Chapter 53:
"What? It's not a one-on-one duel, but Shuyu taking on all three of us at once?!" Boruto exclaimed after hearing Sasuke explain the rules.
It was one thing to treat the opponent as a real enemy in battle—after all, with Sasuke around, there was no way anyone would accidentally get killed. But now that Shuyu was going to face all three of them at the same time, Boruto wasn't having it. That was clearly underestimating him, Boruto—the one who never really took Naruto seriously.
"Idiot Boruto, Shuyu was already really strong back in the Ninja Academy. He even awakened the Three Tomoe Sharingan. And most importantly, he's just had a month of training from Dad. Honestly, even if the three of us team up now, we still might not win," Sarada said as she smacked Boruto on the head.
"Hey, Sarada! How many times do I have to tell you—stop hitting my head!" Boruto yelled, clutching his forehead.
"You two really get along well, don't you?" Mitsuki said with a smile as he watched them bicker.
"We do NOT!" Boruto and Sarada shouted in unison.
When it came to denying their relationship, Boruto and Sarada always displayed a perfect, uncanny synchronicity.
"Alright, let's begin the battle."
The moment Sasuke's voice fell, Boruto, Sarada, and Mitsuki instantly spread out, forming a triangle with Shuyu at the center.
Shuyu's Three Tomoe Sharingan scanned his surroundings. Even though he was facing three kids, Uchiha Itachi didn't let his guard down for a second.
Never underestimating a single opponent—that's a lesson anyone who survived the wartime era learned by heart.
When dealing with multiple opponents, the strategy was simple: eliminate the weakest first.
Among the three, Mitsuki was undoubtedly the strongest, Boruto the most unpredictable, and Sarada the most stable.
"So fast!"
Sarada widened her single Tomoe Sharingan, but she still couldn't follow Shuyu's Body Flicker Technique. The last time she'd encountered someone this fast was the Sixth Hokage, Kakashi.
Uchiha Itachi decided to target Boruto first. Boruto's unpredictability made him the most dangerous—he could either mess up at a critical moment or suddenly pull off a surprising feat.
Unpredictability is the last thing anyone wants in a battle.
"Hmph, just who I wanted." Despite being chosen as the first target, Boruto didn't panic. He used the Substitution Jutsu to turn into a log and simultaneously tossed out a smoke bomb.
Knowing he'd be up against Shuyu, Boruto had prepared these tools in advance. Sasuke, who had noticed Boruto's preparations, didn't say anything—after all, this was the essence of a ninja's combat strategy.
"A smoke bomb and a Substitution Jutsu..." Although he hadn't actually seen Boruto use the jutsu due to the smoke, Shuyu could tell from the impact of his kick that it had been a substitution.
"Wind Release: Great Breakthrough."
A simple C-rank jutsu, but perfect for dispersing smoke.
As the smoke cleared, ten Borutos appeared.
"Mitsuki and Sarada are gone... I see—Shadow Clones combined with Transformation Jutsu..." Uchiha Itachi immediately assessed the situation.
Based on Boruto's strength, he could create at most four Shadow Clones. Including his original self, that made five. But now there were ten Borutos. That meant three of them were Mitsuki (clones and real body), and two were Sarada.
In essence, Boruto's plan was a psychological tactic.
An uninformed enemy would be overwhelmed trying to fend off ten Boruto clones while also staying wary of hidden sneak attacks from Mitsuki and Sarada. Eventually, the pressure would wear them down, leading to an opening for a decisive blow.
But this kind of plan only worked against enemies unfamiliar with their abilities—or those who weren't that strong to begin with. Someone like Uchiha Itachi, who had spent plenty of time around Boruto, Mitsuki, and Sarada in the Ninja Academy, had obviously done his homework.
With accurate analysis, he could now focus entirely on the ten Borutos without worrying about surprise attacks.
"Your plan won't work on me. Besides..." As he spoke, Shuyu threw two shuriken. One struck the other midair, altering their flight paths.
One shuriken hit a clone and instantly dispelled it. The other was blocked.
"Found the real one."
While Shadow Clones had autonomy, they weren't as agile as the original. They charged straight in and didn't dodge attacks.
Uchiha Itachi Body Flickered in front of the Boruto who blocked the shuriken and kicked him in the stomach. He didn't disappear in a puff of smoke—instead, he was sent flying and reverted back to Sarada.
"Sarada!" Boruto shouted in concern. "Damn it, everyone, all at once!"
"It's about time we ended this."
Although he had deliberately slowed down his hand signs, Uchiha Itachi's speed was still incredibly fast—only Sarada, with her single Tomoe Sharingan, could barely follow them.
"This is... Boruto, watch out! It's the Phoenix Sage Fire Technique!"
Though it was only a C-rank jutsu, Phoenix Sage Fire Technique was notoriously difficult. It required extremely precise chakra control—something most Genin didn't have the patience or skill to train. Most believed more chakra was always better.
While Shadow Clones could act independently, they had very low durability. If they didn't have enough chakra allocated, they'd disperse with the slightest hit.
Flames spewed from Shuyu's mouth. The Boruto clones charging at him had no time to react. One by one, they vanished into white mist upon contact.
After the clones disappeared, only Sarada—who had been kicked away earlier—and the real Boruto standing at his original spot remained.
"Shuyu, you should update your intel. We haven't exactly been slacking off this past month."
In other words, one of them had increased their limit for creating Shadow Clones.
A small white snake slithered up to Shuyu's feet. If he had the Byakugan, he would have noticed the chakra inside it. Unfortunately, the Sharingan didn't have chakra detection abilities.
With a puff of smoke, the snake transformed into Mitsuki. Thanks to his soft-body modifications, he wrapped all four limbs around Shuyu's limbs.
"This match... is our victory—what's going on...? There's no way I... could fall for a genjutsu..." Boruto muttered as he walked up to Shuyu—then raised a kunai to Mitsuki's neck.
Boruto had been cautious the whole battle, carefully monitoring any chakra anomalies in his body.
Genjutsu was powerful and troublesome, but it wasn't invincible.
In simple terms, genjutsu disrupted the chakra flow inside the target, thereby affecting their five senses. Genjutsu: Release realigned that chakra flow—hence, why it worked against most illusions.
However, advanced genjutsu users could deceive not only the senses but also the body itself.
So while it looked like the target used Genjutsu: Release, in reality, they never fixed their chakra at all.
"Battle over—draw!"
At Sasuke's announcement, Mitsuki let go of Shuyu, and Boruto regained control over his body.
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