"Today we will be having practical sparring, but before that, everyone will take a shuriken test," Iruka said on the training ground. "Ueno Daiki."
A student walked to the throwing line, took a shuriken from his waist pouch, aimed, and threw it forcefully.
"Thud!"
The shuriken accurately pierced the target. A hint of excitement flashed in Ueno Daiki's eyes as he pulled out another shuriken from his pocket.
"Ha, how boring." The boy with the pineapple hairstyle yawned boredly, his drooping eyes full of sleepiness.
"Exactly, I thought I could catch up on sleep in class, why did it suddenly change to a practical training session?" Yuta was equally drowsy. It was Yuta's habit to train at the training ground at night and catch up on sleep in class during the day.
"You went to train again last night?" Shikamaru, sitting next to Yuta, asked.
"Yeah, I accidentally overdid it a bit with the training time." Yuta yawned again.
"Speaking of which…" Shikamaru turned his head to look at Sasuke, who was behind him, radiating high fighting spirit. This fighting spirit seemed to be directed at his like-minded companion.
"Why does Sasuke have such fighting spirit towards you? You don't seem to have surpassed him in school, do you?" Shikamaru asked with interest.
"I accidentally whipped him two nights ago during training. Who knew he'd be squatting in a tree on the training ground late at night, not sleeping?" Yuta said, rubbing his head.
"Adamantine Sealing Chains? No wonder he didn't come to school one day." Shikamaru looked at Sasuke sympathetically. Shikamaru had the good fortune to experience Yuta's Adamantine Sealing Chains once, and the feeling of having one's Chakra sealed was not pleasant.
"Then what's the deal with your brother? Why is he always at odds with Sasuke?" Shikamaru pointed at Naruto, who was next to Yuta, glaring intently at Sasuke.
"There are many reasons…" Yuta said meaningfully.
There were many reasons why Uzumaki Naruto so desperately wanted to compete with Uchiha Sasuke. In terms of love, it could be Sakura; in terms of family, perhaps they found common ground; in terms of personality, the two also clashed. Add to that the Ashura and Indra bloodlines within their bodies, and it was no surprise they were so at odds.
"Next, Uchiha Sasuke."
Sasuke walked out from the crowd. As he passed Yuta, he said coldly, "I will absolutely not lose to you, on the Uchiha name."
"Don't casually use the Uchiha name as a guarantee," Yuta thought, feeling a wave of helplessness. Why would he bet the Uchiha name on something like this?
"Looks like you've gotten yourself into trouble," Shikamaru said, gloating from the side.
"Stop gloating. Be careful, or you'll get into trouble too." Yuta rolled his eyes, no longer paying attention to Shikamaru, and instead seriously observed Sasuke during his test.
Uchiha Sasuke, the last survivor of the Uchiha Clan, possessed remarkable talent and strength, consistently holding the top spot in the entire class.
"Thud, thud, thud…"
"He's so skilled, even throwing eight shuriken simultaneously with both hands. As expected of a child of the Uchiha family," Iruka thought to himself. "Uchiha Sasuke, perfect score! Next, Uzumaki Naruto."
"I will definitely not lose to that arrogant Sasuke!" Naruto imitated Sasuke, holding eight shuriken with both hands. Although he had no experience throwing eight shuriken simultaneously, Naruto just didn't want to lose to Sasuke, in every sense of the word.
"Please hit the target!" Uzumaki Naruto prayed in his heart before forcefully throwing the shuriken.
"Thud, thud, thud…"
The shuriken accurately hit the target… next to the intended target.
"Uzumaki Naruto, zero points." Iruka looked at Naruto, unable to bear the sight. Even if he wanted to compete with Sasuke, he shouldn't compete in things others excelled at.
"Is your brother an idiot? He wasn't even very skilled at throwing four shuriken simultaneously before, and now he's suddenly challenging eight at once," Shikamaru complained, looking at the dejected Naruto.
Soon, everyone had completed the shuriken test. Seeing that everyone's mood had more or less adjusted, Iruka announced the first pair for practical sparring.
"Komatsu Musashi, Watanabe Shota."
"Ha." Watching the two's boring fight, the already drowsy Yuta yawned again. "Shikamaru, I'm going to sleep for a bit over there. Call me when it's my turn."
With that, Yuta walked to a tree behind the crowd. A gentle breeze blew, and Yuta quickly fell into a dream… "It's your turn, wake up quickly."
Hearing Shikamaru's voice, Yuta groggily opened his eyes. Seeing a somewhat annoyed Iruka in the field, Yuta quickly stood up from the ground.
"Swish"
A light blue jacket slipped from his body. Yuta bent down to pick up the jacket and ran back to the field. As he passed a classmate whose irises were white but distinct from the whites of her eyes, he handed her the jacket: "Nao, thank you for your jacket."
Hyuga Nao, a member of the Hyuga Clan's main family, had publicly declared her affection for Uzumaki Yuta on the fifth day of school. This affection had not changed since then.
"I told you, you don't have to be so polite with me. Good luck!" Hyuga Nao took the jacket, somewhat displeased.
Yuta ran to Iruka. Before Iruka could speak, Yuta immediately apologized sincerely: "I'm sorry, Iruka Sensei. I didn't sleep well last night, and I'm truly sorry for delaying everyone's time."
"It's fine, let's start the match." Seeing Yuta's sincere attitude, Iruka didn't say much more. Moreover, Iruka hadn't intended to reprimand him excessively. Yuta basically slept in class every day, but he always managed to pass every test. Over time, the teachers had come to tolerate this behavior.
"Morishita Kohei, a commoner Ninja, quite skilled at throwing shuriken." Yuta's mind flashed with the information about his opponent. Clearly, Morishita Kohei had nothing particularly noteworthy.
"Please teach me."
"Please teach me."
"Match start!" Iruka's hand dropped, announcing the start of the match.
"I can't let him get close." Morishita Kohei quickly took out two shuriken from his waist and threw them at Yuta.
Morishita Kohei was very aware of his weakness in close combat, so at the very first moment of the match, he had to create distance from his opponent.
"Clang! Clang!"
Four shuriken collided in mid-air. Before Morishita Kohei could react, a figure had already appeared in front of him. "Shadow Dance Leaf!"
Yuta ducked and delivered a powerful, heavy low-kick that accurately connected with Morishita Kohei's chin.
"Thump"
Morishita Kohei fell heavily to the ground, unconscious. Normally, even if Shadow Dance Leaf wasn't used as a setup for other Taijutsu, it itself had a two-stage attack. However, there was no need for that against a classmate.
"Uzumaki Yuta wins! And…" Looking at the completely unconscious Morishita Kohei, Iruka pondered for a moment: "Yuta, next time, go a little easier on your classmates."
"Yes." Yuta offered an apologetic smile and returned to Shikamaru's side.
"Next group, Uzumaki Naruto, Uchiha Sasuke."
"It's your brother's turn, aren't you going to watch?" Shikamaru asked Yuta, who had returned to the tree.
"There's nothing to see. How could he possibly win?" Yuta waved his hand, saying indifferently.
Although Naruto often trained with Yuta, the Yang Kurama within Naruto's body would not cooperate like the Yin Kurama within Yuta's. At this time, Naruto's Taijutsu was not terrible, but definitely not strong. He didn't know any offensive Ninjutsu, and his Genjutsu experience was zero. For Naruto to defeat Sasuke at this point was nothing short of a pipe dream.