Sasuke Uchiha plopped down on the ground, his face scrunched up like an angry kitten.
In less than two weeks, he had lost first place in physical training.
He had enrolled for only one reason: to follow Itachi Uchiha's example, dominate the Ninja Academy within a year, and then graduate.
But before he had even begun, it was already over.
"Sasuke, are you okay?"
A hand reached out before him, followed by Naruto Uzumaki's sincere face.
"What do you mean, okay?"
Sasuke Uchiha put on a stern face and said, "You only won this time because you got lucky. Don't even think about beating me next time!"
"Sasuke-kun is right!"
Sakura Haruno's voice rang out.
She hurried forward and quickly held out her hand, afraid Sasuke Uchiha might take Naruto Uzumaki's hand.
"I won't lose either!"
Naruto Uzumaki said confidently, "Teacher Beizawa gave me a secret running technique!"
A secret running technique?
Sasuke Uchiha's heart stirred. He immediately got up and walked toward Beizawa.
Sakura Haruno froze on the spot.
She awkwardly clenched her fists, looking as though she were grinding her teeth.
Naruto Uzumaki scratched his head.
He did not understand why Sakura Haruno was so angry.
But he quickly forgot about it and went to find Kiba Inuzuka and the others.
"I got first place!"
Naruto Uzumaki said happily.
"Who asked you?"
Kiba Inuzuka shot him a glare.
"Congratulations, Naruto."
Shikamaru Nara smiled and offered his congratulations.
"You're better than me."
Choji Akimichi handed him a bag of chips and asked, "Want some?"
"Thanks."
Warmth flowed through Naruto Uzumaki's heart.
He was no longer alone. Now, he had many friends.
"Teacher Beizawa."
Sasuke Uchiha took a deep breath and asked, "What is the secret running technique Naruto mentioned?"
"Why didn't you ask Naruto just now?"
Beizawa knowingly asked.
"I didn't want to ask him!"
Sasuke Uchiha snorted and said.
"There is no secret running technique. I only taught Naruto the correct way to run."
Beizawa smiled. "And you have already mastered those running methods."
"I don't believe it!"
Sasuke Uchiha denied it instinctively.
"If you don't believe me, you can ask Naruto."
Beizawa was not surprised by his reaction at all.
Sasuke Uchiha fell silent.
If their running methods were the same, then did that mean his stats were inferior to Naruto Uzumaki's?
How could that be? For a moment, he found it hard to accept.
Sasuke Uchiha gritted his teeth, turned around, and walked over to Naruto Uzumaki.
With a cold expression, he said, "Come with me. I have something to ask you."
"What is it?"
Naruto Uzumaki followed him to a nearby spot with a puzzled look.
"What secret running technique did Teacher Beizawa teach you?"
Sasuke Uchiha asked directly.
"You want to learn it?"
Naruto Uzumaki immediately became excited.
"Stop rambling!"
Sasuke Uchiha turned his head away and urged, "Just tell me already!"
"Hehe, no problem."
Naruto Uzumaki was not angry. Instead, he happily explained it once.
In his view, having Sasuke Uchiha, the best student in the class, come to ask him for advice was incredibly flattering.
There was another reason as well.
Sasuke Uchiha had not treated him differently because of the so-called "monster" label.
"That's it?"
After listening, Sasuke Uchiha's eyes widened.
"Yeah."
Naruto Uzumaki asked in confusion, "Isn't that enough?"
"..."
Sasuke Uchiha confirmed that Beizawa had not lied.
Precisely because of that, he felt even worse.
Why was Naruto Uzumaki physically stronger than him?
He was an invincible Uchiha!
Sasuke Uchiha thought for a long time before finally swallowing his pride and seeking out Beizawa again.
"The answer is simple."
Beizawa raised an eyebrow and said, "Your Uchiha Clan excels at the Sharingan and Fire Style ninjutsu."
"But..."
Sasuke Uchiha hesitated.
"Naruto's talent is no less than yours. It's simply different from yours."
Beizawa said with a smile.
He was not lying to Sasuke Uchiha.
It had been made very clear in the original story.
Naruto Uzumaki had inherited the Sage of Six Paths' physical talent, while Sasuke Uchiha had inherited the Sage of Six Paths' spiritual talent.
Simply put, one was Yang Release, and the other was Yin Release.
"What talent does he have?"
Sasuke Uchiha curled his lip.
Judging from his current performance, aside from physical training, Naruto was mediocre at everything else.
Beizawa could not help but smile.
That was the charm of stats.
When you encountered a stat monster, no amount of skill could overcome them.
"You'll understand later."
Beizawa patted his shoulder and said.
Sasuke Uchiha instinctively glanced at Naruto Uzumaki, then frowned.
Deep down, he did not believe Beizawa's words, but for some reason, he vaguely felt that such a thing really could happen.
After the brief break ended, everyone continued class.
After Beizawa taught them Ninja Tool Throwing techniques, he let them practice freely while he brought Hinata Hyuga and the others to the training ground.
"Teacher Beizawa!"
Naruto Uzumaki asked expectantly, "Can I do Tree Climbing Training now?"
"You can."
Beizawa nodded.
He had promised Naruto Uzumaki earlier that if he got first place in physical training, he would teach him tree climbing.
"Yes!"
Naruto Uzumaki happily jumped twice in place.
"It's just climbing a tree. You still have a long way to go."
Sasuke Uchiha could not help saying.
"I'll catch up to you soon!"
Naruto Uzumaki declared confidently.
Sasuke Uchiha had just been about to retort when he saw three Beizawas.
"What kind of ninjutsu is this?"
Naruto Uzumaki exclaimed.
"The Shadow Clone Technique."
The three Beizawas answered in unison.
"I want to learn it!"
Naruto Uzumaki's eyes lit up.
The first thing he thought of was that, after learning this ninjutsu, he could go home and have someone to play with.
"I'll teach you after you complete Tree Climbing Training."
Beizawa casually dangled a tempting promise before him.
"Mm!"
Naruto Uzumaki nodded vigorously.
"Begin training."
Beizawa assigned tasks to his Shadow Clones.
One Shadow Clone taught Naruto Uzumaki, while another taught Yakumo Kurama.
His original body taught Sasuke Uchiha, Hinata Hyuga, and Ino Yamanaka.
Naruto Uzumaki began climbing trees full of fighting spirit, but his results were quite poor.
Beizawa fell into thought.
Did Naruto Uzumaki have talent? Of course he did, or he would never have become the savior.
But at the Ninja Academy, he had genuinely been at the bottom of the class. He had not even mastered the basic Three Body Techniques, which caused him to fail the graduation exam.
First, he had not taken his studies seriously at the Ninja Academy, so he had learned poorly.
Second, there was the influence of that great treasure inside him: the Nine-Tails.
Beizawa rubbed his brow.
With his current strength and status, he did not dare touch the Nine-Tails at all.
For now, the only solution was to make up for clumsiness with diligence.
Although Naruto Uzumaki improved slowly, he was improving nonetheless.
"...?"
Sasuke Uchiha was completely baffled.
Naruto Uzumaki had trained for half a class, yet he had only made it one-fifth of the way up the tree at most.
Sasuke Uchiha had climbed halfway up on his first attempt.
Sasuke Uchiha could not help questioning life.
He had actually lost to a Naruto Uzumaki like this?
Class ended quickly.
Naruto Uzumaki reluctantly left the academy and returned home.
"Naruto, congratulations on getting first place in physical training."
Hiruzen Sarutobi said with a chuckle.
"Thanks."
Naruto Uzumaki beamed, then asked, "Third Grandpa, how did you know?"
"I'm the Hokage."
Hiruzen Sarutobi said proudly, "Nothing can be hidden from me."
"That's amazing!"
Naruto Uzumaki exclaimed, then impatiently said, "I want to hear a story about the Fourth Hokage!"
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