Face the Transmigrator

"Naruto Uzumaki, ranked last in the Ninja Academy, with unremarkable completed missions. For someone like that to unleash such destructive chakra..."

Kabuto quietly watched Naruto, slowly taking two steps back, taking in the half-finished Rasengan in his hand.

Perhaps he's more interesting than Uchiha Sasuke, he thought, watching Naruto slowly raise his right hand. The berserk energy fluctuations immediately drew the attention of the phantoms.

Naruto looked at the phantoms before him with a provocative expression, extending his left hand and beckoning them with a finger.

"Kid, don't underestimate people!" One of the real bodies in the distance snarled, clearly sensing a fatal danger from Naruto's right hand. It gave him a premonition: if he were hit by this chakra, he'd be paralyzed on the spot.

This faint anxiety caused the phantoms to flicker for a moment.

"Now!" Sasuke, who had his eyes closed until now, suddenly opened his crimson Sharingan and stared intently ahead: "Naruto, in the bushes to the northwest!"

"Got it."

Naruto and the Shadow Clone beside him charged at the phantoms simultaneously, ignoring their attacks while thrusting the Rasengan in his right hand forward. The berserk chakra whipped up surrounding debris and dust, completely shredding some of the phantoms.

"Clink! Clink! Clink!"

Kunai flew directly at Naruto. Seeing this, Sakura deflected them all with Shuriken, continuing to clear the path for Naruto. At the same time, she began gathering chakra in her fist.

Naruto, seeing he was infinitely close to the real bodies, detonated the Rasengan in his hand.

He intended to bring the entire area into his attack range, even if the intensity would be reduced!

"Bang!!!"

The berserk Wind Release chakra instantly destroyed everything around them. The three brothers retreated repeatedly, trying to dodge the tornado-like assault. Unexpectedly, behind them, Sakura, carrying a potent fist intent, streaked through the air with a piercing sonic boom, heading straight for the three!

While Sasuke pinpointed their location and Naruto continuously pushed back the enemies, she had been condensing her fist intent and rushing to the front lines, attempting to completely block the three's escape route.

"You think you've won just like this? Let us show you our ninjutsu!"

At the last possible moment, the three began forming hand seals simultaneously, narrowly succeeding just before Sakura could touch them.

"Ninjutsu: Water Clone Jutsu!"

Instantly, the surroundings filled with various clones of the three. Sakura's heavy punch arrived as expected, accompanied by a massive roar. A thick tree trunk was smashed straight down, but the clones remained unharmed.

Meanwhile, the gale force Naruto carried was also useless against these clones. Upon closer inspection, these clones, unlike the black phantoms, looked like Shadow Clones but lacked any physical substance.

Naruto and Sakura quickly retreated. Naruto shouted to Sasuke from mid-air, "Sasuke, figure out which one is the real body!"

Water Clone Jutsu. Naruto vaguely recalled the name, but he had completely forgotten its effects. After all, these three before them had low presence in the original story, and their jutsu were even less memorable.

Sasuke activated his Sharingan again, staring intently at the clones. However, he was quickly distracted by a sharp pain in his neck, causing him to kneel in agony.

"Hmph... the real body isn't among these clones at all!" he roared towards the two. Kabuto, meanwhile, adjusted his glasses and began using Kunai to cover them, occasionally deflecting incoming Kunai from the shadows.

"Haruno Sakura, theoretically strong in the Ninja Academy, average in practical combat, with no special background, yet possesses incredible Super Strength and displays extraordinary combat awareness..."

A flicker of surprise crossed Kabuto's face. This small team actually had 'hidden dragons and crouching tigers' simultaneously. Coupled with Sasuke, their combat power far exceeded that of a Genin.

He secretly jotted down all these details, planning to report them to Orochimaru later.

Meanwhile.

Upon hearing Sasuke's words, Naruto retreated while thinking, finally getting a clue.

He smiled at Sakura, who was also retreating, "Sakura, punch the ground beneath these clones."

Hiding underground... Sakura understood instantly upon hearing this and began condensing her fist intent in her hands again.

At the same time, one of the real bodies, having heard Naruto's words, thrust its Kunai-wielding hand out from underground and lunged fiercely at Sakura.

"Careful!" Kabuto shouted, tackling Sakura to the ground. His own face was slashed by a horrifying wound from the enemy.

Unexpectedly, Sakura didn't get angry. Instead, she turned to Kabuto and gave him a kind smile, "Thank you for your trouble."

Kabuto raised an eyebrow. This woman's composure was truly formidable; she wasn't letting the enemy affect her emotions at all. He watched as Sakura delivered her heavy punch into the entire ground.

"Bang!!!"

A deafening explosion erupted all around. The ground cracked open with a massive fissure. Birds in the forest were startled and took flight in droves. Countless leaves fluttered wildly due to the violent shaking of the ground.

The three Genin, dressed in yellow uniforms, huddled together in disarray, looking at Sakura with fear in their eyes, trembling all over.

Although the commotion was huge, in reality, the entire battle was handled with ease, Kabuto mused, casually observing Team 7.

Except for Sasuke, who was sweating profusely due to the Curse Mark and was being helped up by Naruto, the other two had plenty of energy to spare. Especially Naruto, who, after tying up the three, was still chatting and laughing with Sakura.

The potential of these two seemed even greater than Sasuke's.

"It's the Book of Heaven again, what should we do with it?" Sakura asked Naruto after searching the area.

"Burn it," Naruto replied without hesitation.

Upon hearing this, Kabuto asked with a gentle smile, "Aren't you keeping it for your other teammates? I mean, the rookies who graduated with you."

"No need," Naruto turned to Kabuto and said calmly, "With their strength, passing the second round won't be difficult. If they can't even do that, they don't need to continue to the third round."

"Wouldn't you agree, Senior?"

Kabuto's smile remained unchanged. "You speak quite maturely, not like a junior at all."

After saying that, he looked at Sakura again. The latter expressionlessly took out a match, threw the Book of Heaven into the fire, and then, with a smile, knocked out the three tied-up individuals. Kabuto's eyelids twitched.

They're that decisive?

"Oh, right," Naruto asked casually while packing up, "Have you seen anyone from Otogakure on the road, senpai?"

"Huh? I'd rather not run into them," Kabuto said with a wry smile, waving his hand. "Their abilities are quite tricky. If I encountered them, I doubt I'd even pass the second round." His tone was completely sincere, showing no hint of deception.

"Kabuto, why are you so late? I've been waiting for you."

As he spoke, two people whose faces were completely covered emerged and scrutinized Team 7 for a few more moments.

"Sorry, there was a slight accident," Kabuto said, looking relieved, and then to Naruto, "Let's part ways here. Good luck with the rest of your exam."

"Okay."

After the three departed, Sakura approached Naruto and whispered, "She didn't come?"

Sakura was referring to the Transmigrator.

"No, she's already here."