Although Kiba had lost to Naruto in the first round, his score was still above eighty, earning him a spot in the second round.
He had been thrilled when he first heard he'd advanced—there was still a chance to climb the rankings.
But the moment he saw Sasuke standing across from him, Kiba's enthusiasm died a quick, quiet death.
"...Maybe the second round isn't worth it," he muttered under his breath.
"Kiba! You can do it! Learn from Shikamaru!" Naruto bellowed from the sidelines, pumping his fist in support.
Sasuke's head tilted just enough to glance at him, an icy flicker in his eyes. A soft, dismissive hn slipped past his lips.
'Like a true Uchiha would ever trip over the same rock twice.'
"Miracles aren't that easy to repeat," Ino said, shaking her head. "If I know Sasuke, he's going all-out from the start."
"This is all my fault…" Shikamaru gave Kiba's shoulder a pat of sympathy.
Kiba groaned. "Remember this when you're treating me to Ichiraku later."
Resigned to his fate, Kiba stepped into the arena.
As usual, he opened with his trump card—Four Legs Technique—dropping to all fours and letting chakra surge through his body. His speed spiked, a blur of motion closing in on Sasuke.
Sasuke didn't even move.
"Fire Release: Phoenix Sage Fire Jutsu!"
He leaned forward slightly, forming hand seals in fluid succession, and exhaled a storm of small fireballs.
Under his precise control, the blazing motes scattered in every direction, a lethal rain of fire closing in from all sides.
'Too many! I can't dodge all of them!'
A single ember caught Kiba's sleeve, and flames licked upward in an instant.
"Gah!" He yelped, abandoning his technique, tearing off his jacket, and stomping it into the dirt in a frantic dance to put out the fire.
Sasuke hadn't even taken a step. He watched the whole display with a calm, predatory stillness.
"I… I surrender!" Kiba blurted, heart still pounding.
He didn't need Kitazawa to explain the obvious: if Sasuke had followed up with another Fire Release while he was panicking, he'd be in the hospital—or worse.
"Winner, Sasuke," Kitazawa announced.
"Sasuke-kun!" Sakura's shriek rang across the training ground.
Sasuke had won cleanly, decisively, and yes—he looked annoyingly cool doing it.
"Man… Sasuke's scary now," Shikamaru muttered, shrinking his neck into his collar. "Good thing I didn't run into him again."
"The stronger he gets, the more fun it'll be to fight him!" Naruto said, his blood practically humming. "I can't wait for a youthful rematch!"
Kiba trudged back to the line, scowling. "You guys aren't human. Why are there so many monsters in our class? Aren't we supposed to be first-years? This is starting to feel like the Chunin Exams…"
"Number three, step forward!" Kitazawa called, cutting through the chatter.
Shikamaru raised a hand lazily. "Yeah, yeah… that's me. Who's my opponent?"
"...I-I am."
The voice was soft, hesitant.
Shikamaru turned, and his soul left his body. "Oh, perfect. It's Hinata."
Hyuga Hinata might look like a delicate breeze could knock her over, but the moment she activated her Byakugan, she became a wall he couldn't climb.
Shikamaru grimaced. His previous miracle against Sasuke had worked only because he'd hidden his Shadow Imitation with shuriken and wires. Against Hinata?
Byakugan saw everything.
The moment he moved his shadow, she'd spot it.
"This is unwinnable…" he muttered.
From the sidelines, Kiba folded his arms smugly. "Looks like I'm not the only unlucky one now."
"Hinataaa! Don't hold back, blast him into next week!" Ino cheered with suspicious enthusiasm.
Hinata froze, cheeks pink, but eventually trotted nervously into the arena.
She paused, glanced at Kitazawa for reassurance.
"Go on," Kitazawa said, smiling faintly.
Hinata nodded, taking a deep breath.
"Let's, uh… keep it light, okay?" Shikamaru said as he joined her in the arena, his voice flat with impending doom.
"Byakugan!"
Hinata's pale eyes sharpened as she settled into her Gentle Fist stance. The timid girl was gone; in her place stood a focused Hyuga heir ready to strike.
Shikamaru's mouth twitched.
Great. She looks like she's about to murder me. All this… just for summer vacation points.
Shikamaru's expression hardened as the match began. Without hesitation, he flicked two kunai toward Hinata and retreated, hands flashing through seals.
Shadow Imitation—
Hinata didn't dodge.
Instead, she sprinted straight at him.
The kunai were inches from her when she swung her arms in a smooth arc. Two sharp palms struck—clang!—and the kunai spun harmlessly into the dirt.
She was already on top of him.
"Shadow Imitation Jutsu!"
Shikamaru's jutsu flared to life—only for Hinata's two fingers to jab his wrist with surgical precision. Chakra flow sealed instantly.
His shadow recoiled like a struck snake, snapping back into him.
Before he could recover, her hand spread wide—Gentle Fist palm strike!
The blow landed clean. Shikamaru's feet left the ground, and he tumbled back, landing in a puff of dust.
Hinata froze, blinking at her own hands.
'...That's it?'
She hadn't expected Shikamaru to go down so quickly—or her own strike to hit with that much force.
Of course, she didn't realize her improvement was the product of Kitazawa's maxed-out Gentle Fist training combined with her father Hiashi's guidance. Her growth had already surpassed Shikamaru's shadow exercises.
"Hinata… you're seriously amazing," Shikamaru muttered as he sat up, brushing dirt from his clothes.
"Hinata feels way stronger than during our last friendly match," Ino said, eyes wide with envy. "Is this the true power of the Hyuga Byakugan?"
The gap between secret-technique clans and bloodline-limit clans was on full display.
"Everyone's leveling up…" Choji scratched his head. "Is Kitazawa-sensei's training really that effective?"
"Super effective!" Ino answered immediately, sparkling like a fangirl. "He even gives tips on clan techniques!"
Shikamaru sighed. "Yeah, it works… but it's brutal. Shadow carving, live combat drills—it's all torture."
Hinata nodded… then shook her head. She agreed with the first part, not the second.
"I don't think it's hard at all," she said softly.
"You think that isn't hard?" Naruto scratched his head. "You guys should try Might Gai's training sometime."
Choji blinked. "What kind of training…?"
"Super simple!" Naruto grinned. "Wake up at five, run thirty laps around Konoha, then pull-ups, frog jumps, handstand runs—"
"...???"
Choji broke out in a cold sweat.
"Are you sure this is for humans?" Ino gawked. "I wouldn't last till lunch!"
Sakura's opinion of Naruto shifted on the spot. She'd always thought he was noisy and immature compared to cool, calm Sasuke—but this? This was insane dedication.
Even Sasuke's hand twitched. 'Tch… he really completes that training every day?'
He trained alongside Naruto under Gai as well—but he rarely managed more than half the workload. That unyielding stamina was exactly why Naruto had become his true rival.
And yet, he had nearly been outsmarted by Shikamaru.
"Number four, step forward!" Kitazawa called, snapping everyone back to the present.
"Finally, my turn!" Sakura bounded to her feet and instinctively glanced toward Sasuke, her face alight with anticipation.
No reaction. He was lost in thought, calculating how to handle Hinata if they met—losing to Neji had been bad enough. Losing to Hinata would be humiliating.
"Go get 'em, Sakura!" Ino, Shikamaru, and the others cheered.
"Uh… who's my opponent?" Sakura asked, scanning the class.
"...Me."
Shino adjusted his glasses, his voice as calm as ever.
"...Oh no."
The image of swarming Kikaichū instantly made her skin crawl.
"I surrender!" she blurted without hesitation.
Kitazawa didn't bat an eye.
"Winner, Shino."
"Number five, step forward," Kitazawa called next.
"Ha! Luck's on my side!" Ino grinned, practically skipping into the arena. Most of the heavy hitters had already fought—the only opponent left was a regular girl with average scores.
Ino greeted her politely, formed hand seals, and created two clones. Three Inos rushed forward.
The poor girl hesitated for a second, flustered, and was quickly tagged by a punch.
"I surrender!"
Another clean win.
"Take a twenty-minute break!" Kitazawa announced. "Then we start the third and final round. Only students with a total of ninety points or above from the first two rounds will advance."
Iruka stepped forward, reading the list:
"Sasuke, Uzumaki Naruto, Shino, Ino, Hinata, Shikamaru."
Shikamaru slumped onto the ground. "Finally… over."
"Over? You still have one more match," Choji reminded him with a nudge.
He hadn't made the cut—without a clan technique, his scores just weren't enough. Sakura and Kiba had also failed to advance; Sakura was a medical trainee, and Kiba lacked a ninken partner to use his clan jutsu properly.
"Troublesome… but I've got my reasons," Shikamaru said, resigned.
"Sasuke!" Naruto pumped his fist. "This is it—the power of youth will claim first place!"
"Hn," Sasuke said coldly.
For the pride of the Uchiha… first place is mine.
Hinata glanced quietly at Kitazawa.
'I can't waste the training Sensei gave me.'
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