The Actor

"This... barely... barely counts as a tactic, I guess."

Minato lowered the hand covering his eyes.

"Of course it's a tactic!"

Kushina said dismissively, "Wuye is worst at throwing shuriken, so he threw them all out at once. Not only did it catch Nawaki off guard, it also lightened his load. Two birds with one stone."

Minato was a little dazed. "When you put it that way, it does seem to make some sense."

Kushina continued her analysis. "After throwing all his shuriken, Wuye immediately rushed in and tangled with Nawaki in close combat. He's playing to his strengths and avoiding his weaknesses!"

"Maybe that really is it..."

Watching the fierce taijutsu battle in the arena, Minato said worriedly, "Wuye has to defeat him with taijutsu directly. He can't give him time to use ninjutsu, or he'll definitely lose."

"That's under normal circumstances."

Kushina muttered softly, her gaze following Wuye's fighting figure. Her eyes shone as though they were glowing... The lovely sight of the young girl was enough to melt even the hardest heart.

Bang! Bang!

At that moment, Nawaki, locked in close combat, suddenly leaned back to evade Wuye's sweeping kick, forming hand seals and creating two clones at the same time.

"The one without a shadow is..."

After identifying the original body, Nawaki formed hand seals again and transformed into a broken log.

He himself appeared three meters away.

"Finally, I've opened up some distance."

Having escaped the high-intensity taijutsu exchange, Nawaki finally let out a breath of relief, though his hands continued forming seals without pause.

Water Release: Water Clone!

The indistinguishable water clones charged alongside the original, leaving Hyuga Wuye scrambling to cope.

"The advantage has turned into a disadvantage."

Jiraiya looked somewhat troubled at the side... Hyuga Wuye had used the same foolish tactic Jiraiya once had, so he had unconsciously started rooting for him.

"Four years apart, with a vast difference in chakra reserves. Unless something unexpected happens, this child has lost."

The curiosity in Orochimaru's eyes faded. "It seems he's just an ordinary illegitimate child of the Hyuga Clan."

"So..." Tsunade's chilly voice cut in, "you two don't care about Nawaki's performance at all, do you?"

Orochimaru closed his mouth.

Jiraiya scratched the back of his head and gave an awkward laugh. "Ha... haha, Nawaki has enormous chakra reserves, and he's very proficient with Water Release ninjutsu..."

In other words, nothing stood out.

A huge "#" appeared on Tsunade's forehead as she silently clenched her fists...

Bang! Bang!

In the center of the arena, after scrambling about for a while, Hyuga Wuye finally found an opportunity to pull away. While still in midair, he began forming seals. "Ram—Horse—Dragon—Tiger!"

"That hand seal sequence is..."

Nawaki nearly instinctively retreated, along with all his water clones.

First, earth countered water. That was common knowledge.

Second, that sequence was clearly for the B-rank ninjutsu, Earth Dragon Bullet!

That meant that if Hyuga Wuye had enough chakra, he could take Nawaki out in one wave!

"Earth Release: Earth..."

Sure enough, Hyuga Wuye puffed out his cheeks... Huh, wait!

Nawaki was a little confused. "It's not Fire Dragon Bullet or Water Dragon Bullet. Earth Dragon Bullet erupts from the ground, so why is he puffing out his cheeks?"

Earth Release: Exhalation Technique!

Hyuga Wuye gently blew out a breath, then grinned. While Nawaki stood dumbfounded, he suddenly charged forward, throwing a punch and a kick that struck two water clones dead-on.

Two sharp bangs rang out as water splashed everywhere, obscuring Nawaki's vision.

Everyone: "..."

"You! You tricked me!"

Nawaki charged forward in furious frustration, passing through the curtain of water left by the exploding clones.

But the moment he emerged, he saw a tall figure standing before him.

"Sensei?!"

Nawaki's mind briefly froze, and his steps instinctively slowed.

"He's over there. You've got the wrong direction."

The chunin instructor frowned and pointed to the other side.

Nawaki followed his finger with his gaze, but an urgent gust of wind suddenly sounded in front of him.

He turned his head back, only to see a massive fist rapidly enlarging before his eyes.

Bang!

The chunin instructor vanished, revealing Hyuga Wuye.

Transformation Technique!

At the same time, his fist landed squarely on Nawaki's forehead. Yet with a splash, to Wuye's surprise, Nawaki scattered into water again.

"As expected, that wasn't the original. This guy might be a little dense, but he's not stupid..."

He calmly retreated. Sure enough, another Nawaki sprang before him, a kunai slashing through the spot where he had just stood.

The next moment, Wuye countercharged, grabbing Nawaki's wrist holding the kunai with one hand while driving his knee into Nawaki's chest.

Bang!

Water splashed in all directions.

"Another water clone!"

Cries of surprise came from the sidelines. Clearly, this rapid exchange had taken them by surprise as well.

"Water Release..."

At that moment, a shuriken on the ground behind Wuye suddenly burst with a bang, white smoke rising from it.

Nawaki appeared, rapidly forming hand seals.

Water Release: Violent Water Wave!

Three meters behind Hyuga Wuye, a violent torrent surged up from the ground and crashed toward him!

"Now this is interesting..."

Orochimaru unconsciously licked his lips. "When he created the water clones, the original transformed into a shuriken and fell to the ground. Then he accumulated chakra and launched a surprise attack with Violent Water Wave..."

"The most interesting part is that he made use of all the shuriken the Hyuga brat scattered across the ground earlier."

Jiraiya's expression turned more serious. "Did he improve Violent Water Wave? He's using the current to sweep up the shuriken from the ground and attack his enemy with them."

"At such close range, Violent Water Wave can't be dodged, especially with more than a dozen shuriken mixed into the water." Orochimaru nodded in satisfaction. "A student who can make flexible use of ninjutsu is the kind that interests me."

Hearing that, Tsunade relaxed slightly... She knew Orochimaru was far better than she was when it came to teaching ninjutsu.

Aside from the gambling skills she took pride in, she was only good at medical ninjutsu and hitting people.

Splash!

The Violent Water Wave gradually subsided, and every gaze focused on the center, eager to see the outcome at once.

At the center, Nawaki panted lightly.

Across from him, Hyuga Wuye knelt on one knee, his legs trembling, unable to stand.

"Wuye!"

Kushina cried out in alarm... She truly hadn't expected this.

Minato said heavily, "There were shuriken in that Violent Water Wave. Look at Wuye's knee—it was pierced by one, so he can't stand... He lost."

Kushina's pretty face changed. "Wuye hasn't even gone all out yet! How has he lost?"

"Gone all out?"

Minato was confused.

Bang!

But Nawaki in the arena had no intention of giving them time to talk. He stomped down and shot forward, his kunai aimed straight at Wuye.

As long as he held the kunai to Wuye's throat, the spar would be over.

Outside the arena, the Third Hokage shook his head helplessly... It seemed he would have to find another way to get Hyuga Wuye to graduate.

"I won't lose!"

At that moment, Hyuga Wuye suddenly roared, as though unwilling to accept defeat.

But no one thought he could turn things around. He could not even stand... That roar was nothing more than the wail of a loser... right?

A pair of scarlet eyes suddenly entered many people's vision, and several startled cries escaped.

"Sharingan?!"