The atmosphere on the Ninja Academy's playground was a little tense.
Seeing Ino's predicament, Shikamaru and Choji immediately found themselves in a dilemma.
Should they keep attacking Naruto, or surrender to save Ino?
The children at the Ninja Academy still didn't fully understand what being a ninja meant. When Shikamaru saw Ino's eyes rolling back in Naruto's hold, looking utterly miserable, he finally had no choice but to release his hand signs.
"Iruka-sensei, we surrender."
"Ino, this is all because you didn't listen to Shikamaru. If you'd stayed in formation, we could've beaten Naruto easily." Choji clearly blamed Ino for her earlier impulsiveness, too.
"All right. Since one side has surrendered, the winner of this match is Naruto Uzumaki."
Only after hearing Iruka's announcement did Naruto release Ino. "Kid, don't go solo next time. You're no match for me one-on-one."
"Cough, cough, cough... cough, cough..."
Once Naruto let her go, Ino began coughing violently. She stared at him defiantly. "Naruto, I don't accept this! Fight me again if you've got the guts."
Naruto stopped and looked back at Ino. "Forgive me. Maybe next time."
At those words, both Ino and Sasuke were speechless with exasperation.
Naruto walked back to the middle of the field, picked up the Three Thousand Silver Taels, and waved them at the class. "Thanks for sponsoring me."
"Damn it. I never thought Ino would lose to that Dead Last one-on-one."
"He got to show off again. Isn't anyone going to put him in his place? Watching him act so ridiculously smug drives me nuts."
"Forget it. Could you beat Ino one-on-one?"
"Uh... no."
"Then there you go. Have we been underestimating that Dead Last all along?"
Ignoring everyone's strange looks, Naruto collected his appearance fee and headed straight back to Sasuke's side.
Right in front