Chapter 90. Clear to Overcast.
"Hmph!"
Sasuke eliminated Naruto's shadow clones almost instantly.
He stood proudly by the river.
His head held high, looking down at Naruto's real body in the river with a smug look on his face.
If an unrelated person saw this, they would think he was very handsome.
Like Sakura, for example.
She already liked Sasuke, and upon seeing this handsome posture, her face instantly flushed and her heart raced.
However, this was very uncomfortable for the person being looked down upon.
Naruto was very angry, very unwilling, very mad, and very unresigned; his body was trembling.
"Bastard!"
Cursing loudly.
Naruto formed seals again and used the Shadow Clone Jutsu.
This time, he produced over thirty clones.
Then, together with his real body, they charged toward Sasuke.
There are actually this many!
Just how massive is this guy's chakra?
Sasuke slightly widened his eyes, his perception of Naruto refreshed.
Sakura, watching the battle from afar, was even more surprised.
In her impression, Naruto was a dead-last with no strength, no brains, who liked to act recklessly and hold others back.
But at this moment, she saw Naruto in a new light.
However, even though both of them were astonished by Naruto's performance, Jokichi shook his head from the side.
At this time, Naruto's chakra volume was not as much as imagined.
Moreover, he hadn't yet learned how to reasonably utilize his chakra, causing a massive amount of waste when using ninjutsu.
The more shadow clones there were, the less chakra each individual had, and the shorter the time they could be maintained.
He faintly remembered that in the anime, during the bell-snatching battle, Naruto producing around ten shadow clones could only maintain them for about a minute.
Now, although there was an extra month of time, without special experiences, there wouldn't be much change.
The attack of over thirty people looked grand in scale, but Jokichi didn't favor Naruto.
Sure enough, what happened next verified Jokichi's conjecture.
When a group of Narutos was about to rush in front of Sasuke, Sasuke took the initiative to meet them head-on.
His speed was fast, and in the blink of an eye, he plunged into the crowd.
His speed was fast and agile, like a phantom.
His movements were also nimble. He flipped, jumped, and dodged attacks while counterattacking. With punches or kicks, every strike could destroy a Naruto. He was truly like a tiger entering a flock of sheep; no one could stop him.
"Bang, bang, bang..."
Naruto's shadow clones decreased at a visible rate.
In less than a minute, all the shadow clones were wiped out.
Naruto looked at the now empty field, and a sense of powerlessness rose in his heart. He deeply felt the gap between him and Sasuke.
With so many clones, no matter how hard he tried, he couldn't even touch Sasuke once.
But...
"Damn it! I won't admit defeat!"
Naruto gritted his teeth, roared, and charged forward.
Sasuke stood quietly in place, his gaze somewhat contemptuous.
Naruto's attacking movements were very non-standard, containing many redundant motions. Although Yamato had scolded him about it, a month's time was not enough to correct them all.
In Sasuke's eyes, Naruto was full of flaws. He only had to wait for Naruto to get close to defeat him instantly.
Closer, closer.
Looking at the charging Naruto, Sasuke slightly raised his shoulders, preparing to launch a preemptive strike.
But, right at this moment.
A stone under his foot suddenly turned into Naruto and threw a punch over.
The sudden turn of events startled Sasuke, and his movements became sluggish.
Taking advantage of this opportunity, the fists of Naruto and his shadow clone struck Sasuke's cheeks simultaneously, one from the front and one from the right, sending him flying.
"Don't look down on me!"
Naruto looked up, clenching his fists, staring fixedly at Sasuke with bright eyes.
"Sasuke!"
Sakura covered her mouth.
Just now, she was worried that Naruto would get beaten up. She absolutely didn't expect the plot to reverse like this.
Let alone her, even Jokichi was surprised.
Because down in the river, combined with the crowd, he couldn't see the entire scene and didn't notice Naruto taking advantage of the chaos to have a shadow clone transform into a stone and lie in ambush on the ground.
However, this was indeed a routine Naruto commonly used.
Compared to Jokichi and Sakura's surprise, Sasuke felt shock and humiliation.
I, who have already entered the Anbu, was actually hit in the face by a newly graduated Genin, and a guy who has always been the dead-last at that. This humiliation...
"Unforgivable."
Sasuke stood up, an extra measure of anger in his eyes as he looked at Naruto, "Be mentally prepared; don't think I'll let you off easily."
As the words fell, Sasuke disappeared from the spot.
The next second, Sasuke appeared in front of Naruto and aimed a kick at his face.
And Naruto, who hadn't reacted yet, had a dumbfounded expression on his face.
"Bam!"
The whip kick stopped in front of Naruto, only millimeters away from hitting him.
Naruto could even smell the dirt on the shoe.
He blinked, his brain lagging for a moment before reacting, and he slumped to the ground.
Only then did he see the situation on the field clearly.
It wasn't that Sasuke had held back at the critical moment, but that he was stopped by someone just as he was about to land the kick.
The person who stopped him was Jokichi.
Jokichi, who was originally over ten meters away, suddenly appeared by his side just as Sasuke was about to kick him and caught Sasuke's ankle with one hand.
"Jokichi!"
Naruto couldn't help but cry out, then gratefully said his thanks.
If he hadn't stopped Sasuke in time, that kick would have fractured his nose bridge, if not caused a concussion.
"The one he wants to cause trouble for is me. You watch from the side first," Jokichi said to Naruto, then looked at Sasuke. His gentle expression instantly turned icy cold.
"I don't know why you provoked me, but if you insist on fighting me, then I'll gladly accompany you for a good fight!"
Sasuke's pupils shrank slightly. The speed Jokichi had just displayed was somewhat beyond his expectations.
However, still not as fast as me.
Sasuke revealed a smug smile, pulled his leg back, retreated, and stopped at a distance of about five meters.
He looked at Jokichi contemptuously and mocked, "You finally stopped being a coward."
"A coward?" Jokichi tilted his head slightly, then couldn't help but laugh.
"If you mistake forbearance for cowardice, I will properly correct this mistaken notion of yours, right here, right now."
"A guy who is even afraid of a ninja's life shouldn't boast shamelessly here. I will tell you who the real genius is, who is the strongest, who..."
Halfway through his sentence, Sasuke froze.
Because Jokichi disappeared. He suddenly disappeared right in front of him, and he didn't even see how he vanished.
He stared blankly to the side; there was an extra elongated shadow on the ground.
Without hesitation, Sasuke raised his left elbow and struck backward.
"Smack!"
Jokichi raised his hand to block the elbow, and then, before Sasuke could launch his next attack, punched him in the face.
The powerful force sent him flying fiercely, and he barely stopped right at Naruto's feet.
Sasuke spat out the blood in his mouth, along with a loosened tooth.
He stood up and looked at Jokichi in front of him without any fear; instead, his face revealed a trace of excitement. "This is more interesting. If I dealt with you as easily as I did Naruto, it wouldn't bring much sense of accomplishment!"
"What did you say?" Naruto roared in dissatisfaction.
Sasuke ignored Naruto, his eyes fixed tightly on Jokichi. His pitch-black pupils suddenly turned blood-red, with two tomoe slowly rotating inside.