Haruki swiftly stepped back, letting the shuriken sink into the ground in front of him. Just then, a gust of wind howled through the trees, carrying a powerful force with it.
'Wind Style: Great Breakthrough, huh?'
Among the three, both Minato and Kushina had wind-nature chakra. It wasn't hard to guess who had launched the attack.
Haruki quickly weaved hand signs and used the same technique.
The two opposing wind blasts clashed in midair, sending a shockwave through the training ground. Leaves were torn from their branches, swirling around like a sudden blizzard.
Amidst the storm of leaves, a burst of heat flared to life.
Haruki shifted his gaze, just in time to spot Mikoto's silhouette.
"Fire Style: Great Fireball Technique!"
A massive sphere of fire erupted from her lips.
As it met the airborne leaves, the flames grew fiercer, feeding off the scattered debris.
A simple C-rank jutsu, but with the added fuel from the wind, its intensity was pushing B-rank levels.
"Not bad," Haruki smirked.
Just like before, he countered it with the same technique.
The fireball he released dwarfed Mikoto's, nearly twice its size. Flames roared, casting an intense crimson glow over the battlefield.
Through the flickering inferno, a new sound reached his ears, a distinct whirring noise.
'That's...'
Haruki turned just in time to see Minato charging toward him, a spiraling mass of chakra forming in his palm.
'Rasengan? No… it's incomplete.'
With a calm step to the side, Haruki easily avoided the attack. As expected, the Rasengan collapsed in on itself like a balloon losing air.
"Sensei, you've been tricked!" Minato in front of him suddenly burst into a cloud of smoke.
"A shadow clone with a hidden explosive tag?"
Haruki raised an eyebrow in surprise.
Without hesitation, he slammed his hands onto the ground.
"Earth Style: Earth Shore Return!"
A thick slab of rock shot up, shielding him just as the explosion erupted. Even with the barrier, the force of the blast made him take a step back.
"Huh?" Haruki glanced down to find golden chains wrapped tightly around his ankles.
'Sealing chains?'
With a swift kick, he channeled his chakra and shattered the bindings instantly.
Suddenly, a puff of smoke filled the air as someone had tossed a smoke bomb. Before he could react, flames surged toward him.
"Fire Style: Phoenix Sage Fire Technique!"
Haruki responded in kind, countering Mikoto's flames with his own.
Through the haze, Minato suddenly appeared beside him, using the Body Flicker Technique to close the distance in an instant. His hand shot toward Haruki's waist.
A metallic clink echoed.
Minato had grabbed one of the bells.
"It's not that easy."
Maintaining the Phoenix Fire Jutsu with one hand, Haruki reached out with the other and grabbed Minato's collar before he could escape.
At that very moment, from above, Kushina came crashing down, a swirling Rasengan in her hand.
"Sensei, watch out!"
If Haruki held onto Minato, he'd take a direct hit from Kushina's attack.
Seeing their teamwork in action, he couldn't help but smile. Their coordination wasn't just about working together, it was a high-level battle sense that relied on quick thinking and emotional intelligence.
Minato wasn't physically the strongest ninja, but his strategic approach to combat was brilliant. It wasn't just raw power that made him Hokage in the future, it was his ability to adapt and outthink his opponents.
Haruki casually dispersed Kushina's Rasengan with a single move.
She was behind Minato in terms of progress, and her Rasengan was still incomplete. It lacked the force of a true A-rank jutsu.n
Taking advantage of the opening, Minato successfully secured the bell.
"We won!" Kushina cheered, her face lighting up with excitement.
Kushina landed on the ground and immediately hammered Minato's shoulder. "Well done!"
Minato blinked at her in surprise, not expecting the sudden praise.
Haruki, meanwhile, blew away the lingering smoke from the battle and evaluated their performance.
"As long as you three don't run into a jonin, you should be fine. Once you master the Rasengan, you'll even stand a chance against a jonin."
Of course, when Haruki said "jonin," he meant ordinary ones, not monsters like Sakumo Hatake, his son Kakashi, or Might Guy.
Hearing that, Minato, Kushina, and Mikoto all wore stunned expressions.
For fresh genin, this was the highest praise they could get.
"Sensei, does that mean we're going to war next?" Minato asked, eyes filled with curiosity.
"No rush." Haruki shook his head. "The war won't end anytime soon. For now, focus on mastering the Rasengan."
Besides, he still needed to see how Hiashi Hyuga performed.
"Okay." Minato was eager to prove himself, but he obeyed Haruki's words.
Haruki thought for a moment, then summoned a storage scroll. "Minato, this is for you."
Minato opened the scroll and froze. His eyes widened. "This is... the Flying Thunder God Technique?"
"Yeah. You have a rare talent suited for it, but you can only start practicing once you've mastered the Rasengan."
"Yes!" Minato clenched his fists, suppressing his excitement.
"Sensei, what about me?" Kushina pouted, her lips trembling slightly. For some reason, she always felt like Haruki favored Minato over her.
"You greedy girl, focus on mastering your clan's sealing techniques first. That stuff shouldn't be breaking so easily." Haruki reached out and pinched her cheek.
Kushina blushed, feeling both embarrassed and a little happy.
She gave a small nod like a well-behaved student.
Haruki smiled knowingly. The Uzumaki clan's sealing techniques were already among the best in the world. There wasn't much more she needed to learn outside of that.
Besides, the Rasengan was more than enough. Naruto was still spamming it at the finale, even when the power scaling reached the moon.
"As for you, Mikoto," Haruki turned to her, "the Uchiha clan's Fire Style techniques are solid. You don't need me to teach you much in that area."
Mikoto nodded. She had expected as much.
"But as your teacher, I can't just do nothing. Meet me tomorrow at the research institute in the Ninja Academy."
"Understood, Sensei," Mikoto replied calmly.
"Good. You three keep practicing here, I'll be back soon."
With that, Haruki vanished, reappearing at the research institute.
Haruki didn't plan on disturbing Orochimaru any further. With the Caged Bird Seal already cracked, Orochimaru had turned back to his research, but under Haruki's guidance, he focused on cloning rather than live human experimentation. That was good enough.
Instead, Haruki had other matters to attend to.
He sent out a message, and before long, four figures arrived. With his and Orochimaru's reputation, they had attracted plenty of loyal followers. These four were all jonin.
"You four specialize in genjutsu," Haruki began explaining their task, "I need a space filled with illusions. The requirements are simple. It must be completely undetectable to a genin."
The square-faced Kawagoe Yuta grinned. "Lord Haruki, are you underestimating us? With the four of us working together, even a jonin would have trouble noticing."
Haruki raised an eyebrow. "What if the genin is from the Uchiha clan?"
Yuta's smile faded slightly. He narrowed his eyes. "If she's just a genin, it should still be possible to deceive her."
"Good." Haruki nodded.
This was all for Mikoto.
The Sharingan required extreme emotional stimulation to awaken or evolve, but that didn't mean he had to go to the usual extremes, losing friends, lovers, or witnessing a full-blown massacre.
Even in the original series, the methods of awakening the Sharingan varied.
The series never explicitly mentioned whether Mikoto had the Sharingan and awakening it wasn't necessarily a matter of talent.
If this worked, Mikoto would gain control over her own fate.
And that was exactly what he wanted.