"Slicing Sound Wave!"
Seeing Kin in trouble, Dosu immediately launched his attack at Naruto. Naruto used Instantaneous Movement, effortlessly dodging Dosu's sound-based assault and returning to his original position as if he'd never moved.
Dosu and Zaku positioned themselves protectively in front of Kin, hearts pounding with wariness. They didn't dare show any carelessness now. This Uzumaki Naruto was impossibly fast.
While maintaining their guard against Team Seven, Zaku and Dosu stole quick glances at Kin from the corners of their eyes. She sat on the stone with her legs crossed tightly, face flushed pink as if she'd drunk wine. Her eyes seemed slightly unfocused, but her brows were furrowed as though enduring some unbearable sensation.
"Uzumaki Naruto, what kind of sorcery is this?" Zaku stared at Naruto, shock coloring his voice.
"Sorcery?" Naruto hadn't expected that interpretation, but he didn't bother explaining. He looked at Zaku, then Dosu, and finally Kin. "Right now, Kin can't fight. Two against three. If you were smart, I think you should just become my friends and lend me your scroll."
"Ha! After all that talk, going in circles, it still comes down to coveting our scroll!" A smile appeared in Zaku's eyes as he switched to full mocking mode.
He paused, then his expression shifted to something more serious.
"However, even if Kin can't participate in battle now, leaving just two against three, Dosu and I aren't afraid. If we really did as you suggested and just handed over the scroll without fighting, I don't think I could ever forgive myself."
Zaku's voice grew stronger, more resolute. "Unfortunately for you, Naruto, I'm not a smart person. Even in a situation with such clear disadvantages, I still choose to fight. This is my bottom line as a ninja."
His eyes burned with determination. "So, let's battle! Don't feel any burden about the numbers being in your favor."
Those final words came out in an almost sonorous tone, ringing with conviction.
This guy really has talent as a speaker, Naruto thought with genuine appreciation. Maybe he should be called Zaku the Passionate instead. That would suit his temperament better.
Naruto nodded slowly. "Very good." He studied Zaku's serious expression, then turned to Dosu. The bandaged ninja's single visible eye showed no intention of backing down either.
"Excellent. I truly appreciate your resolve." Naruto's voice carried genuine respect. "If you'd really handed over the scroll as I suggested, you wouldn't be worthy of being my friends."
His expression warmed with approval. "But now I see you possess excellent qualities—the quality of not shrinking back when facing difficulties, of striving forward no matter the odds. Based on that alone, you're qualified to become my friends."
Naruto's battle aura flared to life. "Not much more to say. Since I admire you, I'll naturally respect your choice."
He gestured them forward. "Come on. Use all your strength. Let me see if your power can truly impress me."
At that moment, Sakura stood up.
Naruto turned, looking at her curiously. "What's wrong, Sakura?"
"Naruto-kun, that guy—" Sakura pointed directly at Zaku. "Leave him to me."
Her own fighting spirit ignited, burning in her eyes.
"Oh?" Naruto studied Sakura with genuine curiosity. In the past, Sakura would never have been this proactive. Usually she followed behind him and Sasuke, cheering them on from the sidelines. Why was she suddenly stepping forward now?
But then Naruto saw the determination blazing in her expression, the blood pumping hot through her veins, and he smiled knowingly. This kind of Sakura is truly excellent. She really deserves to be my friend.
Sasuke also looked at Sakura, and his eyes changed subtly. This sudden transformation clearly surprised him. Like Naruto, Sasuke found himself approving of this new side of her.
Feeling the recognition in both Naruto's and Sasuke's gazes, Sakura's excitement surged. Standing up was the right choice! She looked at both of them, her expression becoming extremely serious.
"Naruto-kun, Sasuke-kun—I know that whether it's you, Naruto-kun, or you, Sasuke-kun, the people standing before us would have no chance of resisting in your hands."
"Woman, what crazy nonsense are you spouting?!" Zaku and Dosu immediately protested. "We haven't even fought yet! Why would you say we have no power to resist? That's too much! You're looking down on us!"
But Sakura ignored their rebuttals entirely and continued, her voice growing stronger. "I used to think that I was the weakest member of Team Seven. Every time we went on a mission, I just followed behind Sasuke-kun and Naruto-kun. I didn't need to do anything except cheer you both on while you solved everything."
Her hands clenched into fists at her sides. "I felt that a person should be self-aware. I'm not as good as you two, so following behind was enough. As long as I didn't cause trouble, I could just be... dead weight."
She looked down briefly, then back up with renewed fire. "Just like this Chūnin Exam. I don't even need to stand up. It's like going on a pleasant trip where I might successfully pass the Chūnin Exam without lifting a finger. But..."
Sakura paused, swallowing hard. "But this version of myself—I hate her. I don't want to be dead weight anymore. I also want to be useful. Useful to myself, to Naruto-kun, to Sasuke-kun, to Team Seven."
Her voice rose with passion. "I want to stand up! I won't be satisfied standing behind you anymore. I want to fight shoulder to shoulder with you both!"
She pointed at Zaku again, her finger unwavering. "So leave him to me. Even if I fail, it's a kind of growth, a kind of experience. As long as I stand up this time, there will be a second time. One day, I can truly help you!"
After listening to Sakura's impassioned speech, Naruto gave her a thumbs up without hesitation. "Very good, Sakura! It seems you've already understood the true meaning of being teammates. Teammates fight side by side, sharing blessings and hardships together!"
"Sakura, keep going. You're excellent like this." Even Sasuke offered praise, his usually stoic expression softening slightly.
Zaku and Dosu exchanged glances. Zaku spoke up, his voice carrying grudging respect. "Haruno Sakura, what you said is genuinely moving. However, even if your words touched me, I still won't hold back when we fight."
Warmed by the compliments from Naruto and Sasuke, Sakura looked directly at Zaku with unwavering determination. "Zaku, don't hold back. Use all your strength. Because I'm not weak either."
"Very good then. Let's begin." Zaku assumed a fighting stance, raising his arms with their distinctive perforated gauntlets.
"Don't worry, Sakura!" Naruto called out encouragingly. "Sasuke and I will be watching. You've got this!"
Both Naruto and Sasuke took a step back. Dosu also retreated to Kin's side, protecting her while simultaneously clearing the battle circle.
"Here I come!"
Without hesitation, Sakura raised her hand and launched three shuriken directly at Zaku.
Zaku lifted his arm to block. Ting, ting, ting! The shuriken bounced off his protective gear with metallic rings. The gauntlets had small honeycomb-like holes covering their surface. Whenever he raised his arms, wind whistled through those holes with an eerie whooshing sound.
After her opening attack failed, Sakura gripped a kunai and charged straight in, slashing and stabbing at Zaku in rapid succession.
Ting, ting, ting!
The sound of metal striking metal echoed through the forest. Sakura's speed increased steadily. She was skilled in taijutsu—though naturally this couldn't be compared to Naruto, who had transcended normal physical combat entirely.
"Not bad! Very fast!" Zaku blocked Sakura's attacks easily, his voice carrying over the clash of weapons. "However, no matter how quick your moves are, they're still not as fast as mine. Because I fight at the speed of sound itself."
The moment those words left his mouth, Zaku swung his arm toward Sakura's neck in a wide arc.
Sakura immediately tilted her head to dodge, but in the next instant, she felt the space before her eyes twisting and rippling. Zaku's figure seemed to multiply, changing endlessly. A high-pitched whine assaulted her ears.
Her body suddenly lost all balance. Sakura crumpled, falling to one knee on the ground.
I'm still too weak! The thought flashed through her mind, sharp and bitter.
Two thin trails of blood trickled from her ears.
Zaku looked down at Sakura kneeling before him. He didn't attack immediately. He always wanted enemies to understand how they'd been defeated. So Zaku extended his arm, pointing to the protective gear covering it.
"Let me explain the trick. Even if you want to dodge, you can't avoid it. My attack is sound itself. Even if you physically evade my strikes, the sound will still reach you."
He seemed to warm to his topic, falling into lecture mode. "Do you know what sound originally is? Yes, it's vibration. You can hear sound because your eardrum captures vibrations. The human eardrum will rupture from sounds exceeding 150 decibels, and simultaneously impacting the inner ear's semicircular canals will cause your entire body to lose balance."
Zaku gestured to his gauntlets proudly. "Just like you are right now—you can't control your body properly. And you see, the protective gear on my arm functions as a megaphone. Through amplification, sound vibrations can be increased infinitely, causing a truly devastating attack."
He paused, then asked almost conversationally, "How about you admit defeat?"
Zaku explained these principles with obvious pride. They came from his most admired ninja, Lord Orochimaru—the ninja known as a scientist throughout the ninja world. As Orochimaru's subordinate, both he and Dosu had naturally learned some essence of his genius. Dosu used wind principles for attack, while Zaku had mastered sound.
Hearing Zaku talk about vibrations, Naruto couldn't help but laugh. When it came to playing with vibrations, he was the true expert here.
He called to Sasuke first. "Help Sakura get somewhere to rest."
Sasuke nodded and moved to Sakura's side, gently supporting her as he led her to the rear. Zaku didn't try to stop them. One should always leave a line in life so people could meet again in the future.
After Sasuke helped Sakura away, Naruto looked at Zaku directly. "Zaku, I don't think you've seen what real vibration looks like."
"Oh?" Interest sparked in Zaku's eyes. A smile played at his lips. "What Naruto means is that you also use vibration techniques?"
"Of course." Naruto nodded with complete confidence.
"Well then, I'll have to ask for guidance!" Having defeated Sakura, Zaku's fighting spirit burned even fiercer. His earlier fear of Naruto had evaporated. "Please, Naruto, enlighten me!"
"Don't worry. I'll show you what genuine vibration is."
Naruto took a single step forward. That step appeared slow, almost casual, but covered the distance to Zaku in the space of a single breath. Before Zaku could react, Naruto's palm was already extending toward him in what looked like the feeblest of pushes.
"This?" Seeing that seemingly powerless motion, inexplicably every hair on Zaku's body stood on end. A crushing sense of crisis engulfed him. At the critical moment, Zaku shouted desperately:
"Naruto, didn't you say you wanted to show me real vibration?! You're using your black magic again!"
Zaku absolutely did not want to end up like Kin—sitting on a rock with his legs crossed, unable to move, his body completely out of his control. That feeling was genuinely disturbing.
Regarding Zaku's panicked shout, Naruto smiled, almost breaking into laughter. "I told you I'd let you experience real vibration. It IS vibration. What black magic? That's pure nonsense."
Even as he spoke, Naruto's hand continued its inexorable approach toward Zaku.
Seeing that Naruto was determined to use his sorcery, and that the speed was too fast to dodge, Zaku crossed both arms defensively in front of him. He simultaneously launched a sound wave attack, trying to block whatever Naruto's "black magic" truly was.
The moment Naruto's palm touched Zaku's gauntlet, the protective equipment shattered like glass, disintegrating into fine powder that floated through the air like golden dust motes.
Zaku's bare arms were revealed. He frowned in confusion. What kind of ninjutsu is this?
At that moment, Naruto had precisely controlled his vibration force, shattering only the protective gear without causing any harm to Zaku himself. Not a trace of vibration force had leaked into Zaku's body.
Therefore, Zaku couldn't feel the vibration yet. He mistakenly thought this was some kind of special ninjutsu.
But in the very next second, shock flooded through Zaku's heart. As Naruto's hand touched his bare arm, he clearly felt high-frequency vibrations pass through his entire body in an instant.
Under that overwhelming sensation, Zaku lost all control of his body. More specifically, he lost control of his nerves entirely.
His consciousness remained intact, but in that first terrible second, Zaku felt profound shame. He could feel his body's sphincter muscles completely failing to respond to his commands.
Then his legs gave out entirely. He collapsed to the ground, consciousness fading.
Standing beside Kin, Dosu's face changed dramatically. Fear of Naruto filled his heart completely in that moment. What had just happened in those few seconds had utterly subverted Dosu's understanding of reality.
He'd seen Naruto's hand land lightly on Zaku's arm. Then Zaku had immediately fallen to the ground unconscious. Moreover, a light yellow liquid was spreading from Zaku's body, accompanied by an unpleasant smell of excrement.
A ninjutsu that causes incontinence just by touching someone?
Dosu stared at the golden-haired boy before him. Despite his handsome looks and seemingly harmless appearance, the techniques he knew became increasingly perverted with each revelation. Either sitting on rocks with crossed legs unable to move, or lying on the ground incontinent?
This is too terrifying!
Naruto looked down at Zaku lying on the ground and shook his head. Just now, Zaku hadn't pursued attacking Sakura after defeating her. Because of that mercy, Naruto hadn't killed him.
If he'd wanted to kill, the vibration force just now would have shattered Zaku directly into particles invisible to the naked eye.
I was aiming for a good result, but I couldn't control the nerve disruption that caused incontinence?
Thinking this, Naruto raised his eyes toward Dosu—the last Oto-nin still capable of movement.
Seeing that gaze land on him, Dosu's entire body trembled. He hurriedly pulled a scroll from inside his shirt and thrust it toward Naruto. "Naruto! The scroll! Here, it's yours!"
He threw it without waiting for a response.
Catching the scroll, Naruto didn't know whether to laugh or cry. He said to Dosu gently, "Dosu, don't be so nervous. I won't kill you. I just want to make friends and borrow your scroll."
Make friends?! Dosu wanted to cry. His team—Kin sat on a rock unable to move, Zaku lay on the ground having lost all dignity, and Naruto still wanted to make friends? He absolutely did not want to end up like his two teammates.
That would leave a lifetime of psychological trauma.
"No, no! The scroll is yours. Just... please go!" Dosu said desperately, his voice cracking.
Naruto examined the scroll in his hand. Comparing it to the one they already had—perfect! It was the opposite type. Heaven and Earth scrolls acquired. For this Chūnin Exam, they wouldn't need to steal any more scrolls.
Seeing that Dosu genuinely didn't want to become friends, Naruto couldn't force the issue. When we meet next time, I'll try again then.
With that thought, Naruto called to Sasuke. "Sasuke, bring Sakura. Let's go."
In a blur of motion, all three vanished from the clearing.
Dosu released a massive breath of relief. With Naruto present, the pressure had been absolutely crushing.
After ten minutes, Kin's furrowed brows suddenly relaxed. She uncrossed her legs and stood up, her expression complex with a hint of embarrassment coloring her cheeks.
"Kin! You can finally move!" Seeing her regain mobility, Dosu felt overwhelming joy. He was no longer fighting alone.
Kin immediately spotted Zaku lying on the ground. His mouth gaped open, drool spilling out. But that wasn't the worst of it. Her delicate nose wrinkled as she caught an unpleasant smell emanating distinctly from Zaku.
She naturally understood what that smell indicated. Turning to Dosu suspiciously, she asked, "What happened to Zaku? Where are Naruto and the others?"
"Naruto and his team left. They took our scroll." Dosu explained quickly. "As for Zaku, he was touched by Naruto and became... like this. That guy has black magic! Should we inform Orochimaru-sama?"
"It's him again?!" Kin immediately gritted her teeth. Just moments ago, she'd been caught by Naruto's sorcery, suffering through sensations she couldn't express. Though that feeling had been... well, it was only acceptable when alone. In such a public place, it had been utterly mortifying.
"No." After a moment's consideration, Kin answered Dosu's question. "With Orochimaru-sama's strength, he won't be afraid of this kind of magic."
"You're right." Dosu nodded agreement. "They don't know anything about our lord's true power. With abilities like theirs, Orochimaru-sama doesn't need to take them seriously at all."
He looked at Kin expectantly. "By the way, Kin, what exactly happened to you earlier? Can you tell me what it feels like to be hit by that black magic? I need to know in case I encounter it again."
Hearing Dosu's question, Kin's face flushed bright red instantly. She turned away sharply. "I don't know anything about that."
"You don't know? How can you not know?" Dosu looked suspicious, but since he hadn't experienced it himself, he could only doubt her excuse without proof.
Unable to get any information from Kin, Dosu could only look down at Zaku lying on the ground. "Kin, let's help Zaku up. The ground is cold. We don't want him to catch a chill."
Kin glanced at Zaku's condition, disgust flickering across her features. She shook her head firmly. "I won't help. You do it."
"Then I won't help either." In truth, Dosu didn't want to touch Zaku in his current state. But as a teammate, he'd felt obligated to suggest it. Now that Kin had refused, he had a perfect excuse. "Let's just sit and wait for Zaku to wake up on his own."
Meanwhile, Team Seven, who had left not long ago, encountered someone new.
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