Chapter 461: Incapable of Enduring the Stimulation
The Final Valley.
The five who had already become Chunin, the nine who were on the verge of becoming Chunin, and Shino—who stubbornly remained a Genin—listened to Masahiko narrate the cause and effect of this exceptional exam.
In truth, for several of these children, becoming a Chunin now was a tad premature. Ino, Choji, Kiba, and even Hinata were technically lacking a bit in raw individual capability. However, with the coordination and support of their squad mates making up for the gaps, it wasn't a major issue. Masahiko didn't want to hold them back unnecessarily; after all, their talent was exceptional across the board, and they would easily bridge the gap in a few months.
"Once you return to Konoha, Obito will officially issue your Chunin flak jackets. They're green—environmentally friendly and quite pleasing to the eye," Masahiko spoke while forcefully suppressing a grin, his gaze lingering purposefully on Lee. "Only after donning it do you truly become a proper Chunin."
"Ohh!"
Aside from Lee, who executed a jubilant leap, the expressions of the other children turned rather eccentric.
Masahiko chuckled inwardly. Konoha's standard-issue Chunin attire was indeed not particularly fashionable, and under normal circumstances, they wouldn't be forced to wear it. Yet, many Chunin still chose to keep it on constantly, perhaps... to visibly reflect their status?
"Cough, cough!" Sasuke let out a couple of light coughs, shifting his eyes sidelong toward Naruto, signaling Masahiko regarding the previously agreed-upon promise to let him evaluate Naruto.
Masahiko systematically raised his hand, signaling Sasuke to rest easy: "Naruto, do you still recall the Battle of the Final Valley that the Great Ancestor narrated to you when you were little?"
A smile curled onto Naruto's face: "Of course! This must be the Final Valley, right? The statue over there is Lord First Hokage, I recognized him long ago! But... how come the Lord First here doesn't look as heroic and martial as the one in the village? The sculptor must have been a bit incompetent!"
The other children nodded in collective agreement.
Masahiko raised his eyebrows: "I am deeply regretful to inform you all that both Hashirama statues were personally sculpted by me, and for the one right here, I unleashed my full strength."
"Personally sculpted by you? Unleashed your full strength here?"
Masahiko smiled: "Consequentially, the versions right here represent the true, unadorned historical appearances of Hashirama Senju and Madara Uchiha, entirely stripped of any 'artistic modification'."
Watching the children stare in a daze at the two colossal statues, Masahiko gently raised his hand, utilizing his gravitational pull to hoist the Sound Four—who were currently lying in a neat row—up onto a massive stone monument nearby.
This monument was also something he had sculpted back in the day, and it was a miracle that it hadn't been vandalized over all these years. The original signature on the monument read 'Witness of the Shinobi World'. Masahiko pondered for a brief moment before crooking his finger, altering it to read 'Masahiko Uzumaki'.
He no longer needed to conceal his identity for some enigmatic reasons, nor could he be considered a pure 'Witness of the Shinobi World' anymore anyway.
"Children! Does anyone among you wish to exchange blows in this exact spot, leaving behind your very own historical footprint?" Masahiko suddenly let out a sharp shout, drawing the collective focus of the children back to him.
"You idiot Naruto, come have a battle!" Sasuke instantly seized the opportunity Masahiko had engineered for him.
With Sasuke initiating an active challenge, Naruto naturally wasn't going to back down. The two instantly hit it off in perfect mutual intent...
The other children exchanged glances. Shikamaru muttered a single line of 'Troublesome' before beginning to scale the stone monument...
Shino, meanwhile, spoke impassively: "Kiba, let us have a battle."
Having been thoroughly ignored up to this point, Shino decisively resolved to unleash a wave of vengeance upon his teammate. Regrettably, Kiba ignored him once again, seamlessly syncing his movements with Akamaru to scamper up the monument with a series of swooshes.
Hinata had also completely forgotten about Shino earlier and felt exceptionally sheepish about it now. Her face flushing red, she lowered her head and began poking her two index fingers together, silently scrambling up the monument...
Ultimately, only two boys and two girls remained to engage in a duel. Ino, wanting to reclaim her honor from the Chunin Exams, initiated a challenge against Sakura.
In truth, Lee desperately wanted to cross hands with Neji, but the lingering side effects of opening the Fifth Gate hadn't faded yet, forcing him to reluctantly abandon the thought.
The monument Masahiko had created back then using Earth Style was massive; even with so many individuals sitting on top of it, it didn't appear crowded in the slightest. Furthermore, as if infected by Masahiko's casual demeanor, every single child—aside from Hoshino and Hinata—sat right along the edge of the monument, dangling their legs off the side as they looked down at the four below like spectators at a theater.
"The four of you go fight on top of the water surface. Do not damage the statues!" Masahiko instructed.
Sakura and Ino exchanged a look. Very conscientiously, they climbed straight back up the monument. With a whole crowd of classmates watching them as if they were monkeys performing a circus act, how on earth were they supposed to fight...
The thick-skinned Naruto didn't mind it in the slightest, but Sasuke felt a bit of an awkward twinge in his heart. However, recalling how he had... actually allowed Naruto to hoodwink him earlier, how could he endure this?! They had agreed to be best friends for life!
"You idiot Naruto, get over here!" Sasuke executed a single leap to land squarely on top of the water surface.
"Heh." Having been addressed as 'idiot' far too many times, Naruto wasn't angry in the slightest, raising his fists to charge straight forward... Mmm, not angry at all.
Fists and feet clashed, the heavy, muffled impacts echoing throughout the Final Valley.
Not far from where the two engaged, the roaring river plunging from above slammed heavily into the deep plunge pool, throwing up countless crystalline splashes that blanketed the air like a dense mist of fine drizzle, casting a dreamlike, ethereal veil around Naruto and Sasuke as they crossed hands.
"It has begun," Masahiko murmured softly.
A battle between close friends almost consistently commenced with a testing phase of raw taijutsu. The close-quarters fundamentals of both boys were exceptionally solid. Sasuke relied on the dynamic visual acuity of his Sharingan, giving him a distinct edge in precision and technique, but Naruto was incredibly durable against beatings... Sasuke's mastery of the basic three academy jutsus was a fraction better, but Naruto was incredibly durable against beatings...
Naruto's baseline strategy facing Sasuke was: 'You hit me with a punch, it tickles; you hit me with another punch, I won't resist; but the absolute moment I find an opening, I'm going to return the favor...'
Very quickly, both of them ended up looking rather battered and disheveled. Pulling back to create distance, Naruto pulled out a kunai and hurled it over, initiating the second phase of their exchange.
Sasuke tilted his body to evade it, lightly lifting his right arm to crook his index finger through the ring at the base of the kunai, effortlessly redirecting the weapon squarely into his own palm. Twirling it a few times, he flicked his wrist to hurl it right back.
Naruto similarly tilted his body to evade it, lightly lifting his right arm to crook his index finger, but completely failed to make contact with the kunai...
Naruto: "...Multi Shadow Clone Jutsu!"
"Fire Style: Majestic Destroyer Flame!"
Naruto, acutely aware that he was no match for Sasuke when it came to tactical kunai mastery, immediately bypassed his weakness to unleash his signature Shadow Clone technique, only for the entire batch to be incinerated to absolute crisp by a single wave of old flames from Sasuke.
Naruto, who had only mastered two core jutsus, was firmly and utterly suppressed by Sasuke, who commanded over a dozen different ranks of Fire Style jutsus. However, Naruto possessed a gargantuan chakra pool; despite the situations turning perilous multiple times, the battle temporarily locked into a stubborn stalemate.
"Sasuke-kun, add oil!" Sakura hollered loudly.
Beside her, Masahiko tilted his head with a grin: "Favoring Sasuke this blatantly, Naruto is going to be heartbroken."
Sakura paused, her face flushing a subtle red, as she playfully stuck her tongue out at Masahiko.
Masahiko shook his head with a smile, whispering under his breath: "I have a feeling Sasuke is going to lose."
A moment later, a thick shroud of crimson chakra began to seethe and bubble out around Naruto's body, the color turning increasingly dark until a single crimson tail sprouted out from his backside.
"Eh?" The collective group of children let out a soft exclamation simultaneously.
He's already mastered it to this extent? Masahiko gave a subtle pause, looking into Naruto's eyes which still retained perfect clarity. "The winner has been decided..."
Sasuke had witnessed Tenten utilize her Tailed Beast cloak mode multiple times, but he hadn't expected Naruto to possess it as well, instantly raising his guard to maximum.
Regrettably, for Naruto—who had sprouted a tail—his raw power and velocity had undergone a qualitative leap. Sasuke possessed virtually zero capability to retaliate in front of Naruto in this state!
"Sasuke-kun!" Sakura cried out in alarm.
"Hehehe, Sasuke, I win!" In the distance, Naruto flashed a radiant grin, looking at Sasuke who was kneeling half-battered on the water surface.
Sasuke nearly ground his teeth into complete dust. Getting hoodwinked by Naruto was one thing, but he couldn't even beat him in a straight fight?! The more he reflected on it, the more suffocatingly humiliated he felt, until a sudden, intense wave of raw fury and anxiety rushed straight to his brain...
Masahiko, who was happily enjoying the spectacle, suddenly wore a highly eccentric expression. His figure flickered in a fraction of a second, inserting himself directly in front of Naruto.
Looking down at the pitch-black flames burning against his chest, Masahiko casually flicked his hand to toss them directly into his Water Style pocket space, hoping it would burn away some of the water logged inside his left brain...
Glancing over at Sasuke, who had already collapsed unconscious onto the water surface, Masahiko pursed his lips: "Is he seriously this incapable of enduring the stimulation?"
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