"Naruto!"
After a few minutes of trading blows, Rock Lee sprang back to open some distance, caught his breath, and shouted, "Go all out!"
Uzumaki Naruto hadn't been holding back in straight taijutsu—he'd been pressing Lee the whole time—but he still hadn't used Multiple Shadow Clone Jutsu.
"But…"
Hesitation flickered across Naruto's face.
To him, using Multiple Shadow Clone would make it no longer a pure taijutsu match between taijutsu users.
"Youth means giving it your all!"
Rock Lee thrust up a thumbs-up. "Besides, Guy-sensei taught me a new ninja tool to counter your clones."
"You're right!"
Naruto flashed a toothy grin. "Only an all-out fight is worthy of youth!"
"It's called nunchaku."
Lee drew out a pair and introduced them.
"What a peculiar ninja tool!"
Naruto looked them over and asked, "When did you learn that? I had no idea."
"A month ago."
Lee spun the sticks into a neat flourish.
"I see."
Naruto's face cleared in realization. He'd been buried in training the Rasengan at school for the past month, so it made sense he hadn't noticed Lee picking up nunchaku.
"Come on, then!"
Naruto shouted, "Multiple Shadow Clone Jutsu!"
Poof, poof, poof!
Through the smoke, thirty shadow clones appeared in full.
A wave of astonished cries burst from the stands.
Plenty of onlookers were seeing Naruto use Multiple Shadow Clone for the first time and were left gaping.
"Huh?"
Aburame Shibi was momentarily dumbfounded.
He could accept that Naruto and Rock Lee had just shown taijutsu far beyond academy level. But Multiple Shadow Clone? Thirty at once? Even he would struggle to pull that off—or could at best barely manage it.
And normally he wouldn't. There's no point.
Clones split off the user's chakra.
For most people, the more clones you make, the weaker each one—and the original—gets.
If Naruto could produce this many, there was only one explanation:
He still had a ton of chakra to spare.
The thought that the boy was only seven made Shibi feel like all his years had been wasted.
"So much chakra?"
Yakushi Nonō's eyes widened.
She'd seen shinobi with huge reserves before, but they were all adults in their prime.
Seeing that much chakra in someone this young was a first.
"I suspect he's from the Uzumaki clan," Yakushi Kabuto said, glasses glinting as he studied Naruto.
"Aren't Uzumaki supposed to have red hair?" Nonō blinked.
"He could be mixed."
Kabuto thought of Karin, who'd trained with them—she had loads of chakra, too.
"Don't say that to outsiders," Nonō warned.
Anything touching the wiped-out Uzumaki clan was bound to involve secrets. She'd left Root; she didn't want more trouble—she just wanted to work quietly as a medic at Konoha Hospital.
"I understand," Kabuto nodded.
"Leaf Whirlwind!"
"Dynamic Entry!"
"Leaf Strong Whirlwind!"
Including the original, thirty-one Narutos charged Rock Lee.
In an instant the fight turned brutal.
But as Lee had said, the nunchaku really did check shadow clones to a degree.
The sticks spun in Lee's hands, whirring.
Every crack of the baton drew a clone's pained yelp.
"This tool's no joke!"
Naruto ducked a swing, flashed through hand signs, and yelled, "Again! Multiple Shadow Clone Jutsu!"
Another burst of smoke—thirty more clones.
Under Kitazawa's guidance, Naruto had stopped popping out hundreds of clones at once; with that many, only a few actually landed hits—unless you were playing a ranged game.
And Naruto didn't plan to use a ranged strategy against Rock Lee.
Partly because Lee was a pure taijutsu fighter—peppering him from afar would just be beating on someone who couldn't answer back. Not exactly honorable.
And partly because Naruto figured he could win without it.
The stands were packed with shinobi here to watch. The examinees stood along both sides of the field.
"Didn't expect Lee to get this strong," Tenten murmured.
Hyūga Neji said nothing, mentally simulating how to deal with nunchaku.
For an unarmed taijutsu user, nunchaku were a serious threat.
Even so, Neji decided he'd still win.
He was faster than Lee. He just had to strike his tenketsu before the sticks reached him.
"Too bad Naruto's got so much chakra. Lee can't win," Inuzuka Kiba said, shaking his head.
At the same time, like Neji, he ran a mental sim—except he put himself in Lee's place.
If he faced Naruto, even transformed into the Hellhound, he'd be in the same bind: either he'd beat the original fast, or Naruto's clones would drain him dry.
Uchiha Sasuke saw it differently.
He noticed Naruto had only made thirty clones.
Last time they sparred, Naruto had started at fifty—sometimes a hundred.
But the number didn't matter.
Ever since he'd beaten Naruto, Sasuke no longer found Multiple Shadow Clone particularly threatening.
His Shuriken Manipulation Technique could deal with it.
"Lee's done his best—just unlucky that he drew Naruto," Yamanaka Ino said after a pause. "If he'd faced someone else, he wouldn't be losing."
She herself had a hard time dealing with Lee; as a taijutsu specialist he was too fast to give her room to use her clan's secret arts.
"It's over—Naruto's already figured out the nunchaku's attack patterns," Aburame Shino said, pushing up his glasses.
As if on cue, the tide shifted on the field.
Lee was showing signs of flagging.
He staggered—and Naruto seized the opening.
Two clones surged in and clamped onto Lee's nunchaku.
At the same time, two more wrapped his legs from left and right.
In a blink, four Narutos had him pinned, sweat pouring off him as he struggled and failed to break free.
"Dynamic Entry!"
The original Naruto rocketed in with a finishing flying kick.
Lee took it head-on; pain exploded through his body.
If not for the clones holding him, he would've been blasted backward and knocked out cold.
"I… I concede."
Lee stopped struggling and yielded.
"Lee, you okay?"
Naruto dispelled his clones at once.
"I'm fine."
Lee shot a thumbs-up and boomed, "That fight was exhilarating!"
"That's the bond of youth!"
Naruto whooped back. "Let's have another knock-down, drag-out youth match next time!"
"It's a promise!"
Feeling Naruto's fighting spirit, Lee couldn't help smiling.
"Winner: Uzumaki Naruto!"
Kitazawa jumped in to announce it—before the two started hugging and bawling together again.
"Kakashi, what do you think of my two students?" Might Guy asked, pleased as could be.
Lee had lost, but it was a glorious loss. In pure taijutsu, there weren't two academy students who could top him. Given his age, he was every bit a taijutsu prodigy.
"They're fine," Kakashi Hatake said evenly, glancing over. "If Naruto were under me, he'd be even stronger."
He wasn't just bragging.
He knew all of Guy's taijutsu—even a bit of the Eight Gates.
But the ninjutsu he knew, Guy didn't.
With Naruto's chakra reserves, whether he learned ninjutsu or taijutsu, he'd have a massive edge.
From Kakashi's point of view, focusing only on taijutsu actually wasted that huge pool of chakra—taijutsu consumes far less than ninjutsu.
"As expected of my eternal rival!" Guy threw up a thumbs-up—then spotted a blind spot. "And Lee?"
"…"
Kakashi fell silent.
He could see Lee was essentially Guy's copy. If Kakashi were the one teaching Lee, he wouldn't match Guy at it.
"Haha!"
Guy laughed. "Looks like we're one-one as teachers!"
Kakashi might edge him with Naruto; with Lee, Guy had the edge.
"…"
Kakashi's mouth twitched. Guy's ability to turn anything into their rivalry was something else.
"Hey, don't ignore Kitazawa's contribution!" Kurenai couldn't help speaking up. "Naruto's been doing special training with him nonstop!"
Kakashi gave a slight nod.
Even so, he still wasn't that impressed with Naruto yet.
Right now the kid was winning on raw chakra.
He wondered if Naruto would have something later that truly surprised him.
Front row of the stands.
"Tsunade, what do you think?"
Sarutobi Hiruzen beamed, pleased with Naruto's showing.
"He's got Kushina's vibe," Tsunade said after thinking it over.
Like Uzumaki Kushina, Naruto had a massive chakra pool—and a reckless, head-long fighting style.
Hiruzen sighed inwardly.
He'd hoped Naruto would become the second Minato, but things were heading the other way.
To him, brute-force brawling is too one-note and easy to counter.
He preferred Minato's measured, reliable approach.
As things stood, Naruto might have a hard time learning that.
"We'll begin the second match," Kitazawa said, reaching into the draw box for two slips.
Even though he was running the elite bracket, fights as high-quality as Naruto vs. Rock Lee were rare.
The watching shinobi reset their expectations—no matter how impressive, they were still academy students.
"Seventh match: Uchiha Sasuke vs. Inuzuka Hana!"
At the announcement, a buzz went through the crowd.
They'd heard the name Uchiha Sasuke—the son of Uchiha Fugaku, younger brother of Uchiha Itachi, genius of the Uchiha clan.
Kitazawa hadn't rigged the draw.
Still, as the saying goes, before you destroy someone, make them arrogant.
The more bloated Sasuke's ego got now, the harder he'd crash later.
Letting him win a round had its uses.
"Big sis, you got this!"
Kiba waved toward Hana Inuzuka down the way.
"Kiba, who's stronger—you or your sister?" Haruno Sakura sneaked a glance at Sasuke and fished for intel.
"Me, obviously!"
Kiba didn't hesitate.
"Then we're good," Sakura exhaled in relief.
"Hey, what's that supposed to mean?" Kiba caught on and corrected himself. "I mean I'm stronger now, but my sister's stronger than the old me!"
"Is there even a difference between the you now and the you before?" Naruto scratched his head, lost.
"What special training did Kitazawa give you that made you this confident?" Nara Shikamaru asked, curious.
"Secret." Kiba grinned. "You'll be shocked."
"Doesn't matter," Sasuke said coolly, hands in his pockets as he stepped onto the field.
Whether it was Hana or Kiba, he didn't take them seriously.
"Why does your sister have three ninken?" Ino asked, surprised, as Hana walked out with three gray ninja hounds.
"They're triplets, and their teamwork is perfect, so they're kept together," Kiba explained.
"Begin!"
Kitazawa gave the signal.
"Haimaru!"
Hana went full power from the start.
Beast Human Clone!
The hound called Haimaru blurred and transformed into a perfect copy of her.
Fang Over Fang!
The two "Hanas" spun into twin tornadoes, tearing toward Sasuke at blinding speed, while the other two hounds charged right behind, jaws open to show their fangs.
In the original story, Fang Over Fang is Kiba's signature—like Rasengan or Chidori; a joke says he used it straight to the finale.
But it wasn't Kiba's original technique—his mother, Tsume, used it too.
Sasuke stood his ground and calmly opened his Sharingan.
The lightning-quick Fang Over Fang seemed to slow.
Fire Style: Great Fireball Jutsu!
He exhaled a massive fireball, forcing Hana and the three hounds to split left and right.
Leaf Whirlwind!
Sasuke lunged and snapped a kick at the "Hana" on the left.
With a whine, she took the hit and popped back into Haimaru.
The real Hana, now minus Haimaru, didn't pause—she drove straight at Sasuke.
He glanced back over his shoulder and met her feral stare—
—and his genjutsu washed over her.
Hana froze where she stood.
Flames erupted out of nowhere inside her, engulfing her—she screamed in pain.
Genjutsu: Unknown Fire.
Unhurried, Sasuke laid a kunai across her throat.
The three ninken charging to protect their master skidded to a halt.
Sasuke dispelled the illusion.
"So many… huh? Where'd the fire go?"
Hana patted herself down, bewildered.
"Genjutsu," Sasuke said flatly.
"I see."
She took a deep breath. "I surrender."
"Mm." Sasuke nodded coolly and stepped off the field.
"Sasuke-kun, you're so cool!" Sakura squealed, full fangirl mode.
"Genjutsu really is a pain," Kiba admitted. Hana hadn't lost unjustly.
Then he realized something else: his Hellhound wasn't as vulnerable to illusions—two heads, two minds. If one got caught, the other could bail it out. Unless both got snared at once.
Front row of the stands.
"Not bad," Uchiha Fugaku nodded.
Sasuke had used both Fire Style: Great Fireball and Genjutsu: Unknown Fire cleanly.
"Sasuke's doing great—he's only seven," Mikoto said, smiling.
"Agreed," Itachi added. "I didn't even know Unknown Fire at seven."
He'd awakened his eyes at eight—naturally he didn't have it at seven.
"He is my son, after all," Fugaku smiled faintly.
He was quite satisfied with Sasuke's showing, but as clan head he had to keep some gravitas—no casual praise.
"Eighth match: Inuzuka Kiba vs. Hyūga Neji," Kitazawa announced, raising a brow.
There was no rigging; Kiba just had rotten luck.
Fortunately, in this practical exam, it wasn't pure single-elimination—a strong performance could still advance even if you lost.
"What?" Kiba's eyes went wide. "Neji?"
"Congrats on hitting the jackpot," Shikamaru clapped his shoulder, grinning.
"Didn't you do special training with Kitazawa?" Ino laughed. "Time to bust out your secret weapon."
"You're right—I'm not going down that easy!"
Kiba clenched his fists.
Neji gave him a look, curious himself.
No matter—he'd see it in a second.
They took their marks.
"Inuzuka Kiba is Hana's little brother, right?"
"Why didn't he bring a ninken?"
"Doesn't matter—his opponent is Hyūga Neji, super genius of the Hyūga clan!"
Chatter rippled through the crowd.
Hana had just fought in the previous match; seeing Kiba without a dog, most didn't rate his chances.
Neji slid into the Gentle Fist stance—then abruptly stopped.
A two-meter-tall, vicious, two-headed hound loomed in front of him.
"What?!"
Naruto gaped. "Kiba turned into a dog? And it's huge!"
"So this is Kitazawa-sensei's special training?" Ino asked, stunned.
"The Inuzuka secret is fusing human and ninken… but fusing with a shadow clone? That's a first," Shikamaru said, at a rare loss for snark.
"So this is an original technique by Kitazawa-sensei?" Shino asked, surprised.
The same look spread across the others' faces.
Learning a jutsu and creating one are worlds apart. None of them had expected Kitazawa to have that kind of skill.
~~~
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