Shiranui Genma shrugged casually.
"He probably took Sasuke for special training and hasn't returned yet. Kakashi's style has always been to appear at the last possible moment. Speaking of which, what do you all think of this match?"
"What else is there to think about?" Asuma Sarutobi said confidently. "If nothing unexpected happens, Naruto Uzumaki will definitely lose."
"Oh? You're that certain?" Might Guy asked.
"It wasn't me who said it." Asuma Sarutobi shook his head slightly, glancing subtly toward the Third Hokage's seat.
That small movement instantly made Shiranui Genma and Might Guy tense.
The Third Hokage possessed extraordinary insight.
Anyone he personally evaluated highly would undoubtedly achieve great things in the future, provided they survived.
Judging by Asuma's expression, the Third Hokage must have already evaluated Sora, and the evaluation was likely very high.
"The old man said he can't see through him," Asuma Sarutobi said after a moment of thought.
Those words instantly changed everyone's expressions.
"What do you mean? Even he can't determine Sora's true strength?" Shiranui Genma asked in surprise.
"If it were just his visible strength, then yes," Asuma continued.
"But the old man said Sora is hiding a terrifying power. Even he finds it frightening, and that power is still continuously growing.
It's not exactly awakening, but constantly strengthening. He said that feeling reminded him of returning to his youth, back to the battlefield where the First Hokage and Second Hokage fought.
The same overwhelming sense of bloodlust and pressure."
"You mean he's bloodthirsty?" Shiranui Genma asked while recalling Sora's calm eyes.
Those eyes showed no emotional fluctuations at all.
When he looked at people, it felt as if he were already looking at corpses, which made her spine go cold.
"I don't know if his personality is truly like that," Asuma replied.
"But the old man said that when he looks at Sora, it feels like an endless mountain of corpses and a sea of blood is rushing toward him."
Asuma's expression was unusually serious.
It was the first time he had heard the Third Hokage speak about someone like this.
Could a twelve-year-old boy really be that terrifying?
"We'll find out soon enough," Might Guy said.
While they were speaking, Shiranui Genma had already finished announcing the rules.
"The match begins!"
"Sora!" Naruto Uzumaki shouted excitedly.
"I've finally waited for the day I can fight you! Today I'll show you how amazing the man who will become Hokage is!"
Naruto instantly created ten Shadow Clones and rushed forward.
"Is this all you can do after one month?" Sora said calmly.
At the age of twelve, ninjas gradually entered a golden period of growth.
Strength could increase rapidly during this time.
Sora himself had experienced tremendous growth starting from that age, far exceeding the progress of the previous twelve years combined.
However, he also understood that without the foundation built during those earlier years, such explosive growth would be impossible.
After one month of training under pressure, Naruto Uzumaki still hadn't changed much.
"If this is all there is, then let's end this quickly."
The ten Shadow Clones had already closed the distance to less than a meter.
Sora still didn't move.
Before most spectators could even react, the Shadow Clones suddenly disappeared in puffs of smoke.
"So fast!" Rock Lee's pupils shrank sharply.
Many spectators didn't even see Sora move.
To them, it looked as if the clones had simply vanished on their own.
Everyone stared in shock.
"Was he hiding his strength before, or did he grow that much during this past month?" Might Guy said with a serious expression.
Having personally exchanged blows with Sora, his judgment carried weight.
"I think it's the latter," Shiranui Genma replied, letting out a slow breath.
"That was just a test!" Naruto shouted. "Now I'm getting serious!"
Naruto formed hand seals again.
This time he created a far larger number of Shadow Clones.
Not only that, the speed and strength of each clone had clearly improved.
The clones surged forward like a tidal wave, surrounding Sora from every direction.
"Water Release: Water Dragon Bullet Technique."
With Sora's physique and spirit, the Chakra he refined far surpassed that of an Elite Chunin.
Executing advanced ninjutsu felt effortless.
His hand seals were astonishingly fast.
The arena erupted as a roaring water dragon formed out of thin air and swept through the battlefield.
The massive dragon instantly destroyed every Shadow Clone.
However, Naruto's real body remained airborne.
While flipping through the air, he threw several shuriken mixed with explosive tags toward Sora.
"Third Hokage," Orochimaru said while disguised as the Kazekage.
"This young man named Sora has extremely high mastery of Water Release. I doubt even the Second Hokage had such skill at his age.
Rumor says he has mastered techniques belonging to several Hokage, yet he doesn't appear to be a ninja from Konaha."
"Heh, that's not necessarily true," the Third Hokage replied calmly.
After surviving multiple wars and ruling Konaha for decades, he would not be easily provoked.
"Water Release: Water Formation Wall."
A wall of water instantly rose in front of Sora, blocking the shuriken and explosive tags.
Boom!
The explosions echoed loudly, but the water barrier held firm.
"The chance is here!"
Naruto suddenly appeared behind Sora with a kunai in hand and thrust forward.
"Naruto really has become stronger," Sakura Haruno said in surprise.
"This performance is completely different from the preliminaries."
"That's true," Ino Yamanaka nodded. "But Sora hasn't even shown his real strength yet."
As if Sora had eyes on the back of his head, he kicked backward without even turning around.
The kick landed with tremendous force.
Naruto's expression instantly changed.
It was too fast to dodge.
The power of the strike sent Naruto flying through the air before crashing violently into the arena wall.
The stadium walls had been built extremely strong for the Chunin Exams.
Yet Sora's single kick smashed Naruto into the wall and left a massive dent in the solid structure.
"Heavenly Foot of Pain..." several experienced ninjas muttered under their breath.
At the same time, many people silently mourned Naruto Uzumaki.
...
Author's Note:
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2. Elements of Lust – ATLA & Korra Mixed Smut
3. Doraemon: Filtering with Nobi Tamako
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5. High School DxD: Rias Gremory, the Phenex Bride
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