Surrounded on all sides, in all directions, against opponents that I knew were considerably skilled.

This wasn't a situation that I would eagerly enjoy putting myself in. Nigh-unkillability aside, fighting a lot of opponents at once always sucked.

In this case, however, I wasn't particularly concerned.

"You know, I would be a little bit more worried, if it wasn't for the fact that shadow clone durability isn't."

I raised my hand into the air, and thought of wind.

Wind was a very... varied element. You could do a lot of things with it, supportive, offensive and defensive alike. A shield of wind was a very good dampener against most attacks, a blade of wind could cut through most attacks, a very fine control of win could be used to redirect projectiles, both your own, and your enemies.

A lot of things that can be done.

But I wasn't looking for any of those specific uses.

The reason I was using wind was simple; it was the easiest element to use when you were trying to hit everything.

Fire was good, but we were in a forest. Lightning was also good, but it was a tad bit too focused to deal with true masses of enemies. I could do it with water, but water would take a bit longer.

A black sphere appeared in my hand. The clones around me started moving, forwards, backwards, sideways, in every direction. It didn't help them in any way, I released the spell not even a second after it formed.

I'd... hesitate to call the result an explosion. There was no fire, no heat, but there was a lot of force, and there was also a clearly visible shockwave that radiated outwards after the spell had detonated. Not quite an explosion, but the results were enough for my purposes.

The first lot of clones, the ones that had jumped towards me, promptly burst into smoke, each one hit in the face with around about the same kind of force as a baseball bat. It wasn't pleasant, at all.

Still, it was more than enough to pop them, and carry the smoke they generated back, away from myself, leaving my vision unobscured.

Mostly unobscured, anyway. There was still a veritable wall of smoke surrounding me, blocking my view of the clones. My physical view, anyway, I could still see their Chakra, and at the very back, I could still see Naruto's Heart.

Sasuke's Heart was curiously absent, despite the fact that they had gone in the same direction when they had retreated. Or was it, perhaps, because of that fact?

Probably because.

Sasuke... was over there. Behind me, hiding just behind a tree, escaping most of the force of my shockwave. He was, however, preparing a kick-

My eyes widened, and I instantly shot my hand to the side, just in time to catch Sasuke's foot as it almost slammed into my head. He wasted absolutely no time in using the kawarimi again, swapping places with one of Naruto's surviving clones.

I squeezed, and the clone instantaneously burst into smoke as its heel was crushed.

I turned to look at him, noting the pleased smile on his face.

"You clever little brat. Using the Kawarimi to swap places with a leaf, I honestly hadn't expected that."

It didn't escape my attention that he had done so seallessly.

"Heh." He smirked, before using the Kawarimi and vanishing with another of Naruto's clones- who was making a hand seal.

A Tiger hand seal.

My eyes shot to Sasuke, who simply grinned.

I looked back at Naruto's clone, just in time to catch another clone appear by his side, both of them inhaling.

"Fire Release -" "Wind Release -" They started.

Instantly, a ball of Darkness appeared at the tip of my claw, already beginning to quickly grow.

"Great Fireball -" "Great Breakthrough -"

I released the spell, the ball of Darkness exploding into a cascade of water, which shot forwards at the two clones, who had finished their own techniques.

A wave of fire headed in my direction, the fireball enhanced massively by the powerful stream of wind, both made stronger, and faster. I didn't miss how both clones burst into smoke after they had finished their techniques, using up the entirety of their chakra supply.

Yikes. Scary. These two clones were just two of dozens, containing but fractions of Naruto's total supply of Chakra. If it had been Naruto and just one other Clone, or Naruto and Sasuke, that collaboration could have been much more devastatingly powerful. Not that it wasn't already devastating, it just wasn't anywhere near as powerful as it could have been.

Around about... 100 clones left, which meant that all of them had around about one one-hundredth of Naruto's total Chakra.

Ooh. Yikes.

I certainly wouldn't want to be on the receiving end of that.

Not that I wanted to be on the receiving end of this, either.

The tides of water and fire collided, instantaneously sending up a cloud of heated steam, which quickly expanded.

Despite myself, I was impressed.

"You boys sure have gotten scary, haven't you?"

I looked up, watching as Naruto and Sasuke stood together on top of a branch. I idly noticed Naruto's clones spreading about a bit, probably ready to act as targets for the Kawarimi, which would enable them to dodge just about I could send at them.

"I think I might actually step this up a bit."

They tensed, both grinning. I noticed their Chakra stilling, as they readied for whatever I had planned for them.

They wouldn't get the opportunity to do anything, because the very next instant, I teleported behind them, grabbing both their heads and unleashing a stop.

I straightened up, taking in the sight of Naruto and Sasuke's almost-panicked faces, frozen in time. It was, to say the least, absolutely goddamned hilarious.

Hmm.

Aha, opportunity.

Quickly, I retrieved my camera, and snapped a shot of them.

Never knew when I needed new blackmail.

Smiling -metaphorically-, I pulled out a piece of rope.

I was just exiting the training ground when I heard the annoyed shouts of Naruto and Sasuke as they discovered their new predicament.

I really do regret being unable to smile.