Konoha Notes

Chapter 336 Opening Eyes

Naruto looked completely bewildered, utterly oblivious to the situation and unaware of what he and Shuuji were talking about.

Sasuke didn't understand. He felt extremely shocked. He had set his life goals, but found that in front of the judges, he was in the same category as that guy in his class who was good for nothing except making a lot of noise and trying to attract attention in a clumsy way. He was basically incapable of anything!
“Mr. Shuji,” Sasuke wanted to confirm one last time, “you mean, Naruto… is like me?”

“The expectation is the same,” Shuuji said calmly. “However, considering all factors, Naruto’s chances of becoming Hokage are greater than yours.”

This is a more cruel version than "the same".

The anticipation he received that night, and the higher percentage of time he spent training with Gaara during this period, all of this made him even more convinced that he was on the right path, the path that was expected of him.

But now...

All of this crumbled before this one sentence.

Shuji's dark eyes were empty. There was no mockery, no joke, no encouragement or comfort. His gaze was like stating a perfectly ordinary fact: "The weather's nice today."

Gaara, standing beside him, simply observed calmly in his pure, clear eyes.

Facing those two pairs of eyes, Sasuke felt his cheeks begin to burn. It wasn't shame, but a more complex and acute emotion—the resentment of being wrongly judged, the anger of being slighted, and a burning impulse to prove something, almost piercing his chest.

Naruto, confused, only heard the praise and, moreover, heard Shuuji say that he seemed to be above Sasuke, so he couldn't help but grin and say, "I've already mastered a very powerful technique, Sasuke!"

"This time, I will definitely beat you."

Upon hearing these two sentences, the tension that had been building up inside the Uchiha clan suddenly snapped.

Strangely, he didn't explode.

All the boiling emotions cooled and settled at this moment.

Sasuke's expression became calm, and his eyes were filled with focus.

“I understand, Mr. Shuji.”

Shuuji nodded: "I won't call 'start.' You decide for yourselves. There are no restrictions on ninjutsu."

Sasuke walked to the center of the training field and stood opposite Naruto.

"You can go first, Naruto," Sasuke said calmly.

Naruto didn't stand on ceremony and formed the Ren Seal.

"Shadow Clone Technique!"

Bang! Bang! Bang! Bang! Bang—!
A series of loud bangs were accompanied by bursts of white smoke.

As the smoke cleared, Sasuke's pupils suddenly contracted, and in front of him stood forty or fifty Narutos.

They stood densely packed together, completely filling one side of the training field.

Shadow Clone Technique... A Jonin-level ninjutsu.

No, these aren't just shadow clones... even my brother wouldn't have this many clones.

Are there any ordinary clones among them?
Moreover, Naruto's clones were clearly just a lump on the ground... so how could he suddenly create so many...? Is it an illusion?
Sasuke ruled out all possibilities and impossibilities, feeling that the current situation was somewhat excessive for second-year students at the Ninja Academy.

"How was it, Sasuke!"

Dozens of voices rang out simultaneously, their overlapping echoes buzzing across the training ground.

"This is a technique that Brother Shuuji taught me!"

"You don't know this technique, do you?"
Sasuke didn't answer. He lightly touched the ground with his toes and slid backward to create distance.

Meanwhile, Naruto and his friends shouted in a scattered manner, then dispersed and chased after Sasuke.

"Go on!"

"Down with Sasuke!"

"Let him see what we're made of!"

Just as the shadow clones created distance between themselves as they ran and chased, Sasuke suddenly turned around, parried the opponent's fist with his left hand, and struck the opponent's chest with his right palm.

"Oh!"

The first shadow clone exploded into white smoke and disappeared.

entity……

Almost simultaneously, the second and third shadow clones pounced forward. Sasuke dodged a flying kick to the side, then followed up with an elbow strike to the side of another Naruto.

"Bang!" "Bang!"

Two more plumes of white smoke appeared.

After a series of clashes, Sasuke began to realize that what he was facing was neither a genjutsu nor a combination of shadow clones and ordinary clones.

They are all physical entities.

Defeating one person four or five times is different from defeating four or five people once. At this age, the increase in the number of people means that the difficulty of physical victory is infinitely increased.

This represents a fundamental tactical asymmetry.

Sasuke acted decisively, leaping upwards with his feet, intending to find an angle to unleash the Great Fireball Technique and wipe out the area in one fell swoop.

At that very moment, an excited voice came from above his head.

"Got you!"

The blond boy was falling from a greater height, his hands clasped together, using the force of his fall to slam them hard onto his head.

Sasuke used the momentum from his jump to twist his body and parry.

The heavy hammer blow made him grit his teeth, but he didn't waste the opportunity. Instead, he used the impact of the blow to adjust his position and aimed to land where he could escape the shadow clones' encirclement.

After landing, taking advantage of the moment when the shadow clones swarmed him, he completed the hand seals, his chest bulging. Fire Release: Great Fireball Technique!
The massive fireball instantly crushed the approaching shadow clone.

"Wow ah ah!"

"So hot!"

"Get away!"

Amid screams, the dozen or so shadow clones at the forefront were instantly engulfed by flames, turning into puffs of white smoke. The fireball continued forward, swirling in seven or eight more clones on the side.

When the flames finally died down, the training ground became much emptier, with only seven or eight Narutos standing some distance away.

Sasuke was panting, and the corners of his mouth had just turned up in a smile.

The remaining Naruto members were only filled with even greater excitement; this was the first time Naruto had pushed Sasuke to this point.

"It's not over yet!"

"Come again!"

Naruto, standing at the back, formed hand seals again.

"Shadow Clone Technique!"

Another series of explosions followed, and the training ground, which had been cleared out, was filled up again.

Sasuke's lips immediately pressed into a thin line.

Naruto... does he have inexhaustible chakra...?

He's hiding in the back; we need to find an opportunity to take down his main body directly... Before that, we need to clear out a wave of shadow clones first...

Sasuke quickly adjusted his breathing, forcing himself to calm down. He watched as the clones charged at him again, but this time he didn't choose to fight them head-on. Instead, he began to fight and retreat.

He constantly adjusted his angle as he moved, using the trees and terrain at the edge of the training field to try to line up the swarming clones and create an opportunity to release the next Fireball.

It's now!

Sasuke used the same trick again, using the collision with a shadow clone to propel himself backward while simultaneously forming hand seals rapidly in front of his chest—

Si - not——

"Sasuke!"

The voice came from behind him, very close.

not good!

Sasuke was startled and tried to forcefully turn around, but due to exhaustion, his reaction speed was no longer as fast as the first time.

A force slammed into his back, causing his body to involuntarily lean forward and completely disrupting the rhythm of his hand seals.

Sasuke grunted and slammed his left foot into the ground, trying to regain his balance. However, all the shadow clones around him seized the opportunity and swarmed in from all directions, completely engulfing him like a tidal wave.

In the midst of the chaos, his right foot stepped on a small pebble that had rolled down without him noticing.

His feet slipped.

The body completely lost its balance.

Sasuke fell backward.

In sight, there were more and more orange figures, blue eyes, the same excited faces, and hands reaching out from all directions.

It’s over.

The thought flashed through my mind.

Then, a calm voice pierced through all the noise.

"Sasuke, you've lost."

Time seemed to stand still.

Sasuke lay on the ground, gazing up at the sky above, surrounded by dozens of Naruto clones. The clones stopped what they were doing, simply looking down at him with a variety of expressions on their faces—some smug, some excited, some simply happy.

Then, cheers erupted like an explosion.

"Won!"

"we won!"

"Sasuke has been defeated!"

The shadow clones excitedly hugged each other, jumping and shouting.

Sasuke, having been declared defeated, simply lay there.

My mind was blank; I had no thoughts, no emotions, no anger, no resentment, no shame, and not even confusion.

There was only a pure, complete blank space.

He opened his eyes and gazed at the sky.

But deep within those empty, unreflectable black eyes, something was quietly changing.

A touch of crimson quietly spread from the very center of the pupil, turning black into red.

Then, on that scarlet background, a jet-black magatama slowly emerged, solidified, and stabilized.