Hiruzen Sarutobi left.
And the battle came to an end.
Although the victor had been decided.
The result was, of course, not the proud Sasuke Uchiha voluntarily admitting defeat. Instead, Naruto, his face swollen and bruised like a pig's head, pinned Sasuke firmly to the ground and refused to let him get up.
Forced into such a humiliating position, Sasuke had no choice but to stop resisting.
He really did not want those two people from the Hyuga family in the distance to watch him make a fool of himself any longer.
"You're really strong."
After getting to his feet, Naruto grinned and stepped forward, extending a hand to help him up.
But Sasuke coldly slapped his hand away and stood up on his own. "It's not like I can't accept defeat. You really are much stronger than me. Take the title of top student."
Then he paused before speaking again. "But I'll catch up to you soon. When that time comes... I'll show you why the Uchiha Clan is truly powerful."
From the very moment the battle began, he had known that he had underestimated this guy, who had always had so little presence in class.
To have learned so many ninjutsu and possess such enormous chakra reserves, he had to admit that Naruto Uzumaki was impressive.
But that was only natural. After all, Naruto had become the new top student after Sasuke took leave from school. It was understandable that he possessed such strength.
"I hope that day won't be too far away."
Naruto nodded with a smile. During this battle, he had realized that Sasuke Uchiha was not someone who held much hostility toward him.
At school, Sasuke had seemed like a rude person.
But after actually interacting with him, Naruto found him not quite so unpleasant.