Everyone in Konoha, and even throughout the entire ninja world, knew just how difficult the Flying Thunder God Technique was.
So it was perfectly normal for Hiruzen Sarutobi to think this way.
Even if Natsuhiko was a descendant of the Senju clan, everyone knew what the current state of the Senju clan was like.
Even back when Konoha had just been founded, when the First Hokage and Second Hokage were still alive, the only person in the entire Senju clan who could use the Flying Thunder God Technique was the Second Hokage himself.
Hiruzen simply didn't believe that this Senju kid could learn such a technique in such a short time.
As for learning it since childhood?
It wasn't impossible—but if he really knew the technique, he would have already used it.
Based on Natsuhiko's mission reports and the reports submitted by his teammates, it was clear that he did not know such a technique.
Still, Hiruzen remained cautious.
Minato Namikaze saying those words was probably not just stubbornness. There was likely another meaning behind it.
That meaning was that Natsuhiko might actually possess some rather interesting techniques.
Could it be… the Rasengan?
Hiruzen silently pondered to himself, and the more he thought about it, the more likely it seemed.
Although the Rasengan wasn't easy to learn, compared to the Flying Thunder God Technique its difficulty was far lower.
Moreover, once someone mastered the proper technique, learning the Rasengan wasn't particularly difficult.
Considering that Minato Namikaze had privately met with Natsuhiko, combined with the fact that the boy was extremely talented and very intelligent—
It wouldn't be strange if he had already learned the Rasengan.
While Hiruzen was still thinking about this, the smoke in the plaza gradually began to dissipate.
The figures of Natsuhiko and Lone Wolf once again became clearly visible to everyone.
Natsuhiko looked somewhat disheveled.
Under Lone Wolf's relentless attacks, he could only keep dodging and defending.
However, Lone Wolf was clearly very experienced. He had already realized that Natsuhiko was being steadily pushed into a disadvantage.
Naturally, he would not miss such an opportunity.
Taking a step forward, Lone Wolf closed the distance and immediately threw a punch toward Natsuhiko.
For a split second, Natsuhiko felt as if he had been completely locked in place, as though there was no way to evade the punch at all.
But Natsuhiko was also a seasoned ANBU veteran who had fought in many battles.
Even though his situation was extremely difficult, he could still defend himself.
He quickly drew his ninja blade, and blue chakra instantly appeared along the weapon.
With a fierce swing forward, Natsuhiko slashed directly toward Lone Wolf's arm.
But Lone Wolf seemed completely unconcerned about the attack.
Or rather, he simply didn't care about such an attack at all.
The moment the blade collided with his fist, his fist erupted with powerful chakra again.
However, this time Natsuhiko's blade also changed.
Water-natured chakra burst forth, and highly concentrated Water Release spread across the entire edge of the blade.
"Hm?"
This sudden change made Lone Wolf slightly furrow his brow.
But he had no intention of abandoning his attack.
He slightly pulled back his fist, allowing Natsuhiko to be drawn closer by the momentum.
Then he threw another punch.
The punch cut through the air as it smashed toward Natsuhiko's ribs.
But the moment he launched the strike, Lone Wolf's frown deepened.
Poof!
With a puff of smoke, the Natsuhiko in front of him turned into a pile of wooden logs.
The real Natsuhiko appeared several meters away.
"Water Release: Water Dragon Bullet!"
Now that he had temporarily escaped close-quarters combat with Lone Wolf, Natsuhiko wasted no time forming hand seals.
At this point in the battle, Natsuhiko was already fighting at full strength for this stage of his abilities.
However, what made Natsuhiko feel extremely frustrated was that the Hyuga clan member in front of him was truly terrifyingly strong.
His strength, speed, and defense completely overwhelmed Natsuhiko, who wasn't using Sage Mode.
In fact, Natsuhiko was certain that even if he used his beginner-level Sage Mode, he might still not gain much advantage against this opponent.
Sage Mode was powerful, but the problem was that Natsuhiko's own base strength was still limited.
Moreover, it was only a basic Sage Mode, so the amplification it provided was also somewhat limited.
When Jiraiya used Sage Mode, his power increase was terrifying—but that was because Jiraiya's base strength was already extremely high.
Natsuhiko wasn't entirely sure whether the Sage Mode he knew was considered a beginner level.
But regardless of the type, when someone already had immense strength as their foundation, even a small enhancement could become unimaginable.
After all, the closer someone got to the peak of power, the harder it became to improve even a little.
The enormous Water Dragon roared as it charged fiercely toward Lone Wolf's position.
Yet even when facing such a massive and powerful ninjutsu, Lone Wolf remained completely calm.
Members of the Hyuga clan rarely used ninjutsu in battle.
It wasn't because they couldn't—it was because they possessed a taijutsu style that allowed them to fully utilize the power of their eyes.
And relying on that fighting style, they were generally not afraid of ninjutsu attacks.
Lone Wolf silently gathered chakra.
In an instant, both of his hands turned a deep blue color.
Behind the mask, his Byakugan stared intensely at the incoming Water Dragon.
Closer… and closer…
When the enormous dragon came within five meters of him, Lone Wolf suddenly stepped forward.
His right fist opened into a palm.
Then he struck directly at the center of the Water Dragon with a powerful palm strike!
"Buzz!"
Blue chakra instantly pierced through the Water Dragon.
With the violent vibration of his powerful chakra, the entire Water Dragon collapsed in an instant.
Unable to maintain its form, it turned into a splash of water that scattered across the ground.
At that very moment, Natsuhiko moved again.
Forming a one-handed seal, he instantly activated Water Release: Instant Water.
In the blink of an eye, he appeared beside Lone Wolf with unbelievable speed.
At the same time, terrifying chakra wrapped around his ninja blade.
"Water Release: Water Blade Slash!"
The ninja blade swung down fiercely.
The chakra condensed along the blade was so dense that even Lone Wolf's brows twitched slightly.
He recognized the technique—but he had never seen it condensed to this degree before.
Even so, he showed no panic.
Remaining extremely calm, he immediately chose to dodge rather than block.
It wasn't that he couldn't take the attack—there was simply no need to.
In a split second, Natsuhiko's incredible reflexes allowed him to instantly alter the trajectory of the blade.
The sword traced a strange arc through the air before slashing toward Lone Wolf's head.
However, Lone Wolf had no intention of continuing this exchange.
He crouched slightly, dodged the blade, then spun around without hesitation and launched a powerful kick toward Natsuhiko.
Seeing this, Natsuhiko's eyes suddenly lit up.
He had finally been waiting for this exact moment.
"I've got you!"
Facing the terrifying kick, Natsuhiko raised his ninja blade to block in front of his chest.
At the same time, chakra quietly gathered in the palm of his left hand, which he thrust toward Lone Wolf.
BOOM!
Natsuhiko was sent flying backward.
The ninja blade in his hand shattered instantly from the kick.
Lone Wolf's strike was simply too powerful, and his taijutsu was terrifyingly strong.
However, Natsuhiko didn't show much panic.
With a quick backward flip, he landed steadily on the ground.
This time, Lone Wolf also didn't immediately attack again.
Frowning slightly, his Byakugan gaze shifted to the back of his leg.
At that spot, he could clearly see that a strange mark had been left there.
He didn't know what the mark meant.
And at the moment, he didn't feel any discomfort either.
The more Lone Wolf thought about it, the more uneasy he felt.
He absolutely believed that a ninja like Natsuhiko would never do something meaningless.
But without a clear answer, he simply couldn't figure out what Natsuhiko's purpose was.
However, he did recognize one thing—the mark on his leg appeared to be some kind of sealing technique.
"Water Release: Water Barrage!"
Natsuhiko didn't give him any time to think further.
The moment he landed on the ground, he had already completed a hand seal.
Several large water spheres rapidly condensed from Natsuhiko's chakra, then shot toward Lone Wolf like bullets.
Up until now, Natsuhiko had mostly relied on taijutsu in this fight, so his chakra reserves were still fairly abundant.
On top of that, his recovery ability was excellent, allowing him to maintain enough chakra to bombard his opponent with ninjutsu.
He had already planned his combat strategy.
The most critical step had already been completed.
Now he simply needed to wait patiently for the opportunity to deliver the final strike.
Faced with Natsuhiko's barrage of water attacks, Lone Wolf had no choice but to stop thinking about those distracting matters.
He leapt into the air, easily avoiding the water spheres.
But it seemed Natsuhiko had already anticipated this.
Another technique immediately followed.
"Water Release: Water Dragon Biting Explosion!"
With Natsuhiko's hand seals, the water that had already scattered across the ground suddenly surged upward.
This conveniently saved him a great deal of chakra.
From the streams of water that had almost formed into a small river, a massive Water Dragon burst forth.
With a deafening roar, it lunged toward Lone Wolf to devour him.
Lone Wolf snorted coldly.
Still in midair, he extended both arms forward.
Just as the Water Dragon was about to bite him, he fiercely struck out with his fists.
Gentle Fist.
This was Lone Wolf's greatest specialty and the technique he had mastered most thoroughly.
As the force of Gentle Fist spread outward, it quickly formed a dense network of strikes.
Within that invisible web were countless fists and shockwaves.
The Water Dragon summoned by Natsuhiko seemed unable to withstand the barrage of punches.
However, the Water Dragon had also been formed with a large amount of Natsuhiko's chakra, so it wasn't easily destroyed.
"Water Release: Water Surge Wave!"
Taking advantage of the moment, Natsuhiko formed another set of hand seals.
Such reckless use of chakra for repeated ninjutsu attacks was actually very much in the style of the Senju clan—but it wasn't Natsuhiko's usual style at all.
However, he no longer cared about that.
His recovery ability was strong enough that he could still ensure he would have enough chakra left when the moment came to counterattack.
With his hand seals complete, a water vortex rose up, pulling in all the water scattered across the ground.
Without pause, it surged toward Lone Wolf, who had just landed.
"Eight Trigrams: Palm Rotation!"
Lone Wolf landed steadily on the ground.
Looking at the incoming water vortex, he took a deep breath.
Then the chakra points across his body began releasing chakra, and his body started spinning rapidly.
The chakra released from his body combined with the spinning motion, forming a spherical barrier around him.
When Natsuhiko's water vortex collided with the barrier, it instantly lost momentum.
Rotation truly lived up to its reputation as the Hyuga clan's strongest defensive technique.
Whether facing ninjutsu or taijutsu, it could block them perfectly.
Seeing this, Natsuhiko stopped his attack. At the same time, he began breathing slightly heavier.
"Well, it looks like the kid is almost out of stamina."
This scene naturally did not escape Hiruzen Sarutobi's eyes.
He couldn't help but glance toward Minato Namikaze with a slightly amused expression.
Although his tone carried a hint of teasing, deep down he couldn't help but let out a quiet sigh.
This kid, Natsuhiko, just kept reinventing everyone's understanding of him.
Relentless, perfectly timed ninjutsu attacks, each one executed flawlessly—it was clear he had incredible control over his techniques.
To train each ninjutsu to this level wasn't a simple matter—it required both time and talent.
Moreover, Hiruzen Sarutobi noticed Natsuhiko's earlier movements, which left him strangely unsettled.
Just like with Lone Wolf, he didn't think Natsuhiko would perform such meaningless actions.
"Hm… Natsuhiko is still a bit young," Minato Namikaze said with a slight nod. But soon his tone carried a hint of curiosity: "But it's not over yet. Let's keep watching."
Inside, Minato was just as shocked as Hiruzen.
Not only by Natsuhiko's use of ninjutsu, but also by the sealing technique he had executed earlier.
That wasn't really a traditional sealing technique—it was a ninjutsu that contained elements of a sealing technique but manifested in a different form.
For example… the Flying Thunder God Technique!
Could it be that Natsuhiko had actually mastered this jutsu?
Minato didn't dare be sure, but he also couldn't jump to conclusions.
All he could do was watch silently and wait for the final outcome.
When the water vortex finally dissipated, Lone Wolf also came down.
He hadn't taken any damage.
Although Natsuhiko's combination of ninjutsu had caught him slightly off guard, such attacks were nothing new for him.
After all, when he had infiltrated Sunagakure and been pursued by the Kazekage, the ninjutsu ambushes he had faced were far more powerful than what he experienced now.
He stood calmly, staring at Natsuhiko, and gave a slight nod.
"You're impressive, Captain Nightingale," Lone Wolf said—rarely speaking. "At your age, your performance is already incredible."
"Thank you for your praise," Natsuhiko replied gently, smiling. "To receive the recognition of Captain Lone Wolf is my honor."
"However," Lone Wolf's voice turned cold again as he dropped back into a combat stance. "I have a reason I cannot lose this promotion. For you, this position will be yours in a few years anyway. But for me, it has to be now."
"I understand," Natsuhiko nodded calmly.
He naturally understood what Lone Wolf meant—after all, he was of the Hyuga clan.
Lone Wolf's chakra surged, and once again, his hands glowed bright blue.
His presence continued to rise, an invisible killing intent instantly enveloping the entire arena.
Everyone knew this was likely the final strike, and in their hearts, they were already convinced that Natsuhiko would lose.
Hiruzen Sarutobi and Minato Namikaze both focused intently, though their thoughts differed slightly.
Regardless, neither wanted a tragedy to occur during this ANBU battle.
As Lone Wolf's presence reached its peak, he made his move without hesitation.
His speed was so fast that, in a single breath, he was already in front of Natsuhiko, his right hand thrust toward Natsuhiko's chest.
At the exact moment Lone Wolf moved, Hiruzen and Minato's chakra also reached its peak.
Hiruzen had already formed his hand seals—but the instant he completed them, he froze in shock.
Minato rushed to the center of the arena decisively, but he too didn't have time to act—he was frozen in place.
Not just them—every ANBU watching the match was dumbfounded.
At this moment, everyone's mind echoed the same thought:
"Th-This is impossible!"
...
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