Graduation Exam! (3)

"Kouga. 100 shadow clones with 9 tails chakra on their way. He is serious."

"I know." Kouga's expression turned somber. It seemed his uncle was not letting them off easy.

"We will have to get more serious now, Mika. We can no longer fight as just Kouga and Mika. But…"

Black chakra of Reibi and purple chakra of Nue burst out of his body.

"The Hollow Moon called." 

His voice turned deep and serious. The chakra intertwined into a black suit and a black robe. The dark cape made of chakra fluttered. Black chakra covered his arm, and from it, an Inshi Holder was summoned out fit onto his arm. The chakra of Reibi and Nue further boosted his power and speed, akin to an inferior KCM.

Umbra, awakened from his slumber. 

Mika nodded seeing Kouga's transformation. She let out a soft sigh, and with it, a crack in space appeared in front of her like a cracked mirror. She stepped into it, combined into fragments of her reflection. And from it, as if she was transformed as she stepped out of the cracks in her elegant white robe, the bell tied to her ankle emits a soft chime. The veil on her face only added more mystery. But, it also allowed her to use one more thing without Naruto or anyone seeing clearly.

Rinnesharingan. The red eye with rings and 9 tomoe on her forehead opened behind the veil. Without it, she couldn't see Naruto's speed in KCM properly.

The Inshi Holder on Umbra's hand clicked, opening up like a fan revealing multiple cards. He took one with 5 mysterious symbols.

"Beast of the Void, heed my call. Shatter, and assemble, O my Shadow Priest!" The card burned burst in black chakra, and from his body, pitch black shadow climbed to the ground and spread in a circle around him. And from it, a creature born from the Shadow with the flesh of Beast of the Void appeared. A single pitch black beastly hand formed from the slime like shadow, as if they were creatures from the abyss crawling out into the world.

Each with a white mask on them, the 5 creatures of different sizes, holding different black weapons appeared. A sword, a spear, a hammer, a bow and arrow, and a shield. They were all carrying Umbra's will, with a shadow trail connected to Umbra's feet allowing sharing of senses and transfer of his will.

"Let's go." Umbra muttered.

Flash!

The group moved like a shadow quickly, leaving a trail of devastation along their way as they killed any normal Naruto shadow clones appearing with ease while waiting for their true adversary.

The ground left cracking, the trees smashed and fell, wildlife ran away from their presence.

The first KCM shadow clone arrived. 

At lightning speed, it avoided all the Shadow Priests and rushed straight to Umbra.

Umbra's Shiyogan looked straight into the shadow clone. But just before it could come near, from the shadow trail beneath him, a Shadow Priest appeared in an instant, holding a big black shield and blocked Naruto's punch. 

The punch carried powerful force, wind pressure escaped, the ground cracked along with the shield cracked, the Shadow Shieldman broke apart like a broken black slime - but in the same instant, it reassembled back. 

Naruto's shadow clone had his mouth agape. In that instant, the Shadow Shieldman engulfed Naruto, binding him. While a Shadow Spearman appeared from the shadow trail behind Naruto, the tip of his spear flashed in purple light as it stabbed right through the clone's chest.

Poof!

Naruto shrieked inwardly once more after receiving more and more information from his shadow clones.

"What's up with their costumes all of a sudden! What are those creatures?? How did it recover? And Kouga's chakra…! Mika's too! So potent!"

Naruto realised just what horror those two had hid all this time.

The shadow creatures were able to move along the shadow trails almost in an instant, acting as both weapons and a shield with their own consciousness for Umbra. Their touch could bind opponents, with property of the Nara clan's secret technique.

More KCM shadow clones rushed towards them. 

2 headed for Moonveil! She was calm, her Rinnesharingan moved left and right, seeing through their movements. She stepped aside to dodge fist from one, and jumped to dodge a sweeping kick from another. Midair, her hair coiled and turned into two sharp ends and rushed like a spear piercing into two KCM clones, killing them instantly.

That's… that's Kaguya?! Kurama almost choked his own saliva after screaming. He felt it clearly now. There's no way he couldn't recognise the very familiar chakra very close to his own origin.

:"What did you say, Kurama!? You are saying Mika is…-" Naruto felt his world was spinning and collapsing. Why did Kouga have all this power, and why was he so strong? And how come Mika was suddenly Kaguya? Has Kurama gone senile??

A swarm of Naruto's shadow clones appeared. The golden chakra on them fluctuated. 5 of them rushed into Umbra's position in different directions. But his eyes could see them with his vision akin to a Byakugan. Shadow Archer appeared from a shadow trail, sending purple chakra arrows without stop.

The Shadow Shieldman block a clone managed to pass through with its speed, and from behind, Kouga flashed and stabbed his chakra blade killing it.

His eyes locked upward, seeing two clones trying to sneak on him from above. He quickly took an Inshi. The card burst in chakra, turning into blue flames.

Fire Release: Majestic Divine Fire of the Fallen! He swung his arm, sending the blue firestorm toward the two clones killing them in an instant. But right after, a third clone rushed straight to Kouga.

In a fraction of a second, a shadow trail crawled from Umbra's feet up onto his torso, and from the shadow trail on his own body, a whole Shadow Shieldman came out blocking the clone's fist with its shield but shattering in the process. But that instant was all Umbra needed to deliver a counter attack. Naruto was dumbfounded at Kouga's unreasonable defense before being killed with a slash of his blade.

"No way no way… what did Tsuyu feed those two!" Naruto was a little panicked. He hesitated for a moment. But after seeing their resolve, he made his own decisions.

"Don't hold back, they can handle it!" He sent the instructions to all clones.

Tsuyu was sipping her coffee, quite impressed by Kouga's performance. He was inferior in strength and speed compared to Naruto in KCM really - unless he used his Sage Mode, but his Dojutsu and his variety of skills, his quick thinking and reflexes, his Shadow Priests that move along the shadow trails in an instant to cover his defense, he was very amazing. He was a half Otsutsuki after all, his performance was already at Kage tier at this point.

My son… you really might surpass me… Tsuyu felt really proud inside. She already decided to give him his graduation gift later. 

10 KCM shadow clones surrounded Moonveil and Umbra. Moonveil used her hair, sending sharp needles to distract them, while the Shadow Priests and Umbra moved to deliver finishing blows. 

Godly Vacuum Rotation! Moonveil spun at godly speed, her palm unleashing a terrifying wave of chakra destroying 5 clones trying to surround her in an instant leaving a barren hole of ten meter radius around her.

Umbra's Shiyogan looked left and right, sensing 10 more clones coming at him. He took two Inshi from his device and jumped onto a tree before throwing one onto the ground.

Water Release: Dark Tide! 

Like a tsunami water burst out from the ground. Moonveil moved out of the way with a jump. The clones coming were stunned as they were engulfed by the water. And the next moment, another Inshi burst with a crackle of lightning.

Lightning Release: Purple Lightning! Purple lightning conducted through the water, dealing critical damage to all the clones.

Crackle crackle!

"Gah…!" The shadow clones screamed before poofing into smokes.

Sensing more clones coming, Umbra had a flash of an idea and took another Inshi with Flame symbol on them. 

Fire Release: Majestic Divine Fire of the Fallen! 

The flames sweep into the water flooding the forest below, creating a thick layer of mist. Naruto didn't have a Dojutsu like those two…

The tens of KCM shadow clones were beaten to black unable to see a thing in the mist while those two could.

"Really now…" Naruto felt exasperated and tired. What was this? No wonder, no wonder…

A shadow clone used wind release, but that instant was a vulnerable moment that Moonveil used to shoot a chakra rod right though it.

Kouga found the mist to be too effective against his uncle and spammed the move. Now the mist was constantly moving right to where Naruto was.

"Damn it… these two… I don't have any powerful eyes to see them!" Naruto felt stressed because he was taken down by such a trick.

Use Sage Mode, Naruto. You don't have the perception to see through that mist. And just use Rasengan on your clones. You cannot bypass their defense unless you use it. Taijutsu-only wouldn't work. Kurama gave his advice.

"But… that… isn't that overboard… what if I hurt them?" Rasengan wasn't a plaything. It shreds things with chakra.

Hmph. Mika is really Kaguya, I am certain. You think that can kill her? Kouga had half of his mother's blood, his flesh was tougher than yours and his healing factor was like you with me. And he had his Sage Mode too if you remember. Don't embarrass yourself.

Naruto sighed softly.

"Sorry Mika, Kouga! Don't… don't hold back… just use Rasengan…" He said weakly to his clones. What kind of graduation exam even was this?

A KCM clone got past the Shadow Priests defense. But as expected, a Shadow Shieldman appeared to block him with a shield. But in Umbra's shock, a Rasengan formed in the clone's hand.

Rasengan! The rasengan was blocked by the Shadow Shieldman only for a moment before it was grinded by the spin. Naruto's Rasengan broke through Umbra's defense.

Umbra quickly swung his chakra blade filled with Purple Lightning to block the Rasengan. 

The attacks clashed, a powerful blast exploded killing the shadow clone and injuring Umbra slightly while pushing him a few meters away from the aftermath.

The memory transmitted to Naruto, making him let out a relieved sigh. It seemed Kouga was really tough like Kurama said.

"That hurts… Uncle is finally serious." His minor injury healed in a second. His gaze turned sharper. His black cape split into multiple purple chakra limbs, each turning into a purple chakra blade, buzzing with purple lightning. The Shadow Priests all gathered into his body once more.

Meanwhile, two shadow clones with rasengan each rushed to Moonveil. But she didn't even turn her head. 

Preta Path. 

She raised both her arms, her palms met the Rasengan almost touching her - they shrunk as it met an invincible shield and was absorbed completely. The power of her Rinnesharingan was trained to be utilised effectively, unlike her previous self!

The shadow clones gasped in shock before being punched to death with Godly Vacuum Fist.

The memories transmitted back to Naruto, making his mouth agape wider. What is this!? Isn't that Obito's power?

At Umbra's side…

"Dreadmane!" Nue was summoned from another dimension, his size was that of a lion as most of his chakra was given to Umbra for him to control and use.

Dreadmane transformed himself into another Umbra, and with the real one, the pair used their strongest technique learned from his handsome father, improvised on their own.

Shiden Rasen Ga! Purple Lightning Spiralling Fang! 

Purple thunder strikes everything as the twisting tornado cuts through everything like a calamity, creating a straight gully a kilometer straight forward while rushing to Naruto's real location, clearing any clones blocking the way. The forest was scorched, devastated and turned barren from his attack.

Moonveil followed after with a portal, keeping up with him.

Naruto felt very stupid at the moment. Kouga's unreasonable strength can be explained with Reibi, Nue, and him having half of Tsuyu's Otsutsuki blood and the chakra amount he inherited. Maybe that wasn't unreasonable at all.

But if Mika was truly Kaguya like Kurama said… this Kaguya had a fraction of prime Kaguya's chakra, but her skill made her even more terrifying. This was no longer that old grandma that could only try to use crushing strength, but a terror with both skill and strength.

Tsuyu… what are you thinking… you resurrected her secretly and pretended she was your adopted daughter… she almost destroyed our world… what if…

Naruto realised Tsuyu really was still as insane as ever.

"I will use Sage Mode then…" Naruto made the decision, sensing they were very near now.

He stood still with Kurama, both gathering nature energy. He felt both worry and a sense of threat. 

Sasuke, you know, don't you. You want me to test them and report to you for this reason… 

In a matter of ten seconds, his pupil turned into a combined horizontal rectangular slit with a beastly one.

His aura instantly changed as he entered the final stage. Moonveil and Umbra arrived to face the final battle.

"Umbra, he is using natural energy. He entered Sage Mode." Moonveil observed with her all her Dojutsu.

With a wave of her hand, 9 Truth Seeking Orbs were created and floated around her. 3 of them combined and turned into a black spear in her hand. 

"I know… I see his chakra become even more potent… It's time to unseal my hidden fragment…" The bandages around Umbra's left arms unwrapped itself.

"Dreadmane, return." Umbra muttered. Nue roared as he returned into Umbra's body.

The markings on his left arms glowed in blue light and started to crawl all over Kouga's entire body, eventually covering his face. The black hoodie of his cape disappeared to reveal his face.

His fangs grew sharper, his claws longer, his dark brown hair turned very pale and longer, reaching half of his back. The sclera of his eyes turned black, while his iris glowed in blue chakra light. A single spiral horn grew in a backward curve on the left side of his forehead. His half Otsutsuki blood was fully stimulated as he hovered in the air.

Blue-purple chakra markings glowed on top of his black suit as he entered Sage Mode. A tomoe pattern adorned each of the purple chakra limbs forming his cape. The same 9 tomoe pattern adorned his chest.

With a wave of his hand, 3 Truth Seeking Orbs were created. Not as much as Moonveil, but the 3 of them combined with his chakra blade, forming into a sleek black katana covered with purple chakra edge. His close to pale silver hair fluttered in the wind. His black eyes and blue iris swirling with blue glow gazed sharp into Naruto's soul, like a hunter seeing his prey.

Naruto felt his scalps and back tingling sensing the threat the two possessed.

The chakras emanating from the three of them caused the air to vibrate, the grasses were pressed down, as if bowing from the pressure they emitted.

"You two… just need to get the bell… okay?" Naruto reminded them and pointed at the bell tied to his waist. He felt like these two were coming at him to kill and forgot the real objective.

Kouga blinked twice, recalling the real objective. He almost thought it was to kill his uncle for some reason.

"Understood… and uncle needed to take off our bandana to stop us. Please give it your all, uncle. You are one of the Legendary Heroes. It's a great honour for me to fight against you at your full strength. I would not embarrass my mother." 

Kouga said in his Kouga voice with a tone of seriousness. The white bandanas were still tied around their foreheads, bringing them back to reality of the situation.

"Ahaha… it will be difficult even for me-dattebayo…" Naruto looked at the two, scanning their strength carefully. Those Truth Seeker Orbs had strong defense. He had to use all his strength to break through them but it's doable.

This was crazy… 

Moonveil had a plan in her mind and transmitted her thoughts telepathically to Umbra.

"I will use Tsukuyomi on him, we just need a chance."

Moonveil remembered, even Naruto was susceptible to Infinite Tsukuyomi back then. He didn't have the Rinnegan to resist it.

"Understood." Umbra formed a plan in his mind, calculating every way to win. He looked at the Eye Creature hundreds of meters away, watching him.

Kaa-san, I will make you proud. Watch me.

***