Chapter 148: Forbidden Technique: Multiple Shadow Clones, Sasuke's Mentality Collapsed!
Match after match concluded. The wails of the losers and the cheers of the victors intertwined, forming the main melody of the Ninja School at this moment.
Finally, under everyone's anticipation and gaze, Iruka Umino took a deep breath and, with all his might, shouted out the names for the final showdown.
"Final Battle! Top Student Competition! Uzumaki Naruto versus Uchiha Sasuke!"
Boom! The entire training ground instantly ignited. All eyes focused simultaneously on the 2 protagonists.
One was the Fifth Hokage's direct disciple, Uzumaki Naruto, who had transformed from the former dead-last of the entire school into the biggest dark horse of this year's test. The other was the genius of the Uchiha Clan, Uchiha Sasuke, the youngest son of the former Uchiha Clan head, hailed as the strongest rookie of this year's class.
"Sasuke-kun! You can do it!" "You must defeat that dead-last!" Below the stage, a group of girls, led by Yamanaka Ino, had already begun cheering for Sasuke.
Amidst the cheers, Uchiha Sasuke walked onto the stage with his hands in his pockets and a cool expression. Uzumaki Naruto grinned, striding onto the stage and standing opposite Sasuke.
"Sasuke! I've been waiting for this day for a long time!" Naruto's eyes burned with fierce fighting intent.
Uchiha Sasuke looked at Naruto with disdain. "Dead-last. You really have the guts to stand here. What, do you think defeating a few nobodies qualifies you to be compared with me?"
Sasuke's taunt instantly enraged Naruto. "You guy…" Naruto's fists instantly clenched.
"Don't misunderstand, Naruto," Uchiha Sasuke continued. "I'm standing here today not to contend for the top student position with a dead-last like you. I'm here to tell everyone that Uchiha will always be the strongest. And you are merely an insignificant stepping stone I'm using to prove that point. I want to prove that the Fifth Hokage chose the wrong disciple. He should have chosen me. Only I, Uchiha Sasuke, am worthy of the Hokage's disciple status!"
These words instantly pushed Naruto's anger to its peak. Insult him, he could tolerate. But insulting his most revered teacher was absolutely unacceptable!
"Sasuke!" Naruto let out an angry roar. "Shut your mouth! I'll make you pay for what you just said!"
"Is that so? With just you?" Uchiha Sasuke sneered.
Iruka Umino looked at the 2 tense figures on the stage, sighing inwardly, but still raised his hand high. "Match… begin!"
The moment his words fell, Uchiha Sasuke moved. His figure instantly vanished from his original spot. Too fast!
The students below the stage only felt a blur before their eyes, and Sasuke had already appeared in front of Naruto. A sharp whip kick, accompanied by the sound of cutting wind, fiercely swept towards Naruto's neck.
Naruto instinctively leaned back to his limit. Whoosh! Sasuke's foot almost grazed Naruto's nose as it swept past. The sharp gust of wind instantly startled Naruto. That was close!
Naruto immediately jumped back, trying to create distance. But Sasuke's offensive showed no pause, immediately following up. Fist, elbow, knee, leg. Every movement carried a whistling force. That was the most orthodox Uchiha-style taijutsu, passed down by the Uchiha Clan.
Bang! Bang! Bang! Naruto could only passively block, constantly retreating. Every one of Sasuke's attacks precisely struck Naruto's defensive gaps, leaving him in a sorry state.
"Do you see that?" Inuzuka Kiba shouted excitedly from below the stage. "This is true strength! Naruto, that guy, has no power to fight back against Sasuke!"
Hyūga Hinata nervously clutched the corner of her clothes, her palms covered in sweat. "Naruto-kun…"
On the high platform, Kurenai Yūhi's brows also furrowed slightly. Sasuke's taijutsu was indeed far superior to his peers, truly worthy of being called a genius of the Uchiha.
On the stage, Sasuke seized Naruto's opening and landed a heavy punch squarely on Naruto's abdomen.
"Ugh!" Naruto grunted, staggering back several steps. "Cough, cough…" Naruto clutched his stomach, coughing violently.
Uchiha Sasuke slowly retracted his fist, looking disdainfully at Naruto, who was holding his stomach. "It's over, dead-last. This is the insurmountable gap between you and me." Uchiha Sasuke intended to claim the top student position with the most arrogant and overwhelming posture.
"It's… not… over yet…" "Warm-up is over."
Sasuke's brows furrowed. "What did you say?"
Naruto grinned, revealing a set of white teeth. "I said, Sasuke. To deal with a genius like you, I've… been preparing for a long time!" Naruto placed his hands in front of his chest, beginning to form hand signs.
"You… what are you going to do?" For some reason, a strong sense of unease suddenly rose in Sasuke's heart.
"This is something I specifically prepared for you." Naruto looked at Sasuke's face, which was filled with astonishment, and smiled even more brightly. "Take this, Sasuke! Multiple Shadow Clone Jutsu!"
Boom! Accompanied by Naruto's loud shout, a dense white smoke exploded centered around him, instantly engulfing the entire stage.
"What?" "A smoke bomb? Such a cheap trick…" Sasuke instinctively took a step back, vigilantly watching the smoke.
The students below the stage also craned their necks, looking utterly bewildered.
"What's going on?" "Running away with smoke if he can't win? How disgraceful!" Inuzuka Kiba scoffed disdainfully.
However, the next second, when the smoke cleared, everyone was stunned by the sight before them. On the stage, it was no longer just one Naruto, but 10, 20! Densely packed, dozens of identical Uzumaki Naruto filled half of the stage. Some were laughing with hands on their hips, some were making faces at Sasuke, and some were slinging arms around each other's shoulders.
"This… this… this…" Iruka stood on the high platform, his finger trembling as he pointed at the stage, completely unable to utter a complete sentence. Shadow Clone Jutsu?No! That's not right!
"It's… a forbidden jutsu!" "It's the jutsu developed by the Second Hokage—Multiple Shadow Clone Jutsu!" Akira… actually taught this jutsu to Naruto!
Uchiha Sasuke's face, at this moment, turned incredibly pale. "No… impossible… This must be a genjutsu! It's just an ordinary illusion!" Sasuke frantically told himself in his mind. He suddenly bit the tip of his tongue, the intense pain instantly clearing his mind. The scene before him had not changed in the slightest. It's not a genjutsu! These… are all real!
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