Chapter 7: Team 8’s terrifying strength
Kurenai let out a small sigh of relief, regaining some composure after Naruto’s unexpected “intimate interaction”. She adjusted her dress, her eyes still wavering a bit, but her voice tried to remain cold:
“Your strength… has far exceeded my imagination.”
Having said this, she turned to the other two, trying to regulate her breathing:
“Next. Hinata, Shino — you two go.”
That’s all.
Just a regular test of strength.
Just two students… what’s so scary?
…
Half an hour later.
Kurenai crouched down beside the tree, her expression as absent-minded as a fish drifting in the river, her eyes blankly staring at the fallen leaves before her. Her lips moved, but she couldn’t utter a single meaningful word.
“…What kind of group… am I put in…”
She really wanted to kneel.
It all started with Hinata.
When the girl stepped forward, her appearance was still that of a gentle, polite Hyuga lady, her silver-white eyes as clear as an autumn stream. But as soon as she opened her Byakugan, her entire aura changed in an instant.
Whoosh, her hand glided in the wind — then boom boom boom!
“Twenty-Eight Palms!”
“Sixty-four Palms!”
“Eight hundred and twenty-eight… ah… no, I’m lacking some strength…”
Hinata tilted her head slightly and breathed lightly, sweat beading on her temples, her chest heaving under her tight shirt, but her eyes were still strangely alert.
Each move was precise, cutting straight through the chakra meridians. The speed was fast, the force was just right, and the reactions were sharp… not at all like a timid girl.
Kurenai parried a series of blows and retreated, her hands still numb. Her eyes widened slightly — such internal energy, such a body, such eyes… this was not the Hyuga Hinata she had taught throughout the academy.
But… a woman who has been tempered by hundreds of “battles” with a beast disguised as a student.
Kurenai swallowed and muttered to herself:
“Could it be… this is the result of… successfully going through puberty…?”
Her eyes secretly glanced at Naruto — only to see him crossing his arms, smiling softly, his eyes calm as if “she’s my wife, nothing strange”.
As for Hinata, even though she had just finished fighting, she still didn’t forget to turn to Naruto and give him a gentle smile, her eyes sparkling like a kitten waiting to be petted. The corners of her mouth curled up slightly, clearly like she had just “done a good deed, waiting for a reward”.
Kurenai… wanted to cry.
Before he could calm down, it was Shino’s turn.
She had originally thought that this quiet student would be nothing to worry about, just a tactical supplement—but as soon as swarms of insects buzzed out from his sleeves, Kurenai understood: she had been terribly wrong.
His breath was… cold.
Secret strategy.
The move… is perfect.
And genjutsu was almost useless — because insects carried their own chakra, as long as he chanted the command, they would automatically adjust to the environment’s sensors. In other words, he had an extremely powerful personal bio-radar.
Add to that her taciturn personality and surprisingly fast reaction speed… and Kurenai discovered: she had absolutely no way to win.
“Zhonin? What the hell is this Zhongnin?!” – she screamed in her heart – “This guy has clearly reached the standard of a Special Jinchūriki, hasn’t he!?”
Shino’s every move was discreet, the insects constantly moving around him, forming a small barrier that detected any approach three seconds in advance.
Kurenai fought the entire match… as if being watched every step of the way.
She had never wanted to faint like this before.
And now… here she sat. Under the tree.
A bewildered look like a person who has lost his soul.
Her eyes looked far away, her hands clutched the hem of her dress, the wind blew gently through her loose black hair. No longer cold demeanor, no longer sharp gaze — only a woman about to collapse because her pride was broken by her students.
“I am an instructor… a Jounin… the leader of the rookie team…” – she muttered – “Why am I crammed into a nest… full of monsters?”
One is as fast as a ghost.
One has a mutated Byakugan, which can counter genjutsu like swallowing rice.
One of them used insects to surround the entire battlefield, making people not dare to breathe loudly.
And me…
As for me…
just want to quit
…
In the highest room of the Hokage tower, tobacco smoke from a curved pipe curled in thin wisps around Hiruzen’s silver-white head.
Outside the window, sunlight shone through the half-open curtains, illuminating the aged but still sharp face of a Kage.
A short, dark figure knelt on the ground, his steady voice echoed in the quiet room:
“Third, Team 8’s aptitude test just ended.”
“Full report.”
“Yes. Uzumaki Naruto – displaying reflexes and speed exceeding Jounin level standards, was able to close in on Jounin Kurenai in 0.4 seconds without leaving any trace of chakra. The impact force, according to sensor analysis… was equivalent to a fourth-gate level taijutsu.”
“…”
“Hyuga Hinata – activated Byakugan at full power, executed Sixty-Four Palms fluently, even transformed the move to the rhythm of Eighty-Eight Palms, though not yet strong enough to maintain it. Judgment: Chunin level strength is strong.”
“Aburame Shino — extremely precise mid-range and long-range insect distribution, controlling the battlefield within a 20m perimeter. Stable reaction. Judgment: Special Jounin level.”
“…”
Quiet.
The only sound in the room was the sound of smoke from his pipe, ash falling into the silver tray in front of Hiruzen.
After a while, he gently raised his hand to rub his forehead, his eyes slightly narrowed, his voice deep as if it came from a rock:
“…Naruto reached Jounin level?”
“Yes… that’s right. Speed, physical skills, reflexes… have all exceeded normal standards. No signs of using high-level illusions or ninjutsu were detected. Only using… the body.”
“…No hand seals?”
“No, sir. All with bare hands.”
Hiruzen narrowed his eyes.
A mixture of emotions flashed through his mind: a bit of surprise, a bit of doubt, and… a bit of confusion.
“That brat… has always been messy, disorganized, and mentally unstable… And yet in just a few months, he has developed to this extent?”
He pondered, tapping his fingers on the table.
In his mind, the image of Naruto appeared — messy blond hair, innocent smile, stubborn eyes. A child carrying a tailed beast, but always running around making a ruckus… That child, could now suppress a Jounin?
“It can’t be learned by practice alone.”
A line of reasoning slowly rose from the bottom of his heart: could it be… a relic left behind by Minato?
Minato was a rare genius, and the Fourth Hokage. It wouldn’t be strange if he left behind some secret technique or special object.
“Can’t help but consider.” – Hiruzen thought to himself.
At this time, the Anbu figure bowed his head respectfully and said softly:
“The reassignment of the teams is also a bit special. Team 8 – Hinata and Naruto were not originally in the same group. According to the scouts, the change was requested to you by the Hyuga clan leader himself — Hiashi-sama.”
Hiruzen nodded slightly, not denying.
“Yes. I agree. The Hyuga clan has always kept their distance from the rest of the village. If they take the initiative to approach, all the better.”
His eyes stopped on the file in front of him: Team 8. Naruto – Hinata – Shino. Leader: Yuhi Kurenai.
His hand gently tapped on the table, rhythmically.
Such a team… is too strong.
Kurenai, on the other hand, is not good at frontal combat. She is more into visual perception, illusions, and combination tactics—which are classified as “Jounin strategy,” not “Jounin combat.”
Adding three more students like that, should have been a way to balance things out. But now, that “compensation team” looked like a bunch of… monsters.
“…Oh well. That’s fine.” – Hiruzen sighed inwardly.
“The stronger you are, the higher your survival rate during missions.”
He knew well: in times of peace, strength can be a burden. But in times of chaos — only the strong survive.
He took another drag of his cigarette, then exhaled, his eyes seeming to pierce through the haze of smoke.
“Naruto… what exactly did you get your hands on?”
…
After the first test that almost made Kurenai want to change careers, she no longer dared to think about “private training” anymore.
As for training… training for who?
Training for Hinata – the one training him, isn’t he afraid of being laughed at by the Huyga clan?
Or train Shino – the same thing has been taken care of by the Aburame clan.
What about Naruto?
He was a creature she had never seen in the global ninja records.
Taijutsu is like opening a gate, the speed is as fast as a demon shadow, and the special thing is — the damn chakra never runs out.
Having no other choice, Kurenai had no choice but to lead the group to carry out low-level missions, increasing actual combat coordination — a kind of “using the battlefield as a training ground” that would yield real results without having to hold classes.
But… it still doesn’t form a class.
For example that day.
C-rank mission — eliminate a gang of bandits that are rampaging through the forest south of Konoha. There are about 50 of them, organized into a group, fully armed with knives and swords, occupying an abandoned temple and robbing nearby villagers.
Before Kurenai could even make a plan, Naruto stepped forward, cracked his wrist, and smiled:
“Robbers? How many?”
Shino pushed his glasses up and said coldly, “About 50. According to the scouting insects, there are 48 of them. It seems there are no ninjas, just warriors.”
“Um…” – Naruto took a breath, then raised both hands and formed hand seals extremely quickly –
“Kage Bunshin no Jutsu – Multiple Shadow Clone!”
Boom boom boom boom!
In the blink of an eye, 100 Narutos appeared all over the ground, crowded together in the middle of the forest like an army preparing for a total attack.
The wind blew, the leaves in the forest rustled lightly. In the distance, the robbers who were still shouting “Come in here” suddenly fell silent. They all turned their heads at the same time and saw 100 figures with blond hair and blue eyes, each one eager as if they wanted to beat them up .
A clone of Naruto stepped forward, his voice loud and clear like a commanding general:
“You — have me surrounded!”
Before the bandit leader could understand what was happening, boom — a Naruto figure rushed in and punched him straight in the face.
That punch, on average — 130 tons of body force divided by 100 clones — each still retained at least 13 tons of force.
13 tons of straight punch force.
No blood, no knife, no scream.
Just the robber’s face collapsed like clay being pushed. Teeth fell out like firecrackers, eyes rolled back, he fell face down on the ground, unable to get up.
What followed was a scene that can only be described in two words:
Massacre.
Each clone spread out, punching, kicking, wrestling, whipping, locking, bending, head-banging…
No ninjutsu used.
No weapons needed.
Just a fist with tons of force + the mentality of “a little upset about not getting fucked this morning”.
Each robber received a blow — his bones were crushed, his nose was bleeding, and he fell face down, unable to recover.
One of them was so frightened that he knelt down before being punched, shouting:
“Spare me! I’m just following my friends, I didn’t kill anyone, I’m just helping in the kitchen!”
The response was a triple somersault kick:
“Kitchen assistant, go cook porridge!”
Kurenai stood on top of the tree, looking down, her face expressionless, her eyes dim.
She didn’t make a move. Not because it was slow — but because there was nothing else to do.
Hinata was sitting under the tree munching on mochi, clapping her hands and cheering:
“Go for it Naruto-kun!!”
Shino stood there with his arms crossed, insects swarming around watching from afar like a CCTV camera, occasionally giving comments:
“Clone 36 – The kick is a bit off-axis. Should adjust the supporting leg back a bit…”
Naruto was smiling happily among the clones:
“What robbers! Do you know what it feels like to get punched in the stomach by a 13 ton weight?”
Pop! — another guy fainted.
Fifteen minutes later, all 50 robbers were lying face down on the ground, their heads swollen like eggplants, blood flowing from their noses and mouths, none of them able to stand up.
Naruto waved his hand, the clone disappeared, not tired, not panting.
Kurenai still didn’t move. She stood still, her hand gripping the hilt of her kunai but not even able to pull it out half an inch.
Not because the enemy is strong.
But it’s because… this team is too strong.
She bowed her head and whispered like a lost soul:
“…I… do I have any other use…?”