Inside the Genjutsu-world.
Out of twenty-nine participants, eight had already been forced out—some defeated by Guardian Beasts, some by other candidates.
But after that first hour, something finally happened that electrified the auditorium audience.
Naruto Uzumaki had encountered Yugito, the Two-Tails' Jinchūriki of the Hidden Cloud Valley.
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"Hey! Are you from the Hidden Cloud Village, Yugito?
The one sitting at the top of the points table?" Naruto shouted,
"Well, it looks like your luck just ran out! I, Naruto Uzumaki—the next Hokage—am going to take all of your points."
Naruto's eyes gleamed with excitement. The Genjutsu-world world had thrown many strange, tricky chakra beasts and guardians at him, but none of them gave him the feeling of a real fight. Now, facing Yugito, he felt the blood rush in his veins.
Without another word, Naruto charged in.
Naruto formed a rapid seal sequence—
"Shadow Clone Jutsu!"
Dozens of Narutos burst forward, the original weaving another sign:
Wind Style: Vacuum serial waves
Multiple compressed wind bullets roared toward Yugito.
Yugito disappeared. Her eyes narrowed; the air shimmered with heat.
Then—
Fire Style: Blue Flame Claw Slash!
Her fists glowed bright blue, each punch tearing through clones. One by one, Naruto's clones burst into smoke until the clearing emptied.
Yugito paused. The real Naruto was hiding.
A moment later, the ground cracked open. Naruto shot upward like a spring-loaded trap, his hands held Rasengan into a drilling strike aimed at her stomach.
Yugito twisted out of the way with feline flexibility. Silence fell again.
Naruto inhaled sharply—then:
"Multi-Shadow Clone Jutsu!"
Hundreds of him charged, many wielding Rasengan.
Yugito's expression hardened.
Her body flared with tailed beast chakra—her form shifted.
Two blazing tails unfurled behind her.
Hellfire Whip Tail!
The two tails extended like burning whips, sweeping through the battlefield. Clones were cut down in waves.
Yugito exhaled, " Let's see how you take this."
she summoned her next technique:
Blue Flame Tracking rats!
Small burning flames manifested around her—like blue fire rats. They shot forth, chasing the real Naruto relentlessly. Naruto dodged, vaulted, rolled—barely avoiding the explosive blue trails.
A chakra tail formed behind Naruto—his chakra gaining the malice and density of tailed beast.
Naruto's half tailed beast mode ( one tail )
"Multi-Shadow Clone Jutsu!"
This time, his clones were coated heavily in red-tinted chakra—borrowing from the tail forming behind him.
Yugito felt, for the first time, resistance. The chakra coating made destroying them far harder.
But she wasn't deterred.
Her limbs dropped to all fours. Her nails elongated into shimmering flames—
Hellcat Pounce.
She moved like a panther, like living blue fire, tearing through the enhanced clones.
Inside the Konoha Auditorium, the crowd roared. Two Jinchūriki were clashing—the spectacle was unmatched.
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Within minutes, the season inside the Genjutsu-world shifted.
Autumn dissolved into winter.
Snow began to fall.
Yugito frowned—this was a disadvantage. She was pure fire.
But she didn't back down.
She inhaled—deeply.
Tailed Beast Blaze Roar!
A monstrous cone of compressed flame erupted outward. Trees, rocks—everything melted or burned into charcoal. Naruto's clones vanished instantly.
But Naruto refused to slow down. He countered with wave after wave of wind-style ninjutsu—
Wind Release: Wind Gale Palm!
Wind Release: Air bullet!
Wind Release: Great Breakthrough!
Wind Release: Vacuum Wave!
The winds howled against Yugito—
Until her form exploded into blue flame.
She transformed fully.
A towering Two-Tails Blue Flame Cat roared, obliterating the snow-filled forest around her.
The moment she gathered chakra, Akira in the audience narrowed his eyes—he knew what was coming.
Blue Flame Spiral. ( Her special tailed beast ball )
Her tailed beast bomb rotated with rings of blue hellfire. When launched, it ripped the land into a vortex of scorching destruction. The shockwave consumed dozens of meters. Every clone Naruto had left evaporated.
Naruto, forced into his three-tailed form, staggered—his body trembling.
The chakra spiraled out of control.
His seal activated.
All Tailed Beast chakra shut down at once.
Naruto dropped from three tails to nothing—forced back into normal human form.
Yugito did not stop.
Matatabi Inferno Burst!
She unleashed a massive expanding wave of blue hellfire. Hundreds of meters of terrain melted into molten stone.
Naruto was engulfed.
And defeat settled.
Naruto Uzumaki—future Hokage—had fallen.
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Outside the Genjutsu arena, Naruto opened his eyes. Disappointment flickered in them—but only for a moment.
He smiled at Akira, who still had his eyes shut, immersed in combat.
He lifted a hand and waved at the audience. The mostly Konoha crowd waved back—recognizing his effort.
No hatred. No disdain.
And perhaps for the first time in this world, Naruto felt… accepted.
His true identity as the son of fourth Hokage had been subtly revealed a year ago—after careful discussion among the village leaders.
Naruto never met Minato like in the original world, but in this life, things were different. He was only eight when Hiruzen Sarutobi died. His childhood after that was kinder. His old memories faded.
When he asked why he was called the " Nine tailed fox" Akira explained gently:
It would strengthen Naruto's character, since tailed beasts were masses of negative chakra.
A normal child would go insane, but Naruto endured eight years of hardship making him not easily be corroded by tailed beast chakra.
Naruto's naïveté made him believe the explanation—he didn't want to think of the Hokage, his "Grandpa," as a schemer.
Naruto accepted it.
As for the tailed beast chakra getting sealed after three tails, it was a countermeasure carefully discussed and implemented by the Konoha High-Level Officers.
Unless he faced life and death battle, Naruto was limited to using only his Half-Tailed Beast Mode till three tails, as controlling four tails was not possible during this period.
If he ever truly needed to go beyond three tails, he could unlock the seal himself, but inside the Genjutsu world, Naruto understood that doing so wouldn't give him any real advantage.
He wanted to win the Chunin-Exam relying on his own strength, and after realizing he couldn't defeat Yugito, he simply let it go
And now, the exams continued.
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Inside the Genjutsu world, Yugito kept her complete tailed beast form active.
She decided she wouldn't reverse it.
From now on, she would hunt everyone.
The only threat left was Gaara—the son of the Kazekage—also a Jinchūriki. The rest were insignificant except for two:
Rock Lee, rumored to have practiced eight gates.
The brat from the Uchiha class, who was from the same clan as Akira, who Matatabi said is dangerous."
As for the rest,
She didn't care. She would kill them all.
Within an hour, the number dropped from twenty to nine.
Eleven more candidates were wiped out by Yugito's blue flames.
And finally—
She encountered Uchiha Sasuke.
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The moment Sasuke saw Yugito in full tailed-beast form, he felt pressure unlike anything in his life. A raw, suffocating killing intent that made every instinct scream.
He readied himself to fight to the death.
Sasuke didn't wait.
Fire Release: Great Fireball Rain!
Multiple massive fireballs fell toward Yugito like meteors.
Yugito walked through the flames directly, ignoring all the attacks of Sasuke's.
Tailed beast blaze roar!
A slicing wave of blue flame ripped forward.
Sasuke slammed his hands to the ground—
Earth Release: Earth Wall!
The wall rose—shattered a moment later—but it bought Sasuke time.
Lightning surged around him.
Chidori Flow.
His cells vibrated. In a burst of speed, he vanished from Yugito's sightline.
He reappeared behind her, forming more seals:
Lightning Release: Lightning Beast Tracking Fang!
Lightning wolves and tigers launched forward—but hitting Yugito's tailed beast form felt like pebbles against a fortress.
Yugito countered instantly—
Blue Flame Tracking Rats!
Six tiny flame rats shot toward Sasuke.
Sasuke's Sharingan strained; even with it, they were too fast.
He slammed his fist into the ground:
Earth Release: Fissure Wave!
The ground split.
A powerful circular shockwave along with rocks burst forth, clashing with the tracking flame rats, but the technique failed. Yugito's flames pierced through everything.
Sasuke braced.
Water Release: Water Wall!
Water Release: Water Wall Projectile!
Bullets of water shot outward—
But the blue flame rats struck him anyway.
Sasuke crashed to the ground, smoke rising from his body.
Weakness flooded him. For the first time, he realized Naruto had endured far more and even nearly damaged Yugito.
He wasn't close.
Even Genjutsu won't work on her.
He needed three tomoe—at least.
But he had one final jutsu left.
Sasuke threw shuriken attached to wire. Yugito frowned—confused. How could shuriken harm her?
That confusion gave him the opening.
Fire Release: Dragon Flame Bombs!
Fire coursed through the wire and engulfed her completely.
Flames roared—
Then cleared.
Yugito stood unscathed.
A moment later—
She unleashed her strongest attack.
Tailed beast ball!
Sasuke evaporated.
Just like Naruto.
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