To Die by Your Hand Is an Honor

The burly Hidden Cloud ninja narrowed his eyes, staring at the vortex of chakra in the blond ninja's palm. "Do you think your ninjutsu has any chance of hitting me?"

"..."

Cold sweat dripped down Naruto Uzumaki's forehead. Clearly, he had no confidence in hitting his enemy. He could only keep pouring the chakra within his body into the Rasengan.

The Rasengan in Naruto Uzumaki's palm continued to expand while compressing the chakra and condensing its power. Its form was also becoming increasingly unstable...

The burly Hidden Cloud ninja was equally wary, afraid that the brat before him might seize an opening. The two of them fell into a strange deadlock.

But both of them knew that the deadlock would be broken the moment Naruto's ninjutsu failed to form or the moment he launched it...

If Naruto's ninjutsu missed, then with the burly Hidden Cloud ninja's attack speed and superb swordsmanship, he would never give Naruto another chance to use ninjutsu.

Naruto Uzumaki knew this perfectly well. If his ninjutsu failed now and the enemy truly forced him into a life-or-death situation, then he could only release the Nine-Tails.

That fox gave him chakra every time, but judging by its appearance, it hardly looked like the charitable type!

As the burly Hidden Cloud ninja watched the Rasengan in Naruto Uzumaki's hand emit an increasingly powerful aura, a layer of sweat formed beneath his nose. "Brat, how much longer can you hold on?"

He did not dare relax in the slightest. Based on his instincts, if that little brat's ninjutsu hit him, it would immediately render him unable to fight!

As an elite jonin who ranked among the best in Kumogakure, being defeated by a Konoha Genin brat would be the greatest humiliation...

"..."

Naruto Uzumaki watched his enemy's expression, not daring to let down his guard. Not only did he need to maintain his Rasengan, but he also had to stay alert for a sudden attack at any moment...

The Rasengan kept expanding. Just as it seemed ready to explode, Naruto Uzumaki controlled it and compressed it back to its original size.

I hope this works right away. If it fails, I'll release the chakra from this technique directly and use it as a Rasengan Impact Wave...

Naruto Uzumaki turned his palm and altered the Rasengan's form. A Star Ring gradually formed around the smooth, spherical Rasengan...

The condensed chakra within the Rasengan finally seemed to find somewhere to vent, continuously filling the Star Ring around it.

Naruto Uzumaki's tightly furrowed brows relaxed. He looked at the transformed ninjutsu in his palm in confusion, then breathed a sigh of relief. "It actually worked right away?"

But in the next instant, Naruto Uzumaki sensed the ninjutsu beginning to collapse.

The chakra in the central Rasengan kept leaking out and filling the outer Star Ring. Clearly, this was not the principle behind the technique he had been developing.

"No... It failed!"

Naruto Uzumaki watched as the Rasengan in his palm completely dissipated, leaving only the outer Star Ring behind. Aside from its dense chakra, it did not seem particularly powerful...

But the burly Hidden Cloud ninja could not understand it. He still thought Naruto Uzumaki had completed his ninjutsu, and his expression grew increasingly tense...

Naruto Uzumaki's eyes shifted. He clenched his fist, and with that motion, the Star Ring shattered completely and surrounded his fist...

The boy twisted his body and threw a punch!

Bang!

The sudden release of chakra stirred up a massive blast of air, sweeping away everything before it. Towering trees, dense bushes, and hard rocks were all destroyed!

From before Naruto Uzumaki, a deep trench several hundred meters long spread outward...

Even though the burly Hidden Cloud ninja was extremely fast under the enhancement of Lightning Release Chakra and tried to evade Naruto's attack, the chakra blast covered too broad an area. He could only avoid a fatal blow...

"What a terrifying boy..."

The burly Hidden Cloud ninja was in a miserable state. His right arm, the one that had held his ninja sword, had shattered, and blood continuously seeped from the wound...

Naruto Uzumaki gripped his Kunai and walked step by step toward his enemy. Tilting his head up to look at the man's face, he said, "Looks like I won."

The burly Hidden Cloud ninja sneered. "Heh... brat, you don't dare kill me, do you?"

"I don't think so."

Naruto Uzumaki raised an eyebrow and pressed the Kunai in his hand against his enemy's throat. "Do you think I'm some coward who doesn't dare take a life?"

"No..."

The burly Hidden Cloud ninja shook his head with contempt. "I'm not talking about just you. You Konoha ninja are all cowards!"

Ignoring his own injuries, Sasuke Uchiha gritted his teeth and stood up. "Naruto, hurry up and kill him!"

"Pah, you people?"

The burly Hidden Cloud ninja spat into the distance, then suddenly gave a dark chuckle. "Back then, Kumogakure forced Konoha's Third Hokage to hand over the Hyuga Clan head. That old fool was such a coward he didn't even dare fart!"

This guy actually dared curse the Hokage right in front of Konoha ninja!

Even a little girl could not bear it. Sakura Haruno immediately flared up in anger. "What nonsense are you spouting? How dare you slander Lord Hokage!"

"Heh, I'm not talking nonsense!"

The burly Hidden Cloud ninja gave a disdainful smile. "I know about that incident too. Nine years ago, the Hyuga Clan head killed one of our Kumogakure ninja. That old fool Hiruzen Sarutobi didn't dare offend us, so he went around in circles and handed over a scapegoat..."

"If you dare kill me today, what do you think that old fool Hiruzen Sarutobi will do to you once Kumogakure finds out?"

"Will he tie you up and hand you over to Kumogakure for punishment?"

"Or will he cut off your heads and send them to the Land of Lightning?"

Upon hearing that, Sakura Haruno's expression gradually turned fearful. She looked at her teammates in panic, a hint of tears in her voice. "What he said... is fake, right? How could Lord Third Hokage treat ninja from the village like that?"

In the little girl's world, Hiruzen Sarutobi was the kindest old man, always wearing a benevolent smile and speaking gently with the children of the village...

How could Lord Hokage do something like that?

"Part of it is probably true."

Naruto Uzumaki nodded lightly. He recalled that snowy day. After escorting home a little Byakugan girl who had gotten lost and cried, he had happened to see some Hyuga Clan members wearing white cloth around their waists. They had been holding a funeral.

Because he had been curious why a Byakugan girl with such a grand home would still have so many clan members grieving, he remembered it somewhat.

That year, he had been three years old. It was exactly nine years ago.

Sakura Haruno asked nervously, "Then what should we do? He nearly killed us. Are we just going to let him go?"

"No, kill him!"

Sasuke Uchiha shook his head and closed his eyes. "Sakura, can't you see? He's actually trying to die."

Sakura Haruno: "..."

Was there something wrong with her comprehension?

No matter how she listened to it, this man was threatening them to make sure they let him go, wasn't he?

Sasuke Uchiha explained in a low voice, "He insulted the Third Hokage in front of Konoha ninja. He has been provoking Naruto, who holds his life in his hands. And he threatened us that if we don't kill him, he will definitely seek revenge after returning to Kumogakure."

As Sasuke Uchiha spoke, the burly Hidden Cloud ninja's face gradually turned pale. Clearly, Sasuke's words had exposed his thoughts.

Sasuke Uchiha sighed. "The ninja of Kumogakure are fierce by nature. Perhaps because defeat is a humiliation to him?"

"Since you figured it out, then kill me!"

The Hidden Cloud Ninja glanced at Naruto Uzumaki and shouted, "As a Kumogakure ninja, dying at an enemy's hands on the battlefield is a man's honor!"

"Konoha brat, I respect you as a powerful ninja!"

"Even though you are only a mere Genin now, you will definitely become a ninja renowned throughout the shinobi world someday. To die by your hand would be no small honor!"

First update.

Bukai: I believe you'll become a great figure sooner or later. Dying by your hand would be an honor too!

Naruto Uzumaki: You trust me that much? That's a lot of pressure...

Bukai: Hahaha, maybe someday my legend will spread throughout the shinobi world!

Naruto Uzumaki: All right...

The false legend: Kumogakure jonin Bukai encountered the young Hokage Naruto Uzumaki on a narrow road. The two fought fiercely through the night. Naruto Uzumaki was severely injured, while Bukai narrowly lost in a single move and died on the spot.

The true record: Jonin Bukai died at the hands of Konoha Genin Naruto Uzumaki, a tremendous disgrace to Kumogakure.