Bang bang bang.
The sound was like fists slamming into a heavy bag, rapid and brutal, and the moment it started, every student and every teacher froze.
No one spoke.
No one even breathed too loudly.
Because what they were seeing did not fit inside any common sense they had built in the ninja academy.
Minato had been launched by Yami's first punch, his body still airborne, his feet not even close to touching the ground again.
And yet, he never got to land.
Three Yami figures moved like a coordinated execution.
Minato's body became a ball in midair, batted from one direction to another with merciless timing.
If those three had been a real body and two Shadow Clones, it would still have been impressive, but it would have been understandable.
This was not that.
The Yami who hit Minato did not Body Flicker away at a speed beyond the eye.
Instead, he ran, almost calmly, at a speed just slightly faster than Minato's flight.
And then, at the moment of impact, he passed straight through Minato's body.
Through him.
As if both were made of air for a split second.
And yet the next hit landed with full force.
Then another.
Then another.
Minato tried to retaliate midair. He twisted his torso, snapped a punch, even tried to swing a kunai in a desperate arc to force space.
Every counter passed through.
Like striking a phantom.
Like slashing smoke.
The three Yami figures looked like ordinary Clone Technique phantoms, without substance.
And yet they could become solid at any moment.
That contradiction was what broke people's brains.
Students had never seen it.
Yuya had never seen it.
Even the medical ninja, who had been confident enough to encourage the no rules duel, had never seen anything like it in his life.
Both adults had been sure.
Those two extra Yami were basic illusions.
They had recognized the hand signs.
They had seen shuriken pass through them.
They were phantom clones.
So why did they not disperse when struck?
Why did they persist like living shadows?
Why could they hit like real bodies?
They could not understand.
They could not explain it.
And the most frightening part was the rhythm.
There was no wasted movement.
No hesitation.
No sign that Yami was guessing.
It looked like he had designed the sequence beforehand.
Like he had rehearsed the air itself.
Minato's face had already twisted into a grim mask, pain and shock mixing together.
He gritted his teeth so hard that it was visible from afar.
His eyes stayed sharp, even as his body was punished.
And then one of the Yami figures sprang upward.
Not just a hop, but a clean rise, legs scissoring, body rotating.
A downward axe kick posture.
Straight toward Minato's head and spine.
That was the moment Yuya's heart dropped.
He Body Flickered in.
His hand shot out and caught Minato in midair, forcibly pulling him out of the killing line before the kick could land.
At the same time, Yuya turned his head and shouted with authority that brooked no argument.
"Victory is decided. Match ends!"
The moment the words fell, the air snapped back into normal.
The Yami in the sky and one of the Yami on the ground burst into white smoke and vanished.
Only the real Yami remained.
He walked forward, breathing steady, posture relaxed, eyes calm.
He did not look like someone who had lost control.
He looked like someone who had simply stopped.
Then, to everyone's surprise, Yami spoke first.
"Sorry. I got carried away."
His voice was even.
There was no arrogance in that line.
He looked at Minato, who was being steadied by Yuya, and continued.
"Are you okay?"
Minato's body shook faintly as he forced his breathing into order.
His bones felt like they had been rearranged.
His limbs felt heavy and wrong.
But he still lifted his head, eyes honest.
"I'm fine," Minato said, voice strained but sincere.
Then he bowed his head slightly, not out of fear but out of respect.
"I lost. Yami, that technique was… incredible."
Yami's lips curved.
Not the cold smirk that many students feared.
Not the thin, sharp laugh Kushina often received.
A real smile.
Small, but clear.
"And your Wind Style is strong," Yami replied. "If I didn't already know Earth Style, you might have ended it instantly."
Then Yami lifted his hand and extended two fingers.
"Thank you for the lesson."
Minato blinked once.
A faint pause, like he had not expected the gesture.
Then he mirrored it and extended his own fingers.
"Thank you for the lesson."
Their fingers met.
The reconciliation seal.
From the outside, it looked like a simple moment.
But for Minato, it felt strange.
Something about Yami seemed different compared to the start of the match.
Not just the smile.
Not just the way he spoke.
It was as if a tension had left him.
As if some invisible weight had cracked and fallen away.
Minato could not name it.
He never would.
Because from this moment onward, Minato was no longer Yami's imagined enemy.
He was no longer the ceiling pressing down on Yami's chest for years.
He was no longer the heart demon that turned every training session into a performance and every breath into a calculation.
Yami had defeated him.
And Yami's mind, which had been chained by that comparison, was freed.
It was not that Minato became unimportant.
It was that Minato no longer occupied the center of Yami's fears.
From now on, Yami did not need to constantly prove something to the world.
He did not need to wear masks every day.
He could stop acting.
He could stop guessing what others wanted to see.
He could finally move forward for himself.
His talent.
His strength.
His hidden advantage.
They would get him everything he wanted.
Minato did not know any of that.
But he did know one thing.
He wanted to understand.
He could not hold back the question that had burned in his head since the first phantom hit.
"Yami," Minato said carefully, almost politely.
"May I ask… were those Shadow Clones?"
His eyes sharpened.
"How did you make them switch between phantom and solid?"
The entire field went silent again.
Every student leaned forward.
Even the younger years, who had no idea what they had just witnessed, felt that this question mattered.
Yuya and the medical ninja stared too, waiting as if a single answer could restore logic to the world.
Yami's smile did not fade.
He looked almost amused.
He did not give Minato what he wanted.
Instead, he gave them a name.
"That wasn't Shadow Clone."
Yami turned slightly, posture proud, voice steady.
"It's a technique I developed myself."
He paused just long enough to make the air feel heavy.
"Phantom Body Flicker Technique."
"Phantom Body Flicker…"
The students repeated it unconsciously in their minds.
A name to attach to the impossible.
Yuya and the medical ninja froze.
Then, as if struck, both adults realized what that name implied.
Body Flicker.
Just Body Flicker.
Not a bloodline.
Not a secret clan art.
Not a forbidden technique pulled from some sealed scroll.
Just Body Flicker.
And yet it had created a battlefield illusion that could strike like reality.
Yuya's expression turned sharp.
The medical ninja's mouth opened slightly without him noticing.
"Body Flicker," Yuya muttered, stunned. "It's really just Body Flicker?"
Minato's eyes widened.
"But phantom clones should disperse when struck," he said immediately. "Why didn't they vanish?"
Yami did not answer.
He simply gave a quiet, confident smile, turned his back, and walked away.
Minato stayed there, still aching, watching the white hair sway as it moved farther.
Beside him, the crowd remained trapped in confusion.
Kushina, who had already finished her assessment, hurried after Yami the moment he stepped away, as if she could not allow him to leave without her.
On the road, her curiosity nearly burst out of her skin.
"Yami," she demanded, half frustrated, half excited. "Was that really just a normal Clone Technique and Body Flicker?"
Yami glanced sideways.
His smile was lighter now, as if the world had become less suffocating.
"If you want to know," he said, "then get stronger."
He looked ahead, hands in his pockets, tone casual.
"When you reach a certain level, you'll understand the secret naturally."
Kushina froze.
She stared at him, eyes wide, and for a few seconds, her questions disappeared.
Her curiosity was swallowed by something else.
Because Yami's smile was different.
She had seen him smile before.
Usually it was mocking.
Usually it was cool, distant, or sharp.
This was pure.
Genuine.
And it made her chest feel strange.
Like her heart had skipped a step.
Her cheeks warmed without permission, and she quickly turned her head away, pretending she did not care.
"Tch," she huffed. "Fine. Don't tell me."
Then she tried to stab him where she thought it would hurt.
"Anyway, your technique is only good for bullying that girly guy."
Yami's eyes narrowed a little, amused.
"Heh. You've got nerve."
He leaned toward her slightly.
"Want to try it yourself?"
Kushina spun back instantly, defiant.
"Try it? I'll try it!"
Yami's smile sharpened.
"Sometimes I really admire you," he said. "If your body's defense was as hard as your mouth, you'd be unstoppable."
Kushina bristled.
"You just keep being smug while you can. When I learn that technique, you'll be the one crying!"
Yami tilted his head.
"What technique?"
Kushina's lips curled and she stuck her tongue out.
"Hehehe. Not telling you!"
She bounced forward, practically skipping, as if she had won a round just by keeping a secret.
Yami watched her for a moment, then followed behind, hands still in his pockets, smile lingering.
Far away, inside the Hokage's office, Sarutobi observed the scene through the crystal ball.
He exhaled smoke slowly and chuckled.
"Being young is nice…"
His eyes settled on Yami, filled with satisfaction.
Sarutobi could not understand the inner mechanics of the Phantom Body Flicker Technique either.
He could not see how a phantom clone could resist dispersal.
He could not see how it could strike at the decisive moment.
But he did not feel threatened by it.
Because as someone praised as the Professor of Ninjutsu, Sarutobi could tell at a glance that this technique was born from Yami's unique talent for Body Flicker.
If your Body Flicker could not reach that silent, ghostlike realm, then even knowing the theory would not let you replicate it.
And more importantly, this kind of shifting misdirection was strongest in close combat between similar levels.
A phantom clone was still a phantom clone.
It could not weave signs and cast techniques like a Shadow Clone.
A wide range ninjutsu could tear apart its advantage.
It was not something to fear.
But it was something to value.
"A child this young, creating a movement technique that belongs only to him," Sarutobi murmured. "That means extraordinary chakra control, extraordinary reaction speed…"
His gaze sharpened.
"And it suggests an unusual understanding of space."
Sarutobi's eyes narrowed, drifting toward another direction as if addressing someone unseen.
"Perhaps… he has the potential for my teacher's technique."
His voice lowered to something only he could hear.
"And the fact that there has been no interference for so long…"
"Does that mean you approve as well, Mito sama?"
(End of Chapter)
[Check Out My P@treon For +20 Extra Chapters On All My Fanfics!!][[email protected]/euridome]
[Thank You For Your Support!]