A Single Battle to Make a Name, the Hokage's Desk Collapsed

At the training ground, Team 7's atmosphere reached an eerie harmony after Sasuke let out a "hmph" no louder than a mosquito's buzz.

As the instigator of it all, Kakashi Hatake had felt his worldview and dignity shatter into QR codes the moment Naruto crushed the bells.

He had no face left to stay there.

This legendary elite jonin, Hidden Leaf's foremost technician, practically fled after announcing that they had all passed. Without another word, he vanished from the spot in a fluster with a bang of the Body Flicker Technique.

He needed to calm down. He needed some peace and quiet. As for who Quiet was, don't ask.

Most importantly, he needed to immediately report this world-shattering event to the Hokage!

Meanwhile, atop the crown of a massive tree several hundred meters beyond the Third Training Ground, an ANBU wearing a mask marked with the character "Tobi" tightly gripped a pair of high-powered binoculars, his knuckles turning white from the force.

His eyes behind the mask were filled with uncontrollable shock.

Just moments ago, he had witnessed that incomprehensible scene with his own eyes.

Naruto Uzumaki had opened three Gates at once and, with sheer brute force, pounded elite jonin Kakashi into the earth like a nail.

Then, when those flawless white eyes lit up, he had used a single fist to smash apart Kakashi's famed A-rank ninjutsu—the Water Dragon Bullet!

"Gulp..."

Tobi swallowed hard, his throat so dry it felt ready to burst into flames.

He had served in the ANBU for twelve years and lived through the final stages of the Third Shinobi World War. He had even been fortunate enough to glimpse a fragment of the legendary Yellow Flash's battles from afar.

But he swore he had never seen anything so absurd!

That was not power a genin should possess... no!

That was not power any jonin—or any human—should possess!

That pure, world-destroying violence was more like a Tailed Beast wearing human skin!

"Monitoring the Nine-Tails jinchuriki"... this S-rank mission that had continued for twelve years had undergone a complete change in nature today!

He abruptly turned and met the gaze of his partner on another tree, an ANBU wearing a mask marked with the character "En," who was responsible for assisting with the surveillance.

No words were needed. The same bone-deep shock in their eyes said everything.

Tobi took a deep breath, forcibly steadied his trembling hands, and rapidly formed a series of precise ANBU hand signals.

[S-rank emergency intelligence!]

[The situation is beyond control!]

[You, immediately return to the office and report to the Third Hokage in person! I will remain here and continue monitoring the target's movements!]

En's eyes narrowed sharply beneath his mask. Without the slightest hesitation, he gave a firm nod.

The next instant, his figure became an afterimage and vanished into the forest, racing toward the Hokage Building!

Tobi slowly turned back, raised his binoculars again, and fixed his gaze firmly on Naruto Uzumaki, who was leisurely taking in his "underlings."

The expression beneath his mask gradually shifted from shock into utter solemnity and reverence.

This child... was no longer a "container" who needed to be monitored.

He was a true dragon... one that had broken free of every restraint!

Inside the Hokage's Office.

The atmosphere was so heavy it seemed ready to drip water.

Hiruzen Sarutobi puffed steadily on his old pipe. Behind the curling smoke was an aged face lined with wrinkles, as deep and unfathomable as the sea.

Just then, two figures appeared outside the office door almost simultaneously!

One was Kakashi Hatake, disheveled and with his hair in a mess.

The other was an ANBU ninja wearing a monkey mask, radiating an aura of extreme urgency!

The two exchanged a glance at the doorway and saw the same overwhelming shock and gravity in each other's eyes.

Without any hesitation, they pushed open the heavy wooden door at the same time.

Bang!

Accompanied by a puff of white smoke from the Body Flicker Technique and the urgent sound of the door opening, Kakashi Hatake and the ANBU rushed in one after the other.

At that moment, Kakashi no longer had even a trace of his usual lazy, perpetually late dead-fish-eyed look.

He stood ramrod straight like a spear. His exposed eye was bloodshot and still filled with lingering shock. He looked as though he had just walked through death's door, his sanity plummeting.

"Third Hokage..."

"Third Hokage!"

Two equally dry, hoarse voices, trembling faintly, rang out at the same time.

Hiruzen Sarutobi slowly set down his pipe and raised his clouded old eyes. Looking at the two who had barged in together, he frowned almost imperceptibly. "The exercise is over? En, weren't you monitoring them? What happened to leave the two of you so rattled?"

"The result..." Kakashi tugged at the corner of his mouth, revealing a smile uglier than crying. "The result is that your desk may have to retire early."

"Hmm?"

The Third Hokage did not understand that baffling remark.

Kakashi took a deep breath and, like spilling a bag of beans, rattled off everything that had happened at the training ground today as quickly as possible.

"...With pure taijutsu alone, without using even a trace of chakra, he beat me... beat me until I couldn't fight back at all!"

"Then, right in front of me, he opened the Eight Gates!"

The moment he finished speaking, the Third Hokage's hand holding the pipe jerked, scattering ash across the desk.

"The Eight Gates?!"

He abruptly looked up, his eyes instantly sharp as an eagle's. "How many Gates did he open?!"

Kakashi's Adam's apple bobbed as he struggled to force out the words. "The Opening Gate, the Gate of Healing, the Gate of Life... the Third Gate. All open."

"What?!"

Hiruzen Sarutobi shot to his feet, his face filled with disbelief!

A twelve-year-old child had opened the Third Gate of the Eight Gates?!

How was that possible!

Even Might Guy, that taijutsu fanatic, had only mastered that forbidden technique as an adult after hellish training!

Yet Kakashi's next words were like a massive bomb, directly frying the Third Hokage's CPU.

"That wasn't even the most terrifying part."

Kakashi's voice drifted unsteadily. "To withstand my Water Dragon Bullet head-on, he even..."

"He even used... the Byakugan!"

Crack!

The Third Hokage's treasured pipe snapped in his hand.

His eyes widened, his mouth opening wide enough to fit a fist. He was completely dumbfounded, as if he had heard the most absurd fantasy.

"The... the Byakugan?! Are you sure you saw it clearly? It wasn't a Sharingan genjutsu?!"

"Absolutely!"

Kakashi said firmly, "Those eyes were flawlessly white, purer than any Byakugan of the Hyuga Clan! He could even see through the chakra weak point of my A-rank ninjutsu at a glance, and then... smashed it apart with one punch!"

"One punch... smashed apart an A-rank ninjutsu?"

The Third Hokage felt like his brain was no longer enough.

Kakashi gave a bitter smile and pointed toward the training ground outside the window. "Third Hokage, you'd better send someone to take a look. The Third Training Ground has basically... become a ruin. Just the crater he made when he got intimately acquainted with the ground will take several days to fill."