Previously:

"!!" Sakura and Naruto gasped when countless enemy ninjas wearing strange black jumpsuits and rebreathers seemed to suddenly appear, crawling out of the trees and ground as if they had been born from the environment itself.

"Yeah..." Sasuke said with a smirk, getting ready to face them.

"..." April furrowed her brow and forced herself to stand, adopting a fighting stance.

"!" Sakura saw what she was doing and quickly stood up again, also getting ready.

The rain ninja from before watched them from a safe distance with his comrades, narrowing his eyes in annoyance at the purple-haired girl. He still owed her for what she did to his shoulder. He wouldn't let her blow things for him again.

"So, they've appeared..." Sasuke said, smirking.

""Hmph!! This is a perfect handicap!!" Naruto exclaimed, standing up to face their new enemy with a determined grin.

Chapter 57: Trapped Rats…!!

"..." April furrowed her brow, scanning their surroundings for clues that might help her understand this jutsu. She new the majority of the bodies surrounding them had to be clones, but what kind? And which of these bodies belonged to the real enemies? Or… was all of this still part of the enemy's genjutsu?

"… There's quite a number of them. And these are clones…?" Kabuto asked, voicing her thoughts.

"Wh…What is this?" Sakura asked as the enemy continued to close in on them, alarmed.

"Hehe…You're trapped like rats," one of the enemy ninjas taunted them.

"!!" Sasuke furrowed his brow and glared at him.

"Shut up!!" Naruto roared, ready to launch himself at the creep, until he saw what was happening by April.

"?!!" They all gasped when three of the closest enemies suddenly threw themselves at her without warning.

"!!" In that instant, April narrowed her eyes and furrowed her brow. They were only inches away from her. The one in the front was one inch away, the one at the side was two inches, and the one at her back was three inches. Only one thing left to do. 'Consecutive one-inch punches!'she thought, gritting her teeth as she clenched her fist and straightened her leading and trailing legs with a rapid, explosive knee extension, which increased the twisting speed of her hips—which, in turn, lurched the shoulder of her thrusting arm forward—and as her shoulder bolted ahead, her arm got to work. The swift and simultaneous extension of her elbow drove her fist forward, and for a final flourish, she flicked her wrist just prior to impact to further increase its velocity. Once the punch landed on her target, she pulled back almost immediately. This shortened the impact time of her blow, which compressed the force and made it all the more powerful. Although her fist traveled a tiny distance in milliseconds, the punch was an intricate full-body movement. She repeated the entire process two more times, each time she rotated her body around to face the next opponent, until her fist connected with its final target.

BAMM! BAMM! BAMM!

"!!!" Naruto, Sasuke, Sakura, and Kabuto's eyes widened in shock when all three enemies were knocked back with enough force to send them sliding.

'That attack…!!' Kabuto thought, amazed by the force behind it. How was she able to generate so much power over that short distance? Her counter-attack had only taken a total of three seconds! Ordinarily, the answer would be obvious, but he didn't sense a shift in her chakra, nor was she showing a reaction to the seal, which would indicate that she had tried to manipulate it. 'It… doesn't seem like she used chakra, so how…?'

"Don't use your chakra!!" Sasuke shouted at her.

"Don't get distracted!!! Naruto!!" She shouted back, reminding him of the attack that was still headed his way.

"She…She didn't!!!" Naruto said, grinning, as he recovered from his surprise, ducking his head just in time thanks to her warning. He gritted his teeth as he threw powerful straight punch to nail his attacker in the abdomen, pushing him back with his momentum. "It's April's special attack!! The 'one-inch' punch!!!" Despite her attempts to teach it to him, he was never able to master it himself. And even though he had seen it many times before while the two of them trained together, this was the first time he had ever witnessed her using it in a real battle. It was just as amazing as always!

"One-inch punch?!!" Sasuke and Kabuto asked.

"That's right… It's just taijutsu..." April said, keeping her eyes on the enemies.

Sasuke furrowed his brow in confusion. She didn't use her chakra? Naruto was acting like he had seen it before, but… An attack that powerful shouldn't be possible with only the space of an inch to build momentum. It had happened so fast that his eyes couldn't keep up—all he saw was her turning! 'A plain taijutsu attack like that without any help from chakra… just how strong is she!?'

'Without chakra, that… No, there is a way…!' Kabuto thought, finding the answer in his thorough knowledge of ninja arts and the human anatomy. 'Muscle alone doesn't dictate strong punches. Coordination and timing are essential factors behind movements like this 'one-inch punch'… Because the punch happens over such a short amount of time, April-kun has to synchronize each segment of the jab—her twisting hip, extending knees, and thrusting shoulder, elbow, and wrist—with incredible accuracy. Furthermore, each joint in April-kun's body has a single moment of peak acceleration, and to get maximum juice out of the move, she must layer her movements so that each period of peak acceleration follows the last one instantly! So coordination is key… but muscle fibers do not dictate coordination… This one attack is something only someone who has undergone years of training and in possession of exceptionally high neuroplasticity could pull off. Even among jōnin, this was a move that less than a handful could pull off effectively without the aid of chakra to supplement it… and she just did it three times in row, over the space of seconds. 'Amazing… Amazing… April-kun!'he thought, trembling slightly with excitement. This girl was a genius! To think that such a specimen would appear here… He was sure Orochimaru would find this one interesting as well.

'Only one inch!? They're pretty weak...' Sakura thought, feeling a little relieved when she saw how effective a short punch and a normal punch could be against them. "Great job, April!!! Naruto, too!!!"

But April and Kabuto started when they realized something strange was happening. As the bodies of her opponents hit the ground, and Naruto's fist kept traveling, the parts of the enemies that had been hit by their attacks liquefied.

"!!" Naruto gasped, his eyes widening in shock as his fist slid clean through the wet substance, hurled forward by his own momentum. "What!?"

"!!" Sasuke and Sakura gasped.

'W-What are these guys…!?' Sasuke thought, furrowing his brow and gritting his teeth.

'Water clones!?' April thought, remembering their fights with Zabuza. "No, water clones turn back into water when they're injured… These…'

"Ugh!!" Naruto grunted when he hit the ground sliding. "!!" Naruto gasped when he saw what looked like a new head forming in the opening he created in his opponent's back.

"Sasuke!!" April shouted, furrowing her brow as hers did the same, with heads, necks, and shoulders coming out to raise hands holding kunais.

'I know without you telling me! I'll uncover it!!' Sasuke thought, immediately understanding her request to activate his clan's special ability. 'Sharingan!' April was already moving to counter the next attacks aimed at her, but Naruto was still picking himself up. "Naruto!!" Sasuke shouted, drawing a handful of shurikens to fling at the arm that the new growth aiming for him was using to wield a kunai.

This time, April also drew a handful of shurikens and nailed each of her attackers in the new head that had formed before any of them could take a swing. Their melons popped like water balloons.

"!!" Naruto exclaimed as Sasuke's shurikens tore through his attacker's new arm, completely destroying it.

"!!" Sasuke saw that it had already finished forming its other arm and was now turning to face him.

"Sasuke!!" Naruto yelled when it hurled it's kunai at his teammate next instead.

Sasuke wanted to evade, but he felt a sharp pain in his neck, and his body wouldn't listen to him.

"!!" April and Kabuto gasped in alarm when they realized he wasn't dodging. April moved to save him, but she was blocked by another enemy. She gritted her teeth and charged head first, bursting straight through his liquid body, but she had hesitated a moment too long. Fortunately, in that same moment, Kabuto reached out and grabbed Sasuke.

"What are you doing!?" Kabuto yelled at the frozen Uchiha, pulling him to the ground just in the nick of time.

"!!" Sakura gasped when the Kunai flew past as they fell. "Sasuke-kun!!"

"Ahh..." Kabuto groaned, wincing at the fresh cut in his arm where the kunai had cut him as it scraped by.

"…!" Sasuke gasped, alarmed. 'What's going on…?' Sasuke thought, stuck lying on his back, staring up at the dark treetops above him with wide eyes, while Kabuto scrambled back onto his feet and rushed to recover the kunai that almost killed him. 'My body...' The dark marks began to spread out from his cursed seal.

"Are you ok?" Sakura asked him, quickly kneeling down to check on him and help him up into a sitting position.

"Ugh..." Sasuke groaned, wincing from the pain of the active cursed seal.

"What happened!?" April called, kicking away the enemy that she just headbutted her way through when it tried to reform.

'There's no doubt about it…' Kabuto thought, squeezing the hard, metal weapon in his hand. 'It's real… not an illusion...'

"Give us your scroll..." one of the enemies droned as they all moved in closer.

"!" April furrowed her brow, trying to locate a weakness. Even after being headbutted and kicked, her most recent opponent was still picking itself up to reform for another attack. Even the ones she nailed in the head were getting back up.

"Does the fact that Kabuto-san got hurt mean they are shadow clones!?" Naruto asked anxiously, trying to figure out what to do. "Shadow clones will disappear when they receive a direct hit. But these don't, so is this genjutsu? Which is it?"

"It's probably some kind of genjutsu combined with real attacks..." April said, the crease in her brow deepening. "The trouble is determining which is which..." She tried biting her lip hard enough to draw blood. There was no change in her surroundings. 'Am I wrong…?' she wondered, frowning in confusion. They were outnumbered, and something was wrong with Sasuke. They should stay close together to form a better defense until they could figure the enemy's trick out. 'Maybe with Naruto's shadow clones, we could...'

"Damn it!!!" Naruto shouted in frustration, deciding to charge straight at them.

"Wait!!" April yelled, concerned he was playing into the enemies' hands.

"Don't!! It's useless!!" Sasuke shouted, making his reckless teammate stop in his tracks.

"!!?" Naruto said, glancing back at him questioningly and saw that he was still using his Sharingan.

"These things are illusions…" Sasuke said, panting. "This is an enemy genjutsu..."

"All of them…?" April asked, frowning in confusion.

"B… But… Kabuto-san's injury is real," Sakura said, confused.

"No… Sasuke-kun and April-kun are correct," Kabuto said, holding his injured arm. "The enemy is most likely hiding somewhere and matching their attacks with the movements of the fake shinobis. So that it will seem like the illusions are attacking..."

"Then let's find the idiots throwing the kunais and kick their asses!!" Naruto said urgently.

"But… this confuses where the kunais are coming from… and prevents us from accurately locating the enemy," Kabuto continued to explain. "Which was exactly what they planned to do… Their type prefer these kinds of attacks… and are weak at taijutsu and close range fighting… the real enemy… won't reveal themselves until we can no longer move."

"..." Naruto gaped at him.

"In other words… for now, all we can do is dodge..." April concluded, glancing at him.

"That's right..." Kabuto agreed grimly.

April shared a look with Naruto.

He smirked and drew a kunai. "Alright… If that's their plan..."

The rain ninja drew more kunais in preparation for their next attack from the safety of their hiding place.

"Now… How long will they last?" the rain ninja's one-eyed teammate asked, holding his hands in the seal for the jutsu. "That purple-haired girl is scary..."

"It will be a long night… hehehe," his blindfolded teammate laughed.

"Whoa!!" Naruto exclaimed, ducking low to avoid the kunai thrown at him.

Sakura furrowed her brow and blocked the attack aimed at her with own kunai.

"Ugh," Sasuke grunted as he moved aside to dodge.

Kabuto jumped out of the way in time to avoid the one meant for him.

"!" April gritted her teeth when she had to dodge and then block one kunai right after the other. 'I'm beginning to feel singled out here...' she thought wryly, a bead of sweat sliding down the side of her face, as she rolled out of the way of a third attack.

As the attacks continued, dodging became harder and harder. April was starting to feel the strain of churning out those consecutive one-inch punches right on top of each other so soon after their long hike and recovering from being drained by the exam's seal. "!!" Her eyes widened in alarm when her fatigue made her clumsy enough to trip, and the enemy took advantage of that opening to throw another kunai straight at her head.

"Careful!!" Kabuto yelled, snatching her back in time to avoid a major injury.

"April!!!" Naruto cried, alarmed when he noticed what was happening behind him and turned to see the kunai nick her shoulder.

"Th… Thanks…!!" April told her savior, a bead of sweat sliding down her face at the close call. If not for him, she probably would have been a goner.

"Ahhh!!! There's no end to this!!!" Sakura yelled as they all fell in line beside each other, frustrated.

"Then, I'll do this!!!" Naruto exclaimed, forming the hand seal for the Shadow Clone Jutsu.

"Stop, Naruto-kun!!! Don't waste your chakra!! Attacking them is pointless!!" Kabuto said earnestly.

The rain ninja smirked behind his rebreather.

"Don't… underestimate… Naruto!!" April said as firmly as she could through her panting.

"If we defeat all the illusions at once, then while they are returning to normal… then the enemy can't throw kunais, 'cause they will be found!!" Naruto insisted, furrowing his brow as he gathered more chakra. 'Shadow Clone Jutsu!!' he thought.

"Now!!" April whispered to the others the moment the smoke appeared.

'Now!?' Kabuto thought, bewildered, until he saw the four clones at the back of the massive formation of Narutos transform to assume their identities. "!"

'Nice, Naruto!!' Sakura thought as she, Sasuke, and Kabuto quickly followed April's lead to conceal themselves in the bushes before the smoke could finish clearing.

'I see… so that's what he was up to...' Kabuto thought, impressed. He was amazed by the sheer number of them.

"!!" the rain ninjas gasped. 'Shadow Clones…!?' There was one shadow clone for every illusion! How could one guy create so many!?

"YAAAA!!!" Naruto and his clones roared, charging straight at the visible enemies without hesitation.

One after another, the liquid genjutsu clones started dropping like flies with Naruto and his shadow clones on the attack, tearing through them like knives cutting through melted butter.

"!!" Sasuke, Sakura, Kabuto, and April's doubles gasped while they watched.

"Then we'll just increase the amount," the rain ninja's one-eyed teammate said, molding more chakra to intensify the genjutsu. "Hehehehe..."

"…!!" Naruto and his shadow clones panted. They had only just defeated the last genjutsu clone, when more appeared to take their place while the others were reforming. "Damn it!!!!" they cursed, launching a second wave of attacks.

"Not bad, right?" April whispered, flashing a proud smile at Kabuto as their clone doubles joined the battle to support him. "Our Naruto is strong. He may not be book smart, but he's good at adapting during fights."

"Yes..." Kabuto agreed, with his eyes glued to the battle, admiring how their doppelgangers even seemed to imitate traits of their personalities. This was not the work of an amateur.

The fight wore on until sunrise. The Shadow Clones in the shape of Kabuto and the rest of Team 7 had collapsed to their knees in exhaustion. Naruto managed to land a finishing blow on the very last genjutsu clone as it sent him flying. Naruto hit the ground and skidded to halt in front of his four remaining shadow clones. The rest of them had been already defeated or released.

"Ugh… It's over..." Naruto groaned, panting heavily. He was so exhausted that he could barely move.

'You did really well, Naruto… Thanks for shouldering this burden for us,' April thought, getting ready for their next move. Thanks to him, she and the others had a chance to recover some of their energy, and the real culprits should be revealing themselves any moment now.

"The sun is coming up. It's time for the kill..." the rain ninja's one-eyed teammate in charge of the genjutsu said.

"Heh, that's enough Mubi," the rain ninja told him. "Hehe… their spirit is already dead… only their bodies remain… Lucky..."

The rain ninja team left their hiding place to stand among the disappearing genjutsu clones.

"!!" Sasuke and April's clones said when they saw them, apparently recognizing the enemy leader from their previous encounter with him on the first day.

April noticed the real Sasuke and Sakura seemed surprised, too. But she wasn't. It had become pretty obvious to April that the enemies must have been someone they met before with the way they kept being extra harsh on her clone, someone with a grudge. There had been several startling moments when she was almost taken out and revealed as a fake.

"You… You're the bitch who got my shoulder… I finally found you," the rain ninja leered at her, holding up a kunai. "Making things so difficult… Lucky… I can finally return the favor!!'

'I really wish people would stop calling me that...' April thought, chagrined.

'Why does April-chan have to keep getting targeted by these weirdos…?' Sakura wondered, sweat-dropping.

Their four clones stared back at the rain ninjas with troubled expressions on their faces, breathing heavily. But Naruto smirked. Because he could see what the rain ninjas had missed while they were busy focusing on him and his clones.

His real teammates and Kabuto were already standing right behind them.

"You're trapped like rats..." Sasuke said, returning their previous taunt.

"It went perfectly, Naruto!!!" Sakura praised him.

"!!?" their enemies gasped, completely caught off-guard by their sudden reappearance.

"Them… How?!!" their first rain ninja asked incredulously. "Since when?!!"

Sasuke, Kabuto, April, and Sakura smirked in response.

"Idiots!!! We finally got you by the tails!! Bastards!!" Naruto exclaimed proudly. "Heh." He and his remaining Shadow Clones smirked as he undid the Transformation Jutsu on them.

"!!" the rain ninja gasped. 'This brat… no way...' There was no way this could be the same brat that he had waylaid so easily on the first day!

"The Shadow Clone Jutsu was just a trick!! It was a diversion while I became the whole team!!" Naruto explained proudly, letting the last of them disappear now that they were no longer needed.

"The moment Naruto unleashed the jutsu, the four of us hid," Sasuke continued. "You genjutsu users got a taste of your own medicine."

'Yeah... It was cool and all, but… Why do these guys always feel the need to explain our techniques to the enemy…?' April wondered, sweat-dropping. Why give the secret away, when they might want to use it again?

THUD.

"…!!" Naruto gasped, surprised when his legs gave out, and he fell into a half kneeling position.

"Naruto, you've used too much chakra…" Sasuke said, narrowing his glowing red Sharingan eyes at the enemies. "I'll take over from here."

'You've also used a lot of chakra, though...' April thought, glancing at him. As far as she could tell he had kept his Sharingan on the whole time, in case the enemy tried any dirty tricks that would have messed with their plan.

"Ugh..." Mibu exclaimed as he and his teammates turned their attention to him.

That turned out to be a mistake.

"!" Mibu was startled when Naruto's fist came flying at him from the side. While they were worried about Sasuke, he had taken advantage of the moment to close the gap between them and pull up alongside them, aiming to take them all out with one hit.

"!!" the other two rain ninjas grunted in pain as he slammed into them, and they all went down like a row of dominoes. "Ahhhhh!!!" they cried, crashing to the ground with enough momentum to send them sliding.

"!" Sasuke said as he and Sakura stared at him in surprise.

"..." Kabuto was amazed by his stamina.

April just smiled, unsurprised since she knew how much Naruto hated to lose.

"I'm damn sick of letting you always steal the juicy parts," Naruto told Sasuke with a tired grin, panting from the effort.