Bang, bang, bang…
As the heavy thuds of impacts kept sounding—like someone pounding on a sack—an utterly shocking scene unfolded before the students and teachers, leaving them too stunned to speak.
Minato, who had just been blasted away by a single punch from Gojo Yoru, hadn't even hit the ground before he was kicked around like a ball—sent flying again and again by three Gojo Yorus.
If those three Yorus had been his real body plus shadow clones, it wouldn't have been so unbelievable.
But the problem was this: when one "Yoru" launched Minato away, another "Yoru" would rush—at an even faster pace—to get in front of Minato's flight path and knock him away again.
And the way Yoru "rushed" wasn't a Body Flicker so fast it vanished from sight. It was a speed only slightly faster than Minato's backward flight—yet he moved by passing straight through Minato's body.
Minato wasn't helplessly taking it, either. He tried to counterattack in the middle of being punted around.
But every counter was the same—just like Yoru phasing through him, Minato's strikes all passed through Yoru's body.
Each "Yoru" looked like an intangible illusion clone—yet at any moment it could turn solid in the next instant.
A technique like this… even these inexperienced students had never seen anything like it.
And even Yūya and the medic-nin—both chūnin—had never seen it either.
They were absolutely certain Yoru's two "clones" were nothing more than the most basic illusion clones.
So why didn't they disperse when struck?
And how could they become solid?
They couldn't understand it.
But when Yoru refused to let Minato even touch the ground—when Minato's face had already twisted into a mask of pain, and one "Yoru" leapt into the air, raising a leg for a brutal axe-kick—
Yūya snapped awake in alarm. He Body Flickered in, caught Minato, and shouted at Yoru, "That's enough! Winner decided—match over!"
At those words, the Yoru in the air and one of the Yorus on the ground instantly turned into white smoke and vanished.
Yoru's real body walked over, and—rarely—offered an apology. "Sorry. I got carried away. Are you okay?"
"…I'm fine."
With Yūya steadying him upright, Minato forced himself to endure the pain like his whole body was falling apart. He shook his head at Yoru and said sincerely, "I lost. Yoru-kun… that technique of yours is incredible."
"Your Wind Release is strong too. If I hadn't already mastered Earth Release, you might've one-shot me," Yoru said—then, with a smile so unfamiliar the classmates could hardly believe it, he raised two fingers toward Minato and said, "Thanks for the match."
"Thanks for the match."
Minato raised two fingers as well and formed the Seal of Reconciliation with Yoru.
Maybe it was just his imagination…
But Minato felt like Yoru seemed slightly different than before the fight.
Was it the smile?
Minato would never know that from this moment on, he was no longer Gojo Yoru's hypothetical enemy—no longer the inner demon that had suffocated Yoru for years.
Both of them were "cheat-code" monsters. Once Yoru defeated someone like that, he would never give them the chance to catch up and surpass him.
What changed in Yoru was a metamorphosis—the shedding of an inner demon.
From now on, he wouldn't overthink everything, and he wouldn't need to act every day.
He could finally drop all his masks and live for himself, freely.
His talent, his strength, his "cheat"… would let him obtain everything he wanted.
Of course, Minato had no idea.
After forming the Seal of Reconciliation, he couldn't help asking curiously, "Yoru-kun… may I ask—were those two clones shadow clones? How did you make them switch between solid and illusion?"
At that, every gaze in the area locked onto Gojo Yoru.
Yoru only curled his lips slightly and said proudly, "They weren't shadow clones. It's something I developed myself… Phantom Body Flicker Technique."
"Phantom Body Flicker…?"
Everyone engraved the name into memory.
After a brief moment of thought, Yūya and the medic-nin's expressions changed sharply.
"Body Flicker… it's really just Body Flicker?!"
Minato realized it too, staring at Yoru in disbelief. "But then why didn't your illusion clones disperse when they were hit?"
Yoru simply smiled without answering, then turned and walked off the field.
Seeing that, Kushina—who had also finished her match—hurried after him, leaving behind a crowd of teachers and students still trapped in confusion and shock.
On the way, Kushina asked with the same curiosity, "Yoru… was that really just the regular Clone Technique and Body Flicker?"
"If you want to know," Yoru smiled faintly and encouraged her, "then get stronger. When your strength reaches a certain level, you'll naturally understand the secret behind that technique."
Kushina froze, staring blankly at Yoru.
The curiosity in her heart was completely eclipsed by Yoru's smile.
So… he looked this good when he smiled?
It wasn't like she'd never seen Yoru smile at her before—but most of the time it was a mocking grin, or a cool, faint smile, or a cold smirk.
A smile like this—pure, genuine, from the heart—was rare.
And maybe it was her imagination, but Kushina felt like something had changed about him.
Like he was glowing—like he'd somehow gotten even more handsome.
Snapping back to herself, Kushina's face grew warm. She looked away, pretending to be unimpressed. "Tch… fine, don't tell me. Anyway, your technique only works on sissies like that."
"Heh… bold words. Want to try it yourself?"
"Try it? Fine—let's go!"
"Sometimes I really admire you. If your body's defense were as tough as your mouth, you'd be unstoppable."
"Keep acting cocky while you can! Once I master that technique, you're going to be the one crying!"
"What technique?"
"Hehe… I'm not telling you!"
Feeling like she'd finally scored one point back, Kushina stuck out her tongue at Yoru and bounced ahead,不给 him the chance to mock her back.
Yoru's mouth curved upward, hands in his pockets, following behind her.
"Youth really is something…"
Sarutobi Hiruzen, who had deliberately used the Crystal Ball Telescope Technique to watch this final exam, smiled and sighed with emotion.
Watching Gojo Yoru inside the crystal sphere, Hiruzen's eyes were filled with satisfaction.
He couldn't see through the principle of the Phantom Body Flicker either—he didn't know how Yoru made illusion clones take hits without dispersing.
But he didn't intend to dig into it.
Because Hiruzen, known as the Professor of Ninjutsu, could tell at a glance: this technique was born from Gojo Yoru's unique Body Flicker talent.
If you couldn't reach Yoru's ghostly, silent level of Body Flicker, then even if you understood the principle, you couldn't learn the technique at all.
And this kind of eerie positional swapping only gave an edge in same-tier taijutsu fights, nothing more.
An illusion clone was still just an illusion clone.
Without a real body, it couldn't cast techniques the way a shadow clone could.
As long as you mastered large-area ninjutsu, you could break this technique easily. It wasn't something to fear.
Still, the talent Yoru had displayed made Hiruzen take him more seriously.
"Developing a unique Body Flicker at this age—one that isn't elemental, but entirely his own—doesn't just show extraordinary chakra control and reaction speed. It also suggests his understanding of space is abnormal. Perhaps… he has the potential to train the technique Tobirama-sensei created."
Hiruzen's eyes narrowed slightly. Then he turned his head toward a certain direction and murmured in a voice only he could hear:
"So long without intervening… does that mean, Lady Mito, you also approve of them?"
~~~
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