Defeating Sasuke

Not only Sasuke and Kiba, but everyone else looked bewildered.

Sakura scratched her head, her little face full of confusion. "Naruto... When did he get so strong?"

Come to think of it, that annoying guy hadn't come to bother her today, either.

That was even stranger!

The sheet Iruka was holding to record the scores nearly slipped from his hand.

He looked at the five shuriken still embedded dead center in the distant targets, then at Naruto, whose expression was so calm he might as well have just tossed away some trash. His mind went blank.

This wasn't a prank at all...

No, Naruto had improved.

No, it was as if he'd become a completely different person.

Hinata's fair little face was also filled with surprise, though there was something else in her expression, a subtle realization.

She looked at Naruto's still-bright blue eyes. Yet they seemed to have lost their usual liveliness, and her heart gave a little flutter.

"Naruto-kun... has gotten even stronger."

Hinata crossed her slender hands over her chest and thought, Something must have happened to change Naruto from the inside out.

She hadn't been silently watching his progress from behind these past few days.

She'd missed such an important moment...

But no matter how different Naruto seemed, how perplexing he was, or how much maturity Hinata couldn't understand lay hidden in his eyes—

He was still Naruto!

Hinata lowered her head, feeling her cheeks grow hot again.

That clumsy yet steadfast affection in her heart hadn't diminished at all. If anything, noticing something unusual about Naruto had sent faint ripples through it.

Naruto ignored all the bewildered stares, walked back to the end of the line, and leaned against the wooden post again. He shrugged. Why's everyone looking at me?

Is there writing on my face or something?

Look at Iruka-sensei!

Meanwhile,

Iruka looked again at the marks in the centers of the row of practice targets, then at Naruto, who had returned to the end of the line with a calm expression.

The confusion in his heart only grew.

But he didn't say anything more. He simply cleared his throat to signal the start of the next exercise.

"Next is one-on-one sparring. You'll pair up according to the list."

Usually, whenever this part of the lesson came around, Naruto would be the first to jump forward, loudly declaring that he wanted to challenge the top student, Sasuke.

But today, he remained quietly leaned against the wooden post, as if he didn't much care about anything around him.

Iruka thought back over the strange things Naruto had done today.

After assigning all the other pairs, Iruka finally listed Naruto and Sasuke together.

"Last match: Naruto Uzumaki versus Uchiha Sasuke."

A few quiet murmurs rose from the crowd.

Sakura and Ino exchanged glances, clearly unconvinced Naruto stood a chance.

His shuriken and Transformation Jutsu had certainly surprised them, but Sasuke was still the top student.

"Was that just luck?" Ino asked in surprise, folding her arms.

Sakura nodded, too. "It had to be luck. How could Sasuke-kun possibly lose?"

Shikamaru half-lidded his eyes and rested his hands behind his head, lazily chiming in. "Maybe it's not that simple."

Hinata stood in a corner of the crowd without saying a word. She simply tightened her grip on her sleeve, her gaze fixed on Naruto.

Sasuke was already standing in the middle of the training ground, looking at Naruto with his usual haughty indifference.

He didn't take Naruto seriously.

Even if Naruto was acting a little strangely today.

Naruto slowly walked to the center of the training ground and stopped under everyone's gaze.

He didn't strike a pose. He simply stood there and looked at Sasuke calmly.

Naruto knew very well that even though he hadn't deliberately shown off, he had casually displayed the astonishing skills he'd gained through countless loops.

That had still shocked everyone.

Iruka-sensei had probably already come up with some strange theories: either Naruto was hiding his strength, or he'd gone through some inhuman training and was trying to test his limits.

Naruto hadn't interfered beforehand, naturally. Based on his experience and what was going to happen in the future,

he planned to change Sasuke's impression of him a little, ahead of time.

"Begin!"

At Iruka's command, Sasuke attacked first, moving like a gust of wind as he threw a punch straight at Naruto's chest.

It was one of his usual moves.

Quick and decisive. The old Naruto would never have been able to react in time.

But this time, Naruto simply leaned aside and dodged with ease.

Sasuke followed with a sweep kick. As if he'd anticipated it, Naruto retreated half a step and avoided that, too.

Sasuke frowned slightly, then increased the pace of his attacks.

Punches, kicks—even shuriken. He put all his strength into every move, yet each one was blocked or dodged at just the right moment, a split second before it could land.

Naruto's movements weren't especially flashy, but there was an ease to them, as if he had everything under control.

The crowd gradually fell silent.

Even the girls who had been cheering Sasuke on forgot to shout. They just stared in stunned silence.

After dozens of exchanges, the two pulled apart and faced each other.

Sasuke's breathing had grown ragged, and sweat kept running down his forehead.

Since the fight began, his attacks had gotten faster and heavier, but Naruto's expression remained unchanged, as if he were simply practicing the most basic dodges.

He didn't know what was going on, but for now, he had no choice but to grit his teeth and keep fighting.

Just then, Naruto spoke. His voice wasn't loud, but it carried clearly to Sasuke's ears. "You're too impatient. You're only leaving yourself open to more counterattacks."

Sasuke froze for a moment. Then his expression darkened even further.

Fury mingled in his heart as he charged forward and threw a full-power straight punch, but once again, he hit nothing but air.

Somehow, Naruto had already moved to Sasuke's side. He gave him a gentle push on the back with his right hand.

Sasuke immediately lost his balance and stumbled forward.

Before he could regain his footing, Naruto closed in and kicked him hard to the ground.

Then he pinned Sasuke down, pressing a kunai to his neck with his left hand.

It all happened in the blink of an eye.

Pinned beneath Naruto, Sasuke gasped for breath.

His face was full of disbelief.

I lost?

I lost this completely?

Seeing that Sasuke had lost all ability to fight back—or rather, knowing that in countless previous loops, Sasuke had already been unable to fight back at this point—Naruto put away his kunai, slowly stood, and took a step back.

"You lose."

The training ground fell silent.

Sakura and Ino stood with their mouths agape, unable to say a word.

The top student, Sasuke, had actually lost to Naruto, the dead-last loser?

Shikamaru raised an eyebrow and murmured, "Just as I thought..."

"What? You want some chips?"

Choji hadn't paid attention to the result. He simply handed Shikamaru a bag of chips.

Shikamaru: "?"

Iruka walked over, his expression a little grave.

He looked at Sasuke, who had just gotten up from the ground and was still dazed.

Then he looked at Naruto, who stood calmly to one side.

"Naruto, you..."

Iruka trailed off.

He'd thought Naruto had improved a little, but what he'd just seen couldn't be explained by mere "improvement."

To the students watching, Naruto and Sasuke had traded blows evenly.

But to Iruka, a teacher with years of experience, it was clear.

During the fight, Sasuke had lost his rhythm and was drenched in sweat.

Naruto, by contrast, had looked completely at ease.

That alone was enough to show that Naruto had been transformed from the ground up.

Naruto didn't explain. He just scratched his head and calmly asked, "Can I go back to the line now, Iruka-sensei?"

Naruto knew that if things continued at this pace, Sasuke would have a very different impression of him by the time Team 7 was formed, without even waiting until the Land of Waves.

Iruka gave Naruto a long look. Not knowing what to say, he could only nod.

With permission, Naruto turned and walked back to the line, still wearing the same expression.

Sasuke remained where he was, head lowered, both hands clenched into fists.

Nobody knew how Naruto had managed to defeat Sasuke, the top student in their year.

Only Naruto himself knew the truth.

The gap between their abilities was too great.

So all it took was a little effort...