Worthy of the Yondaime's Son

When the densely packed Shadow Clones of Uzumaki Naruto appeared on the spot, even Zabuza was stunned.

There were a bit too many Shadow Clones.

"That Dead Last has that much chakra?"

Uchiha Sasuke ultimately knew more than ordinary Commoner Ninja. It was not as if no one in the Uchiha Clan could use the Shadow Clone Technique, but ordinary people would not create so many Shadow Clones.

Shadow Clones were too fragile; they vanished the moment they were hit, and creating them also divided up a great deal of chakra.

Thus, the Shadow Clone Technique was not a forbidden technique, but the Multiple Shadow Clone Technique was. If an ordinary person used it, they would immediately exhaust all their chakra.

Hatake Kakashi was even more dumbfounded—and incomparably envious.

Judging by the number of Shadow Clones Naruto had created, his chakra reserves were probably more than a hundred times Kakashi's. It was somewhat absurd.

Kakashi had to carefully consider whether his chakra could hold up even when he carved a dog head with Earth Style.

Yet Naruto, at only twelve years old, already had so much more chakra than him?

How absurd would his chakra reserves be once he became an adult?

Hatake Kakashi's first reaction was that the Nine-Tailed Demon Fox's chakra had leaked out. Otherwise, how could Naruto possess so much chakra?

This amount of chakra might not qualify as Chakra-ton, but it was definitely at the level of Chakra-pounds.

"Th-this... is the Uzumaki Clan's bloodline really this astonishing?"

Hatake Kakashi thought in shock.

At this moment, the only explanation he could think of was the chakra brought by his Master's Wife's Uzumaki Clan bloodline.

After all, the Uzumaki Clan had been famous for its vast chakra reserves. It was just that the clan had been wiped out long ago, so few people knew of it now.

No wonder the Uzumaki Clan had once established a shinobi village with the strength of a single clan. Though it was not on the level of the Five Great Ninja Villages and could only be considered a medium-sized village, it was still astonishing when one considered that Uzu Village had consisted solely of the Uzumaki Clan.

While Hatake Kakashi was still shocked by Uzumaki Naruto's terrifying chakra reserves, Naruto launched an attack immediately after creating multiple Shadow Clones. He showed no sign of running short on chakra from making so many of them.

However, the Multiple Shadow Clone Technique was of little use against an expert of Zabuza's caliber. In an instant, the clones were sent flying.

Yet even in that critical moment, Uzumaki Naruto pulled a Fuma Shuriken from his backpack and hurled it at Uchiha Sasuke.

The moment Uchiha Sasuke caught the Fuma Shuriken, he instantly understood Uzumaki Naruto's tactic.

It was the first time the two had truly coordinated with each other, yet they were unexpectedly in sync.

Uchiha Sasuke directly threw the Fuma Shuriken toward Zabuza's true body, completely catching everyone off guard.

"So that's it. This time, you're aiming for the real body. But you're still too naive."

Zabuza casually caught the incoming Fuma Shuriken with one hand. Yet in the next instant, he discovered that another Fuma Shuriken was hidden beneath its shadow.

"There's another Shuriken inside the Shuriken's shadow?"

Zabuza was startled, but he still easily leaped up and avoided the fatal blow.

"Just as I thought, still too naive."

Just when everyone believed the attack had missed, the Fuma Shuriken that had flown straight past suddenly transformed into Uzumaki Naruto. It had never been a Fuma Shuriken at all—it was Uzumaki Naruto transformed with the Transformation Technique.

This was his true plan.

One link after another!

To avoid the Shuriken Uzumaki Naruto fired at him in midair, Zabuza had no choice but to pull back his hand and evade the fatal strike. However, the passing Shuriken still cut Zabuza across the face.

"That Dead Last actually came up with such a tactic in such a short time!"

Uchiha Sasuke said in surprise outside the screen. What surprised him even more was that his future self had understood Uzumaki Naruto's tactic at a glance.

Clearly, the two had had no opportunity to discuss any secret technique before Zabuza.

So they had not discussed it at all, yet the Sasuke in the screen had sensed the difference in weight the instant he caught the Fuma Shuriken and understood Uzumaki Naruto's tactic.

"That really was unexpected."

Inside the Hatake Residence, Hatake Kakashi said the same, equally shocked.

In the brief time Kakashi had been trapped, Uzumaki Naruto had actually devised such an experienced tactic. Kakashi had previously thought Naruto relied entirely on reckless bravado, much like his Master's Wife.

But now, it seemed Naruto was not like his Master's Wife at all. Instead, he was more like his teacher, Minato Namikaze.

That kind of tactical mind and ability to adapt to the battlefield truly made one see him in a new light.

He had clearly been terrified by the killing intent Zabuza released earlier, but once he recovered, he immediately came up with such an outstanding tactic.

Kakashi was beginning to believe Kitahara Kaede's earlier claim that Uzumaki Naruto would become one of the two great peaks of the Shinobi World in this era.

In the scene, Zabuza's scheme had been ruined. Enraged, he was about to use the Fuma Shuriken to cut Uzumaki Naruto in half while he was still in midair.

Clang!

But at the critical moment, someone blocked the strike with the guard on the back of his hand.

It was none other than Hatake Kakashi, who had broken free from the Water Prison Technique.

There was no doubt that Uzumaki Naruto's tactic had been a great success.

"Naruto, excellent tactic. You two have improved as well!"

Hatake Kakashi praised them without reservation.

"I'll say it again: the same ninjutsu is useless against me the second time. What are you going to do now?" Hatake Kakashi said as he turned toward Zabuza.

[The same move is useless against a Saint Seiya!]

A comment from Kitahara Kaede drifted across the screen.

"Saint Seiya? What's that?" Hatake Kakashi could not help wondering.

At that moment, Hatake Kakashi in the scene knocked away the Fuma Shuriken. The two separated across the water, then formed hand seals.

Everyone was astonished to find that the hand seals they formed were exactly the same, and even their speed appeared identical. There was no difference between them at all.

[Who still seriously forms hand seals these days? And eighty-eight of them at that. What an honest man.]

Uchiha Sasuke ignored Kitahara Kaede's comment drifting across the screen and immediately widened his eyes.

The Sharingan—that was the Kekkei Genkai unique to the Uchiha Clan. Though he did not know why it had appeared on Hatake Kakashi, this was also the first time Sasuke had seen the Copy Eye ability of the Three-Tomoe Sharingan.

When the Uchiha Clan had been wiped out, he had been too young to have the chance to see how clan members with Three-Tomoe Sharingan copied outsiders' ninjutsu. This was the first time in his life.