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"Looks like it's already started!"
By the time Shikamaru, Choji, Kiba, Shino, Ino, and Sakura reached the eastern outskirts, the air was already vibrating with the sounds of battle. Sparks flew as kunai clashed, followed by the heavy, dull thuds of close-quarters taijutsu. The duel had clearly escalated beyond a simple schoolyard scrap.
Hinata, hampered by her distance from the Academy, arrived a moment later with a breathless Hanabi in tow. The second the younger Hyūga spotted the blond boy she had come to admire, her face lit up with pure, unbridled excitement.
"Big Brother Naruto—go for it!!" she shrieked, her voice cutting through the sounds of wind and fire like a temple bell.
In the center of the field, Naruto and Sasuke traded one final, bone-jarring kick and sprang apart. Sasuke was heaving, his chest heaving with every breath. He was hitting the ceiling of his current chakra reserves—the physical and mental limits of an eight-year-old body.
Chakra almost gone... I have to finish this now, Sasuke thought, his vision blurring slightly from the strain of the Sharingan. He steeled his resolve and began a sequence of hand-seals that were far too complex for a standard fireball.
Naruto's eyes narrowed. He sensed the massive buildup of energy. It wasn't just a spark; it was an eruption.
"Naruto, watch out!" Kurama's voice roared within the seal, his ancient memories flickering with the image of a certain long-haired Uchiha. "That's the Great Fire Annihilation! It's a wide-range B-rank jutsu. Your clothes will be ash before you can blink!"
Naruto didn't hesitate. He reached into his pouch and pulled out a slip of white paper he had prepared with the Shadow Clones at home. He channeled his chakra into the sheet, the black ink of the runes beginning to glow with a deep, pulsing light.
"Katon: Gōka Mekkyaku!"
Sasuke unleashed everything. A sky-filling inferno surged forward, a literal tidal wave of flame that covered nearly half the training ground. It was a terrifying display of power that left the onlookers frozen in horror.
"Not good!" Kiba yelled, his instincts as a predator screaming danger. He sprinted toward the center, while Shino moved even faster, a black cloud of Kikaichū swirling around him to form a protective shell.
"NARUTO!" Ino and Hinata screamed in unison, both rushing onto the field with a reckless disregard for their own safety.
But the catastrophe never came.
The roaring flames slammed to a halt less than a meter from Naruto, hitting an invisible, conceptual wall. The paper in Naruto's hand lifted into the air, its runes expanding into a miniature black-hole vortex. The towering fire was sucked into the paper like water down a drain, leaving nothing but a lingering heat haze.
Fūka Hōin (Fire Sealing Method).
The B-rank jutsu was erased as if it had never existed. Naruto caught the paper as it drifted down, now inscribed with the sealed flame.
Kiba arrived first, his relief instantly curdling into a white-hot fury. He looked at the unconscious Sasuke, who had collapsed the moment the jutsu ended. "You bastard! You almost killed him!" Kiba roared, stepping toward the prone Uchiha with his fist raised.
"Kiba, cool it!" Choji grabbed his shoulder, planting his heavy frame as a barrier.
"Calm down," Shikamaru added, yanking Kiba's arm. His voice was unusually stern. "He's out from chakra exhaustion. If you hit him now and he dies, the Inuzuka clan will be the ones paying the price to the Elders. Don't be an idiot."
Shikamaru knew the political reality: Sasuke was a "Strategic Asset" as the last Uchiha. The fallout of a Main House heir killing him would be a disaster that even the Hokage couldn't easily smooth over.
Naruto stepped beside Kiba, placing a calming hand on his shoulder. He glanced at Ino and Hinata, offering a small, reassuring nod. "I'm fine. Thank you for coming."
Sakura had already reached Sasuke's side, struggling to hoist him onto her back. Naruto looked at her, then back at Kiba, a sharp, unreadable glint in his blue eyes.
"Kiba, I appreciate the concern," Naruto said quietly, his voice carrying an edge of absolute confidence. "But leave this to me. Besides... if anyone is going to give him the beating he deserves, it should be the one he actually challenged, don't you think?"
Kiba met Naruto's gaze and slowly relaxed his stance. He recognized the look in Naruto's eyes—it wasn't anger; it was the steady, clinical gaze of someone who had the situation entirely under control.
Beside them, Shino silently retracted his insects, his dark lenses reflecting the sunset. If Naruto said he had it handled, then the "Circle" would stand down.
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