Naruto Uzumaki made the first move.
"Multiple Shadow Clone Jutsu!"
KABOOM!
In a burst of white smoke, ten clones charged simultaneously toward Kurotsuchi and the others.
Seeing this, Hinata Hyuga immediately stepped forward to block.
"Naruto's on me."
With that simple sentence, Kurotsuchi and Ino Yamanaka instantly understood. They both retreated behind her.
[White Eye—Activated!]
Activating her Byakugan, Hinata immediately gained full 360-degree vision of her surroundings.
All of Naruto Uzumaki's attacks, launched from every blind spot using his Shadow Clones, became completely ineffective.
[Gentle Fist!]
With a sharp cry, Hinata launched herself into close combat against Naruto Uzumaki.
Seeing this unfold, the original Naruto couldn't help but smirk slightly.
He'd fought Hinata back at the Ninja Academy, and her Taijutsu skills had been pretty mediocre back then.
There was no way she could win fighting him head-on like this.
However, this thought hadn't even lasted a full second before Naruto's expression suddenly changed.
Hinata's movements were now eerie and swift, completely different from how she had performed at the Academy.
In just a short moment, she had already eliminated half of his clones.
"Tchah!"
"Multiple Shadow Clone Jutsu!"
Gritting his teeth, Naruto formed the hand seals again, summoning another ten clones charging toward Hinata.
Meanwhile, Sasuke Uchiha had activated his double-tomoe Sharingan.
To awaken a double-tomoe Sharingan at such a young age—this alone was proof of his genius as a ninja of the Uchiha Clan!
Rather than helping Naruto, Sasuke instead chose to charge straight at Ino Yamanaka.
Eliminating the weakest member of their team first was clearly the correct strategy.
But the moment he moved, Kurotsuchi stood in front of Ino Yamanaka to block.
"Hmph!"
"With my eyes watching you, all your efforts are meaningless," Kurotsuchi declared confidently.
In one-on-one combat, the Sharingan held an unmatched advantage.
Even though his current Sharingan only had two tomoe, it was more than enough for dealing with Kurotsuchi.
[Fire Release: Great Fireball Technique]
Forming the seals with both hands, Sasuke unleashed a massive fireball from his mouth.
Kurotsuchi responded by forming seals of her own.
[Earth Release: Earth-Style Wall]
A thick wall of earth materialized out of nowhere, blocking Sasuke's fireball attack completely.
Immediately after, Kurotsuchi formed another set of seals.
[Lava Release: Quicklime Congealing Technique]
A large amount of quicklime instantly engulfed Sasuke.
[Water Release: Surging Tidal Blast!]
Under the effect of moisture, the limestone instantly emitted terrifying high temperatures, then solidified just as quickly.
Sasuke Uchiha, caught off guard, was immediately trapped in place.
"Earth Release: Limestone Sealing Jutsu!"
Kurotsuchi's hands kept forming seals as she spat out large amounts of concrete from her mouth.
This time, Sasuke Uchiha's body became completely immobile.
"Sasuke!"
Seeing Sasuke trapped, Sakura Haruno immediately wanted to rush forward and help him break free.
Just at that moment, Naruto Uzumaki's shadow clone ran toward her.
"Naruto, Sasuke's been captured. We should help him first."
Naruto Uzumaki smiled and nodded: "I got it, Sakura."
Without another word, Sakura turned around and sprinted toward Sasuke Uchiha.
But the next second, Naruto suddenly punched her in the stomach.
"Naruto, you..."
Sakura held her stomach and collapsed weakly.
A smile appeared on Naruto Uzumaki's face: "Sakura, you're too careless."
Sakura's eyes widened in shock: "You are... Ino?!"
"Got it right," Naruto said, continuing to tie Sakura up tightly with ropes.
Not far away, Hinata Hyuga's voice rang out again: [Gentle Fist: Eight Trigrams Sixty-Four Palms!]
With a low shout, Hinata transformed into a streak of lightning, rapidly aiming strikes at Naruto's pressure points.
Poof!
Poof!
Poof!
One by one, Naruto's shadow clones vanished under Hinata's attacks, and his main body's chakra pathways were sealed by the Gentle Fist.
"L-lost?! We lost?!"
The battle hadn't even lasted five minutes before Naruto Uzumaki, Sasuke Uchiha, and Sakura Haruno were all defeated.
Struggling, Naruto opened his mouth: "How did you all get so strong?"
Hearing this, Kurotsuchi lightly snorted: "We're disciples of Mirai-sensei; naturally, we can't disgrace him."
Sasuke Uchiha bit his lip resentfully.
His Sharingan had barely activated before he was trapped.
It was truly infuriating.
Sakura Haruno felt even more revolted, like she had just bitten into something foul.
Ever since childhood, she and Ino Yamanaka had never seen eye to eye, always competing over everything.
Never would she have imagined that today, she'd be bound hand and foot by her rival!
Meanwhile, Kakashi Hatake, observing silently from the edge of the battlefield, looked incredulously at Mirai Uchiha.
"In such a short time, how did you manage this?"
As an elite Jonin with extensive experience, Kakashi could see far more than what Naruto and the others had perceived.
The previous battle had seen Team Mirai start off by sending Hinata Hyuga, who specialized in taijutsu and possessed the Byakugan, to engage Naruto Uzumaki first.
Then they followed up by deploying Kurotsuchi, whose Kekkei Genkai could cover a wide area and obscure vision, to deal with Sasuke Uchiha.
And while Kurotsuchi was releasing her Kekkei Genkai, Ino Yamanaka secretly used Shadow Clones as decoys while her real body hid behind an earthen wall created by Nagare's Earth Release technique.
By using the Mind Transfer Technique on one of Naruto's Shadow Clones, they cleverly tricked Sakura Haruno's sensor-type abilities and successfully launched a surprise attack on her...
This level of seamless coordination was completely unlike what a newly formed team should be capable of.
Plus...
How come their strength had improved so dramatically?
Otherwise, even with the best tactics, they wouldn't have been able to pull through without sufficient power.
Uchiha Mirai wasn't surprised by Kakashi Hatake's doubts at all.
Decades spent inside the Illusion World equated to just an instant in the real world—an experience hard to understand for those who hadn't undergone it themselves.
Just then, Kurotsuchi and the others came running over cheerfully.
"Teacher Mirai, we won!"
A faint smile appeared on Uchiha Mirai's face. "Great job. Keep working hard like this."
After saying that, she turned to Kakashi Hatake. "Youthful rival, treat us to some barbecue tonight."
"Don't forget to bring enough cash or you might get detained by the shop owner."
"Cut the crap. I can afford this much." Kakashi snorted lightly.
It was just one barbecue dinner. What could it possibly cost—your entire paycheck?
Seeing Kakashi's dismissive expression, Uchiha Mirai couldn't help but grin widely.
Kakashi still had so much to learn.
Today, he'd finally understand exactly what 'eating like a beast' really meant!
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