After drawing lots, Kitazawa stepped onto the platform.
He would MC and referee today's genin exchange.
"First bout: Uzumaki Naruto versus Chōjūrō," Kitazawa announced loudly.
Chōjūrō was Kirigakure's future Sixth Mizukage.
Uzumaki Naruto was Konohagakure's future Seventh Hokage.
Kitazawa figured this one would be fun—though the result would probably be one-sided.
"Naruto, give it your all in the opener," Inuzuka Kiba said, slinging an arm over Naruto's shoulder.
"Yeah!" Yamanaka Ino clenched a fist. "Set the tone for Konoha!"
"If you lose, you don't deserve to be my teammate," Uchiha Sasuke said coolly, hands in his pockets.
"In the name of youth, I'm winning this!" Naruto gave a big thumbs-up, then shouldered Samehada and headed onto the stage.
"Let them witness the power of our youth!" Rock Lee shouted.
"I think you should be more worried about Naruto's opponent," Nara Shikamaru said as he watched Naruto's back. "This is basically bullying."
Aburame Shino, Akimichi Chōji, and Karin all nodded.
"The other side isn't bad, either," Hyūga Neji said, eyes landing on Chōjūrō. "Is that the Twin Swords—Hiramekarei?"
Hiramekarei was one of the Seven Ninja Swords.
It had two effects:
First, like Samehada it could absorb chakra—but with a twist. It absorbed the chakra of enemies the wielder had killed. In other words, it couldn't drain a living enemy's chakra—so it couldn't match Samehada there. Still, it shone in group battles, a blade that grew fiercer the more it fought.
Second, Hiramekarei could be "released": the round ports along the blade could vent chakra to form various attacks.
"Now this is interesting—two of the Seven Swords clashing," Shikamaru said, hands pillowed behind his head.
"Naruto doesn't rely on Samehada," Shino adjusted his glasses. "If the other side is leaning only on Hiramekarei, that won't be enough to beat him."
When Naruto stepped onto the platform, the sharkskin sword on his back drew every eye in the Mist camp.
Plenty of shinobi looked humiliated and furious.
The humiliation came from how Kitazawa had taken Samehada—by killing Hoshigaki Fuguki.
The anger was simpler: such a peerless blade, handed to a kid. What a waste.
Plenty of their jōnin would kill for a chance to wield it and never got one.
Still, they had given Hiramekarei to Chōjūrō; in that sense, both sides had used the same tactic.
"Chōjūrō, make sure you teach that guy a lesson!" a white-haired, purple-eyed boy snapped.
Hōzuki Suigetsu.
The Hōzuki clan had kept the summoning scroll for the swords for generations.
Samehada, which should have been his someday, now belonged to Uzumaki Naruto.
For a blade-lover like Suigetsu, it was like someone had stolen his wife.
"I… I'll do my best," Chōjūrō said shyly, then walked out to face Naruto.
"Samehada, huh?" Terumi Mei frowned slightly.
They'd given Chōjūrō Hiramekarei to secure a gear advantage.
But with Naruto carrying Samehada, that advantage was gone.
Still, Chōjūrō's Water Style and kenjutsu were solid. Mei kept her confidence.
"Begin!" Kitazawa called, stepping aside.
Chōjūrō sucked in a breath—and attacked without hesitation, swinging Hiramekarei in a left-right scissor toward Naruto.
Naruto simply hurled Samehada.
"What is he doing?" Chōjūrō was baffled—but his reaction was quick: he snapped Hiramekarei shut and batted Samehada away.
"What the hell is that?" Suigetsu barked. "Does he even know how to use Samehada?"
As the clan that kept the swords' summoning scroll, the Hōzuki knew the seven blades inside out.
Watching Naruto "use" Samehada like that made Suigetsu see red.
He wanted to rush out there and shout, Watch closely—this is how you use Samehada!
But all he could do was seethe.
"What a waste," Terumi Mei couldn't help saying. "Your village made a mistake giving him Samehada."
"We'll give it to whoever we please," Tsunade said evenly.
"…" Mei's heart twinged.
In Kiri, Samehada was doted on like royalty.
In Konoha, it seemed to rank below a dog.
And then Mei's eyes widened.
So did everyone else's in the Mist contingent.
"Multiple Shadow Clone Technique!" Naruto shouted, hands flashing through seals.
A boom of smoke—and a swarm of clones filled most of the platform.
Good thing Kitazawa had enlarged it in advance, anticipating this very technique.
"How is that possible?" Mei stared at the sheer number of clones, mind reeling.
Even she wouldn't pop out a hundred at once.
Did Naruto have more chakra than she did?
"He really knows Multiple Shadow Clone?" Ao stood there stupefied.
And it wasn't just "knowing" it—most jōnin would top out at a dozen or two. A hundred? You've got to be kidding.
"???" Chōjūrō was all question marks.
For a heartbeat he wondered if he'd been caught in a genjutsu.
A kid younger than him, spawning a hundred clones? This was seven years old?
Cold sweat beaded on his brow—
—and Naruto didn't give him time to think. The mass of clones surged.
"Dynamic Entry!" one clone leapt in with a flying kick.
Chōjūrō split Hiramekarei, blocking the kick with one blade and slashing with the other.
Pop—
The clone burst into smoke.
"Leaf Double Whirlwind!"
Two clones spun in from left and right with whirling kicks.
Chōjūrō's twin blades flashed.
Two dull thuds later, his forearms tingled numb.
He gritted his teeth, crossed the twin swords, and cut down both clones in a blur.
"Leaf Great Whirlwind!"
Wind hissed behind him—Chōjūrō dove left.
"Violent — Leaf Adamantine-Strength Whirlwind!" Naruto's heel scythed out, chakra wrapped around his leg, the power tearing at the air.
Chōjūrō's heart lurched. He brought both blades up to guard.
Even so, the impact drove him back several steps—
—and there was no chance to breathe.
"Leaf Whirlwind!"
Another wave of clones crashed in.
Chōjūrō was mired in a desperate struggle, looking thoroughly ragged.
"At last, someone else gets to feel that pain," Kiba said, all schadenfreude.
Sasuke's mouth twitched.
Thanks for the reminder—memories of Naruto and his clones dog-piling him came flooding back.
"Just as expected," Shikamaru sighed.
Over the last two years, pretty much all of them had fought Naruto—and lost to his "righteous" swarm beatdown.
"Kiri's 'prodigy' doesn't seem all that," Haruno Sakura sniffed.
In her eyes, Sasuke, Hinata, and Kurama Yakumo hadn't looked this helpless against Naruto's clones.
"All that means is he's an ordinary prodigy—like us," Tenten said with a smile.
"Naruto and the others are basically monsters," Kiba muttered.
"True," Sakura agreed.
While they bantered, the Mist shinobi fell into collective silence.
Chōjūrō was a famous prodigy—many had high hopes for him.
Even if not the next Mizukage, at least a pillar of Kirigakure.
Yet against Konoha's prodigy Naruto, he looked so powerless.
Mei rubbed the bridge of her nose.
No wonder Naruto had tossed Samehada aside.
One thought filled her head: …wait—the intel was actually real?
If Naruto really knew Multiple Shadow Clone… did that mean Uchiha Sasuke with two-tomoe Sharingan was real too?
A bad premonition prickled down her spine.
"Rasengan!" Naruto's shout snapped Mei's gaze up.
With Chōjūrō on the ropes, Naruto seized an opening.
Two clones screened for him as he spun a Rasengan, then lunged and slammed it forward.
Danger flared.
Chōjūrō bit down, forced to trigger Hiramekarei's Release.
He'd planned to save it for a surprise comeback—but there was no room for hesitation now.
The twin blades locked together.
The round ports along the blade vented a torrent of chakra, condensing into a beam that howled out like a light cannon.
Boom!
Rasengan and the beam collided and exploded.
Waves of chakra rolled outward in ripples.
"Rasengan?" Mei stared, stunned.
Seriously?
A seven-year-old who could not only use Multiple Shadow Clone but also Rasengan?
Anyone watching would think this was a jōnin exchange.
Strictly speaking, Naruto wasn't even seven—still more than three months shy.
"That kid just has a ton of chakra," Tsunade said with a smile.
"…" Mei opened her mouth, then chose silence.
"Spread out—all of you!" Naruto barked when the Rasengan didn't finish it.
"What's he up to?" Chōjūrō wondered, panting—but the order bought him a precious breath or two.
Then he froze.
Naruto's clones formed two ranks.
In Chōjūrō's widening eyes, they all made hand seals at once.
"Wind Release: Gale Palm!"
The front rank clapped their hands—
—and a gale roared to life.
From the back rank, a storm of shuriken arced out—
—like a sky-filling volley loosed into the wind.
Despair flickered across Chōjūrō's face.
He raised Hiramekarei to shield against the rain of steel, but the gale lifted him off his feet—
Ao sprang up, caught him out of the air, and threw up a water wall to blunt the endless wind and shuriken.
"Naruto, stand down!" Kitazawa called.
"Chōjūrō, are you okay?" Ao set him down.
"Ao-sama." Chōjūrō shook his head, ashamed. "I lost. I've shamed the Mist."
"…" Ao worked his mouth, unsure how to comfort him.
Was it Chōjūrō's fault? No.
Forget genin—even most chūnin wouldn't win that.
You'd need a jōnin. But this was a genin exchange—fielding a jōnin would be shameless.
A chill ran through Ao as he remembered the rumors.
Could Naruto and Uchiha Sasuke really have beaten a jōnin?
"Go rest," Ao said, face grave.
"Winner: Uzumaki Naruto," Kitazawa proclaimed.
Konoha shinobi smiled and applauded.
Naruto was the Fourth Hokage's son; many of them had worked with Namikaze Minato. The pride and joy were real.
The Mist side was dead silent.
Even the earlier-so-cocky Suigetsu had nothing to say.
Chōjūrō hadn't lost unjustly.
If Suigetsu had gone first, he'd have lost too.
The only hope now was that Konoha had only this one prodigy.
There were five bouts total.
Win three, take the match.
"I did it, everyone!" Naruto bounded down from the stage, beaming.
"Excellent performance!" Rock Lee thumbed up. "I felt the blaze of youthful passion!"
Sadly, with only five bouts, he'd get no chance to face Kiri's prodigies himself.
"All right, all right—we saw it," Kiba gritted, unable to stand Naruto's smug face.
"Hardly a worthy opponent," Sasuke said evenly. "I'll finish faster than you did."
He wasn't just boasting—Multiple Shadow Clone didn't hit that hard; it had slowed things down.
With his Fire Style, genjutsu, and swordwork, he'd end it quicker.
"A win's a win," Ino smiled.
"You're all insufferable," Shikamaru muttered.
"Second match is starting—Kitazawa-sensei is drawing now," Neji reminded them.
Everyone's eyes drifted to Kitazawa and Ao.
"Kurama Yakumo," Ao read, feeling a small measure of relief.
His inquiries hadn't turned up anything on her, so he assumed she wasn't one of the big standouts.
In truth, Yakumo was just low-key—and had been in poor health, rarely attending classes.
Villagers preferred to talk about marquee clans like Uchiha and Hyūga.
Naruto got mentioned too, for obvious reasons—his famous dad.
"Satsuki," Kitazawa said after a moment, the name ringing no particular bell.
He pocketed the slip, stepped onto the platform, and announced the second pairing.
Kurama Yakumo and Satsuki faced each other.
Yakumo was calm; Satsuki was tense.
After Chōjūrō's drubbing, another loss would put the Mist down 0–2—
—and coming back from that would be brutal.
"Begin!" Kitazawa called from the side.
Water Release: Water Fang Bullet!
Satsuki opened with hand seals.
Water coalesced from nothing, compressing and spinning in her hands—
—and then she went slack.
The water collapsed, splashing across the stage.
"What was that?" Suigetsu frowned. "Why'd she cancel her own Water Fang Bullet?"
"Did she… get caught in genjutsu?" Chōjūrō said uncertainly.
"How?" Suigetsu shot back. "Kurama Yakumo didn't even form seals—how'd Satsuki get hit by genjutsu?"
"…" Chōjūrō had no answer.
"A kekkei genkai," Terumi Mei said from not far away.
"Correct—genjutsu kekkei genkai," Tsunade smiled.
Honestly, of all the Advanced Class, Yakumo worried her the least.
Her genjutsu bloodline was absurdly strong—without a Mangekyō Sharingan, countering it was hard.
Genjutsu kekkei genkai? Ao blinked.
He recalled that long ago, the Kurama had stood shoulder to shoulder with the Uchiha—
—but the clan had faded, and he'd paid them no mind.
Who'd have thought Kurama Yakumo had awakened a genjutsu bloodline—and such a terrifying one?
No seals needed to drag someone into illusion.
Uchiha genjutsu required Sharingan—something everyone knew to guard against.
Yakumo's was practically unguardable.
Ao figured even he would get caught if he went in blind.
"…" Mei felt that same stab of pain again.
When it came to kekkei genkai, the Mist once had the most—
—but thanks to two successive Mizukage, most had been wiped out.
Of course, this genjutsu bloodline was downright broken; Satsuki was doomed to lose.
Mei didn't regret holding the exchange—but after just two bouts, dread coiled in her gut.
Konoha's future looked terrifying.
"Winner: Kurama Yakumo," Kitazawa declared.
Once Satsuki fell into illusion, she had no chance—
—unless she'd been a jinchūriki.
Kitazawa returned to the box.
Ao joined him, face heavy.
"Hōzuki Suigetsu," Kitazawa read.
Ao's spirit lifted.
Suigetsu was the Mist's last hope.
If he lost, the final two bouts would be garbage time—
—and the Mist's future would look dark.
Ao drew his slip—
—his heart sank when he saw the name.
"Uchiha Sasuke," he said, voice complicated.
Did the Mist still have a chance?
~~~
Patreon(.)com/Bleam
— Currently You can Read 100 Chapters Ahead of Others!