Itachi: You're Bullying My Little Brother?

The next day.

Jiraiya took Naruto away early in the morning to head out for training.

In truth, he had two goals: to avoid potential threats and to locate Tsunade.

Naruto already knew what was about to happen.

After all, the two of them had only been out for a short while before finding a hotel.

The countdown for the prize pool upgrade had ten minutes remaining.

Naruto was already prepared to face the approaching Itachi Uchiha.

A knock sounded at the door.

Naruto stood up as if nothing were the matter.

He opened the door.

Sure enough.

Standing there were two rogue ninja who had dropped out of the ranks of Jonin!

They were wearing the attire of a certain mysterious organization.

Itachi Uchiha and Kisame Hoshigaki!

From the moment Itachi appeared, his gaze seemed to say, "So you're the brat who's been bullying my little brother."

Oh no, Naruto thought.

Sasuke's brother had brought a rogue ninja from another village to corner him!

"The Nine-Tails Jinchuriki?"

Itachi stared at Naruto, speaking only a few words.

"Should we take him? Without the Third Hokage Hiruzen Sarutobi here, he should be a pushover!"

The corners of Kisame Hoshigaki's mouth curled into a hook.

"Rogue ninja are certainly arrogant."

Naruto looked at a pair of blood-red eyes.

And at Kisame Hoshigaki, who looked like a species other than a normal human.

"At your age, I was already an Anbu squad leader."

Itachi just raised one hand.

Kisame Hoshigaki could hardly wait to see Itachi make his move.

As for this master of genjutsu, Kisame Hoshigaki was eager to witness every single strike he made.

"Sasuke!"

Naruto knew Sasuke would come.

Itachi's eyes seemed as calm as an ancient well, but in reality, he immediately looked toward the boy at the side of the hallway.

No more words.

It was time to fight!

He started with a Chidori to prove how much his strength had grown!

Sasuke had kept this hatred hidden in his heart for far, far too many years!

Itachi didn't take this strike seriously at all.

But regardless, there was only one person who could deal with his little brother!

And that was himself!

"Should you be chopped into mincemeat, kid? In any case, as long as I can take the Nine-Tails, that's enough, right?"

Kisame Hoshigaki raised Samehada, looking at Naruto with a mouth full of sharp teeth.

Naruto wrapped his entire body in a layer of chakra.

As soon as Samehada passed by, it immediately absorbed and devoured it.

"It's useless, little one. Chakra is nothing but food for my great sword, Samehada!"

Kisame Hoshigaki swung Samehada, intending to hack off Naruto's arm in one blow.

"To deal with you, the most extreme Taijutsu is all I need."

"Back then, Might Duy was able to use the Eight Inner Gates to crush the Seven Ninja Swordsmen of the Mist."

"And I, Naruto, can use Taijutsu to beat you until you're crawling on the ground!"

Naruto claimed it was Taijutsu.

In reality, his body was instantly covered in two types of chakra.

They were Lightning Release chakra and Nine-Tails chakra, respectively.

His speed increased to the absolute limit.

"Painful Sky Leg!"

He stomped down.

The floor and walls were immediately shattered by Naruto.

"You've got some skill!"

Kisame Hoshigaki discovered that half the building had been destroyed by Naruto after he broke through the structure.

This power was too terrifying!

"As long as the speed is fast enough, your Samehada is just a decoration."

Naruto stood atop the ruins.

His fist was already aimed at Kisame Hoshigaki's chest.

"Chakra Enhanced Strength!"

BOOM!

The violent strike hit Kisame Hoshigaki, who couldn't hold on.

He had originally thought he was just a child Jinchuriki.

He hadn't expected him to unleash such speed and power!

Kisame Hoshigaki crashed into the wall.

Debris fell to the ground piece by piece.

Just as he was about to get up, he saw Itachi strangling his little brother.

"Mr. Itachi, it seems the Nine-Tails Jinchuriki is stronger than we thought."

Kisame Hoshigaki, known as the Tailless Tailed Beast, endured the intense pain.

He used a large amount of chakra to heal his body, while also injecting it into the great sword Samehada.

Samehada, rapidly swelling in size, resembled a small shark.

Kisame Hoshigaki tore off the bandages with one hand.

Samehada, baring its teeth, was already ravenous!

"Adamantine Ruyi Staff!"

Naruto slapped the wall and summoned Enma.

"What a powerful aura, Naruto, you've encountered a strong enemy!"

Enma sensed the power of Samehada.

"What strong enemy? How can a tailless one compare to my Nine-Tails!"

Naruto's entire body erupted in golden light.

The Adamantine Ruyi Staff was transformed by Enma.

"Let's settle this! Haha!"

Kisame slashed at the Adamantine Ruyi Staff with his sword, but it was completely blocked.

Samehada, unable to consume chakra, became unhappy.

The two clashed dozens of times with their weapons in what felt like an instant.

Kisame Hoshigaki, who couldn't gain any advantage, had never seen someone with no edge while wielding a ninja sword.

What's more, Samehada sensed Naruto's chakra and was drooling with affection.

"Fight! Why aren't you fighting? Can't you win?"

Just as Naruto began to taunt, a figure flashed by.

The ruins in all directions turned into flesh and blood conduits.

"Jiraiya!"

Itachi turned and realized it was one of the Sannin, knowing it was time to pretend to be cautious and retreat.

However.

What he didn't expect was the battle between Naruto and Kisame Hoshigaki.

"Where did he get so much chakra?"

Kisame Hoshigaki was already surrounded by Naruto's Multiple Shadow Clone Jutsu.

Each one was holding an Adamantine Ruyi Staff.

If this continued, they might have to use a powerful technique, and Kisame Hoshigaki might be finished here.

"The Nine-Tails' power should not be underestimated, let's go."

Itachi and Kisame turned simultaneously, weaving through the shadow clones.

Finally, they used Amaterasu to burn open a passage.

"This isn't all of my chakra."

Naruto hadn't gone all out yet.

"This isn't my strongest state either!"

Kisame Hoshigaki said unhappily.

Next time, he would definitely have a showdown with Naruto!

The initial confrontation with Sasuke, the social ninja Onii-chan, went quite well.

Naruto firmly believed he would become the strongest blonde in the Ninja World!

"A bizarre black flame."

Jiraiya extinguished the Amaterasu flames with the Fire Sealing Method.

"Hahahaha!"

Naruto burst into laughter.

Might Guy's charging flying kick was aimed directly at Naruto.

It was blocked by the arm Naruto raised.

"Woohoo! Takeoff!"

Naruto sprang to his feet with a carp-like kip-up.

"This child is saying strange things again."

Jiraiya turned and entrusted Sasuke to Guy.

"Such a strong physique, to not be kicked flying by my accidental kick! If I get the chance, I must teach him Taijutsu!"

Guy happily flashed his White Fang and gave Naruto a thumbs-up for his Taijutsu talent and powerful physique.

"Where's Sasuke?"

By the time Naruto reacted, he was only holding the one-piece training outfit Guy had given him.

"He returned to Konoha. We should also go find Tsunade and begin your stronger training."

Jiraiya mused.

What kind of training could make Naruto stronger!

Perhaps only that jutsu!

"Very good."

Naruto was very satisfied with the newly upgraded Epic Prize Pool.

[Epic Prize Pool upgrade complete. Host has drawn twice consecutively.]

[The prizes are just satisfactory. The host, full of malice, is destined to sink endlessly in battle.]

[Water Style: Great Exploding Water Colliding Wave]

[Kekkei Genkai: Scorch Style: Extremely Steaming Murder]

Finally, he had his first Kekkei Genkai as a Genin!

"By the way, Naruto."

Jiraiya said casually as they walked along a forest path, "In this Chunin Exams, only you and Shikamaru were promoted to Chunin."

"What? I'm not a noble Genin anymore?"

Naruto felt a bit sad again.

"Idiot, there's no such thing as high or low status for ninjas. What kind of logic is that!"

Jiraiya thought for a moment before realizing something was off.

"There are only two things for your future training: learn to control chakra with greater precision, and no matter what, remain calm and composed!"

"This will be a great help in your training!"

A bottle of toad oil was handed to Naruto.

Naruto understood.

The long-awaited Sage Mode training was about to begin!