Clang!
The sharp, loud sound of metal hitting metal echoed across the entire training ground.
Sasuke and Naruto were moving like two blurs in the middle of the clearing. Their kunai clashed together again and again, sending bright sparks flying into the air. Each strike was incredibly fast, and neither of them was backing down even an inch.
With a fierce grin, Naruto pushed forward, trying to overwhelm Sasuke with his raw strength. But Sasuke's Sharingan was spinning furiously in his crimson eyes. He perfectly saw Naruto's movement, tilted his head to dodge a sharp slash, and used the momentum to sweep his leg toward Naruto's ankles.
Naruto jumped back nimbly, flipping through the air before landing smoothly on the dirt. He cracked his neck and let out a cocky laugh. "Not bad, Sasuke! Your eyes are getting sharper."
"Shut up, you blond idiot" Sasuke replied, though his lips twitched into a small, confident smirk. He gripped his kunai tighter, his breath coming out a bit heavy. "I'm just getting started."
Without waiting a single second, Sasuke rushed forward again. This time, he channelled a blue, crackling current of lightning chakra into his weapon. The weapon buzzed loudly like a thousand birds, cutting through the wind as he aimed a powerful thrust directly at Naruto's shoulder.
Naruto's eyes narrowed. He knew that blocking that electricity directly is a foolish move, so he quickly formed a single hand sign.
Boom!
A cloud of white smoke erupted where Naruto was standing. Sasuke's lightning-infused kunai pierced right through a heavy wooden log instead. It was a perfect Substitution Jutsu.
"Behind you!" Naruto's voice called out from the shadows of the nearby trees.
Sasuke didn't even turn around. Relying purely on his battle instincts and the prediction power of his Sharingan, he threw three shuriken backward over his shoulder. The flying blades curved through the air, forcing Naruto to stop his surprise attack and swat them away with his own weapon.
Clang! Clang! Clang!
The weapons fell into the grass, and the two boys stood a few yards apart, staring each other down with excited lights flickering in their eyes.The intense heat of the afternoon sun was burning down on them, but neither of them cared because they both knew that the battle had just started.
"Hey, you blonde idiot, if you don't take this seriously, this fight will be over quickly," Sasuke said, his voice full of confidence as he began to form rapid hand signs. Snake, Ram, Monkey, Boar, Horse, Tiger.
He took a deep breath, his chest expanding. "Fire Style: Fireball Jutsu!"
A massive roaring ball of orange flames erupted from Sasuke's mouth, instantly scorching the green grass beneath it as it raced straight toward Naruto. The heat was so intense that the air around it was completely distorted.
Naruto didn't panic at all. Thanks to Izanami's teaching and help, he was no longer the boy who could only use the Rasengan. He was now the young master of Japan and had access to as many rare ninjutsu scrolls as he wanted. He didn't even use a long string of hand signs; instead, he just clapped his hands together and shouted.
"Water Style: Water Collapsing Wall!"
Suddenly, a huge torrent of water materialized from thin air, rising up like a giant shield right in front of him.
BOOM!
The massive fireball clashed violently against the thick wall of water. The opposing elements hissed and screamed as they canceled each other out, creating a gigantic wave of blinding white steam that instantly covered the entire training ground.
Inside the thick white fog, everything went completely silent.
Sasuke leaped up, landing gracefully on a high tree branch. His Sharingan darted frantically through the mist, the mist has no effect on him because under his Sharingan there is nothing his eyes couldn't see.
Suddenly, the air behind him rippled.
Swish!
Three sharp wooden spikes suddenly shot out from the tree trunk itself, aiming directly for Sasuke's back.
"What?!" Sasuke's eyes widened in surprise. He quickly flipped backward off the branch, narrowly dodging the spikes that appeared out of nowhere. While he was still mid-air, he looked down and saw Naruto standing calmly on the ground below, his hand still touching the base of the tree.
"Don't forget, Sasuke, I can do more than just spray water now," Naruto grinned with his hands still keeping the hand signs he just used to create that water spikes.
"Hmph, don't look down on the Uchiha!" Sasuke roared mid-air. He let go of his holding back and channeled his lightning chakra to the absolute limit. Blue electricity violently exploded all around his right hand, making a deafening sound like thousands of birds chirping at the same time.
With the Chidori crackling fiercely in his hand, Sasuke dropped from the sky like a falling meteor, aiming a devastating strike straight at Naruto.
Naruto smiled excitedly as he also began to run towards Sasuke. On one hand, there was a blue ball of chakra that spun violently, forming a perfect Rasengan. But he didn't stop there. He didn't want to just use his regular moves.
Relying on his deep understanding of chakra manipulation that he learned from the Rushifā clan scrolls, Naruto began to pour more chakra into the spinning sphere. Instantly, the stable blue Rasengan turned into an even darker and more gigantic one, making everyone feel a deadly threat.
"Let's see whose jutsu is stronger, Sasuke!" Naruto yelled as he leaped into the air to meet his rival.
"Chidori!" Sasuke roared, his Sharingan tracking Naruto's every movement perfectly.
"Big ball Rasengan!" Naruto countered, thrusting his dark-tinted energy orb forward.
BOOM!!!
The moment the two legendary jutsu collided, time seemed to stop for a fraction of a second. Then, a massive explosion of blue lightning and violent wind completely ripped through the training ground. The sheer force of the impact shattered the ground beneath them, creating a massive crater and sending large chunks of earth flying into the sky.
The powerful shockwave blasted away all the remaining steam in an instant, revealing the destruction they had caused.
Both Naruto and Sasuke were blown backward by the heavy recoil. Their boots skidded across the broken dirt for several yards before they finally stopped themselves.
"Heh, you've really grown a lot, Naruto," Sasuke panted slightly, wiping a trace of dust from his face. The blue electricity around his hand finally faded away, but his Sharingan was still spinning, and the competitive fire in his eyes was burning hotter than ever.
Naruto chuckled heartily, dismissing his leftover chakra. "Same to you, Sasuke! Your Chidori is no joke. But you have to admit I won that exchange right"
Just as the two boys were about to catch their breath and argue about whose jutsu was actually stronger, a very crisp and angry voice suddenly echoed from the edge of the clearing.
"You two absolute idiots! Are you trying to kill each other before the exams even begin?!"
Naruto and Sasuke both stiffened and slowly turned their heads.
Walking out from the shade of the trees was Sakura. She was wearing her medical ninja apron and holding a clipboard, looking at the completely ruined landscape with a very exasperated expression on her face. Her green eyes were flashing dangerously, and she had a thick vein popping on her forehead.
"Sakura-chan!" Naruto laughed nervously, rubbing the back of his head. "We were just doing a little warm-up, you know?"
"A warm-up doesn't involve turning the training ground into a wasteland!" Sakura scolded, walking over to them and tapping her clipboard against Naruto's chest. "I just got off my shift at the hospital. Tsunade-sama has been working me to the bone, and I come back here to find my teammates trying to blow themselves up."
Sasuke deactivated his Sharingan, crossing his arms with a casual hmph. "We had everything under control."
"Oh, really?" Sakura raised an eyebrow, pointing at the massive smoking crater right behind them. "That looks very 'under control', Sasuke-kun."
Before the two boys could make any more excuses, the bushes rustled, and Kakashi lazily stepped into the clearing. His nose was buried in his favorite orange book, completely unfazed by the destruction.
"Yo," Kakashi greeted them casually, finally looking up from his page. He looked at the shattered ground, then at his three students. "Well, it looks like you guys have plenty of energy left. That's good, because I have some news regarding the Chunin Exams."
Hearing this, Team 7 immediately straightened up, their expression turned serious as they all waited for Kakashi to speak.
*******
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