Starts In Konoha: Unlocking Shadow Clone

"Naruto, I still want to give it a try," Sasuke said after hesitating for a moment.

Hearing this, Naruto was immediately confused, "You can't use Chakra, what else are you planning to try?"

"Taijutsu."

Sasuke replied calmly.

Hearing this, Naruto chuckled.

"Well, if you want to give it a shot, go ahead."

Naruto didn't object to Sasuke's request.

However, he knew from the start that Sasuke would inevitably lose.

'Unlike regular Shinobi, the Otogakure's Shinobi wielded an invisible sound-based attack that moved at supersonic speeds… a speed that Taijutsu alone couldn't match. Unless it's Lee who opened the fourth gate, even Lee's speed without weight wouldn't be enough to compete with that.'

Whoosh!

With a quick step, Sasuke shot forward, moving so fast that he left an afterimage in his wake. In an instant, he was face-to-face with Dosu, the bandaged man, and slashed his kunai toward Dosu's neck in a move that, if successful, would have left him critically injured or worse.

But Dosu is no ordinary person and there is no way he would just wait for the attack.

Dosu immediately crossed his arms to block in front of himself. Sasuke's kunai strike landed, but only managed to hit the multi-holed arm guard on Dosu's right arm.

Seeing that his initial attack failed, Sasuke quickly jumped back to a safe distance, searching for another opening. But after retreating a few steps, Sasuke suddenly wobbled, fell to one knee, and spat out a mouthful of blood.

"Sasuke!"

Sakura hurried forward, helping him up, "Are you alright?"

"I'm fine."

Sasuke forced himself to stand, though his head was still spinning.

'It was clearly me who attacked just now, so how come I was the one who got hurt?'

'Could it be that that guy's two teammates took the opportunity to launch an attack?'

Sasuke turned his head to look at Zaku, with his gray-black spiky hair, and Kin, the long-haired girl in black, but saw that Naruto had intercepted both of them.

'Since Naruto held those two back, who was it that made me dizzy?'

Sasuke was puzzled and simply stopped thinking about it.

Even though he couldn't use Sharingan, visual prowess was unmatched among his peers. He threw out a shuriken tentatively and began to observe carefully.

The shuriken flew straight toward Dosu, who raised his right arm awkwardly. He didn't even hit the shuriken directly, but the shuriken veered off course mid-air, missing Dosu entirely.

Seeing this, Sasuke's brows furrowed even more deeply.

'There was no way I had missed with my shuriken throw, and I had clearly seen it change direction.'

'But how did this guy do it without the control of the steel wires?'

Unwilling to give up, Sasuke threw several more shuriken in rapid succession.

Zzzt! Zzzt!

As multiple shuriken closed in, Dosu moved his right arm again, this time with larger, exaggerated motions, producing a grating, high-pitched noise.

The shuriken once again scattered in all directions, veering off their original paths.

But this time, Sasuke's brows relaxed. He had finally figured it out.

Because of the Sharingan, he was too confident in his visual prowess and neglected his hearing.

Because he couldn't use Chakra, he'd been too tense to notice. Otherwise, the fact that Dosu was an Otogakure's Shinobi should have clued him in that Dosu was using soundwave attacks.

'Now everything is clear. That guy's mysterious attack is based on that unusual arm guard with its multiple holes.'

'Now that I understand his attack method, countering it would be straightforward.'

Whoosh!

Sasuke retrieved another shuriken from his Ninja Tool pouch and threw it again.

Seeing this, Dosu said impatiently, "That move is useless against me. If that's all you've got, then it's my turn to end this. Just give up!"

He swung his right arm, sending out invisible sound waves that deflected the shuriken mid-air. Then, he suddenly rushed forward, wanting to quickly end this boring duel.

But Sasuke remained still, and there's a confident smirk on his face.

The next moment, Dosu, who was rushing forward, suddenly clutched his right shoulder and let out a heart-wrenching scream.

"Impossible, I already deflected the shuriken!"

"So what? You've already lost!" Sasuke said, appearing behind Dosu in a flash, pressing a kunai against the back of Dosu's neck.

"Dosu is out!"

Hayate said calmly, announcing the result.

Without his arm guard, Dosu's combat power was greatly reduced since he was unable to launch the mysterious sound wave attacks. And with Sasuke's kunai at his vital spot, the fight ends with Sasuke's win.

"How did you manage to avoid my sound waves?"

Dosu was in disbelief. His soundwave attack, which is powerful and swift, had always been his pride. He really could not accept the fact that it was inexplicably broken by Sasuke.

Sasuke replied coolly, "Look at what injured your shoulder, and you'll understand."

With that, Sasuke turned and dashed toward Naruto to assist him.

Dosu, standing in place, pulled out the sharp object that had injured his right shoulder with his left hand.

'A... needle!'

To his shock, the object was nothing but a super-thin flying needle. It dawned on Dosu then.

Sasuke had hidden the needle in the shadow of the shuriken, allowing it to evade his sound wave deflection. The sound waves, focusing only on the visible shuriken, had missed the subtle needle entirely.

It was a simple trick, but pulling it off in real combat with such precision was no easy feat.

'As expected of the Uchiha Clan's genius… Uchiha Sasuke.'

Dosu sighed in admiration, accepting his defeat wholeheartedly.

On the other side, Naruto was facing Zaku and Kin alone.

Compared to Sasuke and Dosu's intense fight, Naruto's situation was oddly calm, with no signs of movement from either side.

Following Orochimaru's orders, Zaku and Kin weren't allowed to attack Naruto. So if Sasuke hadn't insisted on fighting, the Otogakure Team would have surrendered long ago.

While Sasuke and Dosu were fighting, Naruto casually chatted, "Miss Kin, would you care to join me for dinner tonight?"

After all, Naruto has seen plenty of fanfics about Kin in his previous life, so having a chance to dine with her in real life was like a fan meeting an idol.

'It's a pity that I am only twelve and still in the early stages of growth, otherwise something wonderful might happen after dinner. It's such a pity.'

"Huh?"

Kin was stunned for a moment, and then her face instantly turned red.

Judging from Orochimaru's attitude toward him, Naruto is already an absolute big shot in Kin's heart. For him to invite her so politely was more than she could've dreamed of, leaving her both flattered and nervous.

After coming back to her senses, Kin nodded quickly, like a chick pecking at rice.

Zaku, standing nearby, looked at her enviously, wanting to say something but finding himself at a loss for words.

"Zaku, if you're willing to pay for the meal, you're welcome to join us."

Naruto said, noticing Zaku's expression.

Since nothing serious would happen with Kin anyway, Naruto figured he might as well let a sucker foot the bill.

"Yes, yes, of course! I'd be honored!"

Zaku replied, excitement written all over his face, as if he were ready to kneel in gratitude.

Whoosh!

At this moment, Sasuke rushed to Naruto's side and said seriously, "Naruto, is everything okay here? I have finished the fight on my end."

"You won?"

Naruto was slightly surprised. He never expected Sasuke to win.

'It seemed I still underestimated Sasuke's potential.'

'It seems that it would be a good idea to let Sasuke train his Taijutsu while he is adapting to the Cursed Seal.'

Having made up his mind, Naruto waved his hand and said, "What could go wrong here? If you're done, then let's wrap this up."

With that, Naruto turned and walked towards the audience.

Seeing this, Hayate frowned and said, "Uzumaki Naruto, leaving the arena means you're forfeiting. Do you want to forfeit?"

"The match is over. What's there to forfeit?" Naruto said speechlessly.

Before Hayate could respond, Zaku and Kin shouted, "We surrender! We surrender!"

Hayate was momentarily speechless, looking as though he had swallowed something unpleasant. It was the first time he saw someone so happy after giving up.

After regaining his composure, he announced, "The first preliminary match is over. The winners are Uzumaki Naruto, Uchiha Sasuke, and Haruno Sakura..."