When a Child Misbehaves, a Beating Will Set Them Straight

Crack! Crack! Crack!

Several ice mirrors rose from the ground, forming an impregnable wall.

Boom!

The massive water dragon slammed viciously into the ice wall, erupting with a deafening crash. Water sprayed everywhere, and a thick mist instantly engulfed the entire clearing.

When the floodwaters receded, the ice mirrors remained completely intact, suffering no Mū damage.

Haku was just about to breathe a sigh of relief.

Then a suffocatingly evil chakra surged into the sky behind him.

He spun around.

Sasuke had stood up.

Ominous purple chakra churned around him. Black Curse Mark patterns covered half his body, twisted and grotesque.

Two Tomoe floated in his crimson Sharingan, filled with pure killing intent and destructive malice.

He no longer looked at Naruto, nor did he look at Sakura.

He stared fixedly at the Rain ninja who had launched the Water Dragon Bullet, like a beast that had been completely enraged.

"Sasuke!"

Haku immediately sensed the danger. He moved to stop him.

"Stay back!"

Sasuke let out a low growl that did not sound human.

His figure blurred in an instant, bypassing Haku's interception at a speed beyond the limits of a Genin.

Elsewhere.

The two Rain ninja locked in combat with Naruto's Shadow Clones had already been driven into a desperate situation.

From the very beginning, the battle had been a completely one-sided crushing defeat.

There were no flashy ninjutsu, no complicated tactics.

Only the simplest and most efficient taijutsu.

One Shadow Clone lowered his stance and stepped forward, evading the Mū swung at him. His elbow struck the Rain ninja precisely beneath the ribs from a tricky angle.

Crack.

The crisp sound of bone breaking rang out.

The Rain ninja screamed as his body instantly lost balance.

The Shadow Clone gave him no chance. His other hand became a knife-hand strike and chopped the back of his neck.

The Rain ninja's eyes rolled back, and he collapsed limply.

The other Shadow Clone was even more direct.

He completely ignored Mū's kick, allowing it to land on his body as he closed in and seized the man's arm with both hands.

He twisted it backward.

"Aaaaargh!"

A miserable scream echoed through the forest.

The Shadow Clone kicked the back of his knee, forcing him down onto one knee, then drove a knee viciously into his chin.

The battle was over.

The two Shadow Clones dispersed into white smoke.

The entire process had taken less than ten seconds.

Naruto's original body had not looked back once from beginning to end.

He merely turned around and faced Sasuke, who was stepping toward the unconscious Rain ninja, his entire body radiating a violent aura.

His expression did not change in the slightest.

"Looks like an out-of-control weapon needs to be forcibly 'recalibrated.'"

He said it as though he were merely stating an ordinary fact.

Sasuke seemed to hear him. He paused, then suddenly turned his head and glared at Naruto with those crimson eyes filled with malice.

"Get lost!"

He roared, turning into a bolt of black lightning as he lunged at Naruto.

Purple chakra gathered at his fingertips like the sharp claws of a beast.

Naruto did not use any ninjutsu.

He did not even form hand seals.

He charged straight at Sasuke in an almost savage posture.

Facing Sasuke's claws, which could have torn through steel, he merely shifted slightly to the side.

The claws sliced past his cheek in a gust of wind, severing several strands of golden hair.

Naruto avoided the attack.

His body pressed close to Sasuke at an unbelievable angle.

He lowered his center of gravity and slammed his shoulder brutally into Sasuke's chest.

Bang!

A heavy, muffled impact rang out.

That was not a ninja's taijutsu. It was the most primitive kind of collision from the battlefield.

The immense force abruptly halted Sasuke's forward momentum. Pain tore through his chest, and even his gathered chakra scattered.

It was in that instant.

Naruto launched a textbook "suppression."

His hand clamped around the wrist of Sasuke's attacking left arm like an iron vice.

His other hand gripped Sasuke's shoulder.

Grappling, joint locks, reverse joint locks—Naruto executed them all to perfection.

Naruto exerted force through his body, twisted his waist, then pulled and bent Sasuke's arm in one fluid motion.

Crack!

Sasuke's left arm joint was completely dislocated at an extremely unnatural angle.

"Urgh!"

The excruciating pain left Sasuke's mind blank for an instant.

Naruto's movements did not pause in the slightest.

Like a steamroller, he drove his knee viciously into Sasuke's spine, pinning his entire body firmly to the ground.

The whole sequence flowed seamlessly, without a single unnecessary movement.

Sasuke struggled madly. The power of the Curse Mark gave him strength far beyond his usual limits.

But beneath Naruto's steel-like restraint, all his resistance seemed utterly futile.

Like a beast caught in a noose, he could only howl helplessly, utterly Mū.

Naruto bent down.

His cold breath brushed against Sasuke's ear.

His low voice seemed to pierce through Sasuke's frenzied consciousness and brand itself directly into his soul.

"Remember this feeling of Mū's powerlessness."

"This power does not belong to you. You are its slave."

"And I am your master."

Naruto pressed down on Sasuke's arm and exerted force again.

"Submit to me."

"Or be completely discarded by me."

One of the Rain ninja who was still conscious watched the scene in horror.

His mind went blank.

According to the intelligence, that kid in orange was a notorious dead last, someone who should have been no cause for concern.

Yet this person was "dismantling" a monstrous Uchiha with his bare hands.

Did Konoha even falsify intelligence on its Genin? How cunning. How could Konoha be this awful?

The sight of his and his companion's joints being destroyed earlier, carried out with such coldness and brutality, still filled him with fear from the depths of his soul.

He finally realized what kind of existence he and his companions had provoked—something they never should have provoked. That was not a Genin. It was clearly a demon wearing human skin.

Sakura stared blankly as well.

She watched Naruto easily subdue Sasuke, watched Sasuke struggle in pain and Mū's helplessness.

She wanted to scream. She wanted to stop him.

But she could not make a sound.

The absolute, unquestionable dominance Naruto displayed had robbed her even of the courage to speak.

Haku stood to the side and watched in silence.

He did not intervene.

Because he could tell that every one of the political commissar's movements had been precisely controlled to fall within the bounds of "destroying combat capability" rather than "inflicting fatal wounds."

This was discipline.

The most direct discipline from a "political commissar" to a "soldier."

"Let... go..."

Sasuke used the last of his strength to force out two words through clenched teeth.

Naruto increased the pressure of his knee.

Sasuke's spine let out a groan under the unbearable strain.

He completely lost the strength to resist.

The ominous Curse Mark covering his body also slowly receded as his will collapsed, shrinking back into the form of three Tomoe at his neck.

Naruto released him and stood up.

He looked down at Sasuke, sprawled on the ground and gasping for breath, as though he were looking at a tool that had just been repaired.