"Naruto, leave this guy to me!"
Sasuke Uchiha gritted his teeth. He had heard the condescending tone in Ao's words, as if he believed Sasuke was unworthy of the Uchiha clan's famed reputation. For Sasuke, whose goal was to restore his clan, this was something he couldn't accept. He had to prove to everyone that he would restore the honor of the Uchiha and the Sharingan.
Naruto glanced from Ao to the determined Sasuke and said in a low voice, "This guy looks tough..."
"The more important he is," Sasuke sneered as he rushed forward with a kunai, "the more satisfying it will be to kill him!" He dashed across the water's surface, sending a spray of waves into the air.
It was clear Sasuke had miscalculated. The enemy he faced was a quiet master of taijutsu. In the swift exchange of fists and palms, Ao kicked the kunai right out of Sasuke's hand.
However, that wasn't enough to scare the young Uchiha. His Sharingan stared intently at his opponent's movements, analyzing where the next attack would land. Using his Sharingan, Sasuke found an opening. He gathered chakra in his fist and struck at Ao's abdomen.
To his surprise, Ao suddenly pulled back his arm and caught Sasuke's fist in his open palm.
"Brat, I've already seen your chakra flow."
Ao had tracked the path of chakra accumulating in Sasuke's body. As he held Sasuke's fist, his other hand formed a sign and struck Sasuke's arm. As a Byakugan user, Ao was also skilled at striking pressure points. After the point on his shoulder was sealed, Sasuke immediately felt his chakra stagnate, and strength drained from his arm.
Sasuke's eyes widened. He desperately tried to force his chakra through the sealed point. "How is this possible...?"
"It seems you don't know much about your own village's kekkei genkai." Ao's fingers landed on Sasuke's chest again, sealing the major pressure points around his body and completely halting his chakra circulation. The force of the strikes was immense, almost enough to pierce Sasuke's body. The twelve-year-old boy couldn't help but murmur in pain.
When Kakashi Hatake woke up, this was the scene he saw. His expression turned grim. "That stolen Byakugan..."
"Byakugan?"
"That's right. Only the Byakugan can see the body's pressure points." Kakashi struggled to gather his own chakra, but because his points had also been sealed, it was futile.
He lowered his head and said, "The Byakugan, the one kekkei genkai Konoha was least likely to lose, was actually stolen during the Great Ninja War..."
Sakura Haruno covered her mouth in shock. "The Byakugan... Isn't that from the Hyuga, the village's largest clan?"
"Correct." Kakashi had heard a rumor about it long ago. Back then, the Hyuga clan's policy regarding the main and branch families was not so strict. For ninjas who branched off, the Caged Bird Seal would only be engraved on the second generation.
However, during a Great Ninja War, a main family member died in battle, and an enemy took one of his Byakugan. That incident intensified the conflict between the Hyuga main and branch families.
After that, as soon as an heir to the main family was chosen, the branch family members were immediately branded with the Caged Bird seal. That stolen Byakugan had been a mystery ever since. It turned out a Mist ninja had obtained it and successfully transplanted it into Ao.
Sakura turned her head, her gaze resting on Sasuke's stiff body. "Kakashi-sensei, can't Sasuke beat him?"
"Sasuke has already lost." Kakashi shook his head, watching Naruto, who had just finished off the last Mist chunin and was now walking toward the center of the battlefield. "If Naruto can't do it either, they might really take us all back to the Mist Village..."
As a jonin, Kakashi's judgment was impeccable. Sasuke's situation was worse than they had imagined. After his chakra flow was stopped, he didn't even have a chance to escape. And Sakura's strength wasn't enough to defeat an ordinary chunin, let alone Ao, who clearly held a more important status and greater power.
Ao ignored the boy's struggle and forcefully grabbed Sasuke by the neck. He slowly raised his other hand, intending to take Sasuke's Sharingan.
In past wars, the Uchiha and the Mist had fought many times, but since the Mist couldn't defeat their enemies, they rarely had the chance to obtain a Sharingan. If they could get one now, even a two-tomoe Sharingan, it would be enough to make the village higher-ups ecstatic.
After the Kaguya clan rebelled, the Land of Water fell into civil war, leading to the loss of many kekkei genkai. The current Mist Village was in decline and began to value any power it could get.
The Sharingan was a top-tier prize. Although there were limitations for non-clan members, it was still far superior to other kekkei genkai. Look at Kakashi—a non-clan member who had mastered a thousand jutsu precisely because of the Sharingan's copying ability.
"Let go of him!"
Naruto rushed up with a Rasengan forming in his palm. The chakra vortex landed between the two, instantly separating Ao and Sasuke. To avoid being hit directly, Ao had to dodge, letting go of the boy.
He looked down at the new Rasengan forming in Naruto's palm and said with some curiosity, "A jutsu with no hand seals? Another little genius?"
What greeted Ao was not a boastful declaration, but a small, spiraling projectile.
Ao's Byakugan instantly saw its trajectory. Instead of dodging, he formed hand seals. "Water Style: Water Formation Wall!"
A wall of water rose from the sea, blocking the fast-moving projectile. A huge splash of water flew up, and the entire wall was nearly pierced by it. Only a thin curtain of water remained, through which they could see the small projectile gradually disappear.
Ao watched in horror as the Rasengan's chakra was exhausted. He had only meant to test its power, but he hadn't expected such a small-looking ninjutsu to have enough power to almost break through his defense.
However, when Ao looked back at Naruto, he saw another Rasengan forming in his hand, its size constantly expanding. The middle-aged man from the Mist Village couldn't hold back. Watching Naruto's action, he preemptively launched an attack. "Water Style: Water Dragon Bullet Jutsu!"
A huge water dragon swam out from the surging sea waves. In an environment like the ocean, a Mist ninja's Water Style was twice as effective. The massive dragon roared and charged toward Naruto. The sense of pressure from its size even surpassed the Water Dragon Bullet cast by Senior Kosuke.
"Sealing Jutsu: Devour!"
Naruto released the Rasengan and grabbed the roaring water dragon's head with one hand, completely absorbing the chakra it carried. A sky-full of seawater fell, drenching his jacket.
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Bonus:
"I was a fool. Truly." Naruto Uzumaki's voice was quiet, almost shaky. "I only knew that Mist ninjas were shameless enough to send chunin to bully us genin… I didn't realize their jonin would stoop that low too."
He paused, staring at the waves. "We had just set sail, and I started studying ninjutsu immediately. I gave Sasuke a notebook and told him to practice walking on water. He obeyed every word. While he was out, I focused on my own experiments: the Rasen-Projectile, the Rasen-Barrage, the Rasen-Shuriken… And then, by accident, I launched the Rasen-Shuriken."
"I shouted for Sasuke to dodge, but there was no answer. I jumped into the sea, but there was nothing—just his headband. He wouldn't leave to train somewhere else. I looked everywhere… but he was gone."
Naruto's hands shook. "I begged Kakashi and Sakura to help me search. Hours passed. In the afternoon, we saw it—a jacket, floating on the water, with the Uchiha crest. Kakashi didn't even need to say it. 'This is bad,' he murmured. 'We've run into a Mist jonin.'"
"When we arrived at the Mist Village… both of Sasuke's Sharingan had been taken. Yet he still clutched my notebook in his hand."
Naruto broke down completely, sobbing, unable to form words.
—Excerpt from Hatake Kakashi's My Foolish Students