The examiner raised his hand, voice echoing across the arena.
"The battle begins!"
Before the final syllable faded, Kushina Uzumaki's hands blurred through a rapid sequence of signs. A heartbeat later—
Poof! Poof! Poof!
A colossal cloud of chakra smoke erupted around her, expanding outward like a blooming red flower.
When the smoke dissipated, nearly a hundred identical Kushinas stood shoulder-to-shoulder, completely encircling her opponent, Baki.
A collective gasp rippled through the spectators.
"She created that many clones at once?"
"That's impossible… even most Jonin can't pull that off!"
Even the quick-witted Jonin in the stands exchanged startled glances. Shadow Clone Jutsu might be a B-rank technique known throughout the Five Great Nations, but creating so many at once was far from normal.
The reason was simple:
Shadow Clones divide the user's chakra evenly.
A typical Jonin might manage six or seven without crippling themselves. Anything more risked draining their chakra reserves to dangerous levels. And the A-rank Multiple Shadow Clone Technique—capable of producing dozens or hundreds at once—was banned for a reason. It required chakra capacity bordering on monstrous.
Which made Kushina's display… overwhelming.
Baki felt his throat tighten.
Is this… even human chakra capacity?
Regardless of what he thought, he couldn't just give up before fighting. The Kushinas were already charging in from every direction, a crimson tide of fists and fury closing in.
He gritted his teeth, clapped his hands into a seal, and inhaled sharply.
"Wind Release: Great Breakthrough!"
A powerful blast of wind roared from his mouth like a hurricane unleashed. More than half of Kushina's clones vanished instantly, bursting into white smoke.
That was the weakness of Shadow Clones—half a solid hit, and they were gone.
But the remaining clones didn't falter. They surged forward again, determined and relentless.
"Don't underestimate us!" dozens of Kushinas shouted in unison.
Baki pushed off the ground, leaping backwards to avoid being overwhelmed. Fighting her in close quarters was out of the question. Kushina's talent in Taijutsu was well-known—she was a ferocious whirlwind even without clones.
While midair, he formed more hand seals.
Wind blades whipped outward, slicing through charging clones like invisible knives.
Kushina's army dwindled further.
But Baki didn't notice the real danger until too late.
Just as he landed—
A shadow flickered behind him.
He felt chakra condense—dense, swirling, deadly.
Rasengan.
Kushina's real body had slipped through the chaos of clones like a fox through tall grass.
This ambush hadn't been improvised; she had planned this from the very beginning.
Using scores of clones to overwhelm attention… while she prepared the finishing strike.
Hiruzen Sarutobi watched from the stands, his expression sharpening.
"So Kushina knows that technique as well… Did Seisui teach her?"
The Third Hokage's curiosity deepened. Seisui's influence on his comrades was becoming increasingly impossible to ignore.
Meanwhile, Baki's blood ran cold.
This is bad!
He tried to twist, to jump, to dodge—anything.
But he had no time left.
CRACK—!
The Rasengan slammed into his torso, crushing the breath from his lungs. His body rocketed backward, skidding across the arena floor. Blood splattered from his lips before he lost consciousness.
The examiner immediately raised his hand.
"The winner—Uzumaki Kushina!"
Applause thundered through the stadium.
In the stands, Seisui's Shadow Clone let out a quiet, helpless sigh.
Yup… it's all coming back. This battle style is unmistakably Naruto-esque.
Far across the arena, Rasa—future Fourth Kazekage—watched the match with a stormy expression. Baki was one of his village's promising talents, yet he had been demolished before even showing half of his strength.
Regret wouldn't change the result.
---
Meanwhile, in the emergency medical room, Ryuto and Haruko rushed inside. They entered just as Seisui's original body completed Baki's treatment.
[Treatment complete: Baki. Reward: One Blue Orb.]
[Congratulations! You have obtained a Kunai.]
"He's fine," Seisui said. "Just a few days of rest and he'll be fully recovered."
"Thank you for treating him," Ryuto said with a bow.
---
Back in the arena, the fourth match was already beginning.
Uchiha Nai vs. Jin.
The audience buzzed with excitement.
"It's finally an Uchiha match."
"I've been waiting to see this."
"The Uchiha Clan never disappoints."
The Uchiha name carried tremendous weight. Daimyo, nobles, and wealthy merchants visited Konoha largely to witness their famed fire techniques and Sharingan prowess.
Jin felt the pressure instantly. With a ninja's heightened senses, he could clearly hear the crowd's chatter, and it irritated him deeply.
So what if he's from the Uchiha? That doesn't mean I'll automatically lose!
The examiner signaled the start.
And immediately—before Jin could even form his first seal—a massive fireball roared toward him.
Fire Release: Great Fireball Technique.
The classic Uchiha opener, executed with blindingly fast hand seals.
Jin dodged desperately, feeling the heat lick his skin.
But before he could even breathe—
Whish! Whish! Whish!
Shuriken sliced toward him from impossible angles, curving mid-air as if guided by invisible strings.
The famed Uchiha Shurikenjutsu—impeccable aim, immaculate timing, and uncanny trajectory control.
Jin's heart pounded. He formed hand signs on instinct.
"Wind Release: Wind Scroll!"
A protective whirlwind erupted, knocking away every shuriken.
He barely had a second to prepare his next Ninjutsu—
when his vision twisted strangely.
His limbs froze.
His breath caught.
He couldn't move.
Genjutsu!
The moment he realized it, defeat was inevitable.
Uchiha Nai stepped forward calmly, pressing a kunai to his immobilized throat.
The examiner nodded.
"Uchiha Nai wins!"
Jin's Genjutsu broke a moment later, and he stood there trembling in frustration.
He hadn't been able to land a single hit.
---
"The fifth match: Hirakawa Seisui versus Namikaze Minato."
Seisui's Shadow Clone walked down from the stands. Minato descended from the opposite side, wearing his usual soft, determined expression.
"Seisui-nii," Minato said with a respectful bow, "don't hold back. I want to see how big the gap between us really is."
He wasn't confident he could win.
But he had already shown enough in earlier matches to earn Chunin promotion, so even a crushing defeat wouldn't affect his future.
Seisui smiled gently and was just about to reply—
—when everything changed.
A massive shadow loomed over the sky.
Seisui's eyes sharpened.
A monstrous figure had appeared at the edge of his vision—towering, black, and grotesque. Its body was massive, more beast-like than humanoid. Huge white fangs protruded from its head, and its limbs were thick, powerful, and twisted.
The most striking feature, though, was the pair of enormous black wings unfurled behind its skull-like head.
As the wings flapped, the creature hurtled toward Konoha, cutting through the clouds with terrifying speed.
Recognition struck Seisui instantly.
Satori.
A creature that appeared only in the movie Naruto Shippuden: Blood Prison—a weapon crafted in ancient times, during the era of the Sage of Six Paths. Normally sealed inside the Box of Paradise, its presence here meant only one thing:
Kusagakure was behind this.
"What is that!?"
A ninja in the stands shouted in panic. Dozens turned toward the sky, eyes widening.
Even Hiruzen Sarutobi rose from his seat, face darkening.
The chakra radiating from the monster was malevolent, oppressive, and unmistakably dangerous.
Satori screeched—a deep, resonant, unnatural cry that vibrated like metal scraping stone.
Its wings beat once, twice—
—then it dove.
Its gigantic body tore through the rooflines of Konoha like a meteor.
Buildings collapsed beneath its weight. Dust exploded outward. Screams filled the air.
Satori was nearly immune to physical attacks.
Its body itself was a living weapon.
Within seconds, parts of Konoha were already reduced to rubble.
And this was only the beginning.
Advance Chapters avilable on patreon (Obito_uchiha)