Overdrafting the Future, Starting in Naruto

Genichi's shadow clone and Yagura arrived at the front line at almost the same time. Instantly, both friend and foe on this part of the defensive line stopped fighting. Genichi and Yagura became the center of attention.

"Genichi-kun, this is a shadow clone, is it not?" Yagura said, holding his coral staff. He was polite, even to an enemy. "This shadow clone is no match for me. Have your real body come here. Or, have your commander, Master Jiraiya, fight me. No one else here is my opponent. I am willing to wait."

Genichi took off his mask and nodded at Yagura. "I will fight with you, Yagura-senpai. But please, wait just a moment."

Yagura nodded in agreement.

Poof!

The shadow clone dispelled.

Yagura did indeed wait quietly. The Mist-nin on this front did not attack again, and a strange silence fell over the battlefield, causing the Konoha ninja to look at each other in confusion. The commander of the Mist was truly… a gentleman.

In the rear.

Genichi was slightly taken aback when he received the feedback from his clone. He immediately left another shadow clone behind and said to Uzumaki Ina and the others, "I need to go to the front line. Ina, you and the clone keep watch. Don't let any of the Mist infiltration squads slip by."

"Yes, Captain!" Ina nodded quickly.

Genichi took off his mask, handed it to Ina, and then left using the Flying Thunder God Technique. He had left kunai on all the defensive lines the day before. The clone hadn't used them to save chakra, but his real body had no such constraints.

Of course, the kunai marker wasn't at the exact location where he had encountered Yagura, so it still took Genichi nearly two minutes to arrive.

Standing several dozen meters apart, Genichi turned his head slightly to the numerous Konoha ninja behind him. "All of you, fall back."

Swoosh! Swoosh! Swoosh!

The Konoha ninja all retreated some distance. Yagura gave the same order to his own men.

"Lord Yagura, be careful of his Sharingan and genjutsu!" a Mist-nin warned.

Although Kaguya Ki was itching to go kill Genichi himself, he had to obey the commander's orders. And so, a large section of the battlefield was cleared.

Yagura stood on a branch and waved his staff. "Come, Genichi-kun."

Faced with the polite Yagura, Genichi was as gentle as a neighborhood big brother. "Then please be careful."

Swoosh!

Genichi drew his swords and vanished.

"So fast!"

"He seems even faster than the shadow clone!"

The Mist-nin watching the battle were shocked. Many of them couldn't keep up with his speed at all and looked around, searching for him. "Where did he go?"

"Above!" a Mist Jōnin shouted.

Only then did many of them see that Genichi had appeared above Yagura, his twin swords slashing down. Yagura used his coral staff to block the attack, but the force transmitted through the blades was far beyond his expectation. The branch beneath his feet couldn't bear the strain and snapped.

But Yagura used the opportunity to redirect the force. The moment he landed, he pushed off the ground and flew backward, while his left hand formed a one-handed seal. He spat out a pillar of water that shot toward Genichi.

Swoosh! Swoosh!

Genichi flickered, dodging the water jutsu while throwing his short sword like a shuriken. Yagura tilted his head to avoid it, then swept his coral staff, which collided with the long sword of the teleporting Genichi with a clang. But in the next moment, Genichi vanished from in front of Yagura and reappeared behind him, slicing his sword horizontally and cutting open Yagura's back.

Genichi's twin blades were his custom-made chakra swords, and both had a Flying Thunder God formula marker on the hilt. But Yagura was not unaware of Genichi's intel. The moment Genichi had thrown the blade, he had seen through the move and had covertly formed a hand seal.

Blood sprayed, but in the next instant, Yagura's body dissolved into a pool of water. The water then surged up and reformed into Yagura, who thrust his staff at Genichi like a spear.

Clang!

Genichi blocked with the flat of his blade and used the force to leap backward. While still in the air, he sheathed his swords and formed hand seals.

Wind Release: Vacuum Sphere!

Genichi spat out a dense barrage of vacuum bullets.

Yagura plunged his hands into the ground, his fingers flying through seals before clapping together. A fierce wind rose, spinning rapidly around him, forming a tornado that shredded the surrounding grass and trees. Genichi's vacuum spheres couldn't penetrate the rapidly spinning and thickening tornado.

I didn't expect Yagura to be a Wind Release master too!

Watching the rapidly expanding tornado sweep toward him, Genichi activated the Art of Zai and clapped his hands together. The surrounding water gathered, spinning at high speed, forming a water vortex a hundred meters high. Genichi then spread his arms and infused wind chakra into the rotating water wall.

Storm Water Vortex!

The two different tornadoes collided. Yagura's tornado was the first to disintegrate, the fierce wind pouring out in all directions, uprooting massive trees in its path. The watching Konoha and Mist ninja all shielded their faces, using chakra to stick to the ground to avoid being blown away.

Combining Wind and Water Release to form a water vortex, and with such a fast casting speed… what a genius! Yagura praised internally, his expression growing serious. His hands flew through seals, and he spat out a torrent of water, wave after wave, that lifted his small body into the air.

Water Release: Exploding Water Colliding Wave!

The water surged, crashing toward the water vortex. But Yagura knew this jutsu wasn't enough to defeat Genichi's combination technique. So after finishing it, he immediately formed new seals, completing a second ninjutsu in less than half a second.

Water Release: Water Dragon Bullet Technique!

It was the same jutsu, but far more powerful than the ones used by the Mist-nin who had surrounded his shadow clone. Its massive body was no smaller than Genichi's Storm Water Vortex. The giant water dragon slithered across the ground, carrying a huge current of water with it. It coiled around the rapidly spinning storm vortex, spiraling upwards until its head was even higher than Genichi's jutsu.

Boom!

The dragon's head plunged down. With its body coiling around the storm vortex and restricting its rotation, Genichi could no longer maintain the technique. The vortex exploded, the force that had been directed inward now bursting outward, tearing Yagura's water dragon to shreds.

At that moment, both the Konoha and Mist ninja were dumbfounded. This was an area with no natural water source, yet they had just unleashed such massive-scale water jutsu.

"So strong!"

"Watch out, a storm is coming!" some exclaimed in awe, while others shouted warnings.

The next moment, a torrential downpour of wind and rain fell indiscriminately on the heads of the ninja, completely blinding them. Some lost their footing and were swept away by the storm.

When the storm passed, a clearing over a thousand meters in diameter had appeared where the forest had been. Or rather, a lake. The watching ninja from both sides had already retreated beyond this range.

On the water's surface, Genichi stared at Yagura, who was once again holding his coral staff. Then, his figure moved. He slid across the water at high speed, darting left and right, circling Yagura like a water snake.

Swoosh! Swoosh! Swoosh!

High-pressure water jets shot out, coming at Yagura from different directions as Genichi moved. The frequency and speed of the attack were so high that Yagura found it difficult to even use the Water Mirror Technique. He could only use his own water-based Body Flicker, either dodging the attacks at extreme speed or swinging his coral staff to block the incoming jets. The coral staff was no ordinary weapon; it was a chakra weapon and could be infused with chakra, preventing it from being cut by the water jets.

At this moment, the watching ninja had almost forgotten they were in a war, completely absorbed in the unique battle before them.

"So terrifying… that attack speed is impossible to react to!"

"No wonder the Seven Ninja Swordsmen died at his hands!"

"Damn it, Lord Yagura seems to be at a disadvantage!"

"Shut up! Lord Yagura won't lose!"

"Lord Genichi is so strong!"

"I've never seen Water Release like this before!"

"They're on a completely different level!"

Having just arrived, Jiraiya watched the two figures speeding across the water and the shooting jets of water. He couldn't help but mutter to himself, "It seems that guy Orochimaru wasn't exaggerating at all." He had rushed over from another area after getting the news, afraid that Genichi wouldn't be able to handle Yagura. But now, it seemed Yagura was the one at a disadvantage. And so, Jiraiya quietly watched the fight.

Suddenly, Yagura stopped and plunged his staff into the water with both hands. Water surged into the sky around him. In the next moment, a water severing wave shot through the surge and pierced through Yagura's chest.

Splash!

Yagura's body dissolved into water. But the surging water didn't fall; instead, it condensed into a giant dragon and charged at Genichi.

"Hmm? A water clone… he's underwater!" Genichi's eyes narrowed. He stopped and clapped his hands together. The water beneath him immediately swirled up and around his body, condensing into a water dragon. The dragon opened its mouth and shot out a massive, high-pressure water sphere, blasting Yagura's dragon to pieces.

Jiraiya was stunned for a moment when he saw this jutsu. He was immediately reminded of Gamabunta's Toad Oil Bullet; it was a perfect replica. That guy… to think of using a Water Dragon Bullet to increase the jutsu's power, how cunning, Jiraiya praised internally.

Genichi's water dragon, however, continued to fire one giant water sphere after another into the lake.

BOOM!

The lake exploded, sending up a hundred-meter-high spray of water. Although Yagura was hiding at the bottom, he couldn't escape Genichi's perception. On the third shot, he was blasted out of the water like a fish, sent flying into the air.

However, behind Genichi, another Yagura appeared, pointing a finger at the back of his head.

Water Release: Water Gun!

At the same time, Genichi fired another Great Water Dragon Cannon at the airborne Yagura. The two of them fired at almost the same time. Yagura's water gun passed through the current and accurately hit the back of Genichi's head, blowing a hole in it. On the other side, the airborne Yagura forcibly twisted his body, swinging his coral staff to meet the roaring water sphere. The sphere exploded, the staff was sent flying, and Yagura's arms were broken. He too was sent flying, caught by a Mist-nin who had leaped into the air.

BOOM!

Genichi collapsed, and his water dragon disintegrated.

Watching the falling Genichi dissolve into water, Yagura's expression changed. He immediately turned, but before he could do anything, his eyes met Genichi's Sharingan, and he was instantly immobilized.

"Genichi-kun, how did you know that was my real body? Were you hiding your real body in the water the whole time?" Since it was just a water clone, Yagura gave up resisting and asked.

Genichi smiled without speaking. It was true; when using Water Release, he liked to hide his real body and fight with clones first.

Yagura wasn't angry that he didn't get an answer. He said frankly, "I lost this time. Genichi-kun, you are just as the Third Mizukage said, an unparalleled genius. Thank you for the lesson. Next time, I will face you in a much stronger state." Yagura was thoroughly convinced of his defeat.

Genichi nodded slightly and smiled. "Then I will look forward to it, Senpai."

Splash!

Yagura's body dissolved into water.

Genichi looked toward the Mist side and saw that they were already retreating. Although Yagura hadn't died, he had been severely injured by one of Genichi's Great Water Dragon Cannons.

Swoosh! Swoosh! Swoosh!

Figures landed beside Genichi. Jiraiya clapped him on the shoulder, about to offer some praise as a senior, but Genichi spoke first. "Master Jiraiya, I'm heading back now. The Mist-nin may have already made their move."

Jiraiya's expression changed. "You mean Yagura fought you intentionally to draw our attention?"

Genichi sounded a bit helpless. "I was using a shadow clone to fight before, while my main body was in the rear. My intentions were unclear. Yagura would naturally be suspicious. A man like him, although he seems like a polite gentleman, would never treat a war like a joke."

Jiraiya nodded with a solemn expression. "That is indeed true. Then your chakra…"

"Don't worry, it's not a problem," Genichi smiled. With that, he vanished.

The retreating Yagura endured the intense pain. Seeing Ao appear, he immediately asked, "Have Mugetsu and the others departed?"

Ao quickly nodded. "They set out immediately after receiving your order. Without Kinoshita Genichi and Jiraiya in their way, they should have already broken through several defensive lines by now."

Yagura sighed. "I hope they don't run into Kinoshita Genichi."

"Lord Yagura," Ao said, confused, "after his battle with you, Genichi's chakra must be severely depleted. And he won't have time to stop them. Once they're past Konoha's defensive lines, it won't be easy to locate them."

"Kinoshita Genichi is a sensor ninja," Yagura said. "And his sensory abilities are likely extremely strong."

Ao's face changed.

The Mist-nin carrying Yagura said, "Lord Yagura, even if he is a powerful sensor, the battlefield is so vast. He can't possibly cover the entire area, can he?"

Ao nodded in agreement.

Yagura didn't answer the question. Instead, he said, "Disrupting the rear, cutting supply lines, even decapitation strikes and attacking medical camps are all common tactics. It's not surprising that Konoha could anticipate our moves. But the fact that Genichi was only using a shadow clone on the front line before… he was likely the one specifically assigned to the counter-infiltration mission!"

With that, Yagura gave a solemn order. "Ao, relay my command. From now on, attack Konoha's defensive lines in waves. Do not stop!"

Ao instantly understood Yagura's intention. He acknowledged the order and leaped away to relay it.

Yagura's retreat was not a full-scale retreat for the Mist. The war was still going, and soon, the Konoha ninja felt the full fury of their attack.

Not long after Genichi left, Jiraiya began to receive a series of reports. An elite Mist squad, less than ten in number but extremely powerful, had broken through all of the defensive lines. Their whereabouts were unknown.

(End of Chapter)

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