Whoosh, whoosh, whoosh!
A group of ninja academy teachers, each carrying students on their backs, darted swiftly through the forest. Behind them, wild beasts roared furiously, relentlessly pursuing.
"Where did all these beasts in Training Ground Zero come from?"
Mizuki, with Yuta on his back and Ryūya held against his chest, looked disheveled. His blue, short hair was soaked with sweat, sticking messily to his face.
These students were the third group they'd rescued.
Rescue signals lit up the sky nonstop, leaving him no time to rest.
Ten minutes ago, the beasts began attacking the students.
At first, the teachers thought it was just bad luck. But when they arrived, they realized something was terribly wrong.
The crazed beasts attacked anything in sight, even as kunai pierced their bodies. They seemed determined to sink their teeth into flesh, no matter the cost.
This frenzied state was far from normal.
Moreover, Training Ground Zero shouldn't have this many ferocious beasts. Even if you counted those from Training Ground One nearby, the numbers still didn't add up.
By the time the teachers grasped the severity of the situation, rescue signals filled the sky.
Some teachers grumbled that Training Ground Zero was now more fitting of the "Forest of Death" nickname than Training Ground Forty-Four.
"I heard it's the work of spies from another village!"
A fellow ninja academy teacher, also carrying several students, shared intel he'd just received from a comrade.
"They found special powders placed at several points in the forest during the rescue."
"Powders?"
Iruka's curiosity piqued. "What do they do?"
"They cause hallucinations and frenzy!" the well-informed teacher said gravely. "The first teacher to discover the drug said it can make beasts unnaturally calm, even turning natural enemies into friends with no desire to attack. But once the drug wears off, they become restless, then lose their minds and attack everything around them."
"No wonder!"
Mizuki's eyebrows shot up. He finally understood why the beasts were so deranged.
"By the way, don't you guys feel like it's gotten… quiet?"
Iruka frowned, breaking the moment.
The group exchanged glances, a shared realization dawning. They turned around.
The pursuing beasts had vanished completely, as if the beast tide was just a bizarre illusion.
At Training Ground Zero, the sun had set, leaving only a crimson glow on the horizon.
Gulp!
Sawada Fuka, bundled in winter clothes, rode her giant bird, circling the sky. She watched the beasts and people clashing below, occasionally glancing toward the eastern forest, fidgeting like she had ADHD.
She couldn't help but be nervous.
The drug's effects wouldn't last long. Whether Kumogakure's diversionary tactic of striking east to attack west would work, and when Konoha's reinforcements would arrive—or if they were already on their way—were all unknowns.
Below, Hikari, known as "Sun-Chaser," sat cross-legged on the ground, her body occasionally glowing with a faint halo, tinkering with something unknown.
Kumogakure's elite forces were temporarily held back by Kazama Yue, and the commotion in the east was intense. From the sky, Fuka could see trees collapsing, sensing the ferocity of the battle.
That elite Jōnin couldn't just be all talk, could he?
Kazama Yue, the guy who'd been sent to the hospital with a single kick from Hikari—how was he holding out this long?
Judging by the battle's shockwaves, Fuka began to suspect Kazama Yue wasn't as simple as she'd thought. Still, her anxious mind couldn't stop spiraling.
The pressure was overwhelming.
She, an ordinary spy who couldn't even beat a ninja academy student, was now brazenly flying above Konohagakure on a giant bird. At any moment, a ninjutsu could shoot up from below, ending her life before she could react.
Tick, tick!
Her watch's hands moved steadily.
Fuka rolled up her sleeve. It was 7:28 PM, two minutes from complete darkness.
If the sun set fully, it'd take him longer to find her, wasting precious time.
Hurry up!
Clutching her wristwatch, Fuka closed her eyes and prayed.
Below, the beasts roared, locked in combat with countless Naruto clones. Hikari sat at the center of the group, cross-legged, her palms glowing with radiant chakra, condensed to an almost tangible state.
Shikamaru gazed at the fading sunset, his mind calculating time.
Three minutes at most until nightfall.
As the sun sank below the horizon, light scattering stretched the giant bird's shadow infinitely across the ground.
The good news: his shadow could easily connect with it with a slight move.
The bad news: the shadow was growing so faint it was barely visible. Whether his Shadow Imitation Technique would work was uncertain.
If Hikari couldn't master her technique within three minutes, they'd be stuck waiting for Konoha's rescue.
That would be too passive.
Shikamaru glanced at the giant bird still circling above.
No matter how remote Training Ground Zero was, it was still within Konohagakure. Reinforcements could arrive any moment.
The frenzied beasts couldn't break their defenses, yet the enemy above remained calm, circling leisurely. There had to be a bigger card they hadn't played.
Maybe they had a hidden expert.
Perhaps something unexpected had happened, or the ninja academy teachers had delayed them, keeping them from arriving.
Was the person in the sky just a pawn to stall them?
Shikamaru pressed his fingers together in his "thinking pose," his mind racing.
Roar!
A black wolf lunged, snarling. Naruto dodged its bite, shielding his head with his left arm while sinking his right for an uppercut.
His fist, sharp as a bullet, slammed into the wolf's belly, sending it flying.
Naruto's daily training with 20-kilogram weights on each limb—80 kilograms total, equivalent to an adult man's weight—had paid off. Combined with constant running and punching, his long-term training bore fruit.
Whine!
The struck wolf vomited green bile, unable to stand.
Elated, Naruto didn't notice another wolf, eyes blood-red, circling behind him. It leaped, its glinting fangs sinking into his neck.
Poof!
The screaming Naruto turned to dust.
"Argh!"
Another Naruto clone roared, stepping up to face the wolf.
"Naruto, you okay?"
Chōji, enlarged to two meters tall, sweated profusely as he pinned a wild boar. Seeing Naruto's pale face, he felt both worry and awe.
Naruto had always been the class's weakest, the "dead-last" label louder than even "monster." Yet now, he'd grown this much.
Chōji stared at the dozen shadow clones around them, stunned by Naruto's chakra reserves. If he wasn't mistaken, Naruto had created over 500 clones already.
"I can do this ten more times!"
Naruto leaned against a tree, panting. Exhaustion and pain from every part of his body nearly made him faint.
He still had chakra to spare, but each clone's death brought waves of pain and fatigue, pushing his mind and body to the brink.
"Don't push yourself! You'll die!"
Ino rushed to warn him.
She knew the Shadow Clone Technique well—every Konoha ninja specializing in Yin Release did. It was a classic technique developed by the Second Hokage, combining Yin and Yang Release, a textbook example of ninjutsu.
During the First Great Ninja War, the battlefield was riddled with traps, causing heavy casualties among Konoha ninja.
Thus, the Shadow Clone Technique was born.
Initially, it had no limits, but its flaw became clear: fatigue from clones transferred back to the user, sometimes fatally.
The Third Hokage, recognizing the danger, restricted the technique, adding seals to limit it to five clones at a time, regardless of chakra reserves.
The original, unrestricted version became the Multiple Shadow Clone Technique, sealed in a scroll.
For most ninja, the standard Shadow Clone Technique was enough. Those skilled in Yin Release could modify it themselves, removing the Third's seals to unlock the Multiple Shadow Clone Technique.
Naruto was undoubtedly using Konoha's only universal forbidden technique: the Multiple Shadow Clone Technique.
If he wasn't careful, the technique could literally work him to death.
"It's fine, Ino."
Naruto's trembling arms pushed against the ground as he struggled to stand, his sky-blue eyes burning with determination.
"I'm gonna be Hokage.
If I can't even protect my friends, what's the point of being Hokage?"
Ino stared at Naruto's back, her lips trembling. Normally, she'd mock his big talk, but now, she couldn't bring herself to say anything harsh.
If someone like him didn't deserve to be Hokage, who did?
As they spoke, more shadow clones fell under the beasts' assault, their numbers dwindling.
A tiger, lurking at the front, seized its chance and pounced.
Chōji stepped in to block it.
Roar!
The tiger clamped onto Chōji's leg, sinking its teeth into his tendon.
Sharp fangs pierced flesh.
"Argh!"
Chōji screamed in pain, pounding the tiger with his fists. After the long battle, his reflexes weren't as sharp.
"Chōji!"
Ino couldn't stay back, drawing her kunai to rush forward, but a blind cane stopped her.
Blood flowed down Chōji's leg, staining his pants red.
Boom, boom!
Chōji endured the pain, hammering the tiger's head with his elbows.
The tiger refused to let go, its jaws locked, determined to tear off his leg.
"Shadow Clone—"
Naruto rallied, trying to help, but a familiar figure moved past him toward Chōji.
Slender fingers, glowing with chakra, tapped the tiger's head.
In an instant, the beast that had overwhelmed Chōji split in half!
Hikari's fingers traced the "king" mark on the tiger's forehead, splitting its massive skull along a clean line.
Red and white fluids splattered the ground, leaving a single clean line in the center.
Roar—
The fearless beast horde surged forward, but any that neared Hikari were sliced into pieces by invisible wind threads.
The stench of blood filled the air, making the already frenzied beasts even more agitated.
But no matter their ferocity, they couldn't bridge the vast gap in strength.
Hikari stood like an immovable reef, blocking the beast tide single-handedly, preventing any from reaching Naruto and the others.
"Your secret technique's done?"
Seeing Hikari's slaughter, Naruto shouted excitedly, as if his earlier exhaustion was an illusion.
With Hikari finally acting, Chōji exhaled, as if finding his anchor. His enlarged body shrank, along with the gruesome wound on his leg, until it looked like a mere cat bite.
"Pretty much!"
Hikari's palm gathered Wind Release chakra as she eyed the giant bird above.
Combining Eight Trigrams Air Palm with Wind Release was a spur-of-the-moment idea.
The principle of Eight Trigrams Air Palm was similar to the setup for her "High-Pressure Water Blade."
Before using Air Palm, she briefly gathered a large amount of chakra in her palm, compressing it into a highly condensed ball.
Unlike the Water Blade, which released pressure through a small opening for continuous cutting, Air Palm unleashed the compressed force all at once, creating a pure taijutsu attack like an air cannon.
With her experience compressing Water Release, mastering Air Palm wasn't difficult. This was why, after recalling its principles, she confidently claimed she could learn it quickly.
As expected, she mastered Air Palm in moments. The rest of her time was spent struggling to combine Wind Release with it.
Initially, she was fixated on Wind Release's tearing effect, trying to compress it into a vacuum blade.
But it didn't mesh with Air Palm's mechanics.
With no solution in sight and the sun about to set, Hikari had a flash of inspiration. Using Air Palm's chakra-condensing method, she solidified gaseous Wind Release into a super vacuum cannon capable of reaching a hundred meters into the sky.
Theoretically, it was sound.
Whether it would work in practice, she couldn't say.
"No time to worry about that! Shikamaru, Ino, get ready!"
As she spoke, Hikari's hands formed claws, one high, one low, gathering power at her right waist. In moments, highly condensed Wind Release chakra glowed with an eerie cyan light.
Shikamaru and Ino, waiting eagerly, responded in unison.
Their hands flew into seals, activating the Yin Release chakra they'd already refined.
Shadow Imitation Technique!
Shikamaru's eyes sharpened as he knelt, forming the "Rat" seal.
Invisible Yin Release power flowed into the shadow at his feet.
Soon, the barely visible shadow under the dim sky turned pitch-black, like an abyss.
Having calculated the giant bird's flight path, Shikamaru extended his shadow to a specific point, thinning and stretching it into a fine, net-like structure.
While the Shadow Imitation Technique could change shape freely, it couldn't increase its surface area.
The net-like form solved this issue.
Shikamaru licked his dry lips.
Now, it was a matter of waiting.
Waiting for the giant bird's shadow to fall into the trap he'd carefully prepared.