The fight between Uchiha Sasuke and Uzumaki Naruto had ground to a stalemate.
Several times, Naruto tried to land a Rasengan with help from his shadow clones, but Sasuke spotted it early each time, so the tactic never paid off. Still, Naruto's nature made it impossible for him to concede—he just kept trying again and again.
As the minutes ticked by, Sasuke cooled down from the early rush of "I've got this." He realized that if the deadlock continued, he would lose—his chakra reserves couldn't match Naruto's. Keeping two clones active while occasionally firing off Fire Release was draining fast. Thankfully, Leaf-Style kenjutsu didn't take much chakra, or he wouldn't have lasted this long.
Sasuke found himself silently grateful to Kitazawa and to Maruboshi Kosuke. Kosuke had taught him Leaf-Style kenjutsu, but without Kitazawa's advice he'd probably still be grinding Lightning Release nature transformation instead of learning the sword.
Sasuke's eyes narrowed. He needed a chance to end it.
He thought back to Hyūga Neji's earlier match, and an idea started to take shape.
"Fire Release: Great Fireball Technique!"
Sasuke spat a massive fireball toward the densest cluster of Naruto's clones. The clones were charging in, and the sudden fireball gave them no time to dodge. With pained yelps, they popped into smoke one after another.
"Multiple Shadow Clone Technique!"
Seeing that, Naruto immediately created fifty more clones.
"Now!"
Sasuke instantly locked onto the real Naruto.
"Fire Release: Great Fireball Technique!"
Hands flashing through signs, Sasuke launched another huge fireball. The moment it flew, three "Sasukes" rotated positions clockwise.
"Fire Release: Great Dragon Fire Technique!"
The second Sasuke didn't hesitate—another blast of flame. Heat rolled out in waves; the air itself seemed to scorch. Three roaring fire dragons chased after the giant fireball. In a blink, a wall of fire surged up in front of Naruto. Some clones dodged on reflex; others charged in without fear. But Naruto's taijutsu specialty was hard-countered by fire, and more clones vanished into smoke.
Body Flicker!
The three Sasukes rotated clockwise again. The third—Sasuke's real body, already set—burst forward. Naruto didn't notice; the massive fireball blocked his view, and one of the dragons was steering straight for him under Sasuke's control.
"Violent — Leaf Adamantine-Strength Whirlwind!"
Naruto snapped a kick up. Wrapped in chakra, his right leg didn't burn. The powerful strike blew apart the dragon's head—but the body kept barreling toward him.
"Rasengan!"
Naruto knew one kick wouldn't erase the entire dragon. He raised his right hand and smashed the Rasengan into it.
Boom!
The remnants of the dragon shattered under the spinning sphere and whirled away in flaming fragments. But in the instant the fire vanished—steel flashed. A ninja blade was suddenly at Naruto's face.
Its wielder: Uchiha Sasuke.
"What—?"
Naruto's pupils tightened. How did Sasuke appear out of nowhere?
He had no time to think; danger was already on top of him. He'd just thrown a Rasengan and was in the gap afterward. With Sasuke giving him no time and the strike already arriving, Naruto could only raise his arms to block.
The blade stopped.
"You lose, Naruto."
Sasuke's sword pressed against Naruto's forearms. If he hadn't checked the swing, he would've cut straight through them.
"Yeah, I lost. You were really strong today."
Naruto blinked, lowered his arms, and admitted it.
"I've been strong before, too," Sasuke snorted, sheathing his sword.
"What a fight—no regrets, pure youth!" Naruto's grin snapped back on. "Once I'm stronger, let's have another youthful showdown!"
"If you get stronger, I will too," Sasuke said with total confidence. "And I'll still win."
"Winner: Uchiha Sasuke," Kitazawa announced right on cue.
"Naruto can't complain about this one," Sarutobi Hiruzen commented. Sasuke's finish had been brilliant: fire to clear the way, then Body Flicker plus Leaf-Style kenjutsu to close it out, perfectly synced with his two clones' rotations. By comparison, Naruto leaned on the same old pattern and didn't improvise enough.
Watching Naruto's spirit still burning, Hiruzen smiled. Losing twice could be good. If you only ever win, you never see your problems. Losing shows you the gaps—and that's how you grow. Especially for Naruto at this stage, constant wins wouldn't help his development.
"Sasuke-kun won!" Haruno Sakura bounced in place.
"Ridiculous," Inuzuka Kiba muttered after two seconds of stunned silence. He'd thought "Multiple Shadow Clones + Rasengan" was broken enough, but this Sasuke was even scarier.
"Sasuke really has changed," Nara Shikamaru sighed. "This time he dominated from start to finish."
"He should thank Neji," Tenten said, arms folded. "He basically copied Neji's fight."
"Pretty much," Aburame Shino agreed. They were all top talents; they could see how much of Sasuke's approach mirrored Neji's across both matches. That said, being able to imitate at that level was a terrifying skill in itself. In the Advanced Class, the ones who could successfully emulate Neji were basically Sasuke and Hinata. The others couldn't pull it off.
"He did it better than I did," Neji said quietly. After beating Naruto earlier, he'd felt confident about facing Sasuke again. Watching this bout, he wasn't so sure.
Neji's biggest edge was Gentle Fist. Now that Sasuke had learned Leaf-Style kenjutsu, Gentle Fist wasn't such a free win. Reach matters—if Sasuke got truly fluent with Leaf-Style, he could use the longer blade to keep Neji out. Of course, that was theory. Sasuke's sword work was still raw; it wasn't actually countering Gentle Fist yet. In a real fight, they were neck and neck.
"He's got the Sharingan—and with your match as a live demo, it's no surprise he refined it," Tenten comforted him. "I'm sure if you fight Naruto again, you'll level up too."
Neji gave a small nod. For geniuses, improvement was the point.
"Naruto!" Rock Lee threw a thumbs-up as Naruto walked over. "The bitterness of defeat is part of youth!"
"I get it!" Naruto beamed. "Chasing hard is the blood of youth!"
"Na-ru-to!" Lee's fists clenched; his whole body shook.
"Lee!" Naruto sprinted in. The two of them hugged it out, tears streaming.
"…They sure are… energetic," Shikamaru said, mouth twitching. Neji, Tenten, Ino and the others politely looked away. Only Akimichi Chōji stayed unfazed, happily munching chips.
Kitazawa glanced at Naruto. He planned to talk things through after the practical exam wrapped—maybe a system quest would pop.
"Third round, third match," Kitazawa called. "Inuzuka Hana vs. Yamanaka Ino."
Compared to the fireworks of Naruto vs. Sasuke, this one was straightforward. Ino used Ninja Art: Ten Thousand Flowers Profusions to trap both Hana and her three ninken in a genjutsu and took the win. When Kitazawa created Ten Thousand Flowers Profusion and Moonlight Beauty, he'd already planned for multi-target scenarios—so he designed them as group illusions rather than single-target. Looked like that decision paid off.
"Third round, fourth match: Kurama Yakumo vs. Hyūga Hinata."
Kitazawa's brow rose. Tough draw for Hinata. They stepped to center, and—just as Kitazawa expected—Yakumo won. Like Neji, Hinata opened with Eight Trigrams: Vacuum Palm, but Yakumo had seen it once already; the moment Hinata lifted her hand, Yakumo dodged early and dropped an illusion.
"Winner: Kurama Yakumo." After announcing it, Kitazawa noticed Hinata looked a little crushed. He walked over and ruffled her hair.
"Wins and losses are the norm," he said gently. "Get it back next time."
"Kitazawa-sensei, I… I saw… you… in the illusion," Hinata murmured, biting her lip.
Kitazawa blinked. No wonder—Hinata was usually calm in defeat, but not this time. Still, Yakumo wasn't wrong. A genjutsu specialist should target a foe's weak points to win more easily—just like when Yakumo had used Naruto inside an illusion against Sasuke.
"Lunch is on me," Kitazawa said—the simplest comfort.
"Mm!" Hinata's eyes lit up; her mood lifted at once.
"Third round, fourth match…" Kitazawa sent Hinata back to the stands and kept drawing lots.
Time slipped by, and the third round of the practical exam came to an end. Overall, nothing outside Kitazawa's expectations—except Naruto losing twice.
On second thought, that was fine. As their power climbed, anything could happen. It was good: more chances to bank real fight experience. Losing at the Academy was no big deal. Losing outside it could cost your life.
"Take five. We'll announce this month's rankings in a moment." Kitazawa stepped down to tally with Iruka. Both had scored each student, and to keep it fair, they'd average their scores.
Hiruzen didn't leave. First, he wanted to see the rankings; second, he planned to discuss the results with Kitazawa.
"I'll announce the theory exam rankings first." Ten minutes later, Kitazawa faced the Advanced Class with a roster in hand. "First, Nara Shikamaru. Second…"
The theory leaderboard had changed a lot. When Kitazawa finished, the room buzzed.
"How did I drop to fourth?" Sasuke's face tightened. The joy of beating Naruto dimmed. His practical had been great, but with only fourth in theory, the overall top spot wasn't secure. If he couldn't take first overall, what was the point of beating Naruto?
"I'm doomed!" Kiba clutched his head, pulling a tragic face. "Nineteenth?!" He'd nearly fallen out of the top twenty—dangerous, since the bottom ten had to accept challenges from other classes. At least his practical wasn't bad; he probably wouldn't get kicked.
"The Advanced Class really is brutal," Tenten sighed. "I was second in Class 2-A before. Now I'm suddenly tenth." Neji nodded slightly. In 2-A, he'd been first in everything since enrollment—both theory and practical. In the Advanced Class, he hadn't just lost first; he wasn't even second. He was third. And he hadn't been able to take first in the practical either.
"To stand toe-to-toe with geniuses—that's youth!" Lee declared, fists tight.
Tenten's mouth twitched. You, last place, and toe-to-toe where?
"Next, the practical rankings," Kitazawa said, and the chatter died as eyes swung to him. Everyone had watched the matches; they had a rough sense of placements, but guesses were still guesses.
"First: Kurama Yakumo." Under normal circumstances, Naruto would've been first—he was the only one who could beat Yakumo by brute-forcing through genjutsu with ridiculous chakra. But he'd lost to both Sasuke and Neji this time, so giving him first didn't fit. No one objected to Yakumo at the top—except Sasuke, who was worried about losing the combined crown.
"Second: Uchiha Sasuke," Kitazawa continued.
"Yes! Sasuke-kun!" Sakura cheered—then turned and saw Sasuke frowning, clearly calculating odds for the overall title. Yakumo: 1st practical, 6th theory. Sasuke: 2nd practical, 4th theory. It now hinged on Neji.
"Third: Hyūga Neji," Kitazawa said evenly. He'd hesitated between Neji and Sasuke for second—their performances hadn't overlapped in a head-to-head—but Sasuke's brilliance against Naruto tipped him to second.
"This is tight. Too tight," Sasuke thought, face blank but heart racing. Neji was 3rd in theory and 3rd in practical—about even with him. Yakumo was also close.
"Fourth: Uzumaki Naruto. Fifth: Hyūga Hinata. Sixth: Aburame Shino. Seventh: Yamanaka Ino." Kitazawa read on in one breath. "Eighth: Tenten. Ninth: Nara Shikamaru. Tenth: Inuzuka Kiba."
"Seventh!" Ino perked up, delighted. In the last all-school practical for the student council selections, she hadn't even cracked top ten. Two months later, after learning two of Kitazawa's jutsu, she'd leapt to seventh—arguably the biggest gainer.
"Still top ten," Kiba exhaled in relief. Combined with his theory rank, he should avoid the challenge zone.
"Eleventh: Inuzuka Hana. Twelfth: Rock Lee. Thirteenth: Haruno Sakura…" Kitazawa paused. "That's the full practical list."
"So who's first overall?" Kiba glanced at Sasuke.
"Do you even have to ask?" Ino grinned. "It's one of Yakumo, Neji, or Sasuke."
"Definitely Sasuke-kun!" Sakura pumped a fist.
"…," Sasuke suddenly felt less sure.
"Time for the final standings," Kitazawa said, turning a page. "First place: Uchiha Sasuke."
Sasuke, Neji, and Yakumo were very close. But Yakumo's theory rank was the lowest of the three at sixth. Neji had edged Sasuke in theory by one place, but the point gap wasn't big. Adding it all up, Sasuke had the highest total and took first overall.
"What?" Sasuke blurted, unable to believe his ears for a moment.
"Sasuke-kun, you're first!" Sakura urged.
"Me? First?" Sasuke blinked—then his mouth curled and he burst out laughing. "Hahaha!" He'd been holding it in for so long; this first place had not come easy.
Watching Sasuke's cathartic laughter, Kitazawa smiled. Let him puff up a bit—next failure would just push him to grow more.
"Second: Kurama Yakumo," Kitazawa said once Sasuke settled. "Third: Hyūga Neji."
~~~
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