Hiraishin?!

Hiruzen was startled for a fraction of a second. But his sharp, analytical mind instantly shut the theory down. It was literally impossible for Suzuki to have learned the Flying Thunder God jutsu; he had only just received the scroll minutes ago.

If Suzuki hadn’t teleported, then the only logical explanation for how he had seemingly crossed that distance instantly without Asuma reacting was...

"Genjutsu!"

It didn’t take long for Hiruzen to deconstruct the mechanics behind Suzuki’s subtle, terrifyingly elegant swordsmanship. As the Hokage spoke the answer aloud, Kurenai and Shikamaru’s eyes widened in sudden, absolute realization.

As for Yugao, still hidden in the shadows, she simply sighed. She already knew exactly how his technique worked. In fact, Suzuki had taught her the underlying mechanics. It damaged her Anbu pride slightly, considering she was supposed to be the one teaching him Kenjutsu, yet he was already reverse-engineering and improving her deadly style.

"You applied a microscopic, highly targeted genjutsu directly to the reflection of your blade, didn’t you?"

Naturally, Asuma also realized what had just happened. Despite his utter defeat, he couldn’t help but marvel. "Incredible..."

Asuma operated on a similar combat philosophy. He channeled pure Wind chakra into his trench knives, extending their lethal range and making them sharp enough to cut through solid steel. Because the chakra blades were almost entirely invisible, his enemies often didn’t even realize they had been cut down until they were already bleeding out. His combat style relied entirely on subtlety and invisible lethal force.

Yet, Suzuki had just taken that exact same concept and elevated it. Instead of using elemental chakra to physically extend his reach, he used genjutsu to manipulate his opponent’s perception of his reach.

"Simply incredible..."

Hiruzen marveled at Suzuki’s quiet, elegant application of genjutsu. The Hokage slowly turned his gaze toward Kurenai. "You are an exceptional teacher, Kurenai."

"Ah... um... yes, thank you, Hokage-sama!" Kurenai stammered, bowing quickly.

However, internally, she was screaming. She felt incredibly embarrassed because she had absolutely never taught Suzuki anything remotely this advanced!

"Kurenai-sensei..." Hinata looked at her team leader with sheer, starry-eyed marvel.

"As expected of Kurenai-sensei..." Shino nodded stoically, pushing his dark glasses up the bridge of his nose, deeply amazed by her supposed mastery of genjutsu instruction.

Please stop! I’ve only ever taught him the absolute basics! Kurenai wanted to cry as her entire team—and the Hokage—stared at her in sheer amazement.

In truth, Kurenai knew her own genjutsu skills weren’t as devastating as the village rumors claimed. Her techniques were highly traditional; she forcefully invaded the target’s brain, overloading their senses to trap them in a vivid hallucination.

Against standard rogue ninja and average Chunin, her genjutsu was a death sentence. But against true S-Rank powerhouses—monsters who possessed advanced Dojutsu (eye techniques), absolute chakra control, or Tailed Beasts—her straightforward genjutsu was virtually useless. It was a minor nuisance, easily shattered by a simple burst of chakra.

(It might be incredibly cruel to say, but Kurenai’s canonical combat record was essentially filler. Whenever she faced a truly strong opponent, her techniques were casually swatted away.)

Suzuki’s method, however, was lightyears ahead. It was advanced, reality-warping combat theory that would cause massive problems even for an S-Rank powerhouse.

Why was it so much stronger?

Because Suzuki didn’t bother trying to hack into his opponent’s brain. He simply altered the physical inputs entering their senses.

Standard genjutsu forced the target into a dream-like daze. Suzuki’s subtle genjutsu, channeled through the highly polished, custom-forged steel of his katana, manipulated ambient light.

The exact moment Asuma looked at the blinding flash of steel, his perception of time and distance was subtly delayed—perhaps by only half a second. To Asuma’s eyes, Suzuki was still standing fifteen feet away. But in physical reality, Suzuki had already crossed the distance, drawn his blade, and placed it directly against Asuma’s throat.

It was a brilliantly simple application of genjutsu theory. It didn’t require massive chakra reserves or complex hand signs. It only required terrifying intelligence and flawless execution.

Knowing that the vast majority of ’ninja’ in this world actually fought like frontline battle mages screaming out the names of their massive fireballs, Suzuki knew his silent, reality-warping swordsmanship was an absolute work of art.

What happens if I integrate the Hiraishin into this style later? Suzuki wondered.

If he mastered space-time ninjutsu, he would be virtually untouchable.

Yet—

"Fire Release: Ash Pile Burning!"

Without a shred of hesitation, Asuma suddenly spewed a massive stream of superheated, chakra-infused gunpowder directly from his mouth!

The dense, suffocating ash instantly engulfed the entire area, completely surrounding Suzuki, who was still standing at point-blank range. In the exact same motion, Asuma violently bit down on the lit cigarette in his mouth, igniting the cherry and spitting it directly into the ash cloud.

With a tiny flicker of flame, the entire localized atmosphere exploded!

BOOOOOOOOOOOOM!!!!

"..."

The surrounding genin stared in absolute, terrified shock as a massive, searing fireball erupted in the center of the field.

"Asuma-sensei! What the hell are you doing?!" Shikamaru screamed, genuinely horrified by how ruthlessly dirty his team leader was fighting against a genin.

"Calm down, Shikamaru. Do you honestly think he would be defeated that easily?" Hiruzen said calmly, pointing toward the edge of the smoke.

"Suzuki-kun!" Ino gasped in relief.

Suzuki was standing completely unscathed several yards away. He had flawlessly substituted out of the blast radius the instant Asuma inhaled. The only damage was a faint layer of soot dusting the shoulders of his dark clothes.

"...As expected of the Old Man’s prized student. Your reflexes are sharp," Asuma sighed, dusting off his own vest.

"You are incredibly ruthless, Asuma-san," Suzuki said, raising an eyebrow. He felt entirely helpless. He couldn’t exactly take brutal revenge—after all, Asuma was the Hokage’s son.

"Being a shinobi means you have to be prepared for literally anything, kid," Asuma lectured, grinning smugly. "You might fight with honor and elegant swordsmanship, but your enemies won’t give a damn about honor. In the real world, as long as you survive and win, you can use any dirty trick in the book!"

Asuma genuinely felt that Suzuki was too polite, too ’clean.’ He felt it was his duty as a veteran to teach the kid just how cruel and unfair real combat could be.

"..." Suzuki.

It was incredibly easy for Asuma to preach about ’dirty survival tactics’ when he was the highly privileged son of the Third Hokage, armed with priceless chakra blades.

"Suzuki. Do it."

Only, this time, the cold, authoritative voice came from Hiruzen.

Suzuki blinked in surprise, glancing over at the Hokage. "Are you absolutely sure, Sensei?"

"Yes," Hiruzen nodded, his eyes narrowing. "Teach this arrogant bastard exactly what it means to face a real shinobi."

"Whoa, Old Man, what the hell are you two talking about?" Asuma frowned, his combat instincts suddenly flaring. He dropped into a defensive stance, heavily wary.

"Everyone, fall back. Immediately," Hiruzen ordered sharply, ushering the terrified genin far away from the center of the field.

While the genin were deeply worried about how far this ’spar’ had escalated, they quickly obeyed the Hokage’s strict command. As they retreated, all eyes locked onto Suzuki.

Suzuki calmly reached into his ninja pouch and pulled out a single, completely mundane object. It looked like a handful of white powder.

"Shuriken Shadow Clone Jutsu... modified."

Suzuki fluidly wove a rapid sequence of hand signs. He threw the white powder into the air, and instantly, a massive, suffocating cloud of fine white mist erupted outward, entirely engulfing the battlefield and completely obstructing Asuma’s vision.

"What the hell is this?" Asuma coughed, waving his hands to clear his sight.

"Is this... dust? No, wait..." Shikamaru narrowed his eyes from the sidelines, his brain rapidly analyzing everything. "That’s... flour?"

Before Asuma could figure out why the kid was throwing baking ingredients at him, Suzuki took a deep breath, molding his chakra perfectly.

Fire Release: Great Fireball Technique.

He unleashed a single, highly compressed fireball. It wasn’t massive—barely the size of a basketball. Yet, the exact moment the concentrated flame made contact with the massive, hyper-dense cloud of finely milled flour multiplying endlessly in the air... the chemical reaction was instantaneous and apocalyptic.

Thermobaric Dust Explosion.

The tiny flame violently ignited the highly combustible flour particles suspended in the oxygen-rich air.

BOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOMMMMM!

A catastrophic, blinding explosion completely ripped through the training grounds, generating a shockwave that nearly blew the watching genin off their feet!

While the Hokage’s son was currently learning a highly explosive lesson in advanced chemistry, the true protagonist of the world had finally returned to the village gates.

"ALRIGHT! IT’S TIME TO WELCOME THE HERO! THE GREAT NARUTO UZUMAKI HAS RETURNED, DATTEBAYO!"

Bang!

"OW! IT HURTS! WHAT WAS THAT FOR, SAKURA-CHAN?!"

"STOP SCREAMING AND DON’T DO ANYTHING STUPID! YOU’RE EMBARRASSING US!"

While Naruto and Sakura engaged in their usual, chaotic bickering, Sasuke Uchiha walked silently behind them, aggressively clenching his fists. His mind was entirely focused on the terrifying power he had witnessed during their mission to the Land of Waves.

"Alright, everyone, the mission is officially over. Let’s just go home and res—"

Kakashi Hatake, who was still physically and mentally exhausted from his brutal fight with Zabuza, suddenly stopped mid-sentence. His lone visible eye widened as he looked past his students. He had just spotted two highly familiar, dangerous figures walking casually toward the village gates.

However, before Kakashi could react, the attention of Team Seven—and everyone else at the gates—was violently ripped away by the sound of a massive, earth-shaking explosion detonating from the direction of the Hokage’s private training grounds!