Konoha Crush Begins

The next day, Might Guy took Uzumaki Hane to a training ground.

Might Guy said, "We'll start with something simple today. Start doing push-ups and don't stop until I say so."

Uzumaki Hane thought little of it at first. With his physical condition, push-ups were nothing.

Soon, Uzumaki Hane realized he had underestimated this training. How could pushing past his physical limits be so simple? He spent the entire day doing push-ups like mad, with barely any rest. By the time Might Guy announced they were finished, Uzumaki Hane was nearly unconscious.

Uzumaki Hane forced himself home. He was utterly exhausted and didn't know whether he could keep going tomorrow.

His stomach was already growling, so Uzumaki Hane had to force himself to cook. As he watched the rising flames, he felt a mad urge to eat them, though he didn't know why. His right hand moved beyond his control and reached into the fire. Uzumaki Hane quickly came to his senses and hurriedly turned his right hand into magma. The flames flowed straight into it, and warmth spread through his body. Some of his strength returned.

Uzumaki Hane exclaimed, "Magma can devour flames. Could devouring flames restore my strength?" To test it, he lit a fire, turned his right hand into magma, and put it in the flames. The fire was devoured again, and Uzumaki Hane felt a little more of his strength return. He repeated the process more than ten times before he fully recovered. Uzumaki Hane was excited. Now he would have more time to train.

Afterward, Uzumaki Hane went to his old training ground and spent the whole night training his Chakra and the Magma-Magma Fruit, devouring flames to recover whenever he grew tired.

The next day, Uzumaki returned to the training ground. Today's training was to run around the village while doing a handstand. That night, he continued training his Chakra and the Magma-Magma Fruit.

The third day, ...

The fourth day, ...

Time flew by, and a month passed. Every day, he trained beyond his limits. Uzumaki Hane hadn't expected himself to actually keep it up. Although his build hadn't changed, his body was now full of explosive power. He estimated that he was about twice as strong as he had been a month ago.

His Chakra had also grown at a terrifying rate. Uzumaki Hane estimated that he now had roughly as much Chakra as a peak Chunin. He had also discovered that the stronger his Chakra grew, the more powerful the Magma-Magma Fruit became. His strength had grown considerably, enough to rival even a Special Jōnin.

Might Guy looked at Uzumaki Hane. He had thought Uzumaki Hane wouldn't last through the first day, but to his surprise, he had been perfectly fine on the second. He had kept going for a whole month and progressed incredibly fast. He was practically a genius born for Taijutsu.

Might Guy said, "Your Taijutsu has reached a level where you can train in the Eight Gates Released Formation."

Uzumaki Hane was thrilled. After a month of grueling training, the day had finally come.

Uzumaki Hane looked at Might Guy expectantly. He had thought Guy would get fired up as usual, but instead, Guy fell into deep thought. After a long while, he took a key from inside his clothes and tossed it to Uzumaki Hane. Uzumaki Hane caught it and looked at him in confusion.

Might Guy said, "Your father gave me that. He left his improved version of the Eight Gates Released Formation in a hidden compartment in his room. It's an Eight Gates Released Formation that belongs to your family's Kekkei Genkai. Only members of your family can train in it. Your father told me to hand the key over only when a member of your family awakened his Kekkei Genkai."

Uzumaki Hane was puzzled. Wasn't he a member of the Uzumaki Clan? And just who was his father? He seemed very mysterious, and there didn't seem to be anyone like him in the original story.

Might Guy shouted, "Today's the final match of the Chunin exam. Aren't you coming to watch? This is youth!" His figure flashed, and he leaped swiftly through the branches. He was already nearly out of Uzumaki Hane's sight. Uzumaki Hane wanted to ask about his father, but he had no chance.

Uzumaki Hane thought, Konoha Crush is about to begin. There's no time to think about this. I'd better go see it for myself. He leaped onto a branch and headed after Might Guy.

Uzumaki Hane soon caught up with Might Guy. The two picked up Rock Lee at the hospital and headed to the venue together. When they arrived, Kakashi had just brought Sasuke there. Uzumaki Hane went up to the stands and silently watched below.

Sasuke and Gaara stood on opposite sides, watching each other. Countless grains of sand poured from the gourd on Gaara's back. Sasuke made the first probing move, throwing several darts. Gaara formed a Sand Clone, which easily caught the darts before spitting out a torrent of sand. Sasuke jumped clear and appeared above the Sand Clone, kicking down at it, but the clone easily blocked him.

Sasuke landed and drove his left fist into the Sand Clone. It didn't budge, instead threatening to engulf his hand. Sasuke smashed the clone apart with a powerful punch from his right hand. Then he covered the distance in a few strides, arriving in front of Gaara. Gaara's sand automatically rose to protect him, blocking Sasuke's path.

The corner of Sasuke's mouth curled up, and he vanished from where he stood. He appeared behind Gaara in an instant, moving at astonishing speed, and sent him flying with a punch. It was the Taijutsu Sasuke had copied from Rock Lee.

Sasuke was so fast that Gaara's sand couldn't keep up at all. Gaara could only take his attacks.

Having suffered at Sasuke's hands, Gaara formed Hand Seals, and sand quickly surrounded him.

Seeing this, Sasuke charged and threw a punch, but he was a step too late. His fist struck the sand sphere without damaging it and was pierced instead. Sasuke began attacking the sphere furiously, but its defense was astonishing, and he couldn't break through. It also thrust out pillars of sand, forcing Sasuke to stop.

Inside, Gaara began forming Hand Seals. Sasuke didn't know what Gaara was planning, so he decided to use Chidori. He went to the wall and planted his feet against it, gathering highly concentrated Chakra in his hand. With a shout, he charged at the sand sphere. Bang! He punched a large hole through it, his hand passing through the sphere and injuring Gaara.

Uzumaki Hane watched Sasuke and murmured, "So that's Chidori?"

Suddenly, Sasuke let out a cry and struggled to pull his arm free. A strange arm stretched out, and Uzumaki Hane said gravely, "One-Tail Shukaku." Fortunately, Gaara finally suppressed Shukaku, and the entire sand sphere broke apart.

Just then, countless white feathers rained down from the sky. Uzumaki Hane murmured, "It's begun." He didn't know whether he was worried or excited. A month of frenzied training had changed him a great deal.

Uzumaki Hane was prepared. He had deliberately learned Genjutsu a month ago. He rapidly formed Hand Seals with both hands and dispelled the Genjutsu. Most of the people at the venue had fallen under it and fallen asleep.

Orochimaru took the Third Hokage hostage and announced that Konoha Crush had officially begun. Sand and Cloud ninja began their invasion.

Orochimaru took the Third Hokage hostage onto the rooftop and used the Impure World Reincarnation Jutsu to summon the First Hokage and the Second Hokage. An earth-shaking battle between Hokage-level fighters was about to begin.