Mini Rasengan

"G...Group leader!"

The four men across from him stood frozen.

Their captain, who had always been so powerful, had died just like that?

That was way too careless!

"What about you? Are you going to put up a fight, or are you going to put up a fight?"

Uchiha Kei shook the blood from his Ninja Blade and looked up at the four men.

"D...don't come any closer!"

One of the four stepped forward, his expression flustered.

It was no wonder he was panicking. Even their usually lofty captain had died at Uchiha Kei's hands. They were even weaker than the captain, so wouldn't their deaths be even worse?

To the four men's astonishment, Uchiha Kei obediently stayed where he was.

"Okay, I won't come any closer."

The four men: ...

For some reason, Uchiha Kei's obedient manner made their skin crawl even more.

"Naruto, they're all yours. Good luck."

Uchiha Kei gave Naruto a thumbs-up, flashing a brilliant White Fang.

Naruto pointed at himself in disbelief.

"Me?"

The four men turned to look at Naruto.

Wasn't this little guy on the same side as that monster?

"Right. You."

Uchiha Kei sheathed his Ninja Blade and put it behind his back.

"Don't worry, I won't interfere. If you can beat him, you won't have to die."

The four men's eyes lit up with delight.

The long-whiskered kid in front of them didn't look like much of a fighter. Did that mean...

"Fire Release: Fire Dragon Bullet!"

"Wind Release: Vacuum Sphere!"

A cruel glint flashed in the eyes of two of the four men. Their hands blurred through a series of seals, and two B-rank jutsu burst forth.

The two jutsu intertwined, swelling instantly and growing even more formidable.

Dozens of fire dragons, each about half a meter long, ballooned to around three meters under the boost from the Wind Release.

A flood of fireballs, carried by a fierce gale, hurtled toward Naruto.

"What?!"

Naruto paled. He scooped up Twilight Spring Valley beside him and leaped clear of the fire dragons' range.

"Boom..."

The fire dragons struck the ground one after another, blasting a huge, charred crater into it and sending waves of scorching heat into the air.

"Naruto, there's a delay before a jutsu takes effect. Watch carefully."

Uchiha Kei sat leisurely on the ground, plucked a blade of grass, and happily tucked it between his lips.

"E...easier said than done."

With jutsu coming at him one after another, Naruto could only keep jumping and dodging with Twilight Spring Valley in his arms. It wasn't long before he was panting.

"Remember the Rasengan I taught you? Give it a try."

Naruto narrowly dodged another fire dragon and sprinted over to Uchiha Kei.

"Give it a try? Are you kidding me?"

Naruto set Twilight Spring Valley down and gave Uchiha Kei a resentful look.

"You've learned more than the Rasengan these past few days. You should have mastered the Three Body Technique, too. Is running away all your ninja way is about?"

Uchiha Kei took Twilight Spring Valley, who was still shaken.

Naruto froze.

That was right. Running away wasn't his ninja way!

Never fear, never run, and keep going to the end!

That was his ninja way!

"Whoosh!"

The sound of something cutting through the air rang out, and Naruto instinctively sprang forward.

His movements were quick and clean, without the slightest hesitation!

Still shaken, Naruto looked back and met Uchiha Kei's strange smile.

His face reddened slightly. Naruto stood firm, his gaze fixed on the four men.

"Come on! Try to beat me! I'm the man who's going to become Hokage!"

The four men looked at him mockingly and said nothing as they surrounded him from all four directions.

Naruto warily watched the four men. Several Shuriken appeared in his hands, ready to fly.

"Kid, you're no match for us. Give up."

The four men weren't stupid. Uchiha Kei had told them to beat the kid, obviously to toughen him up.

If they actually hurt him, that monster would really kill them.

"Give up? There's no such word as 'give up' in my ninja way!"

A gleam flashed in Naruto's eyes. He flung his Shuriken and leaped forward.

"Trying to run?"

The four men sneered and easily dodged the Shuriken.

"Water Style: Water Dragon Bullet!"

Four Water Style jutsu surged toward Naruto from every direction.

Nearly a hundred water spheres tore through the woods, closing in on Naruto at breakneck speed.

There was nowhere to dodge!

Holding Twilight Spring Valley, Uchiha Kei watched with an amused smile.

Naruto was already incredibly talented.

With the Uzumaki Clan's enormous chakra reserves, and the powerful body and stamina forged by the Nine-Tails Chakra, he was formidable even now, despite knowing few jutsu. He was already as strong as a full-fledged Genin.

But Naruto's greatest strength wasn't his talent.

It was...

"Rumble!"

Nearly a hundred water spheres slammed into Naruto at the center, the immense force sending water splashing everywhere.

"Splooosh!"

The water spheres merged into a riverlike torrent and crashed to the ground.

A tiny figure floated in the middle of the stream.

The four men who had attacked froze.

Cold sweat trickled down their foreheads.

This little guy...

Why hadn't he dodged?

Their Water Dragon Bullets had come from all directions, but they were so slow. Anyone with even a little skill should have been able to avoid them.

And yet...

This guy had failed to dodge them!

They were done for...

Uchiha Kei didn't look especially shocked, but Twilight Spring Valley beside him couldn't hold back.

"D...did he die?"

Uchiha Kei lowered his head and looked at Twilight Spring Valley.

"Do you want him to be dead or alive?"

Twilight Spring Valley froze, then looked up in confusion and met a pair of bright eyes.

Feeling a little guilty, she lowered her head.

"Of course I don't want anything to happen to him..."

Uchiha Kei smiled mysteriously and turned his gaze toward the figure floating in the stream.

"Don't worry. He'll be fine."

As one of the two protagonists of the Naruto World, the Nine-Tails Jinchuriki, and Asura's reincarnation, he was the last person who would come to harm.

"What should we do?"

Meanwhile, the four men quietly wiped the cold sweat from their foreheads and whispered among themselves.

"What can we do? The kid got himself killed. He couldn't dodge something that slow. How's that our fault?"

"Whether it's our fault or not doesn't matter now. What matters is whether that monster will take his anger out on us."

One of the four men quietly looked back at Uchiha Kei.

"He probably won't, right? He looks calm. Doesn't seem to care much about that kid."

"Maybe he's trying to make us lower our guard."

"Don't be ridiculous. Why would someone with his strength need to trick us?"

"Should we... go take a look?"

The four fell silent, and the one who had made the suggestion didn't dare say anything more.

"Let's go take a look!"

At last, the four men made up their minds.

Whether they wanted to put some distance between themselves and the monster or find out if the kid was dead, the best thing to do was take a look.

The four men cautiously approached the body floating in the stream.

Just as they were about to reach it, the floating body suddenly moved!

A tiny, sky-blue orb gathered in Naruto's hand, thrumming with surging wind.

His hand easily struck one man in the chest.

The man froze and stared blankly at his chest.

"Bang!"

A figure shot backward.

Crimson blood sprayed from his mouth. His shirt had burst open at the chest, revealing a savage spiral-shaped wound.

"Rasengan!"

Two more tiny orbs appeared in Naruto's hands.

"Whoosh!"

The remaining three men stumbled backward in terror.

What...

What the hell was that?