"The first match: Sasuke vs. Natsuki!" Iruka called out from the match sheet.
Oh ho, time to fight the emo duckling?
Natsuki instinctively looked at the cool and smug Sasuke, only to see Sasuke looking right back at him—his face full of arrogance, clearly thinking the win was in the bag.
The rain had stopped, the sky was clear, and the emo duckling thought he was unstoppable again!
Perfect. Since he's feeling cocky, this match will be easier!
At that moment, Naruto started yelling, "Iruka-sensei! Let me go, let me go! I want to challenge Sasuke and beat his ass dattebayo!"
Veins popped on Iruka's forehead. "Naruto, we're still not done talking about the mess you caused this morning!"
Naruto shrank his neck and dared not shout again, but deep down, he was seriously annoyed by how girls flocked around Sasuke and wanted nothing more than to punch that smug, pretty face.
He didn't get the chance this time, but Natsuki did!
So he raised his fist at Natsuki. "Natsuki! Beat the crap out of that annoying Sasuke, dattebayo!"
But Naruto forgot about Sasuke's cheer squad:
"Kyaa! Sasuke-kun is so cool!"
"Sasuke-kun, ganbatte!"
"Shut up, Naruto! Sasuke-kun is the best! No one can beat him!"
"Exactly! That Natsuki guy will totally get wrecked by Sasuke-kun!"
Natsuki's mouth twitched. He hadn't even said anything, and yet Naruto's hate got redirected to him? These love-crazed fans were getting out of hand!
At Iruka's signal, Natsuki and Sasuke walked to the center and exchanged the seal of confrontation.
"Begin!"
Iruka had just called it when Sasuke charged in, probably wanting to end this "easy match" as quickly as possible. But he clearly underestimated Natsuki.
Though Natsuki intended to keep a low profile, he wasn't going to act like a complete amateur either—he sure as hell wasn't about to get beat up for free.
He used the basic taijutsu moves they were taught at school and exchanged a few blows with Sasuke, keeping his strength roughly at Sasuke's level. For a moment, the two were neck and neck.
Naruto was thrilled and cheered loudly, "Go Natsuki! Hit him! Hit him!"
But the girls' cheering was way louder. They shrieked and screamed, completely drowning Naruto out.
Sasuke was clearly annoyed but also surprised by Natsuki's skill. Although they hadn't had many sparring matches since school started a month ago, very few people could last more than a few rounds with him.
The rest of the class just kinda sucked at taijutsu, so it wasn't surprising he usually crushed them.
This was his first time fighting this Natsuki guy, and he hadn't expected him to be decent. Still, basic taijutsu was nothing. Against the Uchiha style, he would definitely lose.
So Sasuke swiftly switched to the Uchiha-style taijutsu he'd learned from his beloved big brother and immediately took the upper hand.
Natsuki kept dodging and blocking while watching the Uchiha style closely. He realized it was indeed more advanced than the standard academy moves. It wasn't just elegant like a dance, but its power execution was unique too.
If only Madara were here to say: "Do you also wish to dance?"
That would've been the perfect vibe.
Seeing that he couldn't win in a straight-up fight, Natsuki didn't increase his power. Instead, he suddenly stepped back a few paces and quickly formed hand seals.
"Bunshin no Jutsu!" Poof!
But everyone blinked in confusion. Natsuki had clearly used the correct hand signs and called out the right technique—yet not a single clone appeared.
"Did it fail?" Even Iruka was puzzled.
From what he remembered, Natsuki wasn't great at ninjutsu, but he could do the Clone Technique. And there had been no mistake in the hand seals just now—it shouldn't have failed.
Naruto got anxious. "Natsuki! What are you doing?! It's just the Clone Technique, how could you mess it up?!"
Even his friends were shocked. Shino, who knew Natsuki was holding back, was confused too. No matter how much you hide your strength, pretending not to know Clone Technique was a bit too much, right?
"Heh, looks like you're so nervous you can't even pull off Clone Technique. Why don't you just admit defeat?" Sasuke got even cockier.
But Natsuki didn't listen. He dashed forward and aimed a punch right at Sasuke's smug little face. Sasuke reached up to block, but his expression suddenly changed.
The punch passed right through his block.
A clone? When did it appear?
The next second, a fist slammed into Sasuke's stomach and launched him into the air. He tumbled across the ground before quickly rolling back to his feet, clutching his stomach and glaring at Natsuki in shock.
Natsuki now had four arms visible.
Four arms? What the hell?
That punch just now—it was a feint?
The entire class was stunned, and the girls' cheerleading was abruptly cut off. One by one, they stared in disbelief.
Sasuke—the unbeatable Sasuke—had just gotten knocked back!
Naruto was the first to react. "I don't know what just happened, but that was awesome, Natsuki, dattebayo! Hahaha! Take that, stupid Sasuke! Even you get knocked flying sometimes, dattebayo!"
The girls glared daggers at Naruto, but they had nothing to say. Many looked toward Iruka for an explanation.
Iruka, being a chūnin, figured it out quickly. "It was Clone Technique! Natsuki's Clone Technique didn't fail—it worked. The clone and the real body were merged, so it wasn't visible to the eye!"
Clone Technique? Really?
Still kinda confusing...
"Natsuki was smart. Usually, clones are used as decoys to distract the opponent, but they have no offensive power. If the opponent sees through them, they can ignore them. But Natsuki merged his clone and real body, using the overlapping visuals to confuse the enemy. That way, it's hard to tell which attack is real and which isn't!"
With Iruka's explanation, the class finally understood.
Everyone was impressed—they never imagined Clone Technique could be used like that. Even Sasuke had been caught off guard.
Shino gave a small nod. He knew Natsuki wasn't hiding everything. He had to show some skill eventually—and this creative take on Clone Technique was definitely eye-opening.
Still, it probably wouldn't matter to those lurking in the shadows. This little trick wasn't flashy enough to get their attention.
Sasuke recovered, and the pain in his stomach lessened. He actually got serious for once. "Natsuki, was it? I admit I underestimated you. That was a good move. But if you think that's enough to beat me, you're dreaming."
"Then come break the move, Sasuke."
Natsuki charged again. His clone and real fists struck in tandem, forcing Sasuke to fall back repeatedly.
Though Sasuke talked big, it was obvious he couldn't easily tell which hits were real and which were fake. Sometimes he blocked the clone, which opened him up to the real attack, and sometimes he didn't block at all and took the full hit.
He got punched a lot.
But Sasuke was clever.
He suddenly stepped back, formed a quick string of hand seals—
"Bunshin no Jutsu!" Poof!
No visible clones appeared.
Instead, he now had four arms—he had copied Natsuki's technique in that short amount of time and hid two clones inside his own body.
(End of Chapter)
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