Soon, Naruto and Satsuki began a taijutsu exchange that could be considered ninja-level. The two figures moved quickly across the open space, the muffled thuds of their fists and feet meeting frequently. Their movements were so fast it was dazzling, yet they always maintained a subtle balance, their back-and-forth exchange appearing evenly matched.
The exciting match drew waves of exclamations and cheers from the spectating students.
Of course, nine out of ten of the cheers from the sidelines were for Satsuki. The little boys in the class, their faces red, shouted at the top of their lungs, "Go, Satsuki!" trying to attract her attention in this direct way, though Satsuki completely ignored them.
In reality, this seemingly even taijutsu match was, from the very beginning, a carefully controlled act by Naruto. With the taijutsu enhancement from the system, his position was less "hard-working genius" and more "hard-working guy with cheats."
Although Naruto had gotten the Flying Thunder God Technique from the system lottery, he gradually discovered that he had more or less inherited his father Minato Namikaze's talent for reaction time. Otherwise, he wouldn't have been able to pressure the Raikage back then.
During their first sparring match, the moment Satsuki used the Substitution Jutsu, he had a chance to interrupt her and make her technique fail, but he had deliberately slowed his movements and held back.
Why deliberately control the pace and make the match look so even? The answer was actually simple—to protect Satsuki's feelings.
Although the Uchiha clan was warlike and inherently proud, they disliked being overwhelmingly suppressed in a fight. Once the skill gap became too large, making her feel an insurmountable gulf, with her proud personality, she might be hit hard by it.
What if? What if Satsuki starts to doubt herself because of this huge gap, feels there's no room for improvement in Konoha, and ends up being taken advantage of by Orochimaru and running away with him?
But reason told Naruto that this situation was unlikely to happen. Satsuki was deeply attached to the people around her, and besides, he had already decided to prevent the tragedy of the Uchiha massacre—as long as that didn't happen, Satsuki had no reason to defect.
But even so, Naruto wanted to be thorough. Why? He couldn't quite say himself. Perhaps it was a subconscious desire to prevent any accidents, to add another layer of insurance to keep Satsuki by his side, just to be safe.
The clash on the field continued. Seeing this, Iruka finally called a halt. "Alright, this match ends here!" If it dragged on any longer, the other students wouldn't be able to train.
In the end, the match was declared a draw. Hearing this result, both Naruto and Satsuki looked clearly unsatisfied—of course, Naruto's expression was mostly an act.
They formed the Seal of Reconciliation as instructed, then walked back to the spectator area together, leaving the now-lively training ground behind them.
By the time all the sparring matches were over, the sun was beginning to set. Iruka clapped his hands and announced that school was dismissed. The children immediately cheered and packed their things, a tide of noise flooding towards the school gate.
Most of the children were quickly picked up by their waiting parents at the school gate. Some threw themselves into their parents' arms, while others excitedly talked about what happened at school. Laughter and cheerful voices drifted away with the retreating figures.
Iruka stood there watching the scene, a faint sense of loneliness welling up in his heart, an indescribable emptiness.
Just then, he caught a glimpse of a figure at the school gate out of the corner of his eye—Naruto was still standing there, his back to him, seemingly talking to Satsuki Uchiha beside him. Satsuki's head was tilted slightly, and they were standing very close, clearly engrossed in their conversation.
Is he chatting with his friend because no one is here to pick him up? Iruka's heart stirred slightly. This child is just like me; he goes home to an empty house too.
At that thought, he started walking towards the school gate, having already made up his mind—I'll invite Naruto for a bowl of Ichiraku ramen, just like last time. At least it will give the kid a bit more warmth before he goes home.
As he got closer to the two, who had their backs to him, Iruka could faintly hear their conversation.
"Honestly, Iruka-sensei is worrying too much. We couldn't even go all out without being able to use ninjutsu."
"I know, right? He wouldn't even let us use ninja tools. Doesn't he know that throwing arts are the Uchiha's specialty? Otherwise, you might not have been my match."
"Hah? You talk big. You should know, I've almost mastered all the ninjutsu scrolls the old man Hokage gave me. I can even use the Water Dragon Bullet Jutsu, which is usually only for Jonin."
"With your turtle-like hand seal speed?"
"What, Nidaime? You got a problem with that? Why don't we find a place and have an all-out battle? See who's really stronger?"
"Hmph, I was just thinking the same thing. Let's find a place then..."
Listening to their conversation, Iruka felt a tightness in his chest and almost couldn't breathe—these two hadn't listened to a single word he had said!
"Hey, you two!"
Iruka's voice suddenly exploded beside them, laced with suppressed anger. Naruto and Satsuki were startled and quickly turned around, their faces still showing surprise, to meet Iruka's glaring eyes.
"I-Iruka-sensei?" Naruto shrank back, and Satsuki, for once, lost her arrogance, her eyes darting away.
"You two idiots! Didn't you listen to a single word I said?!"
Iruka's voice suddenly rose. "I told you, those ninjutsu are too dangerous for your age! And you want to use real ninja tools? Do you want to become ninja with permanent injuries? Being a ninja isn't about whose jutsu is more powerful or whose tools are sharper! It's about knowing how to control your power, about protecting the people important to you, not about showing off! If an accident happened during a sparring match, how would you carry out missions in the future? Do you think becoming a ninja is about this kind of reckless fighting? This is ridiculous!"
Iruka's lecture continued, seemingly without end. Perhaps he really was suited to be a teacher; not just anyone had this kind of patience.
However, Naruto suddenly interrupted him. "Ah, this is so annoying, we get it... but."
He gave Iruka a brilliant smile. "You can't become a strong ninja by just playing house all the time. See you, sensei."
With that, Naruto grabbed Satsuki's hand and ran, and Satsuki followed without resisting. They dashed out of the school.
"Hey! You two, get back here!"
"No way! See you tomorrow, sensei!" Naruto shouted without looking back, not slowing down. Iruka didn't see the "all according to plan" expression on Naruto's face.
"Damn it! You little brat, you'll get what's coming to you!"
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