----
The beast horde wasn't moving particularly fast, so Naruto's shadow clone, instead of simply running ahead, was wasting time drawing S-shapes and M-shapes with his movements being as obnoxious as possible.
Just as Naruto arrived at the scene, he overheard his clone shouting:
"Rapid Cobra Sprint! Lightning Dash Technique!"
Naruto sighed and waved dismissively. "Sasuke cut him down."
"Alright." Sasuke unsheathed his blade, swiftly slashed through the clone, and only then asked, "Why?"
Naruto, long since given up on the stupidity of his clones, grumbled, "That idiot's doing 'Lightning Dash.' What am I supposed to do? Use 'Dolphin Sprint' since I can fly?"
Sasuke: "?"
Sakura, who couldn't help but analyze the logic behind it, muttered, "Can… dolphins even run?"
"They actually can." Kakashi, standing nearby, pointed toward the beast horde.
There, amidst the various creatures, was a dolphin-like monster.
Except it had a tiger's four limbs.
Sakura: "…"
Naruto finally took a serious look at the horde of creatures.
Among them were:
A crab-like beast
A giant mutated rat
A mechanical gorilla hybrid
A lion-like monstrosity
A beetle creature
Naruto's face suddenly stiffened.
He scanned the horde more carefully.
No sign of a certain mosquito woman.
Naruto let out a deep sigh of relief.
"At least I don't have to deal with that monster that gave Genos a beating and even made Saitama work a little…"
Then he shook his head violently.
"No, no, no! Wrong anime! What the hell am I thinking?!"
Sasuke, watching Naruto's ever-changing expressions, shock, worry, determination, and anger, smirked.
"It's been a while since I last saw this.
Ever since Naruto fixed his shadow clones, he rarely showed so many emotions on his face.
Seeing it again… was kinda fun.
Sakura turned her head and saw Sasuke staring at Naruto with a smirk.
Immediately, her brain short-circuited.
"Wait a minute… why is Sasuke smiling at Naruto?!"
"Why not at me?! I beat out every girl in our class, and in the end… am I losing to a guy?!"
Back to Reality…
Kakashi, noticing his team getting caught up in weird vibes, quickly brought them back to focus.
"Naruto, can you sense where the Akatsuki members are? And what about the others?"
Naruto blinked, snapping out of his thoughts. "Akatsuki is still seven to eight kilometres away. The others should arrive within a few minutes."
As soon as Naruto returned to normal, Sasuke's expression did too.
Sakura let out a quiet breath.
Kakashi nodded in satisfaction.
"Focus, guys. We're about to fight a literal monster army, and you're here playing mind games?"
"Should I be impressed or scold you?"
He glanced at the terrain.
"This spot is still relatively safe. Beyond this, we'll risk damage to nearby villages. We stop them here."
Naruto stepped forward.
Time to gauge the enemy's strength.
Without hesitation, he formed a hand sign and unleashed:
"Water Release: Exploding Water Shock Wave!"
A towering tsunami, dozens of meters high, crashed toward the horde.
If Kisame were here, he'd probably applaud in approval.
The more intelligent beasts immediately sprinted sideways to avoid the wave, moving as fast as a Three-Gates Lee from two years ago.
The slower ones were completely drenched.
Weaker creatures were outright knocked unconscious—
Unless…
"Of course, the seafood creatures can swim." Naruto sighed as he spotted dolphin, shrimp, and crab monsters diving underwater.
Kakashi, who had somehow already built a stone wall, observed, "Not just swim. They probably have unique adaptations to Water Release attacks. Some might even be stronger underwater."
Naruto climbed onto the stone wall.
"Kakashi-sensei… you actually wasted chakra on something non-essential?"
Kakashi shrugged. "Don't underestimate my growth. I've improved a lot over the years."
Naruto smirked.
"Oh? So instead of being 1% of my chakra, you've improved to 1.25%? Should I be impressed?"
"…"
Kakashi stared at Naruto.
"You little… You don't understand the pain of an adult trying to increase chakra reserves. Unlike you teenagers who just naturally grow stronger!"
Naruto's eyes sparkled with an idea.
He turned to Sasuke, slapping his shoulder.
"Sasuke, use Thunderbolt!"
Sasuke didn't even need to ask.
He immediately understood what Naruto wanted.
"I'm not asking him. I refuse to ask."
Instead, he calmly drew his Lightning Blades.
With a smirk, he declared:
"Lightning Blade Style: Chidori Stream!"
Blue lightning zapped into the water, but…
Nothing much happened.
A few weak creatures floated belly-up.
Naruto stared.
"…Too weak. Sasuke, try harder."
Sasuke's smirk disappeared.
He instantly increased the output.
The bolts thickened, turning the pond into a thunderstorm.
Now, several creatures convulsed and floated lifelessly.
Just then—
The tiger-limbed dolphin beast leapt out of the water!
It punched straight through the stone wall, leaving a huge hole beneath Kakashi's signature dog-head carving.
Kakashi's dog-head stone wall survived, but barely.
Almost simultaneously, a bear shark and a crocodile hybrid lunged at them.
"Raikiri!"
Kakashi beheaded the bear shark in one slash.
Meanwhile—
Sakura, not about to be outdone, launched a devastating punch at the crocodile beast.
The two-meter-tall creature flew twenty meters backwards before landing in the water.
It shook its head dazedly but was still alive.
"Are you kidding me? That punch made my hand hurt!" Sakura exclaimed.
Naruto's eyes widened.
"Sakura's punches can shatter boulders. That thing took a hit and just swam away?!"
"Is it some kind of Crocodile God?"
Sasuke, watching the results of his lightning, frowned.
"The weak ones got fried, but… the tough ones? Barely flinched."
Kakashi sighed. "They must have some serious durability. Their skins are probably reinforced, and they might be more immune to cutting techniques. Fighting them will be annoying."
"The Proud Blue Beast of Konoha, Maito Gai, has arrived!"
"The Beautiful Green Beast of Konoha, Rock Lee, has arrived!"
Gai and Lee struck dramatic poses.
Meanwhile, Tenten and Neji facepalmed in sync.
Kakashi blinked before grinning.
"Speaking of 'beasts'…" he said, chuckling.
"We've got our own."
----
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