Mizuki's Shock

A "ding" sound rang out.

The giant shuriken Mizuki had thrown was knocked aside by the kunai Furen had hurled, landing to the side.

Mizuki looked at Furen, who was holding a scroll, with a bit of surprise. He hadn't expected this newly graduated Genin, Furen, to have such skill with shuriken.

"I underestimated you," Mizuki muttered under his breath.

Then, he reached into the pouch on his back, suddenly throwing dozens of kunai. This time, Mizuki was clearly serious. The kunai he threw were sharp and left Furen with no way to escape.

Mizuki smirked and leaped down from the branch, ready to quickly finish Furen and take the Scroll of Seals.

The sound of metal clashing rang out.

Furen threw out more kunai from the scroll in his hand, scattering Mizuki's attack. At the same time, the cold, gleaming kunai counterattacked towards Mizuki.

Shocked, Mizuki quickly dodged, but he still got hit by a few kunai and was injured.

In a few quick movements, Mizuki hid behind a tree and pulled out the kunai that had pierced him. He was filled with disbelief.

Wasn't this Furen just a newly graduated Genin? How could he have such a high level of skill with kunai?!

Furen wasn't from the Uchiha clan, a clan renowned for their shuriken and kunai skills from a young age. How could an ordinary Genin, an orphan, be this strong?!

Mizuki knew that, among Chunin, his skill with kunai and shuriken was considered top tier. Yet, he had been outmatched by a Genin!

What was that scroll Furen was using to pull out all those kunai? Could it be a space scroll? How could a poor orphan have something like that?!

After quickly dressing his wounds with kunai, Mizuki noticed that Furen hadn't chased after him. He smirked in disdain.

"As expected of a Genin—he doesn't even know to press the advantage."

Taking a deep breath, Mizuki came out from behind the tree and ran to another one to check on Furen's movements.

Furen's figure flashed in Mizuki's vision, but when he saw what Furen was doing, Mizuki was stunned.

He had thought Furen would either escape or prepare for another fight. But to his astonishment, Furen was calmly sitting down, spreading out the Scroll of Seals, and reading the forbidden techniques inscribed on it, showing no fear of Mizuki.

"Just as I thought..." Furen muttered as he looked at the opened Scroll of Seals.

The Scroll of Seals on the ground had various forbidden techniques divided into sections. The first technique, the Multiple Shadow Clone Jutsu, was already unlocked, but the others were still sealed by intricate webs of sealing jutsu.

"Naruto can unlock the seals on this scroll probably because of the Eight Trigrams Seal on his stomach..." Furen spread the scroll and began to learn the Multiple Shadow Clone Jutsu.

He had anticipated that the Scroll of Seals, containing S-rank forbidden techniques like the Reaper Death Seal, Flying Thunder God, and Impure World Reincarnation, wouldn't be so simple.

The reason Naruto was able to unlock the Multiple Shadow Clone Jutsu's seal might be related to the Eight Trigrams Seal on his stomach. Additionally, the Multiple Shadow Clone Jutsu was an A-rank technique, unlike the other S-rank ones.

With no time to waste and knowing Naruto might bring the Konoha forces soon, Furen quickly began learning the Multiple Shadow Clone Jutsu. Thanks to the academic talent he'd gained from Sakura earlier, all the once-complicated hand seal explanations became clear.

Mizuki, who had been secretly observing Furen, saw that Furen was completely focused on learning from the Scroll of Seals and was ignoring him. This filled Mizuki with rage. He had never been so disrespected by a mere Genin, one who had just earned his forehead protector!

Hiding his presence, Mizuki moved stealthily. In a few quick leaps, he jumped to the tree above Furen, holding a kunai, ready to kill him from above.

Suddenly, Furen raised his hands and swiftly performed hand seals while murmuring, "Multiple Shadow Clone Jutsu!"

While descending from mid-air, Mizuki saw Furen's figure blur, and in an instant, two identical clones appeared beside him.

Mizuki was shocked: "This... this isn't just the Shadow Clone Jutsu, it's the Multiple Shadow Clone Jutsu! He mastered it in such a short time?!"

Before Mizuki could react, the two clones stepped onto the trees on either side of him, mirroring each other's movements. They struck Mizuki in the chest, then pinned him to the ground.

Cough... cough...

Mizuki, who had been caught off guard by the clones, knelt before Furen's original body, coughing up blood in disbelief.

He couldn't fathom how he, a Chunin, could have been so easily defeated by a freshly graduated Genin.

Just as Mizuki thought Furen would hold him down and wait for Konoha's reinforcements, Furen's two clones suddenly lifted Mizuki up and faced him towards the original Furen.

Amid Mizuki's confusion, Furen slowly raised his hands, forming a pyramid shape, and softly said:

"Mind Transfer Jutsu!"

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A/N:

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