The burly Cloud ninja's eyes narrowed, his gaze fixed on the cyclone of chakra in the yellow-haired boy's palm. "You think you can actually hit me with that?"
"..."
Cold sweat dripped down Naruto Uzumaki's forehead. He clearly wasn't confident he could land the hit, but he kept pouring more and more chakra into the Rasengan.
The Rasengan in his palm swelled in size as he simultaneously compressed the chakra within, trying to solidify its power. The sphere of energy was becoming increasingly unstable.
The Cloud ninja remained wary, afraid to give the kid an opening. A strange stalemate settled between them.
But both of them knew that the moment Naruto's jutsu either failed or was unleashed, the stalemate would be broken. If Naruto's attack missed, the Cloud ninja's incredible speed and expert sword skills would ensure he wouldn't get a second chance to form another jutsu.
Naruto knew that if this jutsu failed and the enemy truly pushed him into a life-or-death situation, his only option would be to release the Nine-Tails. And while the fox gave him chakra from time to time, it didn't exactly seem like the charitable type.
The Cloud ninja watched as the aura from the Rasengan grew stronger, a sheen of sweat forming on his own nose. "Kid, how much longer can you hold on?"
He didn't dare relax. He had a feeling that if the kid's jutsu connected, it would instantly take him out of the fight. As an elite jonin of some renown in the Cloud Village, being defeated by a mere Konoha genin would be a great shame.
"..."
Naruto stared at his opponent's expression, not daring to let his guard down. He had to maintain his Rasengan while also watching for a sudden attack.
The Rasengan continued to expand. Just as it seemed about to explode, Naruto managed to compress it back to its original size.
I hope this works on the first try, Naruto thought. If it fails, I'll just release the chakra as a spiral shockwave...
He flipped his palm, changing the Rasengan's form. A planetary ring began to form around the central sphere. The solidified chakra inside the Rasengan finally seemed to have a place to go, steadily filling the newly formed ring.
Naruto's brow, which had been tightly furrowed, finally relaxed. He looked at the transformed jutsu in his palm with a hint of doubt and breathed a sigh of relief. "Did it actually work?"
But in the next moment, he felt the jutsu begin to collapse. The chakra from the central sphere was leaking out to fill the outer ring, which wasn't how he had designed the technique to work at all.
No... it failed!
Naruto watched as the Rasengan in his palm completely dissipated, leaving only the outer ring. It was dense with chakra, but it didn't feel very powerful.
The burly Cloud ninja, however, didn't understand what had happened. He thought Naruto's jutsu was complete, and his expression grew even more tense.
The corner of Naruto's eye twitched. He clenched his fist, and as he did, the planetary ring shattered and wrapped around it.
The boy twisted his body and threw a punch.
Bang!
The sudden release of chakra created a massive blast of air that tore through everything in front of him. Towering trees, dense bushes, and hard stones were all obliterated. A deep trench, several hundred meters long, was carved into the earth.
Even though the Cloud ninja was incredibly fast thanks to his Lightning Style enhancement and tried to dodge, the attack's range was simply too wide. He managed to avoid a fatal blow, but that was all.
"What a terrifying kid..." The Cloud ninja was a wreck. His right arm, which had held his sword, was shattered, and blood seeped from the wound.
Naruto tightened his grip on his kunai and walked toward his enemy step by step. He looked up at the man's face. "Looks like I've won."
The burly Cloud ninja sneered. "Heh… little guy, you don't have the guts to kill me, do you?"
"I wouldn't be so sure," Naruto said, raising his eyebrows. He pressed the kunai against his enemy's throat. "Do you think I'm a coward who's afraid to take a life?"
"No," the Cloud ninja shook his head with a look of pure disdain. "I'm not just talking about you. All of you Konoha ninjas are cowards!"
Sasuke Uchiha, ignoring his own injuries, gritted his teeth and forced himself to stand. "Naruto, just kill him!"
"Pah, you think you have it in you?" the Cloud ninja spat, then laughed sinisterly. "Back then, our Cloud Village forced your Third Hokage to hand over the head of the Hyuga clan. That old geezer was so cowardly he didn't even dare make a peep!"
This man was cursing the Hokage right in front of them.
Even Sakura couldn't stand it. "What nonsense are you talking about!" she said angrily. "How dare you slander Lord Hokage!"
"Heh, it's not nonsense," the Cloud ninja smiled contemptuously. "I know all about it. Nine years ago, the head of the Hyuga clan killed a ninja from our village. That old man Sarutobi didn't dare offend us, so he secretly handed over a scapegoat."
He locked eyes with Naruto. "If you kill me today, what do you think that old man Sarutobi will do to you once the Cloud Village finds out? Will he tie you up and hand you over to us? Or will he just cut off your heads and send them to the Land of Lightning?"
Hearing this, Sakura's expression filled with fear. She looked at her teammates in a panic, her voice trembling. "What he said... it's not true, is it? How could Lord Hokage treat the village's own ninjas like that?"
In the little girl's mind, Hiruzen Sarutobi was the kindest old man, always smiling benevolently and speaking gently to the village children. How could he do something like that?
"Some of it is probably true," Naruto nodded lightly.
He remembered a snowy day when he had taken a lost little girl with white eyes home. On the way, he saw Hyuga clan members wearing white cloths around their waists, which meant they were holding a funeral.
He remembered it because he had been curious why a little girl with such a large home and so many family members would still be sad. He would have been three years old then, exactly nine years ago.
"Then what do we do?" Sakura asked nervously. "He almost killed us. Are we just going to let him go?"
"No. We kill him," Sasuke said, closing his eyes. "Sakura, haven't you noticed? He's asking to be killed."
Sakura was confused. Did she misunderstand something? Everything she heard sounded like a threat, like he was telling them they had to let him go.
Sasuke explained in a low voice, "He insulted the Third Hokage in front of Konoha ninjas. He's constantly provoking Naruto, the very person who holds his life in his hands. He's threatening that if we don't kill him, he'll get his revenge."
As Sasuke spoke, the Cloud ninja's face gradually turned pale. It was clear Sasuke's words had hit their mark.
Sasuke sighed. "Cloud ninja are notoriously proud. For him, defeat is a deep shame."
"Since you've figured it out, then kill me!" the Cloud ninja shouted, glancing at Naruto. "As a Cloud ninja, dying on the battlefield at the hands of an enemy is a warrior's honor!"
"Konoha kid, I respect you as a powerful ninja!"
"Even though you're just a genin now, you'll definitely become famous throughout the world one day. To die by your hand is no small honor!"
-----
Bonus:
Bukai: "I believe you'll become someone great one day. Dying by your hand would be an honor!"
Naruto Uzumaki: "Uh… if you trust me that much, that's kinda a lot of pressure…"
Bukai: "Hahaha! Who knows, maybe someday the ninja world will tell stories of my legend!"
Naruto: "Yeah… sure."
The Legend:"The elite jonin of the Hidden Cloud, Bukai, and the young Hokage-to-be, Naruto Uzumaki, met in fierce battle. They fought through the night. Naruto was gravely wounded, and Bukai was defeated by a single blow—dying heroically on the spot."
The Actual Record:"Jonin Bukai — killed by Leaf genin Naruto Uzumaki. A great humiliation for the Hidden Cloud Village."