Starts In Konoha: Unlocking Shadow Clone

Whoosh!

Bai used the Body Replacement Technique to free himself from the steel wires.

Once again, senbon shot toward Sasuke, who effortlessly blocked them.

Realizing this tactic was ineffective, Haku stepped back and quickly formed hand seals.

"It seems it's time to get serious."

"Secret Technique: Ice Release Barrier – Demonic Mirroring Ice Crystals!"

As the words left Haku's mouth, a mirror made of ice materialized out of thin air around Sasuke.

Sasuke's pupils shrank slightly and his expression gradually became solemn.

Kekkei Genkai Techniques demanded respect.

Without hesitation, he leapt backward, attempting to retreat. But before he could go far, an ice mirror appeared right behind him.

And before he could react, multiple human-sized ice mirrors began to form in rapid succession, completely encircling him. They stacked three layers high, with even more mirrors hovering above, sealing off any chance of escape from above.

From Naruto's perspective, it looked like Sasuke was now trapped inside an icy fortress.

'This is trouble for Sasuke.'

There was a hint of amusement in Naruto's eyes.

Little skirmishes wouldn't stimulate Sasuke's potential or improve his combat prowess. Only in a dire, life-threatening situation could a person's true potential be drawn out.

This principle applied to everyone, without exception.

Haku then slowly approached one of the mirrors, his body melting seamlessly into the reflective surface. He transformed from a three-dimensional form to a flat, two-dimensional figure, almost like a character from another dimension.

With Haku's entry, every mirror now reflected his image. To Sasuke, it seemed as though an army of Haku clones surrounded him from all sides.

"Hmph, mere parlor tricks."

Sasuke snorted coldly. In his opinion, this was just a simple sleight of hand.

No one can appear in all mirrors at the same time, unless they were using multiple shadow clones.

But ordinary clones only possessed a fraction of the original's strength and would be trivial to deal with.

"Fire Release: Great Fireball Technique!"

Sasuke quickly formed hand seals, releasing a torrent of fire toward one of the mirrors.

Flames roared from his mouth, and at such high temperatures, any regular mirror should have shattered instantly.

However, his flames couldn't even scratch the icy surface.

What's more, just as he unleashed the fire, numerous cuts appeared all over his body.

Before he could fully process it, pain surged through him as he found his body riddled with wounds.

"How is this possible!?"

Sasuke was in disbelief. Not only had his fire been ineffective, but he had no idea how he had been injured.

"Unfortunately for you, your flames just aren't hot enough."

Haku said calmly before flinging another senbon at Sasuke.

Sasuke brandished a kunai to deflect it, but in the next instant, he was horrified to find senbon flying toward him from all directions.

He couldn't understand how Haku was doing this.

As he frantically tried to block the incoming senbon, more injuries appeared on his body.

"This is impossible!"

Sasuke was completely stunned.

Despite deflecting all the senbon, Sasuke was still getting injured.

"Sharingan!"

At the next moment, his pitch-black pupils transformed into the crimson two-tomoe Sharingan.

The Sharingan's power of insight allowed him to analyze his opponent's movements.

This time, Sasuke took the initiative to attack, and opened his eyes wide, trying to catch every detail with the Sharingan's vision.

Whoosh!

He launched a shuriken toward a mirror and saw a blur of movement.

After carefully concentrating the power of his Sharingan, he finally saw the attack clearly.

Haku was darting out from one mirror to strike, then diving back into another, slashing at him over a hundred times within a second.

To Sasuke, it felt as though he was standing still. Even if he could see Haku's moves, he couldn't keep up, let alone counter.

'It was too fast… Could this be the secret technique of Ice Release?'

Although they are both Kekkei Genkai, Sasuke couldn't help but wonder if Haku's Ice Release surpassed his Sharingan.

For ordinary Shinobi, the Sharingan could analyze and copy moves, creating an aura of invincibility in one-on-one fights.

However, when facing a Kekkei Genkai user like Haku, the Sharingan couldn't replicate the technique. Even though Sasuke could see the attacks, he couldn't stop them, leaving him feeling helpless.

Yet, there was no fear or hesitation in Sasuke's eyes, only a fierce fighting spirit.

"Come again!"

Sasuke was unwilling to accept defeat, so he quickly formed hand seals and actually created shadow clones.

While he couldn't summon as many clones as Naruto, he created five of them.

Compared with the graduation exam, there has been a significant improvement.

With unwavering determination, Sasuke and his clones charged at different mirrors.

But both Haku and Naruto, who was watching the fight, could not help but shake their heads and sigh.

Bravery was commendable, but reckless courage without a plan only wasted Chakra.

In Naruto's words, this was the move of a foolhardy brute.

As expected, Haku moved through the mirrors again, dispatching all five of Sasuke's clones, which vanished in puffs of smoke.

"I won't give up!"

Sasuke roared, hurtling several shuriken.

However, it seemed that Sasuke was too eager for quick success, and the shurikens collided with each other and flew in all directions before they could hit the mirror.

'Why is Sasuke acting like that?'

Naruto muttered, shaking his head in frustration.

He had hoped that additional training would make Sasuke stronger, but now Sasuke's fighting looked chaotic and far from the sharp strategist Naruto remembered.

But before Naruto could finish complaining in his heart, he heard a loud 'crack' and an ice mirror suddenly shattered!

'What's going on?'

Naruto looked at Haku in confusion, only to see that Haku was also confused.

Then he looked at Sasuke again who stood amidst the shattered mirror with a smile on his face, completely different from the reckless man just now.

"How did you break through my secret technique?"

Haku's eyes were full of confusion.

"Since you don't know, then I'll just show it again." Sasuke snapped his fingers, and with another loud crack, another mirror shattered.

Naruto squinted, pushing his Sharingan to its limit. This time, he caught on. Sasuke wasn't using some mysterious technique but had pulled off a basic sleight of hand.

Through his Sharingan, Naruto saw Sasuke's shadowy figure hidden in the mist. It was now clear that Sasuke's earlier chaotic shuriken throw wasn't random but a carefully calculated move using the Uchiha Clan's expert Shurikenjutsu to create deliberate 'mistakes'.

The apparent clumsiness had lulled Haku into letting his guard down.

While Haku was distracted, Sasuke's shuriken had actually flown outside the ice mirrors, bypassing the technique that only fortified the mirrors from the inside. Sasuke, who had positioned himself outside, could now destroy them easily.

As for why Sasuke is outside? This is the simplest battle strategy.

By creating shadow clones, Sasuke distracted Haku, while the smoke from the clones' disappearance obscured Haku's vision just enough. Sasuke had transformed himself into a shuriken and was tossed out by his clone amid the chaos.

This sequence of simple steps, thought up and executed within seconds, showcased Sasuke's incredible combat instincts. Even Naruto couldn't help but feel a sense of awe.

'To think you managed to trick even me, who has a bird's-eye view… Sasuke, well done...'