Haruto's eyes widened. He truly hadn't anticipated that happening.
But his training with Edward didn't go to waste.
Haruto ducked and rolled away from the fireballs as they smashed into the wall behind him and exploded in a fury of fire and smoke, shaking the entire R&D department floor by dislodging dust and debris.
But none outside Hiruko's office would bat an eye at the explosion that happened inside it since it was rather common for such explosions to occur in the R&D department.
Who knew… perhaps Hiruko was just testing a rather feisty jutsu today.
Hiruko licked his lips as he looked at Haruto.
"You dodged that… good… I would've felt hurt if you died so quickly… my dear Haruto-kun…"
"Stop Hiruko-san! You are currently inside Konoha! As soon as Hokage-sama finds out what you've done, you won't be able to leave here alive!"
"Hahaha~! Are you worrying about me Haruto-kun… please, don't worry so much, I have my ways to leave from here! I'm invincible after all… there's no way anyone can stop me anymore!"
Haruto frowned.
He had already recognised the seal on Hiruko's right hand. It was a karma mark.
How did Hiruko get his hands on one?
He had absolutely no idea about that… but the very fact that he did meant that Otsutsuki were involved in whatever was happening.
"Do you just think you can do whatever you want to, Hiruko-san? This is Konoha! Here the will of fire burns brighter than anything! No matter what happens, the village will spare no effort in stopping you from committing any evil deeds!"
"Oh? You say that after killing the very ANBU of our village? How silly. I don't see any other shinobi here apart from you Haruto-kun, are you going to stop me here? How? By performing the three basic academy jutsu!?"
Haruto's eyes narrowed as an idea struck his mind at that moment.
He brought his hands together to form three quick seals before he shouted out loud.
"Clone jutsu!"
With a puff of smoke that covered him entirely, Haruto summoned a clone of himself beside him.
Only, be it the hurry that caused Haruto to mess things up or something else, the clone looked down right horrendous.
It could still stand and walk on its own two feet as visible, but it looked nothing like Haruto. One of its eyes was missing, its tongue hung out like a panting dog and its hair colour was neon orange instead of Haruto's pristine black.
"Now you won't be able to tell which one of us is the real one!" Haruto shouted through the smoke as they rushed out of it.
"Huh?" Hiruko frowned. He felt something was off about the clone but couldn't quite put his finger on it. Yet as he saw it running towards him, his mind clicked in place as he smirked.
"Ah… I see… an interesting strategy Haruto-kun… trying to hide yourself using a transformation jutsu as a clone while creating a perfect clone to distract me…"
The ugly clone's eyes widened in surprise and shock which only confirmed Hiruko's suspicion and caused his smirk to widen.
"Now that I know your trick, you cannot hurt me anymore Haruto-kun! Your taijutsu level poses no threat to me!"
Haruto didn't stop.
He rushed towards Hiruko non stop, even leaving behind the perfect looking clone as the jig was up.
With his scalpel in hand, the ugly looking Haruto jumped on Hiruko and launched a slice that was about to nick his artery.
But Haruto's taijutsu was still too low, even after he'd trained with Edward for about two weeks now. After all compared to shinobi who'd been doing this since their childhood, Haruto was still in his childhood. No matter how much of a genius he was he couldn't turn the tables so easily.
Or could he?
Hiruko grabbed the ugly Haruto's throat and lifted him up into the air. The scalpel fell down to the floor in a clatter as an immense pain took hold of Haruto's body.
Hiruko looked at Haruto and licked his lips.
"It was fun having you around Haruto-kun… I truly enjoyed knowing you… I'm sure, given your sharp mind, you would've outgrown me as a researcher for Konoha… but it seems your pitiful life has come to an end here. It's time to part ways Haruto-kun. Good bye."
Suddenly the ugly Haruto's lips widened into what appeared to be a smirk.
"Gotcha witch!"
Hiruko's eyes suddenly widened as he realised what had just happened, but there was no time to correct his errors anymore.
BBBBBBBBBOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMM!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
An explosion like no other shook the entire R&D department floor. In fact the entire I.T department building shook to its core and for a moment everyone was distracted from their own tasks, focusing instead on the direction of the explosion.
But soon everyone went back to doing their work. It was not often, but sometimes such explosions did happen. Perhaps some researcher had improved an explosive tag or invented a new tactical jutsu.
***
"What was that!?" Kushina asked with surprise.
Tobirama snorted but chose to remain silent so Minato stepped in to explain, "I think Haruto-kun reinvented the explosive shadow clone jutsu."
"Explosive shadow clone jutsu?" Kushina asked, still not understanding very well.
Minato nodded and explained calmly, "In the smoke what Haruto-kun created wasn't a normal clone or even a simple shadow clone. He created a shadow clone and filled it with physical energy dominant fire release chakra. So when Hiruko gripped the clone and applied some pressure to snap his neck, the clone exploded."
"Waaaaahhhhhh!!!!!" Kushina looked at the screen with stars in her eyes. "So intelligent!!! He also invented a jutsu out of nowhere!!!"
Minato nodded too, wondering if he would've noticed such a trick if it were played on him. But in the end he concluded that his reaction speed was fast enough for him to dodge out of the way if such a thing ever occurred with him.
Everyone else nodded too since they admired Haruto's quick tactical thinking and his entire planning around the jutsu, since not only had he shouted out the wrong name of the jutsu to give misinformation to the enemy, but he'd also layered it under a different trap to trick the enemy into thinking he was doing something else.
Haruto had played along with Hiruko and deepened his misunderstanding when he assumed that Haruto was the clone and the original Haruto was a poorly made transformation.
"The boy's mind is as sharp as yours Lord Second." Sakumo complimented Haruto softly with a smile. "He cleverly only slashed at Kakashi's and the ANBU's collar bone and even fed them the medicinal pill he'd purchased on his trip for the herbs for the medicinal bath to help them recover their chakra."
"Just so that, in case he fails with his plans, Kakashi and the ANBU could take over… his mind is brilliant, I doubt I could've done much better myself at his age."
For the first time, even Hashirama nodded. "I doubt I could've done better at that age… I was still in a pissing contest with Madara…"
***
Haruto pushed himself up from the floor.
He looked at his arm and found it bent the wrong way and sighed.
There was pain, immense pain all across his body, but he hoped that medical ninjutsu was advanced enough to save him like it had done before.
Haruto however was more interested in Hiruko.
He tried standing up but the pain in his body sent him crashing back down.
It was then that he heard a voice.
"It's alright Haruto-kun… Hiruko is gone… not even a trace of him remains, he was exploded to bits."
Haruto's eyes trailed upwards and he saw Kakashi standing in front of him, smiling.
"I would like to leave you at Konoha hospital myself… but I will have to ask my subordinates to inform you… I need to inform Hokage-sama of what has transpired here… I'm sorry Haruto-kun."
Haruto laughed and said, "Hey… at least I'm not unconscious with a rebar sticking through my stomach this time… I'll consider that an improvement. You go do whatever is needed Kakashi-san… I'll be waiting for you in the hospital."
Kakashi nodded and looked at his two subordinates who he ordered to deliver Haruto and the grievously injured Tatsuya Uchiha to the hospital before leaving with another one to go straight to the Hokage tower.