Chapter 53: Completely Eliminated
Faced with the onslaught of nearly ten Kushinas, Sakai's originally organized defenses crumbled almost instantly. His strength, while not exceptionally powerful among genin, was still formidable.
*THWACK THWACK!*
Even so, he managed to dispel two of Kushina's shadow clones through skilled taijutsu moves. Shadow clones, formed by separating the user's chakra, naturally couldn't match the original's agility.
This demonstrated the typical gap between genin and Academy students. Unable to evade Kushina's attacks, Sakai curled up, exposing his back to the enemy to protect his vital areas.
In a true life-or-death battle, such an action would undoubtedly lead to his demise. However, this was an exam with rules - as long as the chakra seal remained intact, he wouldn't be disqualified.
Several Kushinas then rained blows upon him like a fierce storm, inflicting immense pain that nearly caused him to lose control of his body.
Enduring the agony, he counterattacked, only to dispel another of Kushina's shadow clones.
He couldn't fathom how an Academy student could use such an advanced ninjutsu, typically reserved for chunin or even jonin.
Even if someone had taught her, summoning ten shadow clones at once was outrageous.
Even his jonin sensei could only create five at most.
His only chance now was to unleash a ninjutsu that could dispel all of Kushina's clones simultaneously. However, from the moment their fight began, she hadn't given him any opportunity to form hand seals.
Kushina's taijutsu skills were honed through prolonged sparring sessions with Minato and Mikoto. Minato's prowess was undisputed, and Mikoto was no weaker than a genin. Naturally, Sakai couldn't easily evade Kushina's strikes.
All of this stemmed from Minato's initial feint, allowing Kushina to close the distance and leave Sakai without a chance to retaliate.
When it came to controlling the ebb and flow of battle, neither Sakai nor his teammates were in the same league as that blond kid.
Was he really just an Academy student?
After instantly defeating one genin, Minato leaped aside, remaining vigilant.
His ability to swiftly eliminate one of the two attacking genin was due to their underestimation of his speed, both in movement and hand seal formation.
Even the "Lightning Rat" ninjutsu he had considered ineffective proved useful in that situation.
However, he couldn't be certain the disqualified genin wouldn't rejoin his remaining teammate out of humiliation and continue attacking him.
Although Minato was faster than both of them, if one engaged him while the other prepared a ninjutsu, it wouldn't be so straightforward to handle.
The genin Minato had instantly defeated glared at him intently for a few breaths before sighing in resignation and sitting down on the spot.
"Nishikawa, what are you doing?" his remaining teammate asked, perplexed by his actions.
Nishikawa shrugged. "I'm already 'dead.' The rest of the battle is between you and Sakai; it no longer concerns me."
Clearly, he had accepted his disqualification. Although their earlier contempt for Akasaka's group was excessive, at least Nishikawa demonstrated some integrity.
His teammate's expression darkened as he glanced at Sakai, who was nearly cornered by Kushina's relentless assault. He felt resentful but powerless.
As the red-haired girl had said, they had severely underestimated the Academy students.
That was the root cause of their failure!
From another perspective, the blond kid hadn't done anything unnecessary since his appearance.
Their swift defeat was largely due to the unintended effectiveness of his deceptive tactics.
"Hey, Musashi, don't space out. If this kid had wanted to ambush you earlier, you'd have been eliminated too," Nishikawa warned, snapping his teammate's attention back to Minato, who stood a few meters away.
With Minato's speed, that distance could decide victory or defeat in an instant.
Being inattentive during combat was a flaw unbecoming of a ninja.
Watching all this unfold, Minato's initial apprehensions gradually dissipated.
The youth named Musashi stared at Minato, then pulled out a few smoke bombs from his sleeve and threw them onto the ground, engulfing everyone's vision in purple smoke.
During their earlier skirmish, he realized he was no match for Minato. So he made the decisive choice to flee.
However, Minato's superior speed meant he needed to obscure his vision to have any chance of escaping.
But Minato had anticipated this scenario. The moment Musashi reached for the smoke bombs, his hands had already begun forming rapid hand seals.
"Wind Release: Great Breakthrough!"
A powerful gust of chakra-infused wind swept out from Minato's mouth, creating a whooshing sound as it dispersed the purple smoke in an instant. The forceful wind also propelled the fleeing Musashi forward, accelerating his speed but leaving him unable to control his body's movements.
Swish!
After releasing the ninjutsu, Minato gave chase, the windforce enhancing his speed as well. However, like Musashi, the wind made his body sway unsteadily.
Minato quickly overtook Musashi but couldn't halt his momentum on his own. But he had prepared for this, forming the same cross-shaped hand seal as Kushina.
Two shadow clones appeared beside him, grabbing each other's arms to physically brace Minato against the wind's force.
Regaining control, Minato took a step forward, using the Body Flicker Technique to appear before Musashi, who tried to shield his forehead and chest seals with his arms. But in that split second, Minato's finger had already tapped his forehead.
A faint chakra glow seemed to emanate from Minato's fingertip, merging with the seal on Musashi's forehead.
*CRACK!*
The next moment, that chakra seal shattered, and the one on his chest vanished as well.
Simultaneously, Sakai, who had dispelled six of Kushina's clones, could no longer endure. A solid punch to his chest shattered his seal, and he collapsed to the ground, utterly spent.
The observing Akasaka and the others stared in astonishment.
A three-man genin squad had been completely eliminated by Minato and Kushina alone!
(End of chapter)