Secret Taijutsu Technique: Thousand Years of Death

After a brief battle, two people lay on the ground at the scene while another hung dangling and screaming in mid-air.

Looking at his failed disciples, Hiruzen Sarutobi wore a satisfied smile and said:

"Well, except for that idiot Jiraiya.

The two of you have already made great progress, you just lack combat experience."

With that, he looked around and suddenly shouted toward the woods not far away:

"I say, that kid from the Uchiha Clan.

Are you still not planning to come out?

Your companions have all fallen down, you know~"

Silence suddenly fell over the scene as a figure slowly walked out from the woods.

The approacher was none other than Kagura, who had been hiding in the shadows observing the battle.

When he reached a distance of about twenty meters from Hiruzen Sarutobi, he stopped his footsteps.

He sighed inwardly; originally, he had hoped those three might cause this person a bit of trouble so he could pick up scraps in the chaos.

Yet he hadn't expected the entire battle to end in less than two minutes.

In terrain like this and facing an opponent like this, an ambush no longer held any meaning.

Clenching the kunai in his hand, he raised his head to look at Hiruzen Sarutobi and assumed a combat stance.

By this time, his eyes had long since turned into the Sharingan, the two tomoe within his gaze spinning slowly.

The moment he saw Kagura's Sharingan, a serious expression appeared on Hiruzen Sarutobi's face for the first time.

He spoke thoughtfully:

"You've actually already awakened the Two-Tomoe Sharingan!

No wonder the opening I deliberately exposed earlier only lured in that kid Orochimaru; you saw right through that it was a replacement from the very beginning, didn't you.

However...

It seems even the Uchiha Clan doesn't know that you've awakened the Sharingan?"

Holding the kunai in his right hand raised high to his brow, Kagura answered with a solemn expression:

"A trump card always needs to be revealed at the very last moment to be useful, doesn't it?"

With that, without waiting for Hiruzen Sarutobi to speak again, he transformed into a shadow and charged forward.

Hiruzen Sarutobi quickly reined in his mindset and drew a kunai to intercept him.

As several sounds of metal collision rang out, the fighting movements between the two sped up until they blurred into a mass of afterimages.

After actually exchanging blows, the shock in Hiruzen Sarutobi's heart grew even greater.

This kid...

Is his taijutsu actually this strong?

This has already reached the level of a Chunin.

And coupled with the observational power of his Sharingan, I actually can't defeat him with taijutsu in a short time?

At that moment, Tsunade and Orochimaru outside the ring finally recovered and sat down on the ground.

Watching the battle between the two not far away, their complexions turned deathly pale.

This Kagura, he never once displayed his true strength back at the academy.

Judging by his performance right now, we wouldn't even be able to get close to him!

Tsunade thought, biting her lip.

She slowly clenched her fists; though filled with reluctance, the gap between herself and her opponent was plain to see.

"Clang!"

With an unusually loud impact echoing out, the figures of the two finally appeared once more.

Their kunais intersected, and for a moment the two parties found themselves locked in a stalemate.

Hiruzen Sarutobi hadn't expected that Kagura exceeded his expectations not only in speed, but even in strength.

Looking at the locked kunais, Kagura's freed left hand suddenly began forming hand seals with a single hand.

"What?"

Just as a sliver of an ill omen flashed through Hiruzen Sarutobi's heart, Kagura on the opposite side had already finished his hand seals.

He cupped his left hand into a loose fist and placed it before his mouth.

Fire Release: Great Fireball Technique!

A massive fireball appeared directly in front of Kagura.

Yet the moment before the fireball appeared, Hiruzen Sarutobi had already released the shuriken in his hand.

Taking a step back, he slammed both hands onto the ground, and a massive stone wall appeared before him.

Earth Style: Earth Flow Wall.

Seeing this scene, Orochimaru was clearly even more astonished.

Having set his ambition on researching all ninjutsu, he naturally understood what single-handed hand seals signified.

If chakra was mana, then hand seals were the method that helped ninjas quickly guide the chakra within their bodies and transform it into ninjutsu.

Only after having a profound understanding of ninjutsu could one successfully execute ninjutsu using single-handed hand seals or reduced hand-seal gestures.

Clearly, even in his mastery of ninjutsu, Kagura far exceeded their imaginations.

(Of course this paragraph was made up by me.

Still, I also want to complain about Naruto's setting; in the early stages, Kakashi had to form hand seals for half a minute just to steal a B-Rank Water Dragon Bullet Technique.

In the later stages, the A-Rank Raikiri and Rasengan were instant-cast instead...)

On the battlefield, before Hiruzen Sarutobi could even heave a sigh of relief, two Kaguras suddenly appeared behind his back.

One of them leaped into mid-air, quickly forming hand seals before continuously spitting fireballs from his mouth.

Fire Release: Phoenix Sage Fire!

As for the other one, he hurled several shuriken toward him, and those shuriken suddenly multiplied into dozens mid-air.

It was none other than the ninjutsu just copied from Orochimaru -- Shadow Shuriken.

Accompanied by a massive explosion, dozens of attacks landed right on the spot where Hiruzen Sarutobi had been standing.

The massive explosion also kicked up a burst of gray mist, obscuring the view inside.

Even Tsunade and the other two, who had been watching from the sidelines, unconsciously stretched out their necks at this point, wanting to know the result.

Did it succeed?

Just as this question flashed through everyone's minds, a voice rang out from within that gray mist.

"Water Style: Water Dragon Bullet!"

A water dragon suddenly emerged from the dust and mist, sweeping across toward the two Kaguras who had just launched their attack.

The water dragon swept across half the field, and those two Kaguras transformed into puffs of smoke and vanished the moment they suffered the attack.

Kagura, standing before the stone wall, seemed to have just reacted, and as he tried to retreat, that voice appeared behind him once more.

"Earth Style: Double Suicide Decapitation Technique"

Right then, an accident occurred once again. The very moment Hiruzen Sarutobi's hand grasped Kagura's ankle, the Kagura before his eyes also abruptly transformed into a puff of smoke and vanished.

This one is also a shadow clone!

Just as this thought surfaced in Hiruzen Sarutobi's mind, the ground beneath his feet suddenly split open.

The real Kagura emerged from the shattered ground, a hand seal already formed in his hands.

The Tiger Seal?

Does he still want to use Fire Release?

When Hiruzen Sarutobi saw that hand seal clearly, a judgment flashed rapidly through his mind.

He saw Kagura with a stern expression, shouting out loud:

"Konoha Secret Taijutsu Technique: Thousand Years of Death!!!"

With those words spoken, he thrust fiercely upward at his teacher right before him!!!

Tsunade: ( ⊙ o ⊙ ) Ah?

Jiraiya: (#‵′) Damn it

Orochimaru: O__O"...

Silence.

The scene was as silent as death itself.

Facts proved that even a figure as powerful as the Hokage would temporarily lose his combat capability after suffering a fierce blow to the most vulnerable part of the human body.

At this moment, Hiruzen Sarutobi lay prone on the ground in a posture with his head pressed against the dirt.

Foam bubbled from his mouth; clearly, he was completely unconscious.

After searching him for a moment, Kagura finally found the three bells.

He excitedly raised the bells high, basking in the thrill of victory.

The three people outside the ring looked at each other, and finally spoke:

"Umm, he beat Teacher Sarutobi, right."

"I guess so, Teacher Sarutobi is in that posture after all..."

"Still, why do I feel like something is off."

"Yeah, even though he's acting all hot-blooded right now.

I can't get hyped up at all..."

Without paying attention to the discussion among the three, Kagura excitedly looked at the task-completed notification within the system.

Yes, the ninjutsu he had drawn that night was none other than the Multiple Shadow Clone Technique.

To clarify here, this was still somewhat different from the standard Shadow Clone Technique.

Its true application was the ability to suddenly create up to thousands of shadow clones to attack enemies.

Yet fulfilling this effect placed extremely perverted demands on chakra, which was precisely why it had been entered into the Forbidden Scroll of Ninjutsu.

As for Kagura at present, he could create at most three shadow clones.

He knew very well in his heart that against an enemy bearing the title of "Professor of Ninjutsu" like Hiruzen Sarutobi, he simply couldn't defeat him at this stage using ordinary ninjutsu.

Thinking it through, only a bizarre ninjutsu like the Thousand Years of Death held a sliver of a chance.

Therefore, he had buried himself underground ahead of time, using three shadow clones to draw Hiruzen Sarutobi's attention.

Then he himself delivered the fatal strike at the final moment.

Facts proved that he had succeeded.

Only then did he belatedly cast a glance at the prostrate Hiruzen Sarutobi lying off to the side.

Well, it was just that there might be some troublesome follow-up consequences...