Testing the Results

Pain immediately noticed the commotion outside.

He turned to Sasori and Deidara.

"Go deal with the disturbance outside. The mission proceeds as usual. Meeting adjourned."

With that said,

Pain immediately cut off communications.

Meanwhile, everyone outside had already entered the barrier.

This was...

Josuke recalled the original plot.

This seemed to be the mirror trap, where clones with exactly the same strength as oneself would appear and fight.

Only by surpassing oneself could one leave the barrier.

Wasn't this easy?

After walking some distance,

a clone of himself appeared in the space. The moment it appeared, it used Fire Release: Great Fireball against him.

Josuke immediately countered with Water Release.

At the same time,

taking advantage of the white mist, Josuke's clone immediately charged at him, its body covered in green chakra. Josuke could also sense the power of the Cursed Seal activating.

Using every nasty trick right from the start. It really wants to kill me.

Josuke formed hand seals with both hands.

Energy rapidly gathered in his stomach.

Flames burst from his mouth as several Fire Release: Dragon Flame Bullets surged forth.

The clone swiftly dodged, evading Josuke's fierce attack.

It then adjusted its posture, used a nearby tree trunk for leverage, and leaped into the air, instantly creating two clones.

A Rasengan condensed in its hand and gradually grew larger, forming an Ultra-Big Ball Rasengan.

Its power was immense. Josuke knew what would happen if he took that hit, but sorry, Kana~

I'm the one who's 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.

Lightning Cutter condensed in Josuke's hand.

The clone easily dodged the kunai. It flew past the clone's back as Josuke activated his Sharingan!!

This was exactly the moment he had been waiting for.

Before the clone's eyes, Josuke vanished completely. No—more accurately, he appeared behind the clone.

A Lightning Cutter struck the clone's chest, piercing straight through it.

The Ultra-Big Ball Rasengan vanished along with the clone.

Using the other two kunai, Josuke safely landed from the air.

The clone had yet to disperse. Instead, it turned into particles of light and slowly faded away. Josuke spun a kunai in his hand.

Then he coolly said,

"Kana~"

If anyone had been there, they would have noticed the talisman attached to the kunai's handle in Josuke's hand. It also looked cooler and more stylish than a traditional kunai.

"Flying Thunder God is really cool."

That was right.

The ninjutsu Josuke had used to defeat his clone was none other than Flying Thunder God, one of the finest S-rank ninjutsu.

Josuke had anticipated this situation three years ago.

So he had prepared in advance.

Although he had handed the Scroll of Seals over to Orochimaru, Josuke had still copied some of the ninjutsu within through certain methods. (There was something called a camera.)

And he had deliberately exploited a bug.

The illusion array was activated based on every ninjutsu one had learned.

But Josuke hadn't learned Flying Thunder God before.

As everyone knew, aside from cheaters and expert players in Naruto,

all ninjutsu had hand seals or a startup motion.

And if one wanted to learn Flying Thunder God, one had to test it first, right? They also had to use it in actual combat, right?

But Josuke hadn't.

Although he knew all the methods and steps, he simply hadn't learned it yet. It was like a car that was only one screw away from being sold, but that screw had not been installed.

How could it be sold then?

So Josuke successfully used that loophole to defeat his clone.

Without exploiting that loophole, it would probably have taken much more time and effort.

After quickly ending the battle, Josuke rested to the side. Although the battle had not consumed much chakra,

Flying Thunder God's chakra consumption was not particularly high either.

The chakra consumption depended on the target's volume and size. It was very user-friendly.

Meanwhile, Josuke also took out a scroll.

A spot of light was clearly flickering nearby on it. A faint smile appeared at the corner of Josuke's lips, making him seem somewhat mysterious. At a glance, he looked like someone qualified to become one of the Hidden Leaf's Four Maniacal Laughers.

One after another, the others also emerged from the barrier.

After resting and regrouping briefly, they continued pursuing Gaara.

By sheer coincidence,

when they arrived inside the cave, Sasori had been waiting there for quite some time.

As the team leader, Kakashi immediately assigned their tasks. Sakura and Josuke stayed behind to fight Sasori, while Chiyo, just as in the original story, remained with them.

Without wasting words, there was no need to show mercy to an orphan.

Josuke directly fired a Dragon Flame Bullet at him.

With a boom, the Dragon Flame Bullet was blocked.

A puppet stood before Sasori—the Third Kazekage.

The one that had blocked the Dragon Flame Bullet was the Iron Sand released by the Third Kazekage puppet.

Very strong.

That was Josuke's assessment of him.

As for being an S-rank rogue ninja, Josuke figured there was probably some exaggeration involved. But among rogue ninja at the peak of A-rank, Sasori definitely ranked near the top.

But damn it.

Kakashi, are you overestimating me by making a genin with jonin-level strength fight him? Thanks a lot.

Sakura bitch—ptui.

Sakura had at least a seventy percent chance of winning only because Sasori had held back.

Damn it.

"Sakura, I'll hold off the puppet. Take the chance to attack the real body!"

With that said, Josuke opened the Fifth Gate. Hidden Leaf Taijutsu!!!

He rushed straight into the puppet's face. Naturally, there was a deeper reason for doing this.

Sasori's true body naturally sensed the enormous amount of chakra on Josuke, then controlled the Kazekage puppet to dodge left and right.

From time to time, it also fired concealed projectiles.

Sakura was also searching for the right opportunity.

Chiyo watched everything silently from the side.

At that moment, Josuke threw two Flying Thunder God kunai toward Sasori, while holding another Flying Thunder God kunai in his hand.

Sasori did not recognize them as Flying Thunder God kunai and merely dodged them.

Josuke narrowed his eyes. The little cat took the bait.

Using Flying Thunder God, he instantly rushed behind Sasori and threw the Flying Thunder God kunai in his hand backward.

The Rasengan in his hand shone brilliantly.

Sasori was shocked. What incredible speed. How did he do that?

He hurriedly called the Third Kazekage puppet back to defend.

He also used the Body Flicker Technique to dodge to the side.

The Third Kazekage puppet's attack flew toward Josuke. Josuke smiled faintly. Sorry, it was a chain of schemes.

Flying Thunder God activated once more, and Josuke flashed above Sasori.

It was too late to turn the Kazekage puppet around. However, Sasori used Earth Release: Earth-Style Wall to encase himself and block 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 threw a Chakra Enhanced Strength punch at the damaged Earth-Style Wall!

At that moment, Flying Thunder God activated again, pulling Josuke and Sakura away.

That was Josuke's plan.

That strike should have broken Sasori's defenses, but that was all.

Bang, bang.

As the smoke and dust cleared,

Sasori's true body appeared. He was a handsome young man.

He looked coldly at Josuke and Sakura.

"You two are good... very good..."