Naruto: The Clanless Prince

Sora imbued his Water Dragon with the characteristics of thunder and lightning.

As the two Water Dragons collided—Sora's against the Jonin leader's—the resulting clash cancelled each other out, scattering water droplets infused with lightning from the air.

The leader of the Ninja quickly formed hand seals to respond.

"Wind Style: Great Breakthrough!"

He exhaled a powerful whirlwind from his mouth, creating a storm that blew away the water droplets about to rain down on him.

Despite his quick reaction, a few of the droplets managed to hit his body. The electrified water left his skin feeling numb, and where they directly contacted his flesh, his skin was singed. Fortunately for him, the droplets were dispersed quickly enough that only a few reached him, preventing any serious damage.

While the Ninja leader was focused on dispersing the water, Sora had already taken his next step.

"Fire Style: Dragon Flame Jutsu!"

A massive dragon of fire erupted from Sora's mouth and surged toward the Ninja leader.

The Ninja leader responded just as swiftly.

"Water Style: Grand Falls Technique!"

He gathered chakra in his throat and spat out an enormous torrent of water. The fire dragon clashed against the water, causing a great amount of steam to rise, shrouding the battlefield in a dense fog.

Sora immediately formed hand seals again and created a Shadow Clone. Both he and his Shadow Clone drew their ninja swords, their bodies slightly crouched as they focused on the Tang Ninja leader's location.

"Breath of Thunder: Type One – Thunderbolt Flash! Double Flash!"

With a sudden burst of speed, Sora and his Shadow Clone surged forward like thunder, splitting the air and slicing through the thick fog at incredible speed as they closed in on the Ninja leader. The air cracked as their swords swung with blinding precision.

The Ninja leader's instincts flared, and his body tensed. He had been on edge, anticipating Sora's swift and devastating Thunderbolt Flash. Despite his preparation, the sheer speed of the attack shocked him.

"Wind Style: Vacuum Sphere!"

This technique required only three quick hand seals, but even so, Sora and his Shadow Clone closed the distance before he could fully finish it. Both swords lashed out, targeting his neck.

The Tang Ninja leader inhaled sharply and unleashed several compressed spheres of air from his mouth. One of them hit its mark—but it struck Sora's Shadow Clone, which immediately dispersed into smoke.

Although the attack missed its primary target, the Ninja leader suddenly felt a sharp sting at his neck. He reflexively tilted his head away from the direction of the strike and leapt backwards to create distance.

Sora's eyes narrowed as he gazed at the Ninja leader from afar. "Tch, your reflexes are sharp," he muttered.

The Ninja leader, now a safe distance away, clutched at his neck. Blood trickled between his fingers. Sora's sword had grazed him, leaving a shallow cut. Thankfully, the slash only scraped the skin and avoided severing any arteries.

Locking eyes with Sora, the Ninja leader's expression turned wary and calculating. His breathing steadied as he pieced together Sora's strategy.

'So that's it,' he thought. Sora had anticipated his Water Style counter to Fire Style, using the resulting mist to obscure his movements before closing in with his sword-drawing slash at blinding speed.

To ensure the kill, Sora had created a Shadow Clone to act simultaneously with him.

If the Ninja leader hadn't made the right decision in such a short time, he wouldn't have just been seriously injured—he could have been killed outright. Even so, he only escaped with a minor wound.

The Ninja leader couldn't help but marvel at Sora's tactical brilliance. His combat IQ was exceptional.

Breathing heavily, Sora reached into his ninja pouch and pulled out a handful of military ration pills. He swallowed them quickly. His chakra reserves were already critically low, and the Shadow Clone he had used earlier had drained him even further. Now, his chakra was nearly depleted.

Despite taking the pills, the effect was minimal. Having already consumed a dose earlier, taking them again so soon provided only a slight recovery.

'It's not enough,' Sora thought, considering another option. He could use witness points to restore his chakra through the system fully. But after a brief moment of hesitation, he dismissed the idea.

'The system might help me grow stronger, but I can't rely on it too much. True strength has to come from within.'

His resolve hardened. It wasn't yet time to despair. He focused his gaze on the Ninja leader with determination.

An Elite Jōnin, the leader of a shinobi village—defeating him would be the perfect stepping stone on Sora's path to strength.

The Ninja leader, noticing Sora's unwavering fighting spirit, lowered his hand from the wound on his neck. His instincts told him that Sora's next attack would be his strongest and final move.

Though the Ninja leader had never underestimated Sora, he now grew even warier than his opponent.

By this time, the battle had drawn the attention of numerous shinobi, including Namikaze Minato.

Watching from a distance, Minato felt a growing sense of dread. The more he observed Sora's techniques, the more acutely he became aware of the gap between their abilities.

'I started training under Jiraiya-sensei, one of the Sannin, long before Sora,' Minato thought, his mind racing. 'I've been on the battlefield for longer, too... so how is it that Sora's progress has outpaced mine by so much? Is he… a genius?'

Suddenly, the Ninja leader made the first move.

"Wind Style: Vacuum Sphere!"

He fired a rapid series of wind bullets from his mouth, each one moving as fast as a bullet toward Sora.

Sora leapt left and right, evading as best he could while adjusting his breathing. However, the attacks were too dense to avoid entirely, and several wind bullets grazed him, leaving shallow cuts.

Ignoring the pain, Sora focused entirely on regulating his breathing, entering a state of full concentration. This was the first time he had used this technique in actual combat.

Although he had practised it during training, his success rate had been low. But now, in the heat of battle, Sora felt that he could pull it off.

Closing his eyes, he entered a heightened state of awareness, his senses sharpening to their limits. Where wind bullets had scratched him earlier, now they failed even to touch him.

Sora opened his eyes suddenly, sheathing his ninja sword as lightning chakra surged through his body. The tomoe in his Sharingan spun rapidly. He crouched slightly, preparing to strike.

The Tang Ninja leader tensed. 'Is it Thunder Flash again?'

But something felt different this time. Although Sora's stance was similar to Thunder Flash, the aura around him was far more intense.

Anticipating an attack, the Ninja leader formed hand seals in advance and shifted his position to prepare for evasion.

"Thunder Breathing: Seventh Form – Flame Thunder God!"

Sora surged forward with blinding speed. His body was cloaked in lightning that transformed into the shape of a thunder dragon. His movements were erratic and unpredictable, like a dragon flying through the sky, its trajectory impossible to track.

The Tang Ninja leader's pupils dilated in shock.

'This speed… it's even faster than Thunder Flash! I can't follow it with my eyes!'

He glanced at the deep gouges left in the ground by Sora's movements, instinctively understanding the sheer power behind the attack. His body couldn't keep up—it was too late to dodge.

But he had prepared a counterattack in advance, and he wasn't going down without a fight.

"Wind Style: Vacuum Big Ball!"

He spat out multiple high-pressure wind spheres aimed directly at Sora, hoping to intercept his approach.

Unlike Thunder Flash, Flame Thunder God did not have the weakness of being limited to a straight path. Although Sora's movement seemed linear at first glance, the wind spheres exploded harmlessly against the ground, showing he had already dodged them.

Realizing he couldn't stop the attack, the Tang Ninja leader made one final attempt. He gathered his chakra and unleashed another high-pressure wind sphere.

At the exact moment the wind sphere was released, Sora's sword came slashing down.

A deafening explosion rang out, and the battlefield was engulfed in a thick cloud of dust, obscuring Sora and the Ninja leader from view.

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