Shikamaru wondered when Choji had gotten so good at talking, even knowing how to use the greater good to pressure him. With a helpless sigh, he nodded. "Got it."
Uchiha Sasuke stood at the edge of the group, listening to the people around him and looking at the number two slip in his hand.
He didn't care who his opponent was. No matter who he faced, there could be only one result: they would lose.
Aburame Shino looked at the number twenty-five written on his slip. He'd gotten lucky.
"Those who drew numbers one and two, please come forward." Qiushui stood in the middle of the Training Ground and called out.
Naruto Uzumaki and Uchiha Sasuke took their places in the middle of the field.
"Naruto's really unlucky, running into Sasuke in the first round." Shikamaru Nara shook his head.
"Naruto's done pretty well these past couple of days. Maybe he can win?" Choji Akimichi reflexively argued back, then started to think it was impossible himself.
"Naruto, don't get taken out with one move again. Hang in there a little longer, and don't let that Sasuke guy get so cocky." Between Naruto and Sasuke, Tsume Inuzuka had a slightly better impression of Naruto.
Uchiha Sasuke was well-known, and Naruto Uzumaki was just as famous. Before long, students from other classes had gathered around, along with nearly everyone from Class 1 of the 4th Grade.
"Is there even any point in watching this? It's obvious who'll win."
"But it should still be interesting. The genius against the dead last—let's see how many moves he can last."
"Naruto-kun, do your best." Hyuga Hinata looked at Naruto in the center of the Training Ground and spoke softly.
Naruto Uzumaki and Sasuke stood facing each other in the middle of the Training Ground. They crossed their hands and raised their index and middle fingers, as was required before important contests at the Ninja Academy. It signified that the fight was about to begin. After the battle, they would extend those same fingers and hook them together in the Seal of Reconciliation, showing that even though they had fought, they were still friends.
"Begin." Seeing that both were ready, Qiushui gave the signal.
As soon as the words left his mouth, Uchiha Sasuke swiftly drew three kunai from his pouch and hurled them at Naruto, aiming for his head, chest, and lower leg. Then he pushed off with his front foot, planted his back foot, and charged at Naruto with a burst of speed.
Before, Uchiha Sasuke would never have taken Naruto this seriously. But after seeing Naruto's performance over the past two days, and the dozen or so clones he'd made that one time, Sasuke now considered him worthy of being an opponent.
Sasuke had worked out his strategy from the start: first use shuriken to restrict Naruto's movement, then close the distance quickly and engage him in hand-to-hand combat.
But Naruto wasn't stupid. He knew he couldn't intercept the shuriken with just his own two hands, and dodging them with his body would put him at a disadvantage. So he formed the hand seals for the Shadow Clone Technique without hesitation. In an instant, two identical copies of himself appeared, forming a three-person formation with the original. All three threw kunai at the same time.
His shuriken-throwing technique wasn't nearly as precise as Sasuke's, but he made up for it with sheer numbers. Nine shuriken whistled through the air and intercepted Sasuke's three kunai mid-flight. Metal clanged against metal, sparks flew, and the weapons fell to the ground with a series of crisp clinks.
"No wonder he's from the Uchiha Clan. His aim with shuriken is even better than my older brother's, and he's already a Genin." One of the watching students couldn't help exclaiming.
"Wait, how can the Clone Technique make two clones that can attack at the same time?" another student asked, frowning in confusion.
"Hasn't Naruto always been the dead last? How is he better at the Clone Technique than I am?" another onlooker said, scratching his head in disbelief.
Matsumoto Mie, the other teacher judging the match, didn't make the same mistake as the students. As a Chunin instructor, she could tell at a glance that it wasn't the ordinary Clone Technique. She rubbed her eyes, certain she'd seen correctly, then gathered her chakra and sensed it again to make sure. Finally, she turned to Qiushui beside her, her voice tinged with uncertainty. "Qiushui, if I'm not mistaken... Naruto's using the B-rank Shadow Clone Technique, right?"
Qiushui nodded and explained calmly, "You're not mistaken, Mie-sensei. That really is the Shadow Clone Technique."
Even after Qiushui confirmed it, Matsumoto Mie still found it hard to believe.
Ordinary Genin had a hard time learning the Shadow Clone Technique. She herself hadn't mastered a jutsu of that rank until she became a Chunin. If Uchiha Sasuke had used it, she would have been surprised, but not all that shocked. But it was Naruto—the boy who hadn't even managed to form the hand seals for the basic Clone Technique since enrolling—who had used the Shadow Clone Technique.
"That Naruto..." Shikamaru Nara, standing in the crowd, recognized the jutsu too. He was one of the few in class who had never looked down on Naruto, and he knew what Naruto was really capable of. He hadn't expected that the guy who was always laughing and joking had quietly learned a jutsu that even he hadn't mastered.
"So what if he has two extra clones? They're nothing in front of Sasuke. Sasuke's definitely going to win," Sakura Haruno said confidently, though she looked surprised too.
Uchiha Sasuke's expression didn't change when he saw Naruto split into three. His steps didn't falter in the slightest. He kept the same pace as he charged, then threw up his hand again, sending several more shuriken flying toward the vital points of all three Narutos.
One of the clones couldn't dodge in time. A shuriken struck him, and he vanished in a puff of white smoke.
The jolt of pain that came when the Shadow Clone disappeared made Naruto stiffen slightly, but the recent special training helped him push through the discomfort quickly. He immediately continued working with his remaining clone, and the two of them fought Sasuke at close quarters.
The three exchanged blows, their fists cutting through the air as dust rose from the ground.
Uchiha Sasuke's Taijutsu was clearly more than a match for Naruto's. Even while facing two opponents at once, he handled them with ease. On the eighth exchange, a spinning kick blasted the other clone away, followed by a punch that sent Naruto's real body stumbling back several steps.
The students around the field were completely stunned.
"I thought it was crazy enough that a clone could throw kunai. How can it help fight too?" one student said, looking as though his whole world had been turned upside down.
"Isn't Naruto the dead last? Why does his Taijutsu seem pretty good too?" another student from a different class muttered.
It wasn't just the students from other classes who didn't know Naruto. Even the students from Class 1 of the 4th Grade looked as though they'd seen a ghost.
Wasn't the usual script supposed to be Naruto getting beaten by Sasuke in just a couple of moves?
"Looks like Naruto's about to lose." Matsumoto Mie watched as Naruto was driven steadily backward. "Learning the Shadow Clone Technique is progress, but the gap between him and Uchiha Sasuke in Taijutsu is just too obvious."
Before you continue