Kankuro charged at Naruto again, continuously throwing shuriken as he advanced in an attempt to disrupt him.
This time, however, he noticed that the four remaining Shadow Clones had begun forming a fixed formation.
The four Shadow Clones split into two groups, with one hiding behind another. The one in front drew a kunai, knocking away the ninja tools Kankuro threw at them while also blocking the person behind and obscuring his line of sight.
For a moment, Naruto's attacks appeared remarkably measured.
Hiruzen saw this and nodded repeatedly. He knew Naruto possessed an enormous amount of Chakra, but Naruto was not abusing his Shadow Clones. Instead, he was making full use of his combat instincts.
He had the makings of a Chunin.
Meanwhile, Naruto, hiding behind the others, would occasionally throw kunai from the blind spots in Kankuro's vision, constantly disrupting his rhythm. Before long, kunai covered the ground, and the two remained locked in a stalemate at a fixed distance.
Suddenly, Naruto, hiding behind the clone on the right, poked his head out and formed the Tiger Seal!
Kankuro's eyelid twitched violently. It was clearly the start of a Fire Style Jutsu, so he hurriedly threw himself to the side!
In midair, he saw the Naruto forming hand seals give him a mocking smile.
Naruto's Chakra nature was primarily Wind, and he had not learned any Fire Style Jutsu yet. That sequence of hand seals had merely been a feint.
Just then, Kankuro heard a hand burst out from the floor beside him and grab his right leg!
"Earth Style: Headhunter Jutsu!"
Kankuro was startled. Instinctively, he brought his right hand down hard against the hand gripping his leg, and then he heard:
"Poof!"
The owner of the hand gripping his leg dispelled the Shadow Clone.
At the