The final matchups for the Chūnin Exam finals were printed clearly at the top of the report.
Sasuke Uchiha vs. Neji Hyūga
Naruto Uzumaki vs. Gaara of the Sand
Kakashi's visible eye lingered on the paper longer than necessary. Troublesome, he thought.
Sasuke was being wheeled down the hospital corridor, still unconscious, guards posted at every turn. Kabuto's assassination attempt had failed, but the message was clear enough. Orochimaru wasn't done with him. Not even close.
And Naruto…
Kakashi exhaled quietly.
Naruto was being thrown into a fight with the One Tail's jinchūriki. A kid who didn't sleep, didn't bleed right, and didn't think like a human being. Kakashi knew Naruto was tough, but this wasn't a normal exam match. This was a massacre waiting to happen.
What could Orochimaru be planning? Whatever it was, he need to get back into shape, Kakashi decided. Fast.
A sudden shout from downstairs snapped him out of his thoughts.
"HEY! WHERE'S SASUKE'S HOSPITAL ROOM?!"
Kakashi winced.
Of course.
Down in the lobby, Naruto was leaning over the front desk, hands planted firmly on the counter, voice echoing through the building.
"Visiting hours are over," the clerk said flatly.
"But… why?!"
"Sorry. Hospital policy."
"NARUTO," Kakashi called out sharply as he approached. "You're in a hospital. Be quiet."
Naruto turned, eyes lighting up like he'd just won the lottery.
"KAKASHI SENSEI!" He grinned ear to ear. "HEY! I NEED A FAVOR!"
Kakashi raised a hand. "Stop right there. I already know what you're about to ask." He sighed and jerked his head toward the hallway. "Come on."
Naruto pumped his fist. "YES!"
They slipped into Sasuke's room just as Naruto froze mid step.
"…Why is that super pervert here?" Naruto said, pointing dramatically.
Ebisu adjusted his sunglasses with a twitch. "Super… pervert?"
Kakashi tilted his head. "Ebisu? Since when are you a super pervert?"
Ebisu's glare burned straight through Naruto. "Watch your mouth, brat."
"Whatever," Naruto muttered. "I'm totally pranking him later."
"Naruto," Sasuke said from the bed, eyes half lidded but alert. "Shut up. Kakashi sensei has something to say."
Naruto puffed his cheeks but stayed quiet.
Kakashi folded his arms. "Alright. I'll be training Naruto for the finals."
"WOOOO!"
Sasuke glanced sideways as Naruto was caught midair by the white haired jonin. "Is that so."
"I'm sorry, Sasuke," Kakashi continued calmly. "But Naruto's match with Gaara takes priority."
"Hn."
Naruto spun toward Sasuke, sticking his tongue out and pulling down his eyelid. "Heehee~! Hear that, teme? Kakashi sensei's gonna make me waaaay stronger than you!"
Kakashi hit Naruto on the top of his head, lightly. "Calm down."
Then he turned back to Sasuke. "That's where Ebisu comes in. He's a tokubetsu jōnin who specializes in training elite shinobi. He'll be overseeing your training."
That finally got Sasuke's attention.
"…Fine."
Naruto stepped closer, fist clenched. "Sasuke. I was gonna punch the Hyūga bastard myself… but I can't. So you gotta do it for me."
Sasuke smirked faintly and bumped Naruto's fist. "Don't worry, I'll prove to Hyuga that the Uchiha are still the strongest clan in Konoha."
The two rivals locked eyes, fire burning quietly between them.
"Don't die in the finals."
"Ha, like anything can kill me before I become hokage."
Kakashi rested a hand on Naruto's shoulder. "Let's go."
Leaves swirled as they vanished from the room, leaving Sasuke staring at Ebisu as his sharingan opened.
"When do we start."
Naruto was practically vibrating as they reached a quiet cliffside overlooking the village. The afternoon sun hung low, casting long shadows over the rooftops below.
"So?" Naruto grinned, rubbing his hands together. "What super powerful jutsu are you gonna teach me, sensei?"
"Before we start, tell me something. Why were you struggling so much against Kiba?"
Naruto blinked, caught off guard. He scratched the back of his head. "I dunno… I've been having a hard time using my chakra ever since I fought that snake bastard in the forest."
"Lift your shirt."
"Huh?" Naruto hesitated, then shrugged and did as he was told.
Kakashi crouched and examined the seal on Naruto's stomach. His expression darkened.
Five Elements Seal… layered over the Four Symbols Seal. An odd numbered seal clashing with an even numbered one.
"That explains it," Kakashi muttered.
"Explains what?"
"Orochimaru disrupted your seal," Kakashi said calmly. "The Five Elements Seal interferes with the Four Symbols Seal Minato used. The imbalance cuts you off from the Nine Tails' chakra and makes it harder for you to access your own."
Naruto's eyes widened. "Wait, so that's why everything feels… wrong?"
"Yes," Kakashi replied. "I'm going to remove Orochimaru's seal. Once I do, your chakra flow should return to normal."
Naruto nodded eagerly. "Sweet! With my chakra back, no one stands a chance in the finals!"
Kakashi straightened and fixed him with a serious look. The white haired jonin knew that Naruto's fake bravado needed to fixed if he wanted to survive in the shinobi world.
"Naruto. Can I be honest with you?"
"Of course, sensei."
"You are far behind your peers in the fundamentals," Kakashi said evenly. "Ninjutsu. Taijutsu. Genjutsu. Bukijutsu. Across the board, you're below the level of an average genin."
The words hit hard.
Naruto clenched his fists, eyes fixed on the dirt at his feet. The frustration wasn't new; it was the same tight, burning feeling he'd carried since the Academy. Endless lessons that never clicked, teachers who rushed past him, techniques explained once and then expected to be mastered. He'd been told to "try harder" so many times it lost all meaning. But Kakashi wasn't blaming him for falling behind. There was no judgment in his voice, no disappointment. Just an honest acknowledgment of where Naruto stood and somehow, that made it hurt less.
Kakashi rested a hand on Naruto's shoulder. "Knowing your shortcomings is the first step to overcoming them."
Naruto slowly looked up, something hopeful flickering in his eyes.
"In the next month," Kakashi continued, "I'm going to make sure you can stand shoulder to shoulder with your peers."
Naruto's lips spread into a wide, toothy grin. "…But sensei. Even if you fix my fundamentals… is that really enough to deal with Gaara?"
Kakashi didn't sugarcoat it. "No."
Naruto swallowed.
"That's why we're going to fix your fundamentals in a week," Kakashi said. "And spend the rest of the month teaching you a jutsu that lets you survive... no... WIN."
Naruto felt it then.
A rush. Like electricity crawling up his spine. Fear mixed with excitement, pressure twisting into something sharp and exhilarating. His heart pounded, blood roaring in his ears.
"How?" Naruto asked, breathless.
Kakashi's eye curved into a smile. "With shadow clone training."
0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0
[One month later]
The Chūnin Exam finals arena roared with life.
Tiered stone stands encircled the massive field. Sunlight spilled over the arena floor, catching on banners marked with village crests that snapped in the wind. Konoha's symbol dominated the center, flanked by those of the Sand and other visiting lands, a silent reminder that this was more than a test.
It was a political stage.
The crowd was dense. Civilians leaned forward eagerly, shinobi watched with sharp, calculating eyes, and foreign representatives observed from shaded balconies above.
On the arena floor, the finalists stood.
Shikamaru rested his weight on one leg, hands buried in his pockets, already looking like he'd rather be anywhere else. Temari stood tall with her giant fan slung across her back. Kankurō hovered near Gaara, while Gaara himself stood motionless. Sasuke stood straight backed, arms folded, eyes forward. Neji mirrored him on the opposite side.
One space remained empty.
Up in the stands, Sakura leaned forward, scanning the arena. "Naruto isn't here?"
"Maybe he chickened out after what Gaara did to Lee."
Sakura's head snapped toward Ino. "No."
There was no hesitation in her voice.
"If I know anything about Naruto, it's that he wouldn't back down just because his opponent is stronger."
A sudden whirl of leaves burst into existence near the arena entrance, the familiar sound of shunshin drawing immediate attention.
"Sorry we're late," Kakashi said casually. "Naruto needed a last minute wardrobe change."
Naruto stepped forward.
Cheers, gasps, and murmurs rolled through the arena as eyes locked onto him.
Naruto wasn't wearing orange.
Instead, he wore a light cream jacket accented with warm red tones. The red sleeves and trim framed his arms and shoulders, while a high collar gave the jacket a clean, composed look. On the back, the Uzumaki spiral stood out in bold red. Underneath, a simple dark shirt kept the focus on the jacket. His pants were plain and dark.
Sasuke noticed something else.
Naruto wasn't fidgeting.
A month ago, he would have been grinning wildly, waving at the crowd, barely holding back his chaotic energy. Now, he walked forward with an easy, steady pace. Calm like the sea itself, still and deceptively peaceful, as if gathering strength for the maelstrom yet to come.
Genma stepped forward, his voice cutting cleanly through the noise of the arena. "Listen up, all of you. This is the final exam. The battlefield may look different, but just like the preliminaries, there are no fixed rules."
His gaze swept across the genin.
"You fight until one of you admits defeat… or can no longer continue."
A pause.
"I will stop the match before anyone is killed. Understand?" There was a beat of silence before Genma added, his tone sharpening slightly, "Unless I determine that a clear winner has already been decided."
He turned toward the stands and cleared his throat.
Ahem!
"Ladies and gentlemen. Esteemed guests. Thank you for gathering here in Konohagakure… for the Chūnin Selection Examination!"
The arena erupted.
Genma raised his arm, waiting for the cheers to die down just enough to be heard. "We will now begin the matches of the final round, between the candidates who advanced through the preliminaries. Please sit back and enjoy."
He glanced back toward the finalists.
"All right. Match one."
Sasuke Uchiha vs Neji Hyūga.
"You two stay. Everyone else, clear the arena and head to the waiting room."
The remaining genin began to file out. As Naruto passed Sasuke, he flashed him a grin and jabbed a thumb toward the Hyūga.
"Give him hell for me, teme."
Sasuke snorted. "Try not to get yourself killed later, dead last."
From the stands, murmurs rippled through the crowd.
"That's the Uchiha boy, right?"
"I heard he's Kakashi's student."
"But the Hyūga prodigy hasn't lost a single match."
"They say Neji's already chūnin level…"
"A side branch Hyūga versus an Uchiha survivor? This should be good."
Neji didn't look at the crowd. His pale eyes remained fixed on Sasuke as the last of the other genin exited.
"So," Neji said calmly, almost bored. "Another one clinging to talent and a famous name."
Sasuke's eyes narrowed.
"You rely on your bloodline. You think your clan name makes you special. But fate already decided how far you'll go."
Sasuke snorted. "Funny, coming from someone who mistakes chains for destiny. No matter how much talent you have, you'll still die exactly where your clan tells you to... on your knees and loyal to the end."
Neji's jaw tightened.
Sasuke rolled his shoulder once and channeled chakra into his seal. With a soft pop of smoke, a bow and quiver appeared. The string hummed faintly as he tested it, eyes never leaving Neji.
Neji's expression shifted, just slightly.
"A bow and arrow?" he asked. "Running from the Gentle Fist already?"
"Don't worry," Sasuke said coolly. "I'll make sure you see it coming."
Genma leapt backward, arms raised. "Match one… begin!"
The arena fell silent in an instant.
And then both prodigies moved.
Neji slid smoothly into the Gentle Fist stance, veins bulging around his eyes as the Byakugan flared to life.
At the same instant, Sasuke's hands blurred.
Fire Style: Ash Cloud Jutsu!
Chakra laced smoke erupted outward in a sudden surge, rolling across the arena like a living thing. The battlefield vanished beneath thick, swirling gray, swallowing sound and sight alike.
Gasps rippled through the stands.
Even Neji frowned.
The Byakugan could see through flesh, chakra pathways, even walls, but this was different. Sasuke's smoke wasn't just physical matter. It was saturated with so much chakra, turning Neji's vision into an opaque void of interference.
"Tch."
Neji didn't panic.
"It doesn't matter," he said calmly, voice carrying through the smoke. "Hiding won't save you."
A kunai with an explosive tag struck the ground near him.
Neji leapt back, and in that instant, arrows screamed through the smoke from every direction.
Eight Trigrams: Palm Rotation!
Chakra burst from every tenketsu in the hyuga prodigy's body as he spun, forming a perfect dome of repulsive force. The arrows shattered on contact, splintering into burning fragments that were hurled away violently.
The crowd roared.
Neji landed lightly, already moving. He snatched a kunai from his pouch and hurled it into the smoke, tracking the faint disturbances in the chakra currents.
The smoke thinned just enough.
Sasuke twisted aside, the kunai grazing past his shoulder.
He's reading my trajectory patterns?! From the branches above, Sasuke finished a new set of hand signs. Fire chakra surged into the arrow nocked on his bow, the tip glowing red-hot.
He dropped from the tree mid-shot.
The arrow screamed toward Neji.
Neji stepped in, palm raised to deflect and their eyes met.
Sharingan Genjutsu: Paralysis!
For a split second, Neji's body locked. As he broke free of the genjutsu, twisting his torso at the last possible moment. The arrow tore through his shoulder instead of his chest.
Fire Style: Flaming Arrow!
The arrowhead erupted, cauterizing the wound instantly as flames spread across clothed. Neji expelled chakra violently, blasting the fire away and tearing the burning fabric free. Before he could assess the situation, the young hyuga was surronded by a Shuriken barrage.
Neji deflected them effortlessly and then froze.
One blade cut across his cheek.
The stands erupted in disbelief.
"He... he got hit?"
"By shuriken?!"
Neji's eyes narrowed before he lunged forward, killing the distance in an instant.
Eight Trigrams: Sixty-Four Palms!
The arena seemed to compress.
Neji struck.
Two hits.
Sasuke relied entirely on his sharingan to predict Neji's movement to dodge.
Four hits.
Dodged.
Eight.
Dodged.
Sixteen.
Dodged.
Thirty-two.
Dodged...
Neji's strikes blurred into a storm of precision, chakra-infused blows striking faster and faster, certain that no one could evade all sixty-four.
Eight Trigrams: Palm Rotation!
Chakra exploded outward from Sasuke's body.
A rotational barrier of raw, violently shaped chakra slammed into Neji's technique, forcing him back mid-combo. The shockwave ripped through the arena, cracking tiles and sending dust skyward.
The Hyūga clan erupted in chaos.
"That stance... he copied it?!"
"Clan head! We must do something."
Hiashi just raised his hand to calm his clan down. To think, there would be a day when the uchiha steal the hyuga's prized taijutsu.
Sasuke stood in the settling dust, breathing hard, Sharingan blazing. "I don't believe in the fate that an uchiha will lose to the hyuga," he said coldly.
"That," Neji said coldly, voice cutting through the heat-hazed air, "was nothing more than a bastardization."
Sasuke stood across from him, chest rising and falling.
"Without the Byakugan, the Gentle Fist's true strength cannot be realized. What you used was a crude imitation."
"Then come here," Sasuke snapped, planting his foot and drawing in a deep breath, chakra flaring hot in his lungs. "Come show me the true strength of the Hyūga."
His hands flew together.
Fire Style: Fireball Jutsu!
A massive sphere of flame roared across the arena, heat washing over the crowd in waves. The air screamed as it compressed.
Neji didn't retreat.
His Byakugan traced the fireball, the chakra flow that made the jutsu. He stepped forward instead of dodging, palm glowing faintly blue. Like a martial artist splitting a board along its grain, Neji thrust his hand into the jutsu's chakra flow.
The fireball split cleanly in two.
Twin torrents of flame blasted past him, scorching the arena walls and detonating behind him in twin explosions that rattled the stands.
Murmurs turned to shouts.
Sasuke was already moving.
Shuriken flew—dozens of them—each trailing thin, nearly invisible ninja wire. They embedded into the ground, walls, tree, snapping taut as they formed a cage around Neji.
Sasuke landed lightly atop a wire anchor.
Fire Style: Dragon Flame Jutsu!
The wires ignited instantly.
Fire raced along the lines like living serpents, converging toward Neji's position in a spiraling inferno, guided precisely by the wire network.
"Eight Trigrams—"
A sound reached neji's ears.
fssshhhhh
Neji's heart skipped. Even with the Byakugan, he couldn't see the explosive tag.
"Don't tell me—"
The Byakugan's blind spot. That single point at the base of the neck, near the first thoracic vertebra.
Neji blasted chakra outward, trying to sever the wires but they held. Reinforced continuously by Sasuke's chakra. His injured shoulder screamed in protest as he strained, muscles trembling. He couldn't apply enough physical force to tear free.
The first explosive tag detonated. The Dragon Flame Jutsu followed.
Fire swallowed him whole.
The arena vanished in smoke and heat.
The crowd fell into stunned silence.
When the flames finally dissipated, Neji dropped to one knee. His uniform was charred black, fabric burned away in places. Angry red burns traced across his arms and torso, blistered skin visible beneath torn cloth. His hair was singed, one sleeve completely gone.
Smoke curled from his body.
But he was alive.
Neji exhaled slowly and forced himself upright, reentering his stance through sheer will.
"I expelled chakra at the moment of impact," he said hoarsely. "Reduced the penetration. Otherwise… I'd be dead." His gaze locked onto Sasuke. "How did you figure out the weakness of the byakugan?"
"The Uchiha clan library," Sasuke replied flatly. "Volumes cataloging everything my clan ever learned about the Hyūga."
His eyes flicked pointedly to the seal on Neji's forehead. "And the things you pretend don't exist."
"Then you know what that means," Neji said quietly. "You were born to soar freely. Destined for power."
He touched the cursed seal unconsciously. "My wings were clipped by fate before I ever learned to fly."
Silence hung between them.
"And yet you still fight."
Neji blinked.
"You still stand. You still train. You still grow stronger." Sasuke stepped forward. "A branch Hyūga shouldn't have this much talent. Shouldn't know techniques like Palm Rotation. Shouldn't be this dangerous."
His voice rose.
"The branch family exists to protect the main house. That's your so-called fate." He pointed accusingly. "And yet you tried to kill hinata, you learned the main clan techniques."
Neji froze.
"You talk about destiny," Sasuke continued, relentless now. "But everything you are is defiance. You hate the cage, but you still call it law. And yet you spit in its face of fate everychance you get."
His teeth clenched.
"You're the biggest hypocrite here."
Neji froze as those words registered.
Sasuke drove his foot into Neji's chin. The impact lifted Neji off the ground. Before gravity could claim him, Sasuke was already there, following upward. Another kick—this one to the ribs—sent Neji higher. Neji tried to counter, throwing a palm strike midair. Sasuke twisted around it and struck again.
The crowd gasped as the two figures climbed skyward in a brutal aerial exchange.
Sasuke drew his fist back.
Lion Combo!
He smashed Neji downward with a crushing punch, flipping midair and slamming his heel down in a final, devastating axe kick.
Neji hit the ground like a meteor.
The arena cracked.
Dust exploded outward in a violent ring.
When it cleared, Neji lay motionless at the center of the crater, unconscious.
Genma landed beside him, checking his pulse. "…Winner," he announced, voice steady, "Sasuke Uchiha."
The crowd erupted.
And somewhere in the stands, Naruto watched silently, realizing just how far his rival had gone. You're gonna shit your pants when you see my new Wind Style jutsu, teme.
0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0
The arena shifted as Genma stepped forward again.
"The next match is Naruto Uzumaki versus Gaara of the Sand."
Gaara drifted forward, sand whispering around his feet, his laughter bubbling up in sharp, broken bursts. "Hehehehehe…"
"…Can you stop laughing?" Naruto snapped. "It's creepy, dattebayo."
Gaara's laughter hitched, then spiked into something shriller.
For just a moment, Naruto's posture made genma pause.
He looks just like Minato.
Then Naruto scratched his head and shouted. "HEY! OLD MAN! YOU GONNA START THIS OR WHAT?"
Nope. Kushina.
"Begin!"
Sand exploded outward.
Gaara's gourd vomited a torrent of sand that surged across the arena like a living tide. Naruto leapt backward, hands already moving, shuriken flashing into his grip.
Shadow Shuriken Jutsu!
The shuriken multiplied midair, splitting again and again until the sky itself seemed to rain steel. The sand wall thickened, tripled, layers compacting until it resembled stone. The shuriken hit then popped. As white smoke erupted across the battlefield.
Gaara's smile widened. "Hide… hide more…"
Crack.
Two hands burst from the ground beneath Gaara. The ground yawned open only to swallow nothing.
Sand Clone Jutsu.
The clone collapsed into grains as Gaara reappeared several meters away, one arm extended.
Sand Bullet Jutsu.
A compressed sphere of sand screamed through the air.
Naruto jumped.
The bullet punched through where his head had been an instant earlier, detonating against the arena wall. Midair, Naruto formed a shadow clone, pushing off its shoulder to twist away from a second shot. He spun, releasing a massive Fūma shuriken from his storage seal.
Shadow Shuriken Jutsu!
One became five.
Gaara's sand surged instinctively, wrapping around his body in thick, reactive layers.
Naruto's eyes sharpened. "So it reacts on its own, huh?"
The explosive laden Fūma shuriken exploded. Fire and smoke consumed the sand shell. The boy's laughter echoed from within. Multiple Gaara forms burst from the smoke and charged.
Naruto dropped into motion. A kunai flashed as wind chakra began to flow through in swirls.
Slash.
A sand clone collapsed. He pivoted, ducked under a clawing hand, and drove his shoulder forward, kunai punching into another clone's chest before twisting out.
"Too slow," Naruto muttered.
Another Gaara lunged.
Naruto caught its wrist, twisted, and slammed his knee into its midsection.
Sand burst apart. He rolled, came up slashing low, severing a clone's legs before planting a foot and hurling it into another.
Gaara watched, eyes wide. "…You're smiling."
Naruto was.
"Yeah, this is fun. Dattebayo!"
Sand erupted beneath Naruto's feet, spiking upward. He flipped backward with a shadow clone forming midair and being used as a platform. Gaara's sand lashed out, forming arms, blades and spears. Naruto weaved between them.
A kunai deflected one strike. Another he dodged by inches.
The sand grazed him.
Gaara's eyes dilated. "YES."
Sand wrapped around Naruto's leg, yanking him off balance.
Gaara raised his arm.
"Sand Burial—"
Naruto twisted mid-fall, slamming a palm into the ground.
Wind Style: Gale Palm!
Compressed wind detonated beneath him, blasting him free and shredding the sand grip. Naruto landed in a crouch, skidding back.
Sand surged again; faster now, angrier.
Gaara's voice cracked with glee. "I will carve you open! I will prove I exist!"
0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0
Meanwhile, in the stands.
"…Is that the same Naruto?," Ino questioned, leaning forward so far she nearly toppled over the railing.
Sakura didn't answer right away. Her eyes were locked on the battlefield, following Naruto's movements with something between awe and disbelief.
Ino frowned. "A month ago he was flailing around against Kiba. Now his taijutsu's clean, his shurikenjutsu's precise, and he's mixing ninjutsu without overcommitting."
Sakura swallowed.
Sasuke was always ahead, she thought. But Naruto… had closed the gap. No! He'd blown past it.
Heavy footsteps approached from behind.
"Well now," a booming voice said cheerfully, "this is getting exciting!"
Sakura turned as Might Guy strode up, a blinding grin on his face. Rock Lee followed beside him, moving carefully with the help of crutches, his leg still wrapped thickly in bandages. Kakashi walked with them, hands in his pockets, visible eye half-lidded as usual.
"As expected of my eternal rival," Guy declared, pointing dramatically at Kakashi. "You are an excellent teacher! Though… not as handsome as me."
"Huh? Did you say something, Guy?"
"Damn you, Kakashi! And your cool, hip attitude!"
Lee leaned forward eagerly despite his injuries. "But Guy-sensei, Sakura-san is right. Naruto has become a true shinobi."
Sakura nodded slowly. "Sensei… he's on another level now."
She hesitated, then admitted softly, "I can barely follow him."
Kakashi's eye curved slightly. "Thanks. But as much as I'd like to take credit, Naruto pushed himself there. Harder than anyone I've trained."
Lee's brows furrowed.
"…Even so," he said solemnly, "this level of strength alone will not be enough against Gaara."
"Exactly."
That got everyone's attention.
"…That's why," Kakashi continued, gaze fixed on the arena, "I made something specifically for Naruto."
Guy blinked. "You… made a jutsu?"
Ino gaped. "Wait, the Copy Ninja didn't just give him one?"
Kakashi's eye sharpened. "Looks like he's about to use it."
0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0
Back on the battlefield; Gaara's sand surged like a living tide, rising into a crushing wave that swallowed half the arena.
Naruto formed a single hand seal.
The air screamed.
Blue chakra erupted around Naruto's body in a violent burst, wrapping around him like a cloak.
Wind roared outward.
Naruto's jacket snapped violently as torrents of cutting air spiraled around him, his blond hair lifting and flowing as if caught in a constant gale.
Wind Style: Chakra Mode!
Gaara's eyes widened as the sand waterfall was blown apart in spiraling sheets, grains screaming past him like shrapnel. Naruto vanished with the redhead's blinke.
BOOM.
A fist slammed into his ribs with bone-rattling force. The impact detonated outward as compressed wind exploded from Naruto's knuckles, launching Gaara through the air. Garaa barely had time to register the sky before.
CRACK.
Naruto appeared above him, knee dropping into his chest.
Gaara screamed, laughter twisting into a shriek as he was sent tumbling again. "YES—YES—MORE!"
Naruto closed distance instantly, slipping inside the reach of Gaara's sand arms, forearm smashing into Gaara's jaw, followed by a sharp elbow to the temple. Wind howled with every strike. Gaara's sand reacted, wrapping, blocking, stabbing—
Naruto flowed.
He redirected a sand blade with his forearm, stepped in, drove a knee into Gaara's gut, then spun and threw him using his own momentum.
Gaara hit the ground, bouncing. Sand exploded upward to shield him.
Naruto punched straight through it. Wind tore a hole clean through the defense, the shockwave lifting Gaara bodily off the ground.
"You're fast… fast like him… LIKE LEE!"
Four bursts of smoke erupted at once.
Shadow clones moved in perfect coordination, slipping through the gaps in the sand as if they'd rehearsed it a hundred times. One clone slammed a rising kick into Gaara's ribs.
"U—"
Another followed immediately, driving a punch into Gaara's back and launching him higher.
"ZU—"
A third appeared above, hammering an elbow downward that flipped Gaara end over end in midair.
"MA—"
The fourth clone planted a brutal upward kick, sending Gaara rocketing skyward, sand armor fracturing under the combined force.
"KI—"
As Gaara's body spun helplessly through the air, the real Naruto leapt using one clone's shoulder as a springboard. The clone dispersed beneath his foot, and Naruto shot upward after his target, wind chakra screaming around him. He twisted midair, body rotating as the wind condensed around his leg, spiraling tighter and tighter until it shrieked like a storm compressed into a single point.
Gaara's eyes widened just in time to see him.
Naruto spun fully, bringing his heel down in a vicious arc.
"NA—RU—TO!"
The rotating heel drop connected.
The impact detonated.
A deafening shockwave ripped outward as Gaara was driven straight into the arena floor, wind chakra exploding on contact. Stone shattered. The ground collapsed inward, a massive crater blooming beneath them as debris and dust blasted skyward.
The clones vanished in drifting smoke.
When the dust finally settled… at the center of the crater was a hardened cacoon of sand.
The stadium was utterly silent.
"…Holy shit," Ino whispered.
Sakura looked pale. She stared down at the crater, at Naruto standing there like it was nothing, and felt her stomach twist. A month ago he'd been loud, reckless and sloppy. Strong, sure but this?
This was on a completely different level.
Lee, leaning heavily on his crutches, wore a wide, almost frightened grin. "Naruto-kun… is just as fast as I was when I opened the Fifth Gate."
Might Guy stiffened.
Slowly, he turned his head toward Kakashi. "Ka… Kakashi," he said carefully, "what exactly did you teach Naruto?"
Kakashi's visible eye curved slightly. "Back during the Third Shinobi War," he began, "Minato-sensei and I crossed paths with the man who would become the Fourth Raikage. He was already famous back then for his Lightning Release Chakra Mode."
Guy nodded. "The ultimate nintaijutsu."
"I copied it. But I could never use it. The physical strain was extreme, and the chakra demands were even worse. My body just couldn't handle it."
Kakashi glanced back toward the battlefield, where Naruto stood like a coiled spring. "When I started training Naruto, I found that he had a Wind nature. So while he was refining his chakra control and affinity, I reworked the Raikage's lightning cloak."
"You mean..."
"Yes," Kakashi said. "Naruto's Wind Chakra Mode."
"So he's a nintaijutsu user now."
"Yes," Kakashi said. "But Naruto's cloak works on a different principle. The wind thins the air around his body, so every movement meets less resistance. He doesn't hit harder by brute force alone. He hits harder because nothing slows him down."
"But the Raikage boosts his reflexes with lightning chakra."
"And that's the tradeoff," Kakashi replied. "Naruto's body can move faster than his perception can comfortably keep up with. At top speed, complicated taijutsu becomes risky. Reading feints, reacting to counters and adjusting mid-strike. Those things require time his senses don't always have."
"So the faster he goes, the simpler his movements need to be," Lee said quietly.
"If a fight turns into tight, technical exchanges, the cloak becomes a liability instead of an advantage."
"And the physical cost?" Guy asked.
"It's heavy," Kakashi said. "The wind cloak drains chakra constantly and puts stress on Naruto's muscles and joints. He can't sustain it indefinitely, and pushing past his limit risks serious injury. It's a powerful tool, but it demands discipline."
Lee clenched his fists. "A weapon that punishes misuse."
"Still," Ino shouted suddenly, cupping her hands around her mouth, "WIN THIS, NARUTO!"
Sakura glanced sideways. "Since when are you a Naruto fangirl?"
Ino snorted and punched her arm. "Shut up! I'm cheering for our teammate. And..." she paused, squinting down at the arena, "I'm not gonna lie. Without the orange, he actually looks kinda handsome."
Sakura opened her mouth to reply and froze.
White feathers drifted down. Ino's eyes rolled back as she slumped, fast asleep.
"…Genjutsu," Sakura muttered.
Down in the arena, Naruto stiffened. Something brushed his senses as he broke the genjutsu. "The hell was that?"
The sand cocoon behind him cracked then exploded outward.
Gaara emerged mid-transformation, caught between human and monster. His posture was low and predatory, one side still human while the other was grotesquely overtaken by Shukaku's influence. A massive arm of sand and chakra loomed over his shoulder, misshapen and heavy, like the beast was clawing its way out of him.
His grin was feral and unhinged.
Red chakra flared violently around him, jagged and alive, staining the ground beneath his feet. The sand responded instinctively, swirling, shielding and screaming with him.
Naruto exhaled slowly, wind beginning to rise around his body again. "…Looks like you're ready to lose round two," he said, cracking his knuckles.
"Dattebayo!"
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Author's Note
Hey everyone!
This one-shot was an absolute blast to write. Fun fact: I originally wrote this prompt over on Reddit, and it stuck with me enough that I had to share it.
For anyone new, this fic is going to be a collection of one-shots that I'll add to whenever inspiration hits or I stumble across a prompt that really grabs me. There's no fixed schedule here—just ideas I'm excited about and want to explore.
If you've got a concept or prompt you'd love to see turned into a one-shot, feel free to drop it in the comments. I can't promise I'll get to everything, but if something clicks, it might very well become the next chapter.
Thanks for reading, and I hope you enjoy this one!