Naruto and Suzuran

A vast expanse of white clouds drifted slowly across the sky, like a giant umbrella covering the entire Konoha, shielding it from the scorching sun.

However, the air temperature continued to rise steadily, and when a breeze blew, it felt like a heat wave sweeping in all directions.

"I'm going to go now!"

Naruto's energetic shouts echoed across the training ground.

The scorching, flame-like aura could be felt even from twenty meters away. The thirty Shadow Clone roared in unison and charged forward like wolves and tigers.

In an instant.

"Bang! Bang! Bang!"

White Chakra smoke filled the training ground.

"Oh! What is this...?"

Tong's eyes widened suddenly, her mouth gaped open, and she stared intently at the situation on the field.

"Such fast hand speed! But what's that white thing? Shuriken?"

His dark eyes suddenly turned crimson, and a lone black Tomoe swirled within them. Sasuke frowned; in that brief moment, he hadn't seen everything clearly.

"Hey, Naruto's clone got destroyed?"

"You can't be kidding, right? Naruto always bullies people with sheer numbers... and yet his Shadow Clone were blown up in a single encounter..."

The Chakra smoke dissipated quickly. A few seconds later, only five of Naruto's figures remained on the field, with his main body mixed in. At this moment, the five identical faces displayed the same astonished expression as they stared at Suzuran in front of them, as blank as clay puppets.

Suzuran lowered her waist slightly, placed her hands at her sides, and rushed out with astonishing speed, covering a distance of about ten meters in an instant, appearing in front of Naruto like a gust of wind.

"Go!"

Her cherry lips parted, uttering a voice as cold as a knife. Suzuran's face was icy cold, devoid of any warmth, only displaying an extreme level of fighting spirit.

She was completely different from usual, Naruto thought subconsciously as he looked at Suzuran's face.

Suzuran didn't care what Naruto was thinking; she just continued her attack. Her hands swung high like a dragon's tail, and sheets of snow-white paper flew out from her sleeves. The neatly cut white paper was as hard as steel, tearing through the air with a sharp whistling sound, aiming straight for Naruto's stomach.

"How fierce!"

Naruto only managed to say this one sentence.

Then one of the Shadow Clone grabbed the main body by the collar and pulled it backward with great force, while the other clones leaped up without hesitation, overlapping in front of the main body to block the flying white paper.

"Bang! Bang! Bang!"

The Shadow Clone were all destroyed.

However, Naruto himself barely managed to avoid all the blank sheets, only getting a shallow cut on his left cheek.

"You dodged it? That's a quick reaction!"

In the grove, Rasa's relaxed expression vanished as he intently watched the fight. This swift exchange alone was enough for him to make a judgment.

Both of them are qualified to become Genin, and they're the kind of people who can be promoted to Chunin after completing a couple of missions and gaining some experience. It's not impossible for them to even Jonin sooner or later.

Geniuses are just that unreasonable beings.

"Such talent... in my Sand Village, Stone Ninja, or Cloud Ninja Village, he would have Jonin long ago... Such exceptional talent isn't being nurtured, but instead left to laze around in the Ninja Academy... Konoha, how carefree! It's infuriating!!"

A hint of envy flashed deep in Rasa's eyes.

"Rasa, that young referee seems even more formidable. According to intelligence, he's the only son of the Konoha Village's Calamity."

Scorpion whispered in Rasa's ear.

Rasa's eyes lit up instantly upon hearing this, and he looked at Shuyuan, who was standing with her arms crossed at the edge of the field. However, that light quickly dimmed again.

What good would it do to know such information? Konoha and Sunagakure are allies now, not mortal enemies. Even if they have deep-seated hatred for each other, they dare not and cannot do anything for the sake of the village's interests. Provoking Konoha would not benefit Sunagakure at all.

"Scorpion, I know your parents were killed by a natural disaster, but... in Konoha, you are not allowed to act recklessly."

Rasa turned around, his sharp, eagle-like eyes fixed on Scorpion.

The scorpion lowered its head and remained silent, as still as a stone.

The battle on the field continues.

Naruto was pulled and thrown out, lying on his back on the ground. He didn't bother to get up, just stared at the sky, put his hands together, and formed the Ren seal.

"Shadow Clone Technique"

The Shadow Clone surged up like a tidal wave, colliding with the pursuing Suzuran. In the blink of an eye, more plumes of Chakra smoke rose up.

The battle has reached a stalemate.

Although Suzuran initially caught Naruto off guard and eliminated his Shadow Clone, she ultimately failed to take down Naruto himself, giving him a chance to counterattack.

Naruto didn't waste this opportunity. Shadow Clone clones appeared one after another, constantly adapting to Suzuran's attack methods. Gradually, the efficiency of destroying the Shadow Clone decreased.

"Paper spear."

The white paper that was flying wildly in mid-air flew back to Suzuran's hand and quickly gathered together, forming a snow-white spear that was two meters long in the blink of an eye.

Manipulating the white paper to fly around consumes a lot of Chakra, so in order to conserve Chakra, a different tactic has to be used.

"Again!"

With the words uttered in the simplest of all, Suzuran wielded the light yet exceptionally sturdy paper spear in one hand, instantly repelling the Shadow Clone that had approached her. One of them, unable to retreat in time, was pierced through the heart by the spear and vanished into smoke.

The two-meter-long spear, being made of paper, was very light, allowing even a girl like Suzuran to wield it with ease. Instantly, a circular safety zone with a diameter of two meters was formed around her as the central point.

Naruto's Shadow Clone, merely wielding Kunai, could hardly penetrate this safe circle.

"Bang!"

Another Shadow Clone attempting to use its speed to rush in was knocked down.

"I completely misjudged you! I didn't expect you to be so amazing, Suzuran."

The Shadow Clone retreated slightly, creating distance between themselves and spreading out around.

"······"

Suzuran didn't reply. Her pale orange eyes darted around, revealing a calmness as deep as a winter lake. She held her snow-white spear horizontally in front of her, carefully observing each of her Shadow Clone.

"Is this... really just a battle between students?"

Someone in the Sand Village delegation exclaimed in surprise.

"I never thought that flowers grown in a greenhouse could produce any outstanding talents, but this is truly remarkable."

"That's right! If all the students in this class were... no, no... half... no, even just a third of them were at a similar level, then Konoha would truly be a place we can't afford to mess with."

The dean of studies and teachers of the Ninja Academy next door proudly stood tall.

Although Naruto, that idiot, caused them no shortage of trouble on a daily basis, it's true what they say: the more mischievous a child is, the more successful they are in the future! (To be continued)