After-Dinner Exercise

Byakugan!

Sharingan! The veins at Hyuga Yukina's temples bulged as her Byakugan appeared. At the same time, Uchiha Hirohiko's eyes flashed scarlet as he activated his Sharingan.

"How is it?" Chiba asked from behind them.

"The chakra is distributed perfectly evenly. I can't tell which is a Shadow Clone and which is the original," Hyuga Yukina said.

Uchiha Hirohiko nodded as well. His Sharingan could not discern the difference.

Chiba nodded. This was all within his expectations. He began removing his weights, carefully placing them on the ground to avoid making any sound.

The three of them were hiding in a dense thicket. Almost the instant Kushina announced the start of the after-dinner exercise, all three had leaped into the nearby bushes. They kept moving through the undergrowth before finally stopping here to conceal themselves.

In the clearing beyond the bushes, every three Kushinas stood back-to-back, forming ten groups in total. Each group was spaced one to five meters apart in a defensive formation, watching all directions. If they appeared and attacked from any angle, they would be struck by the nearest Kushina and another from a neighboring group.

Kushina's original body was among them.

This exercise, this game, would end only when they touched Kushina's original body.

"Hirohiko, Yukina, we've eaten and rested. This is when our fighting strength is at its peak. If we drag this out, it'll be very unfavorable for us. Kushina... Teacher has far more chakra than we do. Even Elite Jonin can't compare to her. No! Not even the Third Hokage can compare. We can't afford a battle of attrition. We need to end this quickly," Chiba said, patting both of them on the shoulders.

The two turned back to look at Chiba and nodded.

Uchiha Hirohiko said, "I can sense an immense vitality in Teacher's chakra."

Hyuga Yukina nodded as well, agreeing with him.

Of course. The vitality of the Uzumaki Clan's chakra could even restrain the Nine-Tails.

Chiba thought to himself, quietly astonished as well.

There had not been much description of Kushina Uzumaki in the original work. She had only appeared briefly in the memories of the battle against the Nine-Tails. But at the time, childbirth had weakened her seal, allowing the Nine-Tails to break free, and she had entered a fatally weakened state. She had barely shown any of her strength at all.

But now, it seemed Kushina Uzumaki's combat power was formidable. An ordinary Jonin would be completely unable to contend with her! "Do you have a battle plan?" Hyuga Yukina asked.

Chiba shook his head. "Not yet. But this should be an after-dinner exercise meant to train concealment, surprise attacks, and distinguishing Shadow Clones from the original body."

Hearing Chiba's words, Hyuga Yukina and Uchiha Hirohiko both looked at him. His gaze was clear, as though he had seen through everything.

Then they looked again at Kushina's defensive formation in the clearing and suddenly understood.

That's right, this was training in surprise attacks and distinguishing clones from the original body! Chiba had realized it immediately...

Uchiha Hirohiko and Hyuga Yukina exchanged a glance. A sense of reassurance rose within them, and they nodded. Just as Hyuga Yukina was about to speak, Chiba suddenly said, "Watch behind us!"

At the same time, Chiba spun and threw a punch. Before his fist shot out, the Opening Gate and the Gate of Healing within him opened rapidly. The instant he punched, his muscles unleashed one hundred percent of their strength, colliding with a fist crashing down at him from above.

Bang!

With a dull impact, the two fists collided evenly.

Uchiha Hirohiko and Hyuga Yukina focused their eyes and saw Kushina Uzumaki suspended in midair, launching a sneak attack.

Chiba had blocked the punch. The other two were geniuses after all, and their reactions were swift. Each grabbed two Shuriken and flung them out in an instant.

Kushina Uzumaki was still surprised by the force in Chiba's hand. Though she reacted as the four Shuriken came flying toward her, it was already too late to dodge. The Shuriken struck her, and with a poof, she turned into a cloud of white smoke that slowly dispersed.

"Shadow Clone."

This Taki Chiba was highly alert and perceptive, and he actually had such tremendous strength. Hirohiko and Yukina were impressive too. In that sudden situation, they had reacted almost instantly and made the right decision to attack. Even the angles of their Shuriken had been tricky, and their Shurikenjutsu was quite good! Based on the information sent back by the defeated Shadow Clone, Kushina Uzumaki's original body smiled.

They should have scattered by now!

Kushina Uzumaki judged. She believed her three genius students would instinctively realize they had been exposed the moment the Shadow Clone discovered them. They absolutely could not remain where they were.

At that moment, one of her Shadow Clones stepped out from a group of three and walked to where the three had been hiding. It pushed aside the bushes and began searching.

Now, she needed to let them know they had made the right choice.

Kushina Uzumaki thought so.

But she had not expected that, just as her Shadow Clone searched, it would be blown apart by a powerful kick. Chiba shot out of the bushes and charged straight toward the group where that Shadow Clone had been. He was incredibly fast. In the blink of an eye, he smashed another Shadow Clone apart with a punch. Another Shadow Clone in that group reacted and blocked Chiba's second flying kick.

At the same time, Shadow Clones from another group rushed over to support them. One kick sent Chiba flying back into the bushes. The two Shadow Clones exchanged a slight nod before darting into the thicket.

Chiba hadn't left?

Kushina Uzumaki was slightly surprised.

As she considered this, Chiba sprang out of the bushes again, with the two Shadow Clones close behind him. But he ignored them and ran directly toward the Shadow Clones of other groups. Chiba was so fast that the two Shadow Clones could not catch him for the moment.

Was this the speed a seven-year-old child could achieve?

Kushina Uzumaki's slight surprise turned to astonishment when she saw Chiba's speed.

By the time she recovered from her surprise, three groups of Shadow Clones—a total of nine Shadow Clones—were trailing behind Chiba. Along the way, he had destroyed one Shadow Clone and injured another, rendering it unable to fight.

He's quite capable!

After her astonishment, Kushina Uzumaki could not help but feel impressed.

But... he's too reckless! Chiba was now surrounded by nine Shadow Clones. There was no way forward or back, and Shadow Clones stood to both his left and right. He had been forced into a dead end.

Where were the other two little ones?

Kushina Uzumaki shifted some of her attention elsewhere and looked around. There were still six groups of Shadow Clones. The two Shadow Clones that had been chasing Chiba had already moved to fill out the group that had lost one Shadow Clone and had another injured. That group stood directly in front of Kushina Uzumaki's position, in the center of the clearing.

Just then, a flash of fire suddenly lit up within a thicket, and a huge fireball burst out.

Fire Release: Great Fireball Technique!

And from the bushes that had launched the fireball, a distorted strike suddenly shot forth.

The fireball and the distorted strike flew toward two separate groups of Shadow Clones.

Uchiha Hirohiko and Hyuga Yukina.

Had joined the battle!