Boom.
With a loud crash, the large tree slammed into the incoming wave and was instantly snapped and shattered.
But at least it blocked it for a moment, giving Sasuke and Temari a chance to escape.
Swish, swish.
The three of them instantly hid separately in the forest.
They did not dare show themselves easily.
As for Sousuke, who stood in place, when he saw that they had all disappeared, he did not care in the slightest.
He did not even activate any sensory ninjutsu.
"Interesting!"
After waiting for a moment and still not seeing any attack, Sousuke smiled and said,
"Looks like you've all grown quite well. At the very least, your basic ninja common sense is decent!"
Just as Sousuke's words fell.
Swish, swish, swish.
From the forest behind him, one Naruto after another charged out directly.
"Sousuke, you bastard, take this!"
Naruto's figures filled the sky as they charged toward Sousuke, their momentum like a rainbow, extremely powerful.
Turning around, Sousuke raised his head and looked at Naruto's shadow clones rushing toward him, his expression calm.
"Using shadow clones to test me?"
Looking at the clones filling the sky, Sousuke said,
"Not a bad idea, Naruto… but this is only wasting your strength!"
Crackle, crackle.
As he spoke lightning Release chakra flowed around Sousuke's body, becoming stronger and stronger.
"Lightning Release: Chidori Current!"
Rumble.
In the next instant, Sousuke's body seemed to turn into the source of lightning. Blue lightning filled the sky and directly erupted from his body.
Bang, bang, bang.
While still in midair, all of Naruto's shadow clones were struck by the lightning and turned into clouds of white smoke.
The attack had no effect at all.
After completing the attack, the terrifying lightning returned into Sousuke's body.
In the forest the four people who had regrouped were all quite shocked.
Of course compared to Sasuke, who was somewhat used to it, Naruto, Sakura, and Temari, who were seeing this move for the first time, all had disbelief on their faces.
"What terrifying Lightning Release!"
Temari said softly,
"A Lightning Release ninjutsu of this level could completely be called a forbidden technique, right?"
Naruto's face was full of shock.
"So strong… Sousuke really became this powerful. I never expected it!"
Hearing the two of them sigh in amazement sasuke's face remained serious.
"Don't be careless! Sousuke is far more than this… That Lightning Release: Chidori Current just now is already one of the ninjutsu he has mostly stopped using! His strength is terrifying. I understand that better than all of you."
Hearing Sasuke's words, everyone's gazes fell on him, their expressions serious.
"Listen carefully!"
Looking at the three who gathered around him, Sasuke said,
"In the next part of the battle, Naruto, use your shadow clones to harass him. I'll coordinate my Fire Release with Temari's Wind Release to attack. Sakura, your monstrous strength should be able to pressure Sousuke, so you need to look for chances to make him lose his rhythm!"
At this point, Sasuke's face turned solemn.
"Our only goal in this fight is to force Sousuke to draw his blade, or make him use Wood Release… If we can do that, it counts as our victory."
This was the battle objective they had already decided on earlier.
So the other three had no objections.
"Then next, it's time for us to take the initiative!"
After setting the basic battle plan, Sasuke said,
"Continuing to hide is useless! Sousuke's sensory ninjutsu is comparable to the Byakugan. The reason he hasn't come looking for us yet is probably because he hasn't used sensory ninjutsu. He's going easy on us!"
Everyone nodded.
Swish, swish, swish.
The four of them quickly left their original position.
They swiftly surrounded Sousuke, who was still standing where he had been.
Soon the battle began once again.
Night.
The moon was bright, the stars were sparse, and the night sky stretched endlessly.
In Konoha's Training Ground Seven it was still that same open space.
Only now, it could already be described as completely unrecognizable.
There was no longer a single good patch of ground to be seen.
Sousuke, his clothes still neat and tidy, stood with his arms folded on the only remaining intact patch of grass.
His gaze remained calm as he looked at Team Seven and Temari opposite him.
They were panting heavily.
Drenched in sweat.
Their bodies were covered in all kinds of dust.
Although they were not injured, comparing the traces on the four of them with the traces on Sousuke's body made it clear that in this battle, which had lasted from noon until now, the four of them had not gained even the slightest advantage.
"It's already very late today!"
Glancing at the night sky, Sousuke said calmly,
"The test ends here…"
At this point, Sousuke's face was expressionless, his gaze calm as he looked at Team Seven and Temari.
Gulp.
He swallowed.
Naruto's face carried a trace of expectation.
Only after truly fighting did he understand just how enormous the gap was when facing someone like Sousuke.
The battle objective of the four of them had changed again and again.
At first, it had been to force Sousuke to use his swordsmanship or Wood Release. But by the end, it had become simply passing the test and gaining his recognition.
But looking at the difference between both sides now, Naruto felt that the chance of passing the test and gaining Sousuke's recognition was probably extremely slim.
It was not only Naruto who thought this.
Sasuke and the other two felt the same.
Because their performance when facing Sousuke was truly hard to describe.
But right at this moment.
Clap, clap, clap.
The sound of clear applause entered the ears of the four of them.
Sousuke smiled and said,
"Your growth is all very good! Sasuke, I won't say much about you. Your speed of improvement this past year has still been very fast! Naruto, your foundation has finally become completely solid! Sakura is the same."
Finally, Sousuke's gaze landed on Temari.
"Temari… you've become stronger! As expected of Sunagakure's elite jonin!"
Sousuke praised each of them.
He did not summarize the flaws in their battle or anything like that.
After all, they were all mature ninja now. They would summarize those things themselves.
Sousuke's words of recognition made the tense hearts of Sasuke and the other three immediately settle down, and smiles appeared on their faces.
Regarding this, Sousuke did not say anything more. Instead, his gaze shifted to the side.
Amid the sound of breaking wind, three figures appeared there directly.
They were none other than Tsunade, Jiraiya, and Kakashi, who had watched the entire show.
Seeing Tsunade and the others appear, Sousuke merely smiled and nodded, then said nothing more.
"The test is over!"
Glancing at the four people in their miserable states, Tsunade said,
"That's enough for today… All of you go back and rest properly! Tomorrow, everyone from the original Team Seven, come to my office!"
Hearing Tsunade's words, Naruto, Sasuke, and Sakura all nodded.
As for Sousuke, he looked at the three of them.
He roughly knew that tomorrow, Team Seven, or rather Kakashi's team, would be restarted.
But that did not have much to do with Sousuke.
After all, he now belonged to a special small team of his own.
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