Wok Shadow Ninja

Chapter 80: Beating the Seventh Hokage

After thinking for five minutes, Naruto realized that the only way he could practice water-walking was by using the Shadow Clone Technique. Normally, this wouldn't be a problem, but seeing Ino's "Water Severing Wave" smash through the Earth-Style Wall, creating craters and sending torrents of water flying everywhere, along with the powerful ninjutsu like "Exploding Water Colliding Wave" and "Water Dragon Bullet" he had witnessed during the bandit extermination mission, he felt a mix of emotions. His classmates had already reached such a level, but what about him?

Naruto was disheartened. He dispelled his shadow clones and his gaze fell on Sasuke, who was clenching his fists, his face filled with frustration. In this moment, Naruto felt that he understood Sasuke better. Their hearts were connected.

He felt he had to do something for Sasuke and for himself.

"I challenge you!" Naruto suddenly jumped in front of Ino, his left hand on his hip and his right hand pointing at her. "Straight talk and following through that's my ninja way! I want to know exactly where the gap between us lies!"

Naruto was dead serious. Sakura wanted to step in and stop him, but Sasuke held her back.

Ino was baffled by Naruto's sudden declaration.

I'm just practicing my Water Severing Wave. What's it to you? 

Shikamaru, lying on a tree branch, chuckled softly. Look at this. You've been pushing me and Choji, and now you've even riled up Team 7!

He jumped down from the tree and went inside to call Choji, who was still busy eating. "Come on, let's watch Naruto get beaten up."

"Are they really going to fight?"

"Yeah."

"Alright then."

Ino and Naruto stood five meters apart, forming the "Opposing Hand Seal" as per the ninja academy rules.

"Multi Shadow Clone Technique!" Naruto immediately crossed his fingers into the "Ram" seal, unleashing his signature move.

Two hundred Narutos surrounded Ino.

In that moment, Ino understood how Mizuki must have felt in the original timeline. Seeing so many shadow clones at once was indeed overwhelming.

"Naruto, you really do have a lot of chakra..."

Ino's current chakra reserves only allowed her to use the regular Shadow Clone Technique. Using the Multi Shadow Clone Technique would be too risky for her.

She also formed the "Ram" seal, creating two shadow clones. Meanwhile, Naruto was already charging at her, yelling at the top of his lungs.

One of Ino's shadow clones quickly formed hand seals.

"Water Style: Water Wall!"

A curtain of water appeared out of nowhere, swirling around the three of them.

"I won't lose!" Naruto's endless stream of shadow clones charged headfirst into the water wall.

The force of the rotating water wall was immense. Naruto's shadow clones were disappearing one after another, turning into puffs of white smoke. Seeing no weak points in the water wall, Naruto decided to brute force his way through punching, kicking, and even headbutting the wall.

The two hundred Narutos were using a crude but effective method to rapidly wear down Ino's water wall.

"Naruto's tactics aren't bad," Asuma commented quietly.

Although Naruto's shadow clones were being destroyed at an alarming rate over fifty were wiped out in just ten seconds the water wall was undoubtedly thinning. One of Ino's shadow clones, which had been preparing to use the Water Dragon Bullet, had to stop and help the other clone reinforce the water wall. Her rhythm had been disrupted.

Kakashi chuckled dryly. Naruto didn't have any deliberate tactics he fought purely on instinct.

One shadow clone maintained the Water Wall technique, while the other created more water to reinforce the rapidly depleting wall.

Ino's main body hadn't made a move yet. She wanted to use her sensory abilities to locate Naruto's real body, but it was no use. Even Kaguya Ōtsutsuki, with her "Byakugan," couldn't find Naruto's real body. Ino, with no special eye techniques, stood no chance.

Her Water Severing Wave wasn't yet fully mastered, and its destructive power was too great. She didn't want to accidentally trigger Kurama, Minato's chakra, Kushina's chakra, Asura's chakra, or even the Sage of Six Paths to show up. That would be beyond awkward.

To deal with someone like Naruto, who tended to get carried away in the heat of battle, she needed to cool him down.

Ino resorted to her old tricks.

She took a deep breath, gathering water-natured chakra in her throat, and then exhaled sharply: "Water Style: Great Water Colliding Wave!"

It was as if a massive hole had opened above them. A huge torrent of water, like a tidal wave, appeared out of nowhere and crashed down with tremendous force onto Naruto, who had already replenished his two hundred shadow clones.

"Ah! Grab onto me!"

"I've got you!"

"Hold on!"

The two hundred Narutos looked like they were in a movie, each one holding onto the next. The lead Naruto clung tightly to a tree, while the one at the end was nearly swept into the sea. Despite the overwhelming force of the water, they held on, forming what could only be described as a "Naruto Bridge."

Dazna's house was right by the sea, so water was in no short supply. Ino glanced at the scene and formed another hand seal: "Water Style: Water Dragon Bullet!"

A water dragon rose from the sea, riding a wave over ten meters high. The wave crashed forward, uprooting trees, while the water dragon surged behind. Together, they destroyed the support points of the "Naruto Bridge," sending all the clones tumbling into the sea like dumplings in a pot.

Two minutes later, the last shadow clone disappeared, and Naruto, soaking wet, swam back to shore. The two of them stood facing each other again, forming the "Reconciliation Seal" to officially end the match.

Ino checked her status panel. Unfortunately, there was no achievement like "Beating the Seventh Hokage" popping up. She shook her head and went back to practicing her Water Severing Wave.

Naruto quickly regained his spirits. If Ino, who was so much stronger than him, was still training hard, what right did he have to slack off? Losing a fight wasn't an excuse to mope around for days.

No way!

After giving himself a pep talk, he went back to Kakashi.

The relationship between a team leader and their subordinates wasn't the traditional master-disciple dynamic. The leader wasn't obligated to teach their subordinates ninjutsu. If they liked you, they might teach you a thing or two. If they didn't, you were on your own.

Kakashi was Minato Namikaze's direct disciple, and Naruto was Minato's son. Their relationship was anything but ordinary.

Kakashi wanted to teach Naruto everything he knew, but Naruto's fundamentals were too weak. He had planned to gradually fill in the gaps during their missions, but now that Ino had stirred up Team 7, he couldn't stick to the original plan.

Saying "Your basics are too weak, I can't teach you" would be too harsh.

Sakura and Sasuke were also eagerly waiting. Kakashi was caught in a dilemma, unable to come up with an excuse, so he had no choice but to proceed.

Kakashi briefly explained the theory of chakra nature transformation. These were things they had already learned at the ninja academy. Sakura and Sasuke had already developed their respective chakra natures and understood the concepts. Only Naruto was left scratching his head, completely lost.

Regardless of whether they understood or not, Kakashi handed each of them a piece of chakra paper to retest their chakra natures.

The results were no surprise: Sakura was water, Sasuke was fire and lightning, and Naruto was wind.

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