Chapter 77 The Battle of Two Prodigal

With Naruto's loud shout, he pulled out another Totem of Undying.

He had already calculated the force of that previous blow.

Now, he doesn't have to worry about accidentally killing the edgy Pikachu.

The Totem of Undying in Naruto's hand whooshed through the air with great force. The golden statue was a bit taller than Naruto, but in his hands, it looked no different from a toy.

The sheer momentum of his swings created gusts of wind that swept through the venue.

Hayate was afraid that he'd get splattered with Kankuro's blood, so he quickly moved to the side.

Meanwhile, Kankuro finally realized the truth...

The guy in front of him was indeed using puppets as weapons.

But as he stared at the other party's movements blankly, he was completely dumbfounded.

'This…'

'How come it is so different from the Puppet Technique I know??'

There was something very wrong with the way Naruto used the puppet, but Kankuro couldn't tell what was wrong.

In the past, he had been taught to hide behind his puppet, manipulate it from a distance, gather intel on the enemy, and then look for an opening to strike.

But today, Naruto had truly opened his eyes.

Kankuro didn't understand, but he was greatly shocked.

At this moment, Naruto swung the Totem of Undying, knocking the edgy Pikachu flat onto the ground with a 'whoosh', and then began to swing the statue continuously to attack the fallen Kankuro.

As he struck, Naruto mentally chanted...

'No sleeping in the arena!!'

Boom…

"Argh!"

Boom…

"Argh!!"

Naruto controlled his strength perfectly, and each strike drew blood from Kankuro.

He even managed to swing the Totem of Undying in a rhythmic pattern.

And the accompanying soundtrack was Kankuro's agonized screams.

Such a brutal scene left everyone in the audience trembling in fear.

Especially those Shinobi from other villages who had previously misunderstood Naruto as a Puppet Master. Each thunderous slam felt like it was pounding directly into their hearts.

The smirks on their faces from earlier had all frozen stiff.

'You call this a Puppet Master!?'

'That thing earlier was... his training weight?'

'What kind of monster is this yellow-haired brat?'

'If he hits you, you're dead, right?'

The Shinobi from other villages gulped nervously, and their hearts were filled with dread.

Until this moment, they finally understood why Hiruzen said that they could seek justice from the yellow-haired brat...

If that statue came crashing down on them...

Even Elite Jonin like them would be smashed into a pulp.

'What the hell was up with this yellow-haired brat?!'

'If he had shown this kind of strength earlier, none of us would've dared to provoke him at the Hokage's Office.'

'And judging from the previous exams...'

'He is also very vengeful.'

The Shinobi from the other villages were already getting nervous.

They were afraid of being remembered by this petty-minded guy.

"Naruto, stop."

In the end, Hiruzen, who was watching from above, couldn't bear to see Naruto brutalizing the foreign Shinobi any longer, so he gave Hayate a look, signaling him to intervene.

The sickly Hayate looked at Naruto's ferocious appearance and didn't dare to get close at all. He stood five meters away and called out for a full minute before Naruto finally stopped.

Of course, the reason Naruto stopped was because the Totem of Undying in his hand had shattered yet again.

It also happened to heal the edgy Pikachu in the process.

Kankuro, whose is now fully healed, lay peacefully on the ground, his eyes vacant as he stared blankly at the ceiling.

For a brief moment...

He actually had a feeling of experiencing life and death.

And…

Kankuro felt as if he had comprehended the true meaning of the strongest Puppet Technique.

'Chiyo-sama!'

'I've finally found my path as a Puppet Master!'

'It turns out that the ultimate secret of Puppet Master is… to fight like Naruto!'

Kankuro, who attained enlightenment, felt like his injuries no longer hurt.

After a long while, he slowly stood up from the ground.

Although Kankuro's body was unharmed, his puppet and clothes were torn to pieces.

Right now, he looked no different from a wandering beggar.

However, Kankuro's spirit was burning fiercely. He glanced at Naruto with his eyes shining, and bowed deeply to him, and shouted with reverence, "Uzumaki Naruto!"

"I sincerely thank you!"

"I have finally grasped the true essence of Puppet Technique!"

When Naruto heard the edgy Pikachu's speech, his expression turned strange.

'Wait, man...'

'What exactly did you 'grasp'?'

'Didn't I just beat you to death twice?'

Kakashi, who was standing on the platform, raised his hands and covered his face with them.

'It's over!'

'Another child is corrupted by Naruto.'

Hiruzen looked at Kankuro bowing to Naruto and actually felt an odd sense of anticipation.

'Finally…'

'Finally, someone else gets to experience the same pain as I did.'

Gaara, who was standing outside, saw Kankuro's action and the veins on his forehead were throbbing. Clearly, he was furious at Kankuro's behavior.

"Kankuro, you are a disgrace to the village!"

The expressions of the other Shinobi watching the battle were even weirder.

'No matter how you look at it, that Kankuro seems to be the one getting beaten up, right?'

'Why did this guy say thank you to Uzumaki Naruto after being pummeled into the ground?'

"Lee! This is so moving! This is the Youth!"

"Guy-sensei!"

Seeing this scene, the green bowl-cut master and disciple hugged each other and cried again.

Tenten, who was standing next to them, quickly pulled Neji away from the two of them, as if to say, 'we didn't know these two idiots at all'.

Naruto walked back to the spectator stands with mixed feelings, while Kankuro kept bowing and thanking him repeatedly.

If there were smartphones in the Shinobi World, Naruto guessed that Kankuro would have taken out his phone and asked for his Whatsapp ID.

"Cough…"

"The second match..."

The sickly Hayate returned to the center of the arena, and the screen behind him scrolled through the names.

"The second match, Thin... Uchiha Sasuke vs. Tenten."

Sasuke glanced at the tuberculosis-stricken guy below and was already thinking about whether he should instigate Naruto to help put a sack on this guy tonight.

However, when he heard his opponent's name, Sasuke's face lit up with unprecedented excitement.

'Good, good, good!'

'Tenten, right?'

'Today, I, Uchiha Sasuke, will wash away the shame of that day!'

"Hey, Thin Ice Bro."

"So it's you I'm fighting, huh?"

Tenten, who was not far away, waved at Sasuke playfully and stuck out her tongue.

Sasuke's fist clenched again when he heard her words.

"Enough talk."

Ssszzzztt…

Sasuke turned into lightning and instantly appeared at the arena. Seeing this, Tenten flipped down gracefully.

Seeing this, Neji did not forget to remind her.

"Tenten, be careful."

"Don't worry, Neji."

Dressed in his signature black robe, Sasuke stared at Tenten from a distance.

He already knew some information about this bun-haired girl.

He heard that she has average Shinobi talent, but has an extraordinary talent in using Ninja Tools.

In response to this, Sasuke sneered twice to express his disdain.

'No matter how powerful your Ninja Tools mastery are, can they be as powerful as our Uchiha Clan's?'

'Today, I will defeat this girl in the field where she is best at!'

After the two of them completed the Seal of Confrontation, Tenten immediately distanced herself from Sasuke and took out a huge sealing scroll.

But Sasuke was faster and had already untied five sealing scrolls. His hand speed was so fast that even Naruto was amazed.

Bang, bang, bang…

With a series of summoning bursts, the battlefield was instantly flooded with Ninja Tools.