Starts In Konoha: Unlocking Shadow Clone

"Look, someone's coming out!"

"Let me see… who is it?"

The crowd rose to their feet, eagerly craning their necks to see if it was Lee's unstoppable spear or Gaara's unbreakable shield that had prevailed.

As a large hand braced against the ground and a figure shot out of the crater, everyone held their breath.

Whoosh!

With a firm landing, the figure was revealed… it was Gaara!

Despite being hit by Morning Peacock and Reverse Lotus, Gaara emerged completely unharmed!

"How is that even possible?"

The audience gasped in shock. No one could believe it. Even if Gaara had managed to win, he shouldn't have come out without a single scratch. They all wondered what was going on.

Before everyone can figure out the reason, Gaara waved his hand, and an overwhelming tide of sand began to rush into the crater, ready to bury Lee alive.

"Enough!"

A voice rang out from the stands, and a green figure shot toward the arena, scattering the sand before leaping into the crater to pick up Lee.

"Stop it, your body can't handle any more." Guy said in a low voice.

But then, Guy noticed something unusual.

Lee's fists were still clenched, maintaining a fighting stance, but his eyes had already lost focus.

At this moment, Lee had long lost consciousness due to the strain of opening the sixth gate, and it was his willpower that allowed him to still standing.

"Foolish, foolish boy!"

Guy hugged Lee, overwhelmed with tears. In his eyes, Lee hadn't lost. Lee had surpassed his own limits. He was a truly exceptional Shinobi and Guy's pride!

"Hmph!"

Gaara, who was outside the crater, snorted coldly and retracted all his sand.

Since outsiders get involved, the match is over.

But he was feeling frustrated. His opponent showed off and then ran away again. He hadn't even had the chance to fully unleash his offensive power. He wondered if he's really just a punching bag for others to test their strength.

"Don't worry about it, calm down. There's always next time. Try attacking more aggressively then, and it won't turn out like this." Naruto also rushed to the arena at this time, comforting Gaara.

"Forget it, let's go back first." Gaara replied, shaking his head. He then dissolved into sand and return to the stands.

Naruto then put his newly evolved Wartortle back into its Poke Ball.

While he was eager to communicate with Wartortle about the changes that had come with its evolution, but Wartortle was exhausted and needed proper rest. So Naruto decided to wait until it was fully recovered.

Naruto secretly put on his Byakugan contact lenses for just an instant before returning them to his system inventory, making sure no one noticed.

Then, he walked towards the crater and said to Guy, "Don't worry, Lee just strained his muscles, and there is no problem with his bones. With some rest, he'll be back on his feet in ten days or so."

'Thankfully, Guy stepped down in time this time, preventing Gaara from inflicting any serious fractures on Lee.'

'But I have to say that Lee's growth was astonishing. His physique far surpassed that of the original work. Even after using the sixth gate, he still managed to stay standing. He's truly a genius of Taijutsu.'

"Third match, winner, Gaara. Would Shikamaru Nara and Shino Aburame please prepare. Once the arena is repaired, we'll proceed with the final match in this round."

Hayate announced.

This battle had been more intense than any previous one. The raging sandstorm had left the arena covered in pits and debris, looking more like a ruin than a battlefield.

Fortunately, this is the Naruto World, and with the existence of Earth Release Ninjutsu, repairing the arena would only take a few minutes.

Taking advantage of this break, Naruto quickly flickered over to Gaara's side and asked, "By the way, Gaara, how did you manage to avoid taking any damage just now?"

Given the combined onslaught of Morning Peacock and Reverse Lotus, it was surprising enough that Gaara had survived, let alone without a single injury.

Gaara explained, "My Sand Armor has undergone a qualitative change in its defensive power due to Shukaku's enhancement. However, for the final impact, I relied on Shukaku's Chakra incarnation to shield me."

"I see."

Naruto nodded in realization.

'With Shukaku's help, it all made sense.'

Before long, the arena was fully repaired, and Shikamaru and Shino took their places on the battlefield.

The first to launch an attack was Shino. With the stimulation of the insects in his body, Shino's speed and strength were greatly improved. In a flash, he appeared right in front of Shikamaru.

But Shikamaru had already prepared for this. After using Body Replacement Technique to create some distance, he quickly formed hand seal and used the Shadow Imitation Technique.

As Shikamaru's shadow connected with Shino's, the Shadow Imitation Technique was successful.

With a calm smile, Shikamaru flicked his sleeve, and a kunai slipped into his hand. Shadow Imitation Technique forces the target to mimic the user's movements, but to prevent Shino from mirroring his kunai draw, Shikamaru had cleverly hidden the kunai up his sleeve.

Shikamaru walked towards Shino step by step, and Shino also walked towards him.

When they were only one step apart, Shikamaru stopped, put the kunai on Shino's neck, and said calmly: "Admit defeat!"

"Oh, really?"

Shino replied with a calm smile of his own.

At the next moment, Shikamaru's vision blurred, and he felt himself growing weak. He then collapsed, losing consciousness.

"That was sneaky!"

Naruto couldn't help but comment.

Shikamaru's strategy had been clever, but he'd overlooked one key detail: Shino's specialty was insects!

For those unfamiliar with Aburame Clan's techniques, it might appear that Shino's insects were manipulated through Chakra Threads, but that wasn't the case.

The Aburame Clan's secret technique grants them the ability to communicate with insects, much like how Kiba can communicate with Akamaru.

So, even under Shikamaru's control, Shino had no trouble controlling his insects. The fainting was caused by a sneak attack from Shino's venomous insects.

While it seemed Shikamaru was fighting Shino alone, he was actually up against an army of thousands of insects. And while Shadow Imitation Technique is great for one-on-one fights, it has a big disadvantage in multi-opponent scenarios.

Had Shikamaru used Shadow–Neck Binding Technique, he might've had a chance to finish Shino off instantly.

Ultimately, Shikamaru's defeat this time came down to incomplete information. Otherwise, with Shikamaru's intelligence, he would definitely be able to come up with a better plan.

"Fourth match, winner, Aburame Shino."

Hayate announced.

Although this match was swift, the strategies, skills, and secret techniques on display made it an exciting and impressive match.

"With this, this round is complete." Hayate announced, "Next up are the Group A and Group B finals! The winners of each will go on to face off in the championship round everyone's been waiting for! Now, without further ado, we'll jump right into the Group A's final! Would the two lucky contestants please step forward!"

Since Shikamaru and Shino's fight involved little physical altercation, the arena was still intact and didn't require any repairs.

However, instead of calling out the contestants' names, Hayate referred to them as the 'lucky contestants', which felt a bit harsh.

However, before Naruto could complain, the audience burst into cheers, approving of the title.

'Ha, what a scene! The entire audience really saw me and Hinata as 'the lucky ones'.'

But it's no wonder. After all, both he and Hinata entered the Group A's final without needing to fight and only relied on their opponents' forfeit.

So calling them the 'lucky ones' was fitting.

The real question was, what kind of performance would these two lucky contestants deliver…