"Gulp."
No one knew who it was, but someone swallowed hard.
"Did... did they... all hit?"
Kiba Inuzuka's voice trembled.
"Th-That's... impossible..."
Sakura Haruno stood there blankly, unable to form a complete sentence.
Sasuke.
His body trembled slightly.
Not from fear, but from utter shock.
"Good! Good! Good!"
Teacher Yamada suddenly shouted excitedly, his face flushing red.
"Magnificent! Absolutely magnificent!"
He rushed over to Naruto and grabbed his shoulders, shaking him hard.
"Naruto Uzumaki! Ten points! Full marks!"
"No! That performance went beyond full marks!"
He was so excited that his words tumbled over one another, spittle flying everywhere.
"As expected of Fifth Hokage-sama's personal disciple! That talent! That strength! Simply... simply..."
Listening to Teacher Yamada and the chatter of the students around him, Naruto's nose stung, and his eyes instantly reddened.
So...
So this was what it felt like to be acknowledged.
Naruto instinctively puffed out his chest.
Meanwhile.
Sasuke was completely dumbfounded.
He had lost.
Lost utterly and completely, without a shred of dignity left.
In the field he excelled at most, he had been thoroughly crushed by the person he looked down on most.
All those gazes that had once admired and fawned over him were now focused entirely on Naruto.
The feeling of being abandoned by the world, of being forgotten by the light, made him feel suffocated.
"Aaaaaahhh—!!!"
A roar tore from Sasuke's throat.
He had completely lost his reason!
"You bastard!"
Sasuke clenched his fists and charged at Naruto without a care for anything else!
Before Sasuke's fist could reach Naruto—
A figure suddenly appeared between them.
One hand casually caught Sasuke's swinging wrist.
"Now, now."
A lazy voice rang across the training ground.
"That's enough."
"Fighting at school isn't something good children should do, Second Pillar."
Kakashi Hatake.
"Kakashi... jonin?"
Teacher Yamada was