The next day.
Naruto walked along the road to school.
The system's next mission was to take first place in the practical combat exercise.
That was not difficult for Naruto now.
Just then, a voice reached Naruto from the roadside.
"Uzumaki! Wait for me!"
Naruto stopped and looked toward the side of the road, where he saw Ino walking out of a flower shop with a backpack on her shoulders.
Ino?
Had she not been scared badly enough yesterday?
Just as Naruto was thinking that, Ino came over to his side and said with a smile, "I never thought the two of us took the same route. I never noticed before."
In this village, where almost no one was willing to pay Naruto any attention,
Ino's easygoing gesture surprised Naruto a little.
"Aren't you afraid of me?" Naruto asked curiously.
Ino shook her head, her golden hair swaying twice in the air. "I thought about it yesterday and realized that you actually have a pretty good temper, Naruto~ If Sasuke had been annoyed by the two of us like that, he would've started yelling."
The two chatted as they headed toward school.
When they reached an intersection, a pink-haired figure darted out from the side and followed behind Ino.
Ino turned around and saw Sakura Haruno.
That was perfectly normal. Ino and Sakura Haruno usually went to school together.
Sakura walked behind Ino. When she saw Ino looking at her, she immediately raised her delicate brows.
Using a facial-expression communication method that only she and Ino understood, Sakura silently said:
Well, well. Yesterday, you said Uzumaki had his eye on you, and today you came running over to him, huh?
A vein popped on Ino's forehead. Don't talk nonsense. I just happened to see Uzumaki passing by my house.
Sakura: Hey, have you noticed that Uzumaki looks a little more handsome than yesterday?
Ino: It does seem that way...
Sakura: See! You like Uzumaki, don't you? Hahaha! That means Sasuke is mine.
Ino: Bullshit! Stop spreading rumors!
Ino: But you're right. Why hadn't anyone noticed Naruto was kind of cute before?
Sakura: Maybe because he was too quiet? Otherwise, how could any boy in class with even a little looks have escaped my sharp eyes?
Ino: Heh... a brainless face fanatic.
Sakura: You're the same.
Naruto suddenly spoke. "What are you two doing?"
His sudden words startled Ino.
Ino immediately raised both hands. "We weren't talking about handsome guys."
Naruto and Sakura: "..."
Humans were social animals, after all.
After awakening his memories of his past life, Naruto had begun to enjoy solitude.
But that was not because he liked being alone.
Although the conversation between the two girls was rather boring,
Mostly consisting of little worries and interests shared by girls,
The feeling of going to school with others was not bad.
Before long, they arrived at school.
Time passed bit by bit.
Soon, it was time for the afternoon practical combat exercise.
The most popular student in the class was undoubtedly Sasuke Uchiha.
Because he was first place in the practical combat exercises, and he had maintained that record year after year.
The rules for the practical combat exercise were simple.
Everyone could challenge one another. At the end, any students who had not fought yet would be forcibly assigned opponents by Iruka.
Sasuke Uchiha was strong. Even Kiba Inuzuka had been beaten into submission by him.
So no one challenged Sasuke Uchiha at all.
Naruto did not say anything either. He stood behind the crowd with Shino, making full use of his background-character qualities.
As the exercise was about to end, only four people had not fought yet.
Naruto, Sasuke, Shino, and Shikamaru.
When Shikamaru saw the other three, he immediately said to Shino, "How about... we give it a try?"
Shikamaru was famously afraid of trouble.
He definitely did not want to end up facing Sasuke.
Can't find the book by its title? Try searching for the author instead. It may have simply been renamed!
Shino silently nodded as well. "All right."
Shino and Shikamaru walked to the center of the field.
Iruka announced the start of their match.
Logically speaking, neither of them was weak.
Yet their fight was extremely ugly.
Shikamaru did not use his full strength and only wanted to put on a show.
Shino also did not want to hurt Shikamaru.
After fighting for a while, Shikamaru deliberately exposed an opening and was pushed to the ground by Shino.
Iruka rubbed his forehead and helplessly announced, "Shino Aburame wins."
Shikamaru and Shino formed the Seal of Reconciliation, then both retreated behind the others.
As their teacher, how could Iruka possibly fail to see that these two were slacking off...
Of those who had yet to compete,
Only Sasuke and Naruto remained.
Sasuke had taken first place in the previous exercise.
If Naruto defeated Sasuke, he could directly claim the title of first place and complete the mission.
Iruka looked at the remaining Sasuke and Naruto, then hesitantly announced, "The final practical combat exercise: Naruto Uzumaki versus Sasuke Uchiha."
As soon as Iruka spoke Sasuke Uchiha's name,
The girls in the class immediately began screaming...
Shikamaru covered his ears, his expression stiff.
Kiba Inuzuka looked at Sasuke with jealousy.
"Hmph..." Sasuke put on a cold expression and said coolly, "I don't think there's any need for this match."
Everyone understood what Sasuke meant.
After all, Sasuke's previous grades were far too different from Naruto's.
But those were the rules.
To improve the ninja combat experience of the academy students,
Every student had to take part in one match during every practical combat exercise.
Iruka said to Sasuke with a headache, "Uchiha, this can improve your combat experience and prepare you for your future life as ninja."
Sasuke did not think Naruto could improve his combat experience.
However, Naruto had already silently walked into the middle of the field and calmly looked at Sasuke.
Sasuke noticed that Naruto, the guy with failing grades, was not afraid of him at all.
At once, he felt challenged.
So Sasuke snorted again. "I'll make you regret this."
Naturally, Naruto would not trade insults with a child. He simply waited for the match to begin.
Iruka said, "Friendship first, competition second."
"Begin the final match of the practical combat exercise!"
Although Iruka did not want to see Naruto get beaten up,
Getting beaten up now was better than getting killed after becoming a ninja, wasn't it?
Perhaps because he felt Naruto was not taking him seriously,
Sasuke's temper flared up.
The moment Iruka finished speaking, Sasuke charged forward.
He wanted to crush Naruto as quickly as possible!
"This is the gap between you and the Uchiha Clan."
Sasuke spoke coldly.
That set off another round of screams from the girls watching nearby.
Naruto watched Sasuke with interest. "You really are popular, but..."
So slow!
In Naruto's eyes, Sasuke's movements seemed to have slowed down.
That was probably thanks to the physical enhancement granted by Naruto's system.
And besides,
Naruto possessed taijutsu strength that could go toe-to-toe with Kakashi.
At this moment, Sasuke was full of openings in Naruto's eyes.
To everyone else, Sasuke's figure had practically turned into an afterimage as he rushed toward Naruto.
Below, Sakura and Ino squeezed among a group of girls, wildly cheering for Sasuke.
Only Hinata, standing off to the side, looked at Naruto worriedly.
She wondered whether Naruto would get hurt.
Out of concern, Hinata unconsciously activated her Byakugan.
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