Pain noticed the commotion outside at once.
He spoke to Sasori and Deidara.
"Go take care of the disturbance outside. The mission proceeds as planned. That's all for this meeting."
After saying that,
Pain immediately cut off the communication.
By then, the others outside had already entered the barrier.
This was...
Josuke recalled the original story.
This seemed to be the Mirror Trap. It created a clone with exactly the same abilities as you, and you had to fight it.
You could only leave the barrier by surpassing yourself.
Wasn't this easy?
After walking for a while,
a clone of Josuke appeared in the space. As soon as it appeared, it used Fire Release: Great Fireball on him.
Josuke immediately countered with Water Release.
At the same time,
Josuke's clone took advantage of the white mist
and charged at him. Green Chakra covered its body, and Josuke could feel the power of the Cursed Seal activating too.
It was going all out right from the start. It really wanted to kill him.
Josuke formed Hand Seals.
Energy rapidly gathered in his stomach.
Flames burst from his mouth, spewing several Dragon Flame Bullets.
The clone swiftly dodged Josuke's fierce attack.
Then it adjusted its stance, used a nearby tree trunk to propel itself into the air, and instantly created two clones.
The Rasengan in its hand gradually grew larger until a Super Great Ball Rasengan had formed.
Its power was immense. Josuke knew what would happen if he took a direct hit from it. But sorry, not today~
I was going to win.
Then,
Josuke pulled three special Kunai from his pocket.
He threw them in three different directions.
One of them flew toward Josuke's clone.
Chidori gathered in Josuke's hand.
The clone easily dodged the Kunai, which flew past behind it. Josuke activated his Sharingan!!
This was exactly what he'd been waiting for.
Right before the clone's eyes, Josuke vanished. No—more accurately, he appeared behind it.
A Chidori struck the clone in the chest, piercing through it.
The Super Great Ball Rasengan disappeared along with the clone.
Using the other two Kunai, Josuke landed safely from the air.
The clone didn't vanish right away. Instead, it slowly faded into particles of light. Josuke twirled a Kunai in his hand
and said coolly,
"Not today~"
Anyone who took a closer look would notice a tag attached to the Kunai's handle in Josuke's hand. It looked much cooler and sleeker than a traditional Kunai, too.
"The Flying Thunder God really is cool."
That's right.
The Ninjutsu Josuke had used to defeat his clone was none other than the Flying Thunder God Technique, one of the finest S-rank techniques.
Josuke had anticipated this situation three years ago,
so he'd prepared in advance.
Although he'd already handed the Scroll of Seals to Orochimaru, he'd still managed to copy some of the techniques in it by other means. (There's this thing called a camera.)
He'd also deliberately exploited a loophole:
the Illusion Array activated based on all the Ninjutsu you had learned.
But Josuke hadn't learned Flying Thunder God before.
As everyone knew, in Naruto, unless you were a cheat-level genius or an expert,
all Ninjutsu required Hand Seals or a preparatory motion.
And to learn Flying Thunder God, you'd have to test it out, right? You'd need to use it in actual combat, too.
But Josuke hadn't done any of that.
He knew the method and the steps, but he simply hadn't learned the technique. It was like a car that was ready for sale except for one missing screw. If the screw hadn't been installed,
how could it be sold?
So Josuke had successfully used the loophole to defeat his clone.
Without it, the fight would have taken a lot more time and effort.
Josuke ended the battle quickly, then rested to the side. The fight hadn't cost him much Chakra,
and Flying Thunder God didn't consume that much, either.
The amount of Chakra it used depended on the size and volume of the object. It was very user-friendly.
Meanwhile, Josuke took out a scroll of his own.
A blinking dot was clearly visible nearby. The faint smile on Josuke's lips made him look rather mysterious—just the sort of person who could join Konoha's Four Great Laughers.
One by one, the others also made it out of the barrier.
After a brief rest, they continued pursuing Gaara.
As it happened,
when they arrived at the cave, Sasori was waiting for them.
As the team leader, Kakashi immediately assigned their tasks. Sakura and Josuke would stay behind to fight Sasori, and Chiyo stayed as well, just as in the original story.
There was no need for pointless talk. There was no reason to go easy on an orphan.
Josuke immediately sent a Dragon Flame Bullet flying at him.
There was a loud boom, but the Dragon Flame Bullet was blocked.
A puppet stood right in front of Sasori: the Third Kazekage.
The Iron Sand that blocked the Dragon Flame Bullet had been released by the Third Kazekage Puppet.
Strong.
That was Josuke's assessment of him.
As for Sasori being an S-rank Rogue Ninja, Josuke figured there was some exaggeration involved. But Sasori definitely ranked among the peak A-rank Rogue Ninjas.
Still, what the hell?
You're asking a Genin with the strength of a Jonin to fight him? Aren't you overestimating me, Kakashi? Thanks in advance.
Sakura, that—ugh.
At least seventy percent of the reason Sakura won was that Sasori held back.
Damn it.
"Sakura, I'll keep the puppet occupied. Find a chance to attack his real body!"
With that, Josuke opened the Five Gates. Konoha Taijutsu!!!
He rushed right up to the puppet. Of course, there was a reason for doing that.
Sasori could naturally sense the enormous amount of Chakra in Josuke's body, so he controlled the Kazekage Puppet to dodge from side to side.
It occasionally fired hidden projectiles, too.
Sakura also took the opportunity to look for an opening.
Your beautiful Chiyo watched all of this silently from the sidelines.
At that moment, Josuke threw two Flying Thunder God Kunai toward Sasori, while holding another one in his hand.
Sasori didn't know they were Flying Thunder God Kunai. He simply dodged them.
Josuke narrowed his eyes. The little kitten had taken the bait.
Relying on Flying Thunder God, he charged straight behind Sasori and tossed the Kunai in his hand backward.
The Rasengan in his other hand shone brilliantly.
Sasori was shocked. So fast! How had he done that?
He hurriedly ordered the Third Kazekage Puppet to protect him.
He also used the Body Flicker Technique to dodge to the side.
The Third Kazekage Puppet attacked, flying toward Josuke. Josuke smiled faintly. Sorry, this was a chain of tricks.
Flying Thunder God activated again, and Josuke appeared above Sasori.
It was too late to turn the Kazekage Puppet around. But Sasori used Earth Release: Earth-Style Wall to surround himself, blocking Josuke's Rasengan. It had been so close...
"Sakura, now!"
After using the Rasengan, Josuke leaped backward.
Sakura appeared in Sasori's line of sight and punched the crumbling Earth Style: Earth Wall with monstrous strength!
Flying Thunder God activated again, whisking Josuke and Sakura away to a safe distance.
That was Josuke's plan.
That blow should have broken through Sasori's defenses, but that was all.
"Bang, bang."
The dust cleared.
Sasori's real body appeared. He was a handsome young man.
He looked coldly at Josuke and Sakura.
"You're good... Very good..."
Before you continue