Every New Team Had to Have Barbecue

One blow!

Kazzek was instantly sent flying backward, like a piece of rubble struck by a heavy hammer. It slammed into the ground dozens of meters away, leaving a shallow crater filled with broken stones.

For a moment, the hard exoskeleton covering Kazzek's body shuddered violently, and the intense pain forced a low growl from it.

This armored human's hits hurt so much!

That strength felt even greater than its "companion" that only knew how to eat.

Yet before Kazzek could recover from that heavy blow, Uchiha Gen's second wave of attacks was already upon it.

Crackle!!!

Snap!

With a snap of the boy's fingers, the air around him suddenly grew agitated. Tiny arcs of electricity crackled through the gaps in the patterns of his Susanoo armor, and pale blue electrical light abruptly surged up and spread outward.

Surging lightning poured from Uchiha Gen's body, racing along the contours of the ground beneath his feet and forming a densely woven electromagnetic net that instantly enveloped the entire area around Kazzek.

"Game... over."

Bzzzz!!!!!

As the boy's confident words fell, violent lightning instantly coiled around Kazzek's limbs and torso. Intense, paralyzing currents seeped into its body through the gaps in its exoskeleton, savaging its sensory nerves and muscular control.

Wrapped in lightning, Kazzek began convulsing violently. It struggled to rise and launch a surprise attack, only to be held fast by electromagnetic force. Electricity coursed all over its body, leaving it rigid.

Under that electromagnetic restraint, the speed and explosive power Kazzek excelled at seemed to have been completely sealed away.

Its resistance to Lightning Release chakra was as poor as ever. It still needed further optimization... Still, although Battle Bug No. 9527 had poor Lightning Release resistance, its combat capabilities should have been enough to completely overwhelm Chunin, or even... hold its own against an ordinary Jonin.

Uchiha Gen's strength... didn't seem much worse than that genius from the Hatake Clan. No... with a three-tomoe Sharingan and such practiced use of the technique that turned Susanoo into armor, his strength... might very well have already... Hmm, another monster...?

Shibi Aburame stood outside the battlefield, his eyes behind his sunglasses filled with shock and amazement.

As this insect's creator, he knew exactly how formidable its combat power was. It was no exaggeration to say that even a Jonin-level ninja taking its close-range surprise attack head-on could suffer severe injuries with the slightest lapse in attention.

Yet Uchiha Gen, who had only just graduated, had maintained steady suppression throughout the fight. His attacks, defenses, advances, and retreats had been flawless, and he even... had strength to spare.

As he pondered, Shibi Aburame's body began to disperse.

At the same time, tiny holes opened in the ground beside Kazzek within the pool of lightning. Small black insects continuously poured out, swiftly assembling into Shibi Aburame's body.

Standing amid the sea of lightning, Shibi Aburame took the gourd off his back and formed hand seals with one hand.

Amid waves of buzzing, insects with deep purple bodies swiftly flew out of the gourd and began "devouring" the lightning Uchiha Gen had released.

In the blink of an eye, all the electricity around Kazzek was swept away.

Shibi Aburame slowly stepped forward. Looking at Kazzek sprawled on the ground, then at Uchiha Gen calmly watching him from the side, he could not help voicing his heartfelt praise.

"Perfect transitions between offense and defense, exceptional anticipation and control of the battle. Whether it's your application of Uchiha ocular techniques, your combat ability, or those things you've demonstrated... all of it far exceeded my expectations. Should I say, just what I'd expect from an Uchiha?"

With that, Shibi Aburame raised a hand and tapped the gourd. After drawing all the insects back inside, including Kazzek, he slung it onto his back.

"Likewise, you two... did very well too. Both Asuma Sarutobi's use of combination ninjutsu and Kurenai Yuhi's use of genjutsu through her own kekkei genkai could be considered excellent."

With Uchiha Gen's assessment over, Shibi Aburame turned toward Kurenai Yuhi and Asuma Sarutobi, who had collapsed from exhaustion after dealing with too many Kikaichū, and offered his evaluation.

"T-teacher, why was Uchiha Gen's test different from ours?? And that huge insect that suddenly appeared just now-was that one of the Aburame Clan's legendary weapons of war??"

On the grass nearby, Asuma Sarutobi lay spread-eagled on the ground, panting heavily as he asked. He had used large-scale combination ninjutsu several times while dealing with the swarms, so he had consumed quite a lot of chakra.

A weapon of war... Another thing that wasn't recorded in the Uchiha Clan's archives... So what kind of hellish thing was this now?

Nearby, Uchiha Gen was slightly surprised to hear this. He turned toward Shibi Aburame, a hint of curiosity in his eyes.

In truth, the Uchiha Clan generally kept few records of other ninja clans. Apart from certain clans the Uchiha acknowledged as "fairly decent" or "somewhat interesting," which received "extensive" coverage, the rest were generally glossed over in a single line whenever possible.

For instance, Uchiha Gen had never learned of the Aburame Clan's "weapons of war" that Asuma Sarutobi had just mentioned, at least not from the Uchiha Clan's existing records.

Uchiha Gen did know a little about other weapons of war, though. For example... a certain Uchiha great-granny.

"That was Battle Bug No. 9527. It could be considered... a half-finished specimen of my latest insect development. You must all be exhausted from this assessment. Making you look so bedraggled when we've only just met was rather rude of me.

"To make up for it, I'll treat everyone to barbecue. Let's call it a celebration of Team 8's formation. Besides, a Jonin team leader treating their students to a meal seems to be a tradition."

After putting away all his insects, Shibi Aburame spoke softly to the three of them.

So every newly formed team had to have barbecue.

Dismissing the Susanoo armor around him, Uchiha Gen silently snarked.

Konoha.

Inside the Akimichi Clan's barbecue restaurant.

Shibi Aburame gazed at the mountain of barbecue plates piled in front of him, somewhat speechless.

Was Lord Hokage... usually abusing his own child?

In front of him, Asuma Sarutobi was wolfing down food as though he had never eaten before.

Every time a plate of meat finished cooking, after a portion was shared with Uchiha Gen and Kurenai Yuhi, Asuma Sarutobi stuffed everything left into his mouth in a single bite.