"Uzumaki Naruto—the last-ranked student of the Ninja Academy. His mission record is utterly ordinary. How could someone like him release such powerful chakra…?"
Kabuto stared quietly at Naruto, then slowly took two steps back, examining the half-formed Rasengan in Naruto's hand.
"Perhaps this one is even more interesting than Uchiha Sasuke," he thought with growing fascination as Naruto slowly raised his right hand. The violent surge of energy instantly drew the attention of the phantoms.
Naruto looked at the phantoms before him with provocation, raised his left hand, and crooked his finger.
"Don't underestimate me, kid!" one of the real bodies snarled from a distance, his eyes flashing with menace. He could clearly sense the lethal threat radiating from Naruto's right hand. He instinctively knew that if that chakra struck him, he would be immobilized on the spot.
That flicker of anxiety caused the phantoms to waver slightly.
"Now!" Sasuke, who had been keeping his eyes closed, suddenly opened them. His Sharingan glowed crimson as he stared ahead. "Naruto—northwest, in the bushes!"
"Got it."
Naruto and the shadow clone beside him charged straight at the phantoms. Ignoring their attacks, he thrust the Rasengan forward. Violent chakra swept up碎stones and dust, completely shattering several phantoms.
"Clang! Clang! Clang!"
Kunai rained down toward Naruto in rapid succession. Sakura deflected them all with her shuriken, continuing to clear a path for him. At the same time, she began concentrating chakra into her fists.
As Naruto closed in on the real enemy, the Rasengan in his hand detonated completely.
He intended to engulf the entire area in the attack—even if that meant sacrificing power!
"BOOM!!!"
A furious surge of Wind-style chakra obliterated everything nearby. The three brothers staggered backward, trying to escape the tornado-like assault. But behind them, Sakura unleashed a powerful punch, her fist tearing through the air with a sharp sonic boom, aimed straight at the trio!
Sasuke locked onto their position. Naruto continued pressing them back. Sakura surged to the front, chakra concentrated in her fist, attempting to completely cut off their retreat.
"You think this will work? Let me show you our ninjutsu!"
At the critical moment, the three formed hand seals simultaneously, narrowly reacting before Sakura could strike.
"Ninjutsu: Waterfall Clone Technique!"
In an instant, clones of the three filled the surrounding area. Sakura's devastating punch landed exactly as expected, accompanied by a thunderous roar. Thick tree trunks were severed at the waist—but the clones remained completely unharmed.
At the same time, the powerful winds generated by Naruto had no effect on these clones at all. On closer inspection, they were entirely different from the black specters before. They resembled shadow clones, but in truth had no physical substance.
Naruto and Sakura quickly retreated. Mid-air, Naruto shouted to Sasuke, "Sasuke, check which ones are shadow clones!"
Naruto vaguely remembered something about Waterfall clones but had completely forgotten their exact effect. After all, these three barely registered in the original story—there was no way he could remember what jutsu they used.
Sasuke opened his Sharingan again and stared hard at the clones. But sudden searing pain in his neck broke his focus, and he collapsed to one knee in agony.
"Hng… the real bodies aren't among these clones at all!" he shouted with all his strength.
Nearby, Kabuto straightened up and began shielding the two with his kunai, quietly deflecting incoming blades whenever possible.
"Haruno Sakura—an Academy student with excellent academic performance, but average combat ability. No special background… yet she possesses extraordinary strength and remarkable combat instincts…"
A flicker of surprise crossed Kabuto's face. This team actually had both a 'Hidden Dragon' like Sasuke and a 'Dark Horse' like Sakura. Combined with Naruto, their combat power far exceeded that of ordinary genin.
He carefully memorized every detail, planning to report everything to Orochimaru later.
On the other side.
After hearing Sasuke's words, Naruto retreated while thinking, and soon came up with an idea.
He smiled at Sakura as she backed away alongside him. "Sakura, punch the ground beneath these clones."
"They're hiding underground…" Sakura immediately understood. She refocused, clenched her fist, and gathered her strength.
At the same moment, a real enemy nearby thrust a kunai up from the ground, aiming straight at Sakura.
"Watch out!" Kabuto shouted as he knocked Sakura aside. His face was badly slashed, leaving behind a horrifying wound.
Unexpectedly, Sakura wasn't angry at all. She turned to Kabuto and smiled warmly. "Thank you for your hard work."
Kabuto raised an eyebrow. Her composure was astonishing—completely unaffected by the enemy. He watched as Sakura slammed her fist into the ground with tremendous force.
"BOOM!!!"
A deafening explosion echoed through the forest. Massive cracks split the earth open. Birds scattered in panic, and violent tremors sent countless leaves swirling through the air.
The three genin in yellow uniforms huddled together in terror, staring at Sakura with fear-filled eyes, their bodies trembling.
"Despite how chaotic it looks, the entire battle was actually effortless," Kabuto thought casually as he observed Team Seven.
Aside from Sasuke—who was drenched in sweat from the curse mark and needed Naruto's support to stand—the other two were brimming with energy. Naruto, in particular, was chatting and laughing with Sakura even after tying the three enemies up.
These two seemed to have even greater potential than Sasuke.
"Another Heaven Scroll… what should we do?" Sakura asked Naruto as she scanned their surroundings.
"Burn it," Naruto replied without hesitation.
Hearing this, Kabuto smiled warmly. "You're not planning to save this for your other teammates? I mean, those who graduated with you?"
"No need." Naruto turned to Kabuto and said calmly, "With their strength, passing the second stage won't be difficult. If they can't even manage that, there's no reason for them to advance to the third stage."
"Don't you agree, senpai?"
Kabuto's smile remained unchanged. "You speak with such maturity—you don't sound like a junior at all."
He then looked at Sakura. Without expression, she pulled out a match, tossed the Heaven Scroll into the fire, and then smiled as she knocked out the three bound enemies. Kabuto's eyelid twitched at the sight.
Are you always this decisive?
"Oh, right," Naruto asked casually while packing up, "Senpai, did you happen to see anyone from the Sound Village along the way?"
"Huh? I'd rather not meet them," Kabuto said with a wry smile, waving his hand. "Their abilities are troublesome. If I ran into them, I might not even make it past the second stage." His tone was sincere, flawless.
"Kabuto, why are you so late? I've been waiting forever."
As they spoke, two masked figures emerged from the shadows, once again eyeing Team Seven.
"Sorry—something unexpected came up," Kabuto said with relief. Then he turned to Naruto. "This is where we part ways. Do your best in the next exam."
"Yeah."
After the three left, Sakura walked up to Naruto and asked softly, "She's not coming?"
She was referring to the time traveler.
"No," Naruto replied. "She's already here."
plz support me if you can
patreon.com/fatimasoomro123
All the fanfiction is 30-chapter ahead but this "A Witty Life in the Naruto World" is 30 chapters ahead there