"This is my full power, the strongest Nine-Tails Mode." Savoring the feeling that was completely different from before, Naruto closed his eyes and took a deep breath.
It felt so wonderful. That earlier, imperfect Nine-Tails Mode wasn't just weaker in raw power, it also had all kinds of limitations.
He couldn't even maintain it very long. But now Naruto's Nine-Tails Mode was already infinitely close to the complete form from the original story.
Because the relationship between Naruto and Kurama was far better than in the original timeline—whether thanks to mutual understanding or for other reasons.
In short, there was no longer any case of the Nine-Tails siphoning Naruto's chakra to the point of death. Yet it was still some distance from the complete Nine-Tails Mode, so he'd surpassed the beginner stage but was now infinitely close to the complete stage.
Let's call it a mid-stage for convenience. The original didn't have this stage, but this label will do.
Maybe it was because of age—Naruto's body was still developing, so he couldn't reach the complete Nine-Tails Mode yet. Given some more time, he would definitely be able to.
Right now, Naruto felt that as long as he still had stamina, he could keep fighting in this state. He wasn't fully accustomed to it yet, but overall it felt much better than the incomplete Nine-Tails Mode.
"Ugh..." From the moment Naruto entered Nine-Tails Mode, Gaara's emotions began to destabilize.
Unlike Naruto's near-perfect seal, the Sand Village's shoddy seal couldn't fully bind Shukaku, and even constantly affected Gaara's emotions.
So when Naruto used Nine-Tails Mode, Shukaku in Gaara's body immediately sensed the Nine-Tails' presence.
Arrogant and violent as Shukaku was, it knew it was absolutely no match for Kurama.
So upon sensing the Nine-Tails, Shukaku's first reaction was to leave.
"Gaara, are you okay?" As Gaara's sister, Temari was somewhat afraid of him, but her concern for him outweighed the fear.
As a family member to Gaara, Temari was fairly competent—much better than early-stage Kankuro.
"Annoying." Gaara muttered, but said no more. Today Shukaku felt so strange to him. That feeling... was actually fear?
"Hmph, just posturing." Seeing Naruto's series of changes in the arena, Neji kept his stiff upper lip. In truth, with his Byakugan, Neji knew better than anyone just how terrifying this Naruto now was.
That almost tangible chakra—what he saw was a massive clump of chakra around Naruto. Beyond that, he could see nothing clearly.
He never imagined there could be such a terrifying existence.
"Here I come!" In an instant Naruto appeared in front of Neji. That speed was practically no different from teleportation.
And in the stands, aside from a few people, most only saw a streak of golden light flash past.
"Golden Flash?" Somehow, this term popped into everyone's minds.
"Did you notice... Naruto looks a lot like the Fourth." An unknown ninja whispered.
"Naruto's speed is already above mine... This Naruto is really something, he's surpassed me as his teacher." Kakashi.
"What kind of speed is this— even as a jonin, I can't see clearly." The assembled jonin.
"So Naruto has grown to this point, has he. Minato... worthy of being your son. But for him to get angry over a Hyuga girl—Minato, you were a lot like him back in the day." The Third. Back then, around Naruto's age, Minato, for certain reasons, won over Naruto's mother, Kushina. But this kid is even bolder—he actually kissed the Hyuga clan's young lady in public.
Is this what they call father-and-son inheritance? When it comes to picking up girls, your Namikaze line sure is something.
"He actually became stronger than before. Now even for me, he'd be a handful. Good thing I've held something in reserve— a father–son showdown would be interesting to watch." Orochimaru.
"Now I'm going to beat you up." Standing before Neji, Naruto raised his right hand.
"Damn it—Rotation!" Neji repeated his tactic, trying to use Rotation's rebound to fling Naruto away.
"This is the defense you're so proud of? In front of me, that sort of thing shatters like glass! Let me crush your ridiculous pride—Ultra-Weakened Tailed Beast Cannon!" Facing the Hyuga clan's so-called absolute defense, Rotation, a small black sphere gathered in Naruto's hand.
Of course, afraid he might kill Neji in one shot, Naruto only wanted to thrash him, not kill him. He was Hinata's older brother, after all, and killing him would cause all kinds of trouble. So Naruto used a Tailed Beast Cannon that was even weaker than his already weakened version.
But even so, a move weakened this much still wasn't something Rotation could easily stop.
It was a pity Kinsan hadn't yet taught Naruto the Rasengan, otherwise he would have used that now instead of a Tailed Beast Cannon.
Although Naruto's current teleport-like movement wasn't the Flying Thunder God Technique, on the surface everything about him looked very similar to Minato Namikaze.
Appearance: father and son, wearing almost the same outfit. Speed: Flying Thunder God's teleport and Nine-Tails Mode's near-teleport were different in essence, but looked similar in effect. Jutsu: though Rasengan was blue and the Tailed Beast Cannon blackish-red, both were spheres. Put together, the uninitiated onlookers could very well mistake Naruto for a knockoff version of the Fourth.
With a single strike—effortlessly—Neji's so-called absolute defense Rotation shattered. He himself was caught in the Tailed Beast Cannon's blast and hurled aside.
"Cough, cough..." Blood spurted from Neji's mouth. Just that one blow had badly injured him.
A golden flash streaked across everyone's eyes again, and Naruto stood before Neji unscathed.
Right after, they only saw streak after streak of golden light flickering around the arena. In the center, Neji was pummeled again and again by Naruto's teleport-like attacks.
Though Naruto wasn't going all out, it didn't take long before Neji was battered and bruised all over.
Finally, deciding it was about enough—any more and Neji's supervising jonin Guy would get involved—Naruto stopped, grabbed Neji by the collar, and hauled him up.
"I told you—I was going to beat you up." Then he casually tossed Neji aside like trash and, without looking back, headed toward the stands.
"Winner—Uzumaki Naruto." Only then did Special Jonin Hayate Gekko come to his senses. He glanced at the unconscious Neji and announced the result.
"What a terrifying guy—he completely thrashed that Neji who's called the strongest genin."
"Yeah, at that speed, even our team's jonin leader couldn't pull that off."
"If you ask me, that Hyuga Neji must just be too weak."
"Are you an idiot? Didn't you see Neji's fight with Hinata just now? Your strength isn't even as good as that Hinata." Only now did everyone around the arena begin to come back to themselves, discussing in twos and threes.
Naruto returned to where he'd been before—Team Kakashi's section. Everywhere he passed, the genin he met subconsciously moved aside to make way for him, as if afraid of him.
Even the Konoha genin did the same.
Heh—Naruto was long used to this. And his past experiences were worse. It hadn't been fear back then, but hatred.
"Naruto... you're amazing. You've gotten stronger than you were in the Forest of Death! If we run into that guy again, it definitely won't be like last time." That fear didn't extend to Sakura, a fellow member of Team Seven—she'd already seen this state of Naruto when they faced Orochimaru in the Forest of Death.
Of course, she still stubbornly believed Sasuke and Naruto had the same level of strength.
Naruto only smiled and didn't explain.
Maybe in Konoha, only Sasuke, Sakura, and Hinata would treat me like this.
"Was it worth it?" Holding that famous "Make-Out Paradise," Kakashi walked up to Naruto and asked casually.
Kakashi had the feeling Naruto already knew his own parentage, and knew more than he'd imagined. He'd just been too lazy to ask—or maybe not lazy, maybe he'd been avoiding the questions all along.
You could say that in the original, with the way Sasuke turned out, Kakashi as supervising jonin bore no small blame. Calling him Konoha's most irresponsible supervising jonin wouldn't be wrong.
Ever since those two incidents—when he received this eye and lost those two people—Kakashi had been completely different. Lazy Kakashi. Decadent Kakashi.
He'd abandoned the swordsmanship he once prided himself on and switched to ninjutsu? Over a dozen years, his strength barely improved. Even though he'd been called a super prodigy as a child—a jonin at twelve—he'd remained stuck at elite-jonin level.
His achievements were only barely higher than Asuma's, who'd been far behind him as a kid.
Later he wasn't even as brilliant as Guy, who'd been no match for him in youth. Without Obito's other eye, he wouldn't even have qualified to be in the war.
Think about Kakashi's father—Konoha's White Fang. A title no less than the Sannin—his strength even above theirs. Officially, White Fang stood above the Sannin.
And he was taijutsu-based.
"Some things have to be done." Naruto didn't directly answer Kakashi's question, but his meaning was clear.
Worth it.
(End of Chapter)
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