Konoha: Starting with Sage Mode.

Chapter 22 Graduation Early?

One month later, at dusk, in the training ground of the eastern forest of the Senju clan's territory.

Kirito and Nawaki are engaged in their daily battle practice.

At this moment, Kirito was surrounded by a large number of Nawaki's shadow clones.

Using his immense chakra to unleash the Multiple Shadow Clone Technique to overwhelm his opponent is a technique that Nawaki has been using ever since he learned the Multiple Shadow Clone Technique.

"Prepare yourself, Kirito, I'm going to beat you to a pulp this time."

More than a dozen rope trees shouted in unison, and then attacked from all sides.

Seeing this, Kirito scanned his surroundings with his eyes, dodging his opponents' movements while launching a series of attacks with his hands and feet, accurately hitting each rope tree and sending them all flying.

Although shadow clones have a physical form and are extremely difficult to distinguish, their strength is still far inferior to that of the original body, and their resilience is very low.

Nawaki has good physical attributes, but his strength and speed attributes are currently inferior to Kirito's.

As a result, a large number of Rope Tree Shadow Clones turned into white smoke and disappeared while being knocked away.

Nawaki, who was mixed in with a large number of shadow clones, ignored this and secretly formed hand seals, preparing to release a ninjutsu to attack Kirito.

Using shadow clones as cover to perform ninjutsu is also a technique commonly used by Nawaki.

Not only that, in addition to his main body forming hand seals, some of his shadow clones were also forming hand seals to confuse Kirito and prevent him from discovering his main body's abilities.

Kirito couldn't find Nawaki's real body for the time being, so he had to destroy Nawaki's shadow clones as much as possible.

He also performed hand seals very quickly, and much faster than Rope Tree.

But Rope Tree's shadow clones wouldn't let him have his way. Some continued to charge forward for close combat, while others chose to throw shuriken.

Kirito had no choice but to stop, take out his kunai to block the incoming shuriken, and kick away the charging Nawaki shadow clone.

At this moment, Rope Tree and some shadow clones successfully completed the hand seals.

Water Release: Heaven's Cry!

A large number of water needles suddenly shot out from the mouths of Rope Tree and his shadow clones, instantly turning Kirito into a hedgehog.

With a loud "bang".

Leave a piece of wood where it was.

"Damn it, this guy's Substitution Jutsu is still so fast. Where did he hide?"

Seeing this, Rope Tree and his shadow clones looked around with resentment, searching for Kirito's whereabouts.

"Ah, there he is."

Soon, a shadow clone discovered Kirito hiding behind a large tree nearby.

Nawaki and the other shadow clones immediately looked over, but what they saw was not only Kirito, but also a large number of electric balls flashing with lightning.

Lightning Release: Lightning Ball!

After nearly two months of training, Kirito finally mastered the lightning-attribute chakra nature and learned his only lightning-style ninjutsu, Lightning Release: Lightning Ball.

"Oh no, everyone run!"

Seeing this, Rope Tree knew he didn't have time to form a hand seal, so he shouted loudly.

Among the five elemental ninjutsu, lightning release ninjutsu is the fastest attacking ninjutsu. When Nawaki shouted, some shadow clones had already been hit by the electric ball and disappeared into white smoke.

A moment later, all the Rope Tree Shadow Clone clones on the field had been destroyed, but the Rope Tree itself had vanished without a trace.

Kirito jumped down from the tree, looking around warily to prevent Nawaki from launching a sneak attack.

But the next moment, two hands suddenly reached out from the ground and grabbed Kirito's feet, and then Kirito was completely buried in the ground, with only his head sticking out.

Earth Release: Heart-Slaying Decapitation Technique!

"Hehe, this is a new ninjutsu I learned, what do you think?"

Rope Tree jumped out of the ground, aimed his kunai at Kirito, and said with a grin.

"Not bad, you've actually mastered a new chakra nature transformation in secret."

Kirito exclaimed in admiration.

Then, he smiled mysteriously at Rope Tree and said, "But aren't you getting ahead of yourself?"

"What do you mean?"

Nawaki immediately became alert, and then Kirito in front of him turned into a wisp of white smoke and disappeared.

Clearly, Kirito was just a shadow clone.

"Something terrible has happened!"

Upon seeing this, Rope Tree instantly realized that something was wrong and quickly tried to leave the spot, only to find that he couldn't move.

A sealing spell actually appeared on the ground beneath him.

Sealing Technique: One-Lineage Lamp Array

"I won, Nawaki."

As Nawaki was bound by a lantern array, Kirito immediately appeared and pressed a kunai against Nawaki's neck.

"Damn it, when did you set up the sealing spell?"

Rope Tree asked with a look of resentment.

"Just as you were about to use the Earth Core Decapitation Technique, this sealing technique was very simple. I set it up in a second. To be honest, if you had listened carefully to Mito-sensei's sealing technique lessons, you would have been able to quickly notice the sealing technique I hastily set up."

Kirito said with a smile, and then released the seal.

"You're so fussy. Who else but you could learn something so complicated so quickly? I'm not going to learn from you."

Nawaki understood Kirito's intention to persuade him to learn sealing techniques and resolutely refused.

It wasn't that Nawaki wasn't trying hard enough; it was just that sealing techniques were too difficult to learn, and he simply couldn't master them. On the other hand, he could quickly learn ninjutsu using the Shadow Clone Technique.

After their practice match, Kirito and Nawaki began to review the match, carefully identifying the mistakes that had occurred and discussing how to make up for them.

This match review was proposed by Mito, who asked the two of them to do it seriously.

This is still homework; they need to write a summary of what they discussed and submit it every day.

As a result, their fighting skills improved rapidly.

"It's the same as always. You've created too many shadow clones because you have too much chakra, which is a serious waste of chakra. Also, don't be careless and underestimate your opponents just because you've learned a new technique. Didn't I tell you before that your main body should always be hidden in the shadows? Unless you're running out of chakra, just keep using shadow clones to attack your opponents. If this were a battlefield, you would be finished."

Kirito pointed out the mistake Nawaki made in the battle, speaking bluntly.

"But I still have you, hehehe~"

Rope Tree said with a grin.

"Idiot, how could I possibly stay by your side all the time? During battle, you must always be vigilant. You have far more chakra than others, which is your advantage. The Multiple Shadow Clone Technique is tailor-made for people like you with a lot of chakra. You must make good use of this ninjutsu."

Seeing that Nawaki was carefree, Kirito decisively smacked him on the head to make him remember this.

In the original story, Nawaki fell into the enemy's explosive tag trap because he was too reckless and impulsive, and because he underestimated the enemy.

If Rope Tree had been a little more cautious, he wouldn't have died.

It's important to know that Nawaki's teacher at the time was Orochimaru. Given Orochimaru's abilities, it's highly likely that he would have noticed Nawaki's talent and taught him a suitable ninjutsu like the Multiple Shadow Clone Technique.

"Okay, okay, you're even more nagging than Grandma now. Don't worry, I will never die before I become Hokage."

Nawaki clutched his head and cried out, then confidently gave Kirito a cool thumbs-up.

Then, after a moment's hesitation, he said in a low voice, "Um, Kirito, with our current strength, we should be able to graduate from the Ninja Academy, right? Why don't we graduate as soon as possible and then go and wipe out the enemy together?"

The next moment, a fist slammed into his head.

"Why did you hit me, Kirito? If you don't want to go, then don't go. You're such a coward."

Nawaki, who had been innocently hit, was immediately angry and said something, but when he saw Kirito's extremely serious expression and cold eyes, he stopped mid-sentence.

This was the first time he had ever seen Kirito with such a terrifying expression.

"Rope Tree, do you know who you are?"

Kirito said seriously.

"Of course I know. I am the grandson of the First Hokage, so I absolutely cannot tarnish my grandfather's reputation."

When asked about this, Rope Tree's expression turned serious, and he spoke loudly.

"It seems you understand your place very well. But have you considered the consequences if you chose to graduate and go to war now?"

Kirito asked again.

Nawaki was only 6 years old, and all he could think about was becoming Hokage as soon as possible. He would never have thought about such a question.

He racked his brains, but couldn't figure out what the consequences of graduating early would be.

"Looks like you're a real idiot. Well then, let me tell you something. You'll set a good example. The Hokage and the others will definitely publicize your early graduation and your willingness to go to the battlefield to boost morale. In that time, you'll become a hero of Konoha."

Kirito saw that Nawaki couldn't figure it out, so he gave him some pointers.

When Rope Tree heard that he would become a hero of the village, his eyes lit up.

He dreamed of becoming a hero in the village.

But Kirito's next words were like a bucket of cold water poured over him, leaving him feeling cold all over.

"However, you will definitely die, because in order to severely damage our morale, the enemy will do everything they can to kill you, the grandson of the First Hokage. They will send Jonin, or even many Jonin, to assassinate you. Think about it carefully, with your current strength, do you have any chance of escaping from the hands of Jonin?"

It's tough for a new author to get ahead, so I hope all my fellow readers will visit often to increase the readership. After you finish reading, I hope you'll vote for this book and invest in it. If you could give me some monthly tickets and rewards, I would be extremely grateful. It's so hard for a new author and a new book.

(End of this chapter)