After a brief battle, two opponents had fallen while another was suspended mid-air, screaming in fear.
Looking at his defeated disciples with satisfaction, Hiruzen Sarutobi spoke:
"Well, except for that idiot Jiraiya.
You two have made considerable progress, though you still lack actual combat experience."
He finished sweeping his gaze across the area before suddenly shouting toward some nearby trees:
"Hey there, young man from the Uchiha clan.
Don't you plan to come out already?
Your companions have all fallen, you know~"
Silence abruptly fell over the battlefield as a figure slowly emerged from the woods.
The newcomer was none other than Kagura, who had been secretly observing the fight from hiding.
When he reached about twenty meters away from Hiruzen Sarutobi, he halted.
Sighing inwardly, he had originally hoped those three would cause at least some trouble for this opponent, allowing him an opportunity to strike opportunistically.
But he never expected the entire battle to end within two minutes.
Under these circumstances and facing such an enemy, ambushing now had completely lost its meaning.
Tightening his grip on a kunai, he raised his head to face Hiruzen Sarutobi and got into a fighting stance.
His eyes had already transformed into Sharingan, with two tomoe spinning slowly within each eye.
At the sight of Kagura's Sharingan, for the first time, Hiruzen Sarutobi's expression turned serious.
Thoughtfully, he remarked:
"You've actually already reached the second level of your Sharingan!
No wonder earlier when I deliberately exposed vulnerabilities, only that boy Orochimaru took the bait. You saw through my substitution technique from the beginning, didn't you?
However...
It seems even the Uchiha clan doesn't know about your Sharingan awakening?"
Holding his kunai high before his brow, Kagura replied solemnly:
"An ace up one's sleeve is always better played at the right moment, don't you think?"
Without waiting for Hiruzen Sarutobi to respond, Kagura transformed into a blur and charged forward.
Quickly regaining focus, Hiruzen Sarutobi met the attack with kunai drawn.
A series of metallic clangs rang out as both fighters moved so fast they became mere afterimages.
From the actual exchange, Sarutobi grew even more astonished.
"This kid...
His hand-to-hand combat is actually this strong?
He has already reached chunin-level proficiency.
Combined with his Sharingan's observation abilities, I can't defeat him quickly using just taijutsu?"
Meanwhile, Tsunade and Orochimaru finally caught their breath and sat down on the ground.
Watching the fight between the two figures nearby, their faces turned deathly pale.
"So this Kagura...he never revealed his true strength while at the Academy.
Based on his current performance, we couldn't even get close to him!"
Tsunade thought bitterly as she clenched her fists.
Although unwilling, the gap between herself and her opponent was clear as day.
Clang!
With a sharp clang, the two figures finally reappeared.
Their kunai had clashed together, and for now, neither could overpower the other.
Hiruzen Sarutobi never expected that Kagura would surpass his expectations not only in speed, but also in sheer strength.
As the two kunai clashed midair, Kagura suddenly began weaving one-handed seals with her free left hand.
"What?"
Before Hiruzen could even register the danger, Kagura had already completed her seals. She raised her left hand into a fist and placed it before her mouth.
[Fire Release: Great Fireball Technique!]
A massive fireball erupted before Kagura.
Yet just before the fireball emerged, Hiruzen had already released the shuriken in his hand.
Stepping back, he slammed both hands onto the ground. A giant stone wall burst forth in front of him.
[Earth Release: Earth Flow Wall].
Witnessing this scene unfold, Orochimaru was visibly even more astonished.
Dedicated to studying every ninjutsu he could find, he instantly grasped the significance of single-hand sealing.
If chakra is likened to mana, then hand seals are merely tools that help ninja channel their internal chakra efficiently into techniques.
It takes a deep understanding of a technique for a ninja to pull it off with just one hand or fewer seals.
Clearly, Kagura's mastery over ninjutsu far surpassed anything they had imagined.
On the battlefield, before Hiruzen could even take a moment to breathe, two Kaguras suddenly appeared behind him.
One leapt halfway into the air, rapidly forming seals before releasing multiple fireballs from her mouth.
[Fire Release: Phoenix Sage Fire Technique!]
Meanwhile, the other hurled several shuriken toward him. In midair, those few shuriken suddenly multiplied into dozens.
This was none other than Shadow Shuriken, directly copied from Orochimaru moments ago.
With a tremendous explosion, countless attacks rained down upon the spot where Hiruzen stood.
The powerful blast kicked up a thick cloud of dust, obscuring visibility.
Even Tsunade and the others watching nearby instinctively leaned forward, eager to see the result.
Had it worked?
Just as this question crossed Tsunade and the others' minds, a voice rang out from within the dust cloud.
[Water Release: Water Dragon Bullet!]
A dragon made entirely of water suddenly burst forth from the haze, sweeping sideways toward the two Kaguras who had attacked.
The water dragon swept across half the battlefield. The two Kaguras turned into puffs of smoke the moment the attack hit.
Standing before the stone wall, the Kagura on the surface had barely realized what happened when she tried to retreat—but that voice sounded again, this time from directly behind her.
[Earth Release: Double Suicide Decapitation Technique!]
Unexpectedly, another twist occurred—just as Hiruzen's hand grabbed Kagura's ankle, the figure caught immediately vanished into smoke.
"This one too—is a shadow clone!"
Before the realization even fully formed in Hiruzen's mind, the ground beneath his feet suddenly cracked open.
The real Kagura emerged from the broken earth below, already holding a newly formed seal.
"The Tiger Seal? Was she planning to use Fire Release again?"
[Konoha Secret Transmission Taijutsu Ultimate Art: One Thousand Years of Death!!!]
Immediately after shouting, he fiercely lunged forward toward his opponent's anal region!!!
...
Tsunade: (⊙ o ⊙) What?!
Jiraiya: (#‵′) Damn it!
Orochimaru: o__o"...
Silence.
An utterly death-like silence filled the scene.
It turned out that even someone as powerful as the Hokage would temporarily lose combat ability after receiving a direct hit to the anal area.
Hiruzen Sarutobi was now lying on the ground with his forehead pressed to the floor and his butt raised high in the air.
Foam spilled from his mouth — clearly, he had lost consciousness.
Kagura searched through Hiruzen's body and finally found the three bells.
He excitedly held them up high, basking in the thrill of victory.
The three spectators looked at each other before one finally said:
"Uh… I guess he did beat Sarutobi-sensei, right?"
"I suppose so… Just look at Sarutobi's current posture…"
"But why do I feel like something's off?"
"Yeah… Although he looks really fired up right now…"
"I still don't feel any hype at all..."
Ignoring their conversation, Kagura happily looked at the system notification confirming mission completion.
Indeed, the technique he had drawn that night was the Shadow Clone Technique — but in its multiple-clone form.
To clarify, this differed slightly from the standard version.
Its true potential lay in creating thousands of shadow clones to overwhelm enemies all at once.
But achieving such an effect required an extremely abnormal amount of chakra — precisely why it was listed among the forbidden techniques.
As for Kagura at his current level, he could only summon up to three Shadow Clones.
He knew full well that ordinary ninja techniques stood no chance against someone like Hiruzen Sarutobi — known as the "Professor of Ninja Techniques."
After much thought, he concluded that only an unorthodox move like One Thousand Years of Death could give him a shot at victory.
So he had hidden himself underground early on, using three Shadow Clones to distract Hiruzen's attention,
while waiting for the perfect moment to deliver the finishing blow.
And the results proved him right.
It was only then that he glanced back at the unconscious Hiruzen lying beside him.
Hmm… there might be some trouble coming next...
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