Guren froze when she heard the blond boy casually speak her name.
Her sharp eyes narrowed. "You… know me? How is that possible?"
The unease in her voice was genuine. For someone like her—Orochimaru's secret weapon, the sole wielder of the rare Crystal Release—her existence was buried deep in shadows. Even within Orochimaru's ranks, few knew the full extent of her abilities. And yet this boy from Konoha… had looked at her once and stripped away her veil.
"Has my information leaked so badly?" she whispered, more to herself than anyone else. "Even Konoha shinobi recognize me?"
Her two subordinates stepped forward, bristling at Naruto's calm demeanor.
"Guren, enough talk!" one of them barked. "Let's just kill this brat and be done with it!"
The other chimed in eagerly, "Yes, let us tear him apart!"
Guren's lips pressed into a thin line. Talking was pointless. "You're right," she said coldly, though her gaze lingered on the boy in puzzlement. "You two keep him occupied. I'll deal with the other Konoha shinobi approaching from the lake."
But before she could move, the three of them froze in shock.
The clearing exploded with movement—shadow clones. Dozens, then hundreds, then hundreds more. In less than a heartbeat, the forest floor swarmed with over two hundred identical Narutos, each grinning, each radiating chakra.
Her men gaped in disbelief. "W-what is this?! How can anyone make so many?!"
"This amount of chakra… It's almost like a tailed beast!" the other stammered.
Even Guren herself, who had seen Orochimaru's grotesque experiments and Kabuto's cunning tricks, felt a jolt of dread. She scowled, masking her unease. "More chakra doesn't guarantee strength," she snapped. "Stand back. I'll handle him myself."
Her hands blurred into seals.
"Crystal Release: Crystal Spikes Formation!"
The ground shimmered, crystalline light bursting upward in jagged thorns. Thousands of razor-edged crystals erupted within a wide radius, skewering the crowd of clones in a storm of shattering glass.
One by one, the Narutos exploded in smoke.
Bang! Bang! Bang!
Within moments, the entire army of shadows was annihilated.
Guren lowered her hand, a cold smirk tugging at her lips. "Pathetic. A cheap trick at best."
But a voice came from behind her, calm and unshaken.
"Do you think you've won?"
Her head snapped around. Her eyes widened—Naruto stood there, untouched, his expression annoyingly composed.
At that instant, a sense of danger flared. She leapt back instinctively. Her subordinates weren't as quick. Three shadow clones dropped from above, each driving a glowing Rasengan into the men's chests. The impact sent them flying, unconscious before they hit the ground.
Dust settled. Guren's smirk was gone, replaced with wary focus. "You're… not simple, are you?"
Naruto tilted his head, lips quirking in a small smile. "I told you already. Defeating you is easy, Guren. Your Crystal Release has a fatal weakness."
Her eyes narrowed at the sound of her name again. "What? You know who I am… and you dare claim to know my weakness?" She let out a derisive laugh. "What an arrogant boy. Not even Uchiha Sasuke—the genius Orochimaru-sama prizes above all—would talk this way."
She steadied her stance, convinced this brat was bluffing. "Big words. Let's see if you can back them up."
But Naruto only lifted one hand. Slowly, deliberately, he extended a single finger.
"To deal with you, I only need this."
The declaration rang through the clearing.
Guren blinked, then burst out, "Ridiculous! Even Lord Orochimaru would never boast like that. You—what gives you such confidence?"
Naruto's faint smile never faltered. The quiet assurance in his tone made her skin prickle.
"You'll find out soon enough."
He pressed his index finger forward. A tiny but fierce light spun into existence. The air around it hissed with cutting force, chakra compressed to a terrifying density. A Wind Release: Rasenshuriken—no larger than an egg, yet vibrating with such lethal intensity that the very air trembled.
Guren felt her throat dry. Still, she forced her hands into seals, refusing to yield.
"Crystal Release: Jade Crystal Mirror Wall!"
Shards of glittering crystal surged into a defensive barrier before her—only to fracture instantly, breaking apart like fragile glass beneath the hum of Naruto's technique.
Her eyes widened in shock. "W-what?!"
She tried again, more seals, more chakra. "Crystal Release: Crystal Lance Formation!"
The crystals shattered on contact with the pressure.
Again, and again. Each time, the same result. Her beautiful, perfect Crystal Release dissolved the moment it formed, undone by the swirling storm of Naruto's jutsu.
Her breath grew ragged. "No… impossible. Why can't I use it? Why is it breaking before it's even formed?"
For the first time, fear edged her voice.
Naruto's gaze softened with something like pity. "You've used it enough times. Haven't you figured it out yet?"
Guren's mind raced. It wasn't that her bloodline had failed her. She could feel the chakra shaping properly, but something interfered—something tearing apart her technique at its birth.
She glanced at his hand, at the impossibly small but devastating Rasenshuriken spinning atop his finger. The piercing hum filled her ears.
Her lips parted in realization. "It's… your jutsu. That vibration—it disrupts the very structure of my crystals…"
Her words faltered. "But that's impossible. The density… it should only be offensive. How can it unravel my release entirely?"
Naruto tilted his head, almost amused. "Half right."
The smile never left his face. Then his eyes hardened, voice low and sharp.
"Woman… as expected, all muscle and no brains."
The insult struck harder than any jutsu. Heat rushed to Guren's face, humiliation twisting with fury. Her body trembled—not from fear of his power, but from the sting of being mocked so casually, so dismissively.
For the first time in years, the crystal user felt her composure shatter.
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