At ten o'clock in the morning, students from both classes gathered on the playground of the Ninja Academy. Although it was called a friendly match, none of the kids cared about the phrase 'friendship first, competition second.' Everyone was eager to defeat the other side.
For a moment, the air was thick with tension, almost combative.
Except for Hinata. She spotted a familiar figure among the crowd from Class 2-A and instantly grew nervous.
Neji noticed her. He frowned slightly, his gaze filled with disappointment. 'I thought Hinata would've changed after placing first in her grade… but she's still the same timid girl.'
He had no interest in fighting her. Like Sasuke, Neji believed the strong should battle the strong.
The Hyuga and Uchiha clans—two of Konoha's most powerful families—had always been locked in both overt and covert rivalry. And more often than not, the Uchiha emerged superior, leading many to recognize them as the number one clan tacitly.
While Neji himself didn't care much about the title, the rest of the Hyuga clan certainly did.
Losing to Uchiha Sasuke would no doubt draw heavy criticism.
But Neji wasn't worried; he didn't think he would lose.
"Hinata," Kitazawa walked over, gently patted her head, and said, "If you're nervous, use the method I taught you."
Hinata blinked, then silently repeated rice ball, rice ball in her mind. Her anxiety faded, and she felt noticeably calmer.
At that moment, the noisy crowd suddenly quieted.
Four figures approached from not far away. Leading them was none other than the Third Hokage, Hiruzen Sarutobi.
Behind him were two ANBU, flanking a young shinobi in a Jonin vest, with spiky pineapple hair and visible scars on his forehead.
"Oh no… why did my dad come to watch?" Shikamaru, who had been lazing around, instantly sobered up.
"You're done for now. If you mess up, there's no way you'll pass your dad's test.'" Ino giggled.
"I'm more afraid of my mom…" Shikamaru sighed.
In the Nara household, his mother, Yoshino, ruled everything. She was strict about everything he and his dad said or did—a seriously troublesome woman. That's exactly why Shikamaru's lifelong dream was to marry a plain, quiet woman.
"Hang in there, Shikamaru." Akimichi Choji patted his shoulder with sympathy.
"My throat hurts already..." Shikamaru groaned, his headache growing worse.
"The Hokage really came…" Mizuki clenched his fists subconsciously, a fire burning in his chest.
He quickly composed himself, forced a smile onto his face, and walked up with Kitazawa and the others.
"Hok—" Mizuki tried to speak first, intending to act as the representative of the two classes.
But he froze mid-word, suddenly feeling like a complete clown.
"Kitazawa," Sarutobi Hiruzen smiled. "I brought an extra referee with me. You don't mind, do you?"
"Of course not," Kitazawa replied with full composure and respect. "It's an honor to have both Hokage-sama and Shikaku-sama present."
The young shinobi beside Hiruzen was none other than Shikaku Nara—Shikamaru's father and the man reputed to have the highest IQ in the village.
Actually, quite a few people had come to watch.
Aside from Kurenai, nine other Academy instructors had also shown up. They didn't have class today and figured they'd come to see the fun.
But none of them expected the Third Hokage himself to arrive. After overhearing that brief exchange, they all silently noted—Kitazawa is not someone to be messed with.
Mizuki watched Kitazawa laughing and chatting with the Hokage and nearly exploded inside.
Damn it!
That should be ME!
"It's about time. You may begin," Hiruzen said after a few words of small talk. "I'm looking forward to seeing what you've all got."
"Hokage-sama, we won't let you down!" Mizuki promised loudly.
Though dissatisfied with Hiruzen's clear favoritism toward Kitazawa, he knew better than to cross the top authority, especially in a world where strength ruled all.
"Shikaku, who do you think will win?" Sarutobi Hiruzen walked to the edge of the field and asked with interest.
"Hard to say," Shikaku replied with a shake of his head.
"I thought you'd say Class 2-A for sure." Hiruzen looked mildly surprised.
"I've heard Shikamaru talk about the special training of Class 1-A," Shikaku explained. "They might just surprise us."
"Then let's wait and see," Hiruzen chuckled.
He had also seen glimpses of Class 1-A's training while observing Naruto, though he didn't know the full picture. By normal Academy standards, what Kitazawa taught was way beyond regulation.
But Hiruzen appreciated ninjas like him—driven, talented, and from a good background.
"The first round is a chakra technique demonstration," Kitazawa announced. "In simple terms, it's about power. The stronger the jutsu, the higher the score."
"Each class will send students in turn. Class 2-A goes first."
"Kojima Hide," Mizuki called calmly, throwing a look at Kitazawa.
Kojima Hide stepped forward and formed hand signs.
Water Style: Water Wave! He opened his mouth and spat out a small water sphere, roughly the size of a fist.
Kitazawa raised an eyebrow.
Mizuki came prepared. Though Kojima's control was basic, it was still Water Style—a proper elemental jutsu.
But Kitazawa remained calm. Ignoring Mizuki's smug look, he called out: "Chiho."
A petite girl stepped forward and executed the Clone Jutsu, though with some difficulty. Compared to Kojima's display, it was average at best.
Mizuki snorted and continued reading names, clearly aiming to dominate early.
Sarutobi Hiruzen frowned slightly. To him, most of these jutsu were still too juvenile to evaluate properly.
"Hyuga Neji!" Mizuki called out louder than before.
Neji stepped up, took a stance, and performed a refined set of Gentle Fist moves.
"A true genius of the Hyuga clan," Hiruzen's eyes lit up with admiration. He could faintly see the outline of the Eight Trigrams Sixty-Four Palms forming.
That was surprising, considering this technique was typically exclusive to the Hyuga main family line.
"Uzumaki Naruto." Kitazawa smiled. Seeing Neji's display, he knew Class 1-A still had this match in the bag.
Though the Gentle Fist looked elegant and formidable, it lacked the kind of visual impact that could truly impress an audience.
It looked good, but it wasn't flashy enough.
"It's finally my turn!" Naruto shouted excitedly, somersaulting onto the field.
Kitazawa and Sarutobi Hiruzen both twitched their mouths at the same time. Uzumaki Naruto was wearing those hideous green tights.
"Truly… fascinating," Nara Shikaku commented with his usual intellectual tone. He simply couldn't associate the Naruto standing before him with the refined, composed image of Namikaze Minato.
Sarutobi Hiruzen had no idea how to respond either. All he could do was silently pray that Naruto wouldn't use that jutsu—the Sexy Jutsu.
If he did, Hiruzen swore he'd personally deal with both Kitazawa and Hatake Kakashi for corrupting the child.
Thankfully, his prayers were answered. Both Uzumaki Naruto and Hyuga Neji demonstrated only taijutsu. Hiruzen let out a long sigh of relief. He had never felt so on edge in his life.
After all, many ninjas in the village knew he was Naruto's guardian. If Naruto had used the Sexy Jutsu, people would have assumed he taught it to him. That would've been a complete disaster for his image as the Hokage.
"Tenten," Mizuki called out loudly.
Kitazawa understood why. The top-ranked student in Class 2-A was Hyuga Neji, and second place was Tenten.
Kitazawa had two lasting impressions of her: First, she was a wealthy young lady. Second, she had the luck of a lottery god.
Her luck was so absurd that she could casually stumble across the Six Paths Ninja Tools while out walking.
As for the 'rich girl' label, that came from her fighting style. She used summoning scrolls to unleash a barrage of ninja tools during combat.
And in the original story, when Naruto got married, Tenten gifted him a diamond kunai.
Tenten now stood at the center of the field and unfurled a scroll. In the next moment, she used a ninja tool barrage technique.
Weapons flew through the air in a stunning display, drawing gasps from the entire crowd. In terms of visual impact, it easily outshone Hyuga Neji's demonstration.
"Nara Shikamaru," Kitazawa called after Tenten stepped down.
"What a drag..." Shikamaru sighed and lazily walked to the center.
He glanced at his father, Nara Shikaku, then performed a Clone Technique—this one more refined than usual.
"If that kid put in any effort, he'd have mastered the Shadow Imitation Technique by now."
Shikaku sighed with helpless affection.
"Kids being playful is normal." Sarutobi Hiruzen replied, thinking of his own son, Asuma. That boy had been even more rebellious—he'd run off to the Land of Fire to become a Guardian Ninja.
As time passed, most students from both classes had taken their turns.
Hinata and Rock Lee demonstrated taijutsu. Haruno Sakura, Yamanaka Ino, and Akimichi Choji all used the Clone Technique.
"I get the feeling that the chakra control competition will go to Class 1-A." Sarutobi Hiruzen observed thoughtfully.
As a ninjutsu professor himself, his eyes were exceptionally keen. Even from basic Clone Techniques, he could judge a student's chakra control.
Both Sakura and Ino had excellent chakra control. Given their age, they were prodigies, geniuses among geniuses.
And it wasn't just them. In general, the chakra control level of Class 1-A was unusually high.
"But for chakra form control," Shikaku said, "I'd think Class 2-A will win that round."
At present, the students of Class 1-A still lag behind in actual ninjutsu execution. Some hadn't even mastered the Clone Technique yet.
"I wouldn't be so sure," Sarutobi Hiruzen smiled. "Look—the top student of Class 1-A has stepped forward. Uchiha Sasuke."
"That's the younger brother of the ANBU prodigy, Uchiha Itachi, right?" Nara Shikaku's interest was piqued.
"Yes," Sarutobi Hiruzen confirmed. "Fugaku raised two exceptional sons."
Sasuke stepped into the center of the playground, his face calm and composed. Without haste, he formed a string of hand seals, mobilizing all the chakra in his body.
Fire Style: Great Fireball Technique!
In an instant, a massive inferno surged into the sky—a blazing fireball nearly eight meters tall. The crowd was stunned into silence.
Sasuke's lips curled slightly. Looking at everyone's shocked expressions, he felt as if he had just reached the peak of his life.