Hiruzen The Professor!

It was just a single high-speed slash.

As a mere genin, Naruto seemed completely unable to react. In a moment of disbelief, he was cleaved in two by Darui, whose expression remained cold and ruthless.

The staff in his hand was completely useless. Unable to hold it any longer, it slipped from his grasp and began to fall freely. With the death of its summoner imminent, the staff would soon disappear as the summoning technique dissipated.

Finally got him. Time to retreat... Darui thought to himself.

"Extend—Staff!"

The halved Naruto suddenly turned into a puff of smoke. The real Naruto reappeared, transforming from the falling golden staff mid-air.

He extended his staff directly into Darui's midsection. At the last split second, Darui twisted his body and barely managed to block the staff with his large blade. If the blade hadn't been made of specially forged metal, both man and weapon would've likely been shattered together. The attack didn't end there, the tip of the staff began to morph, transforming into the Monkey King. With a vicious snarl, he opened his jaws wide and lunged at Darui's neck with sharp fangs.

Seeing this, Darui forcibly unleashed his chakra in a burst so intense it shook his internal organs. Just barely, he avoided Enma's fangs. The shockwave blasted him backward. He flipped several times mid-air and landed on one knee, stabilizing himself. But at the same time, he was knocked off the giant toad Gamabunta's head, and getting back up there wouldn't be so easy anymore.

This brat… Wiping away the nosebleed caused by the staff's shockwave, he looked up and stared.

Standing atop the giant toad's head, the blond kid rested the staff on his shoulder, both hands draped casually over it, his silhouette glowing under the backlight. But it wasn't over yet. Naruto's attack continued.

Just as Darui found his footing, dozens of shadow clones rushed in from all directions, each holding a spinning blue Rasengan in their palm.

Darui was forced to once again rapidly channel lightning chakra to dodge. The clones' Rasengans tore circular craters into the ground where they hit. Then, even more clones surged forward, dragging massive chakra spheres to overwhelm him.

What a ridiculous number of clones… I'm actually being suppressed by him.

At this moment, he was on the defensive, forced to constantly evade and destroy shadow clones. A direct hit would probably leave him half-dead, even with his abilities.

That one on the toad's head... might not even be the real one.

Beams of light shot out, blasting all surrounding clones. At the same time, he awkwardly dodged a Rasengan from above.

To be this strong at his age… A-sama was right.

Though he had previously doubted the Fourth Raikage's judgment, he finally understood how wise A had been. If this kid were allowed to grow up, he'd definitely become a serious threat.

---

Atop Gamabunta's head, Naruto grinned. "Pretty good tactics, right, Enma-jiji?"

The staff popped out an eye and praised Naruto: "Very clever strategy."

Gamabunta snorted, reluctantly acknowledging Naruto's strength.

Off in the distance, atop the slug Katsuyu, Shizune let out a nervous breath and patted her chest in relief.

Then, a sudden flash of lightning appeared midair. It wasn't teleportation, just raw, overwhelming speed.

Time itself seemed to freeze.

From a short distance away, Shizune saw the Raikage appear above Naruto and opened her mouth to shout a warning.

Gamabunta tried to leap back, and the old monkey roared at Naruto to defend himself. One end of the staff morphed back into monkey form and lunged at the Raikage, fangs bared, but it was too late.

With Lightning Release Chakra Mode fully activated, A's crushing blow fell like a meteor.

CRACK!

A sickening crunch of bone echoed, Naruto's spine was shattered under the devastating strike, his entire body bending into an unnatural arc.

He had been hit. And this one didn't seem to be a clone. Even in death, his eyes still carried a trace of confidence.

If A's original goal had been to capture the Nine-Tails' jinchūriki and bring him back to Kumo, then seeing such a young child suppressing Darui left him with no choice but to act ruthlessly and strike to kill.

If blame must be placed, then blame this chaotic world you were born into.

Grabbing Naruto's corpse, he gave a cold snort. He twisted aside to avoid the attack from Enma, now fully reverted to his feral monkey form, dodged the blade from Gamabunta, leapt backward to evade the acid spray from Katsuyu, and prepared to issue the retreat command.

A barrage of laser-like beams blocked any attempts at pursuit. Darui arrived at A's side, his expression complex as he glanced at Naruto's corpse and asked, "Mission accomplished?"

Just as A was about to nod, poof.

Naruto's corpse vanished in a puff of smoke.

Rasengan! Rasengan! Rasengan!

More clones dropped from the sky, bombarding A and Darui with the Rasengan.

The real Naruto crawled out of Gamabunta's mouth and ran up to his head. With arms crossed, he wore a smug grin, clearly proud of his own brilliance, and laughed, "Gotcha again! That clone took a whole lot of chakra to make, you know!"

The durability and resilience of shadow clones, how much damage they could take before disappearing, was closely tied to the user's skill. Most ninja's shadow clones were as fragile as glass, but for elite ninjas like the Third Hokage, their clones could even take fatal wounds and still function. His clones could even use the Dead Demon Consuming Seal while coughing up blood.

And Naruto, inherently gifted with the Shadow Clone Technique, was taught by both Jiraiya and the Third Hokage. At this point, his mastery of it was near perfection.

Enma, still in monkey form, praised Naruto again. "You truly are gifted."

Reverting into a staff, he flew back into Naruto's hand, and Naruto spun it skillfully like a baton. At this moment, he looked almost like an endlessly respawning NPC.

A sudden blast of lightning exploded, instantly wiping out the incoming shadow clones. A's expression turned completely grim. He had made the same mistake as Darui.

That this blond brat could recklessly spam such a dangerous technique like Multiple Shadow Clone Technique as if chakra cost nothing, it was utterly absurd.

This scene made him feel like he'd gone back in time, back to the day he once faced off against Minato. Inwardly, he admitted, He really is that guy's kid.

"If we can't tell which one's real… then just wipe them all out! Start with that damn toad!"

The lightning chakra flared like wildfire. In a flash, he adjusted his strategy.

Target: the giant toad.

The Kumo ninjas immediately changed formation. Darui and the others coordinated with A, launching long-range ninjutsu attacks at Gamabunta. Katsuyu's assistance was cut off, her acid barriers evaporated by the intense lightning.

Under the leadership of their Raikage, the Kumo ninjas' morale and ferocity were completely different.

Just as ordinary ninjas are helpless against the summons like Gamabunta, the summons themselves struggle against true monsters like the Raikage. In Kage-level battles, they often could only play a supporting role.

If Jiraiya were standing atop Gamabunta, the toad wouldn't fear A. But right now, it was Naruto.

While Naruto had previously surprised A with his vast chakra reserves, expert Transformation Technique, and foolhardy resilience to the backlash of overusing clones, that was trickery.

In direct combat, he still had no real chance against the Raikage.

A caught the staff swung at him, not even knowing if it was from the real Naruto or another clone, and slammed the screaming Naruto downward like a hammer, smashing him against Gamabunta's head.

Gamabunta took the full force of the blow. The massive toad staggered from the impact, his solid footing shaken.

While delivering this heavy blow to the toad, A's heart was growing uneasy. Why hadn't the reinforcements arrived yet? What was going on behind them?

---

Yamato sheathed his sword. The ground was littered with Kumo ninja corpses.

"Kakashi-senpai, that was the last group."

The ANBU members were finishing the final cleanup, collecting their fallen comrades.

Kakashi popped a soldier pill into his mouth and replied wearily:

"Then let's move on to the final step of the plan, kill the Raikage."