Practical Sparring

The sun beat down fiercely on the practical sparring ground at the Ninja Academy.

Iruka stood at the edge of the field with a clipboard in hand and announced loudly, "Today's practical sparring session is starting. The rules are simple: taijutsu only, no ninjutsu. We'll have the groups we assigned earlier fight one at a time."

The first pair to take the field was Naruto and Kiba.

Naruto's face flushed with excitement as he eagerly searched the crowd for Kiba.

Kiba grinned confidently, while Akamaru at his side seemed to sense the atmosphere and barked softly.

After entering the Ninja Academy, Inuzuka Tsume and Inuzuka Hana had entrusted Akamaru to Kiba's care, and from then on, Kiba and Akamaru had been inseparable.

Iruka watched the two students, his pen poised to record their performance.

Naruto charged at Kiba without a moment's hesitation. His movements were a little reckless, but he put plenty of force behind them.

Kiba sidestepped, easily dodging Naruto's head-on charge. He immediately threw a quick punch at Naruto's unguarded flank.

Naruto felt a sharp pain in his ribs, but gritted his teeth, spun around, and swept a leg toward Kiba. Kiba leaped high, did a backflip in midair, and landed steadily on the ground.

"Is that all you've got, Naruto?" Kiba taunted.

"Hmph! Take this!" Angered, Naruto charged at Kiba like a whirlwind, unleashing a flurry of punches and kicks that left Kiba struggling to keep up.

But Kiba had trained too. He seized his chance, grabbed one of Naruto's legs, and yanked hard. Naruto fell to the ground.

Naruto wasn't about to give up so easily. He rolled with the fall, grabbed Kiba's legs, and the two began wrestling on the ground.

Seeing them fight like little kids, Menma was at a loss for words. Naruto had done plenty of taijutsu training before, so he shouldn't have been this bad. Was he actually holding back?

Iruka quickly jotted down notes, nodding from time to time. Naruto's movements weren't precise, but he had a tenacious fighting spirit, while Kiba had the edge in technique.

The first match continued fiercely, and both boys were already panting. Naruto suddenly came up with an idea: he pretended to be exhausted, stumbling as he moved.

Kiba thought his chance had come and rushed in to land the finishing blow. But Naruto suddenly rallied and threw everything he had into a headbutt. Kiba couldn't dodge in time, and Naruto struck him on the chin. Kiba staggered back a few steps, dazed.

"Nice one, Naruto. I didn't know you'd fight dirty," Kiba said with a rueful laugh.

Iruka added the detail to his notes. Naruto's ability to adapt in a fight was worth praising.

After the first match ended, the next pair was Ino and Sakura.

Ino took a fighting stance, a confident smile on her face. Sakura looked a little nervous, her fists clenched tight. Iruka focused on his clipboard again, ready to record how this pair did.

Ino attacked first, rushing toward Sakura with a side kick that Sakura barely managed to block.

Sakura counterattacked. Her punches weren't very fast, but they were steady. Ino dodged with ease, then shoved Sakura's shoulder, forcing her back a few steps.

"Sakura, you can't let me beat you that easily," Ino said with a smile.

Sakura gritted her teeth, gathered her courage, and charged at Ino again. This time, she was more aggressive, and her flurry of punches and kicks took Ino by surprise.

But Ino had more experience. She picked her moment and used a grappling move to pin Sakura's arm.

Iruka watched and took notes. He noticed how Sakura had grown during the fight: she'd gone from nervous at the start to gradually taking the initiative. Ino's experience had also played a major role in the match.

The next pair was Shikamaru and Choji. Shikamaru stood there looking lazy, as if he wasn't particularly interested in the match. Choji, meanwhile, rubbed his hands together, ready to show what he could do.

Iruka watched them, thinking this would be an interesting match. His pen was ready to take notes.

Choji charged at Shikamaru, his chubby body carrying considerable momentum. Shikamaru stayed calm and casually stepped aside just as Choji was about to hit him. Unable to stop himself, Choji charged several steps forward.

Choji turned and rushed at Shikamaru again. Shikamaru stuck out a foot and tripped him lightly, nearly making him fall.

Iruka recorded Shikamaru's quick thinking and Choji's strength-based fighting style. He found the clash of their contrasting styles quite interesting.

After several more rounds, it was finally time for the last match.

The last pair was Menma and Sasuke. Sasuke crossed his arms and raised his chin slightly, fixing Menma with a cold gaze. He looked so aloof that nothing around him seemed worthy of his attention.

Menma stood quietly, a steady look in his eyes.

Iruka knew this would be an exciting match. He watched with even greater focus, his pen poised above the clipboard.

The clash began without a word. Sasuke attacked first, charging at Menma with quick steps. His right fist cut through the air toward Menma's face.

Menma's gaze sharpened. He turned slightly and easily dodged Sasuke's attack, then swiftly swept a kick toward Sasuke's legs.

Sasuke reacted instantly. He leaped into the air, spun around, and landed behind Menma, then followed with a roundhouse kick aimed at Menma's back.

As if he had eyes in the back of his head, Menma crouched and swept his leg out. Sasuke hadn't expected the move and was tripped onto the ground.

Sasuke furrowed his brow, his competitive spirit fully roused. He scrambled up and charged at Menma again, this time attacking with even greater speed and force.

Menma remained calm, coolly dealing with every one of Sasuke's attacks. His body moved like a nimble snake, slipping effortlessly through the gaps in Sasuke's assault.

Iruka took notes quickly. Sasuke's attacks were powerful and fast, while Menma's responses were extremely skillful. His dodges and counterattacks were perfectly timed.

Menma seized an opening. The moment Sasuke threw a punch, Menma blocked it with his arm, caught Sasuke's arm, and used a shoulder throw to send him crashing to the ground.

Sasuke lay on the ground, a trace of frustration in his eyes. Menma held out a hand to help him up. Sasuke hesitated, but then took Menma's hand and got to his feet.

Iruka nodded with satisfaction and wrote down the match's result and his evaluation. Both boys had performed well: Sasuke's attacks were powerful, while Menma's responses were very agile.

A few girls cheered at the sight.

"He's so cool!" Ino gazed at Menma like a lovestruck fan.

Sakura, standing nearby, thought, Damn Menma. He actually beat Sasuke. Damn it!

"All right, I've gotten a general idea of how everyone's doing. Next up is shuriken-throwing practice," Iruka said, walking over to a wooden post.

"First group: Naruto Uzumaki, Inuzuka Kiba, and Haruno Sakura, get ready!" Iruka called.

The three stepped forward, took their positions, and threw shuriken at the targets ahead.

They all took the practice seriously, throwing one shuriken after another. They quickly threw all ten.

Naruto's target had ten shuriken in it, thanks to his previous training. Kiba's score was a little lower, with only seven hits. Sakura had only practiced at the Ninja Academy and hadn't trained before, so she managed just four.

Iruka checked the results and recorded them. "Next group: Yamanaka Ino, Nara Shikamaru, and Akimichi Choji."

The three stepped forward. Once the shuriken were removed from the targets, they began throwing.

They'd all received some training when they were younger, and each landed seven or eight out of ten.

Iruka recorded their results, then called out the next group.

After who knew how many groups, Iruka called, "Kurama Kaiyu, Uzumaki Menma, Uchiha Sasuke."

Kurama Kaiyu belonged to the Kurama Clan. The clan wasn't as prosperous as it had once been, but it was still doing reasonably well.

The three stepped forward. Menma clasped his hands behind his head, looking as if he couldn't care less. Sasuke put his hands in his pockets and walked up to the target, holding four shuriken in one hand and throwing them in three rounds.

The Uchiha Clan truly lived up to its reputation as a clan of shuriken-throwing geniuses. All ten shuriken hit the target—and every one struck the bull's-eye.

"As expected of Sasuke!" A few girls nearby gazed at him like lovestruck fans.

Kaiyu took the exercise seriously. He aimed to restore his clan's former glory, so he approached every kind of training with utmost seriousness. He took his stance and began throwing. Seven out of ten shuriken hit the target—a pretty good result.

That left only Menma. He split his ten shuriken into two groups, holding five in each hand, then took aim and threw them.

All ten shuriken stuck in the target, forming a perfect circle around the second ring.

"Hmm, it still feels like something's missing," Menma thought. He took a Flying Thunder God Kunai from his ninja pouch and casually threw it. The kunai struck the bull's-eye.

Everyone stared in astonishment. Those who knew what they were looking at understood just how difficult it was to form such a perfect circle. But those who didn't might think he'd missed the bull's-eye and wasn't as good as Sasuke.

Sasuke really was better than Menma at shurikenjutsu, but Sasuke only cared about hitting the bull's-eye. He hadn't tried to show off like Menma.

Iruka recorded the results honestly. Menma's shurikenjutsu was excellent, but he was far too playful. Sasuke's shurikenjutsu was outstanding, and Kaiyu had also shown plenty of promise.

"All right, that's the end of today's test. You're free to train now." With that, Iruka closed his record book and watched his students from the side to make sure they didn't get carried away.