, you'll naturally understand the secret behind it."
Kushina stopped dead for half a step and stared at him.
She had been curious before. Now curiosity was the last thing on her mind.
Because Yoru was smiling.
Not that mocking curl of the lips he used when he was taunting her. Not that faint, cool, almost distant smile he wore when he was humoring someone.
This one was different.
It was bright. Relaxed. Genuine.
And maybe it was only her imagination, but in that moment it felt like something about him had changed too. As if some invisible weight had fallen away from his shoulders, and the person walking ahead of her had begun to shine.
Which, annoyingly, made him even more handsome.
Kushina's face heated at once. She jerked her gaze away, lifted her chin, and said in a deliberately dismissive voice, "Tch. Fine. Then don't tell me. Anyway, a technique like that only works on sissies."
Gojo snorted. "You've got a lot of nerve saying that. Want to try it yourself?"
"Try it? I'll master it before you know it!"
"Sometimes I really admire your confidence," Gojo said dryly. "If only your body were as tough as your mouth."
"Be arrogant while you can," Kushina shot back at once. "Once I learn that move, you'll be the one crying later!"
Gojo arched a brow. "Oh? What move?"
Kushina puffed out her cheeks, then suddenly grinned. "Heh. I'm not telling you."
As if she had finally won one exchange for once, she made a face at him and skipped ahead, clearly trying to escape before he could retaliate.
Gojo Yoru followed at an easy pace, one hand in his pocket, a faint smile still resting on his lips.
"It's good to be young…" he murmured to himself.
Elsewhere, in the Hokage's office, Hiruzen Sarutobi sat before the crystal globe and let out a soft chuckle of his own.
He had specifically used the Telescope Technique to watch the final assessment. What he saw had left him more pleased than surprised.
The five Yorus reflected in the crystal had already told him enough.
He still could not fully grasp the principle behind the Phantom Body Flicker Technique. He did not know how Gojo Yoru had managed to make illusionary clones persist under attack, nor how he switched their state with such precision.
But Hiruzen had no intention of probing the matter too deeply.
As the man known as the Professor of Ninjutsu, he could tell at a glance that the technique had been built upon Gojo Yoru's unique Body Flicker aptitude.
Ordinary Body Flicker could not achieve that kind of ghostlike silence. Even if someone understood the theory, they would never replicate it without Yoru's monstrous chakra control, reflexes, and spatial intuition.
And in Hiruzen's eyes, that meant the technique did not pose much danger to the village.
A phantom was still a phantom. Without a true physical body, it could not weave signs independently or cast techniques the way a shadow clone could. Against a shinobi with broad enough ninjutsu options, it could be countered.
It was dazzling, but not terrifying.
Still, the talent behind it was impossible to ignore.
Hiruzen drew slowly on his pipe, eyes narrowing as smoke drifted between him and the crystal.
"To create a Body Flicker derivative at this age—one that doesn't rely on the Five Elements, but on an understanding of motion and space unique to himself…" he murmured.
"That means not only exceptional chakra control and reaction speed. It also means his perception of space may be extraordinary."
A thought surfaced in his mind then, one that made his gaze sharpen.
"Perhaps…"
"…he may have the potential to learn the technique Tobirama-sensei once used."
The room fell silent again after that.
Then Hiruzen's eyes shifted slightly, turning toward a direction no ordinary person would have noticed.
His voice dropped until it was little more than a whisper meant only for himself.
"And since no one has interfered for this long… does that mean you approve as well, Lady Mito?"