Malphegor
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HSU: Ch. 226
🕑 Added 2025-03-14 17:16:45 +0000 UTCBoth sides came face to face. Aside from Masashi, everyone was momentarily stunned.
The Hannya ninjas had just massacred another village. They hadn't expected four people to suddenly appear before them in a flash.
As Team 7 looked at the Hannya ninjas, whose bodies still carried the aura of slaughter, the first thing that came to their minds was the scene they had witnessed in the illusion.
That was when Konoha's ninja army had just entered the Kiri battlefield.
---
The Kiri ninjas had already learned of Konoha's insufficient military strength, knowing that most of their forces were inexperienced rookies. Arrogantly, they had gathered in one place, intending to crush Konoha's reinforcements in a single battle and break through into the Land of Fire.
To inspire the young and inexperienced soldiers behind them, the Uchiha and Hyūga ninjas abandoned any tactical planning. Right from the start, they launched a full-frontal assault against the Kiri's vanguard, which outnumbered them several times over.
Nearly two thousand Kiri ninjas were torn through again and again by less than three hundred Hyūga and Uchiha fighters. Their heads were kicked around like balls. By the time the battle ended, every survivor from Konoha was drenched in blood. The once-elegant Hyūga warriors looked as if they had been possessed by demons, and as for the red-eyed Uchiha… it was best not to mention them.
From that point on, Konoha's new recruits no longer feared the Bloody Mist.
They realized that their own people were far more terrifying.
---
Compared to the Kiri ninjas in that illusion, the killing intent of these Hannya ninjas wasn't even worthy of being called an appetizer.
Not to mention, their slaughtering of innocent villagers further enraged the three young warriors, whose sense of justice was about to explode.
Without needing Masashi's command, the three of them immediately formed Konoha's standard battlefield formation and charged forward.
Naruto naturally took the lead.
Seeing the three brats recklessly rush forward, the Hannya ninjas at the village entrance felt provoked.
Nowadays, there were few people in the ninja world who didn't know Masashi's name. But not everyone could recognize him at first glance.
These Hannya ninjas were among those who couldn't.
Though they were confused by the group's sudden appearance, they still believed they could easily eliminate three fresh academy graduates.
No uniforms, only forehead protectors—what else could they be if not fresh genin straight out of school?
Weaklings.
The only one worth noting was the Konoha ninja in uniform standing nearby.
A portion of the Hannya ninjas moved to confront Team 7.
Thinking about how they were about to crush Konoha's young sprouts, they grinned with excitement.
After countless massacres, they had lost all traces of human decency.
Then, they saw the black-haired kid spit out a barrage of fireballs.
One Hannya ninja sneered.
To be able to use Fire Release at such a young age… Konoha truly was a cradle of geniuses.
And what could be more satisfying than killing Konoha's prodigies?
The Hannya ninja formed a hand seal and spat out a Water Bomb, aiming to counter the incoming fireballs.
But before everyone's eyes, Sasuke moved his fingers slightly. The airborne fireballs abruptly changed direction, narrowly dodging the Water Bomb.
"Naruto!"
Naruto ducked down, and Sasuke accelerated, using Naruto's back as a springboard to leap into the air. His hands were tightly gripping something—and only then did the onlookers notice that the fireballs seemed to be tethered by thin, thread-like wires in his hands.
He pulled on the "threads," and one by one, the fireballs sharply veered at a ninety-degree angle, all slamming into the Hannya ninja who had launched the water jutsu.
More than a dozen tiny fireballs engulfed the Hannya ninja in flames on the spot. Meanwhile, still mid-air, Sasuke retrieved a sealing scroll and unleashed a dense barrage of shuriken toward the remaining Hannya ninjas.
At the same time, Naruto used the Body Flicker with perfect timing, appearing right behind a Hannya ninja who was rushing toward Sasuke's landing spot. In one swift motion, he slit the ninja's throat.
With a slight turn of his body, a glowing blue sphere formed in his hand.
He thrust it directly into another Hannya ninja.
That ninja was sent flying along with the sphere.
The Rasengan, originally developed by Minato based on the principles of the Tailed Beast Bomb, had become a non-lethal symbol in the hands of Naruto in the original timeline.
But in reality, it was a high-lethality technique against human targets. Even if it didn't kill outright, it would take away half a person's life.
Naruto was even more suited for this technique than Minato due to his naturally immense stamina and chakra reserves, which far exceeded those of ordinary ninjas.
In the original timeline, after becoming the jinchūriki of all nine tailed beasts, he elevated the Rasengan to a divine technique at the level of the Six Paths, capable of slicing through the Divine Tree in a single strike.
Then there was the Body Flicker Technique.
When enhanced by Sage Body-level physical prowess, his speed surpassed even the Fourth Raikage, making the technique function like a space-time ninjutsu. Even Madara, as the Ten-Tails jinchūriki, couldn't keep up and was forced to block rather than evade.
In this timeline, both of Naruto's natural talents had been meticulously cultivated by Minato.
As a result, with just two moves, he instantly eliminated two Hannya ninjas who, in theory, were on the same level as him.
Masashi, observing from the side, was quite pleased.
These two kids were finally starting to showcase the fruits of their training.
At their current level, if they participated in the joint Chunin Exams, unless they encountered a select few opponents, they would dominate the battlefield.
"Damn brats!"
One of the Hannya ninjas, who had narrowly dodged Sasuke's shuriken barrage, charged toward Naruto. His hands had already completed a series of hand seals.
Hinata swiftly maneuvered to swap places with Naruto.
As their eyes met, her Byakugan nullified the Hannya ninja's genjutsu instantly.
Then, with a precise palm strike, she struck him right in the chest.
Sidestepping fluidly, she avoided the now-paralyzed ninja's uncontrolled forward lunge.
Naruto, who had just switched positions with her, finished the job with a powerful kick, sending the enemy crashing aside like a rampaging bull.
With that exchange complete, both of them moved to cover Sasuke, who was just landing.
Sasuke had also just finished preparing his second technique.
"Fire Style: Great Fireball Jutsu!"
A massive, crimson fireball erupted, surging forward like a bulldozer toward the enemies who had barely managed to evade his previous shuriken assault. Several of them had already fallen, their bodies cut down by the relentless shuriken barrage.
Everything was executed at an acceptable level.
Standing still, Masashi mentally scored the Team 7's performance.
They passed.
Not just Sasuke and Naruto, Hinata as well.
She was truly worthy of the Hyūga name.
---
On the still-steaming ground, a dozen Hannya ninjas lay sprawled out.
Neatly arranged.
This included those who had previously held back, claiming they were assigned to keep an eye on Masashi.
Their bodies were relatively intact, but the scene wasn't exactly pleasant to look at.
The air carried a scent that could ruin anyone's appetite.
Team 7 was recovering.
Sasuke, who had held the main offensive position, had exhausted the most chakra. He was now sitting on the ground, trying to recover. For the time being, he was out of the fight.
Naruto, who had taken on both the front-line tank and secondary offensive roles, was also heavily drained. With their improved jutsu over their original timeline versions, their chakra consumption had skyrocketed.
Fortunately, their chakra reserves were far beyond the average genin level, otherwise, they would have been done for.
Even so, thanks to their diverse and powerful arsenal of jutsu, these three little rookies had thoroughly crushed their enemies.
The unfortunate Hannya ninjas, on the other hand, were just normal people. Most of them relied on taijutsu. The only one bold enough to use ninjutsu was identified right away by Hinata's Byakugan, who then relayed the information to Sasuke.
So, the opening barrage of fireballs had all been directed at him.
More chakra, more jutsu—this is what it meant to fight without restraint.
But at the end of the day, they were still just kids. Their reserves weren't infinite.
Masashi himself had an enormous chakra pool. He knew well how to increase chakra reserves quickly and efficiently without causing long-term harm.
But that required a solid foundation.
Among his students, Sasuke and Naruto had the greatest natural chakra capacities. Following closely behind them were Neji and Hinata.
The Hyūga clan, in general, had significantly higher chakra levels than the average person.
But that was a matter for another time. Right now, all Masashi needed to do was praise them.
"You all completed the mission excellently. I'm impressed."
Despite their exhaustion, the members of Team 7 were delighted to hear his praise.
Then he continued, "However, by the standards of a battlefield ninja, you most likely wouldn't survive until the war's end."
No one objected. All three students maintained humble expressions.
In the current state of Konoha, Masashi was one of the most experienced individuals when it came to war.
Others were either too old or too high-ranked to discuss such things with students.
"You possess more chakra than most of your peers—more than some adults, even. You also have powerful jutsu at your disposal. That's good. But your efficiency in using them is low. You don't have a clear understanding of your total chakra reserves. Moving forward, that will be your training focus."
"Does that mean we shouldn't use jutsu as freely?" Naruto asked, somewhat dejected. After all, using ninjutsu in battle was exhilarating.
"Of course not. If you have chakra but refuse to use jutsu and end up getting killed, that would be pointless." Masashi explained. "Right now, you're in a phase where your stamina is rapidly increasing. It's natural to have trouble managing it. That's not necessarily a mistake. If anything, your only mistake was not measuring your safe chakra limit in advance."
He didn't continue because, through his chakra sensing, he detected the remaining Hannya ninjas approaching, drawn by the previous commotion.
"For the next fight, you won't need to do anything. I'll handle it. All you need to remember is this: jutsu should never be used recklessly, but they should also never be held back unnecessarily. The only deciding factor should be which method conserves the most energy. Fooling your enemy into wasting their energy is also a key ninja skill."
After a moment of thought, Masashi added, "If one day you possess chakra on the level of a tailed beast, then these concerns won't matter as much. No one below your level will be able to exhaust your chakra."
He spoke from experience.
By the later stages of the war against Kiri, his chakra had reached a tailed beast's level. From then on, he specialized in Water Release.
Experience in battle was important, but when fighting head-on, large-scale jutsu could minimize unnecessary effort.
The Hidden Mist Jutsu combined with the Soundless Murder Technique was the pinnacle of assassination techniques in this world. It was effective enough to be used for direct assassinations even on the battlefield.
Countering such a technique required extensive combat experience. Masashi had several close calls where he nearly lost his head. But after reaching a tailed beast-level chakra reserve, his approach changed. He would first sweep the battlefield with a Water Shockwave and then use chakra sensing to systematically eliminate the remaining enemies with high-pressure water jets.
In the original timeline, as Sasuke's chakra reserves increased, he naturally transitioned from a precision-based fighting style to an all-out overwhelming force approach.
"Over there!"
The enemy's voices became clearer as figures leaped into sight, appearing within Team 7's field of vision.
At the same time, they too saw the bodies of their fallen comrades lying lifeless on the ground.
"Konoha?"
A man stepped forward, he was the leader of the Hannya group. His eyes briefly flickered with excitement when he saw the three young Konoha ninjas, but that excitement disappeared the moment he noticed Masashi standing beside them.
"We're just carrying out a mission. We never intended to become enemies of Konoha. We'll leave immediately."
His tone carried no trace of hostility toward Konoha.
But his subtle facial expressions didn't escape Masashi's keen eyes.
"Fate has brought us together. Why leave so soon?" Masashi said with a smile. "Since you're already here... how about joining them?"
Without another word, the Hannya leader turned and ran.
The rest of his subordinates reacted quickly and scattered in all directions.
But waiting for them was a massive fire barrier that had completely encircled the village.
Uchiha Flame Formation.
Even among the Uchiha clan, only a handful of ninja were capable of using this barrier technique.
During the Warring States period, the Senju and Uchiha clan had distinctly different battlefield barrier styles.
The Senju favored brute-force dominance, leading to techniques like the Four Crimson Ray Formation, which indiscriminately shredded anything in its radius. The Uchiha, on the other hand, believed in "Fire, grant me strength!", which gave birth to the Uchiha Flame Formation.
Blazing flames surged toward the sky.
The fastest of the Hannya ninjas ran straight into the fiery barrier.
The upward-surging flames were sharper than blades, slicing these unfortunate souls in midair—severing them in half before they plummeted like burning meteors.
Naruto and Hinata stood slack-jawed.
Even Naruto, who had been trained by Masashi since childhood, had never actually witnessed his mentor in action.
Sasuke had never seen it either, but his reaction was different.
He was thrilled.
Not because he thought differently from his teammates, but because he had long since learned that Masashi was absurdly powerful.
He had imagined this moment countless times in his mind—seeing Masashi go all out.
"I don't need to tell you how important chakra is." Masashi decided to turn this into a lesson for his students. "When your chakra reaches a certain level, combat experience becomes irrelevant. Your enemies won't even get a chance to show off their skills before you overwhelm them. Like this..."
He clasped his hands together.
Comments
Malphegor
This is the last day of the double releases
