Around the campfire, Naruto and Sakura suddenly heard an eerie, musical sound.
"Ugh… what's going on…" Naruto muttered, feeling his vision spin. His body swayed as if it was about to collapse.
"Be careful! We're under attack!" Sakura gritted her teeth, forcing herself to stay alert.
"Hmph, too late for that!"
Before she could react further, three figures emerged from the shadows of the trees—Toss, Sak, and Jin.
They moved in fast, kunai in hand, aiming straight for their targets.
Naruto and Sakura struggled to steady themselves, but their movements were sluggish.
"Too slow!"
A kunai stabbed into Naruto's chest, and blood splattered. Toss grinned.
Sak followed up, channeling chakra into his palm and releasing a shockwave straight at Sakura, knocking her off balance.
"Haha, two down already!"
"The ninjas of Konoha are weaker than I expected," Jin sneered.
But just as they were about to celebrate—poof!
Naruto's body vanished in a cloud of white smoke.
"What? A Shadow Clone?!" Toss's face twisted in shock.
Before he could react, two fists shot out from the darkness, landing squarely on his face.
"Gotcha, you idiot!" Naruto laughed, appearing from the shadows. "Sasuke was right, Shadow Clones are really useful!"
"Sak! Toss! Are you okay?" Jin called out in alarm.
"Hmph, do you have time to be worried about others?"
Sakura's voice rang out from above.
Jin's eyes widened. She whipped her hand forward, sending a barrage of sharp steel needles at Sakura.
Poof!
A wooden log dropped to the ground where Sakura had been.
"A Body Replacement Technique?!" Jin gasped.
The next instant, Sakura burst out from the side, delivering a solid punch to Jin's face.
Thud!
The three attackers staggered back, looking embarrassed.
"Hmph, Konoha ninjas are too soft," Toss growled, wiping blood from his lips. "You had the chance to kill us, but you didn't take it."
"That's right. Kindness toward your enemies is cruelty toward yourself." Sak sneered. "Isn't that something your village teaches?"
The three of them stood together again, eyes locked onto Naruto and Sakura.
"Now it's three against two."
Naruto scratched his head. "A numbers game, huh? Well, that's kinda my thing."
He clasped his hands together and formed a seal.
Poof!
Dozens of Narutos appeared in an instant, surrounding the enemy.
"Hey, now it's thirty against three."
Naruto smirked and pointed. "Sakura-chan, you watch Sasuke. I'll handle these guys!"
With a loud yell, the army of Narutos charged.
"What?! These aren't just regular clones?!" Toss's group was stunned.
Despite being Genin, Naruto's unpredictability had caught them off guard.
From the trees, Naruto watched his clones fight and grinned. Sasuke's been training me hard… and I won't let him leave me in the dust!
A storm of shuriken flew toward Toss's team, forcing them to evade.
"Hmph! Enough of this! Air Cutter Wave!"
Sak thrust his palms forward, blasting a shockwave that sent several Narutos flying.
But more kept coming.
"Hehe, I call this move—Shuriken Barrage!"
Naruto's clones hurled another volley of kunai and shuriken.
Toss reacted quickly, flicking his arm guard. A burst of sound waves deflected the incoming projectiles.
"Tch, these clones are annoying! Sak, Jin—ignore them! We go for the real one!" Toss ordered.
He crouched and dashed toward Naruto, who was perched on a tree branch.
"Damn it—" Naruto flung a kunai, but Toss knocked it aside with ease.
Then, Toss activated his sound gauntlets. A powerful sonic attack engulfed Naruto.
Naruto staggered and fell.
"Hah! Got you now!" Toss lunged forward and grabbed Naruto by the neck, lifting him up.
"But…"
Poof!
Naruto disappeared in another puff of smoke.
"What?! A clone again?!" Toss's eyes widened in disbelief.
"Guess what? Surprise attack—Uzumaki Naruto Barrage!"
Naruto descended from above, landing a powerful kick to Toss's head.
Toss was sent crashing down, snapping branches before hitting the ground hard. Blood spilled from his mouth.
"Who said the real one has to just stand around and watch?" Naruto grinned.
"Damn it!"
Sak and Jin exchanged glances, then suddenly turned and rushed toward the tree hole.
"Hmph! Let's just take Sasuke out instead!"
"Get out of the way, girl!"
Sak raised his hand and launched another air blast at Sakura, knocking her backward.
He was just about to enter the tree hole—
Bang!
Sak flew backward, crashing into a tree at full force.
"I'd like to see you try."
A calm voice echoed from the darkness.
Sasuke stepped forward, his figure emerging into the firelight. His Sharingan glowed ominously.
"Naruto, you're too soft on enemies," Sasuke muttered, smirking.
The next moment—
Swoosh!
Sasuke vanished.
He reappeared right in front of Sak.
"So fast—"
Sak's words caught in his throat as Sasuke's hand clamped around his neck, pinning him to a tree.
"Sharingan… Genjutsu."
Sasuke's tomoe spun.
Sak's vision warped. Suddenly, he found himself in complete darkness, surrounded by massive, writhing snakes.
They lunged at him, sinking their fangs into his arms.
"Aaaaaaah!"
The pain was unbearable.
When he snapped back to reality, Sak's face was pale, his eyes lifeless. Drool dripped from his mouth as he collapsed in a heap.
"Hmph. Weak." Sasuke let go, watching him crumple.
Then, his gaze slowly shifted to Toss and Jin.
"Who's next?"
A cold sweat broke out across their foreheads.
They weren't just outmatched—they were completely outclassed.
Toss swallowed hard. "Wait—Sasuke! We surrender!"
He quickly pulled out the Earth Scroll and set it on the ground.
"We'll hand over the scroll—just let us go!"
Sasuke narrowed his eyes.
"And if I say no?"
Toss clenched his fists. "Then… we'll destroy the scroll!"
Silence.
Then, Sasuke scoffed.
"…Tch. Whatever. Take your trash and get lost."
He kicked Sak aside.
Toss and Jin hurriedly grabbed him, backing away before dashing into the darkness.
Once they were gone, Naruto let out a breath.
"Whew! That was intense."
Sakura sighed in relief.
Sasuke just smirked.
"Let's move. We're not done yet."
--
(A/N: Advance Chapters Are Available On My Patreon... Please Think Of Joining It)