"Number Two, you're up!"
Kitazawa called out after giving Naruto a score of 95.
Shino Aburame, calm as ever in his white cloak and dark shades, walked up to the field.
His opponent was a boy with decent grades on paper, but against Shino? There was no chance.
Just as the boy began forming hand seals, a swarm of kikaichū beetles burst out from Shino's hair.
He instantly panicked, broke his jutsu, and ran for it.
From the very first second, he was completely overwhelmed.
After dodging desperately for a few seconds, the bugs caught up with him.
"I… I give up!"
The boy's voice trembled as he stared at the beetles crawling over his body, terrified they'd burrow into his skin at any moment.
"Ninja clan kids really do have a huge advantage," Iruka commented.
"Not all of them can win this easily," Kitazawa said, shaking his head.
Even the Uchiha clan has its weak points—but the Aburame? They're solid all around. As long as you raise your insects properly, reaching Chūnin is practically guaranteed. And if your bugs mutate or you come across a rare species, your strength could skyrocket.
Just look at Torune and his nano-poison bugs.
Too bad Danzo took notice and pulled him into Root.
Honestly, a lot of clans deal with this—raise a genius just for Danzo to swoop in and turn them into weapons. But no one dares speak up.
"Number Five, you're up!"
Kitazawa called to the rest of Class 1-A.
Sasuke Uchiha walked up, calm and expressionless.
"Good luck, Sasuke-kun!" Sakura called out, raising her tiny fist in support.
"Who's the other number five?" Ino looked around, but no one moved.
"Poor guy," Choji said sympathetically.
"That poor guy… is me," Shikamaru muttered, dead inside.
"Guess I'm not the unluckiest one after all," Kiba laughed, throwing an arm around his shoulder. "Just forfeit—you'll take less damage."
Honestly, not a bad idea.
If it were the old Shikamaru, he probably would've bailed without hesitation. But forfeiting meant no score—and without a combat score, even a perfect written test wouldn't get him into the top ten.
"You got this, Shikamaru!" Ino encouraged. "Even if you lose, it's okay!"
"C'mon, Shikamaru! Youth doesn't back down!" Naruto gave him a thumbs-up.
They'd sparred together plenty of times. At this point, they were more than familiar with each other.
"Let's just get this over with."
Shikamaru scratched his head and stood across from Sasuke.
"Begin!"
The moment they performed the Seal of Confrontation, Kitazawa gave the signal.
Shikamaru glanced down—thanks to the lighting, their shadows were clearly visible on the ground.
As soon as Kitazawa finished, Sasuke hurled six shuriken without hesitation. In his mind, Shikamaru didn't even warrant a Fire Style jutsu. He needed to save chakra for Naruto and Hinata.
The six shuriken were fast and wide-spread, covering all of Shikamaru's vitals.
But weirdly enough, Shikamaru actually looked relieved.
He quickly pulled out a kunai.
Clang, clang, clang!
He managed to deflect three of the shuriken. The angles of deflection caused them to land in the ground in a particular spread.
He rolled to the side just in time to narrowly dodge the remaining three.
Sasuke frowned.
Shikamaru was faster than he expected.
What kind of special training did Kitazawa-sensei give them?
Whatever. It wouldn't change the outcome.
Sasuke smirked slightly and raised his hands.
The rubber threads wrapped around his fingers snapped tight—he was controlling the shuriken like puppets.
"Huh?" Sasuke's brow twitched.
At that moment, Shikamaru stepped forward and stomped down on one of the grounded shuriken.
Shadow Imitation Jutsu!
He flashed through hand signs.
His shadow surged along the rubber string and the shuriken straight toward Sasuke.
Sasuke spotted the signs and quickly abandoned control of that shuriken.
The other five, however, sprang up and shot toward Shikamaru.
Right before they could hit him, Sasuke's expression froze in shock.
His arms yanked backward on their own—he had lost control of them.
The shuriken stopped midair, reversed course, and flew straight back toward Sasuke.
"What the heck?!" Naruto's eyes widened. "Why is Sasuke attacking himself?!"
"It's Shadow Imitation," Ino said, laughing. "Shikamaru's controlling him through his shadow."
"He actually learned it?" Choji was stunned.
He knew Shikamaru had been training with Kitazawa, but for someone that lazy to pull this off… he must've worked his butt off.
Or maybe… Kitazawa's just that scary. He actually changed Shikamaru's whole personality.
"Nara clan jutsu really is…" Shino started, but Naruto cut him off.
"That's so cool! Is Sasuke gonna lose?!"
"No way!" Sakura snapped. "Sasuke-kun won't lose!"
"Wait, this is the same Shikamaru?" Iruka was stunned.
He learned the Nara clan's secret jutsu at six years old?
Wasn't he just a lazy kid a few weeks ago?
Kitazawa narrowed his eyes, ready to step in.
Technically, once you're caught in Shadow Imitation, you're done.
But real life's messier—especially when Shikamaru was still a six-year-old who hadn't fully mastered the technique.
Sasuke, seeing the five shuriken right in front of him, began struggling hard.
He remembered Might Guy's teachings and poured chakra into his legs.
Shikamaru gritted his teeth, trying to maintain control.
Just half a second longer and he'd win.
"Aaaargh!"
Sasuke was furious.
There was no way he'd lose.
If he lost in the first round—how would he even face the Uchiha clan again?
And worse—it wouldn't be to Naruto or Hinata.
It'd be to… Shikamaru?
That thought made his blood boil, and his eyes flushed red.
Suddenly, his body felt lighter.
No time to think—he dashed out of the way, barely dodging the five shuriken.
"What?!"
Shikamaru's pupils shrank.
Sasuke broke free?!
Kitazawa straightened up instinctively.
That chill just now—was it eye power? Yin release?
Shadow Imitation was yin release too…
Maybe that's why it got broken.
Did Sasuke awaken his Sharingan?
Kitazawa scanned Sasuke's eyes—no tomoe yet, but…
It confirmed one thing: Sasuke was close to unlocking his Sharingan.
Good. That'd make Kitazawa's mission a lot easier.
Hiruzen's movements paused. His face showed a flicker of surprise.
He'd noticed too.
A quick thought and he understood: Sasuke had just gone through intense emotional shock.
But he was still a step away.
"There really are too many geniuses in the Uchiha clan…"
Hiruzen's thoughts drifted to Itachi.
Itachi awakened his Sharingan at eight.
If Sasuke did it at six…
Hiruzen went silent.
"I surrender."
Shikamaru raised his hand without hesitation.
One—Shadow Imitation drained too much chakra.
Two—Sasuke would now go all out.
Three—Sasuke wouldn't repeat the same mistake.
Four—he'd already shown enough to earn solid points.
Honestly? That whole reversal earlier? Luck played a big role.
"No!"
Sasuke, in the middle of hand signs, protested instinctively.
He almost lost—this was his comeback!
If Shikamaru surrendered now, where was he supposed to direct all this frustration?
"Sasuke."
Kitazawa cut in. "It's a sparring match. Surrender is allowed."
"…Fine."
Sasuke clenched his jaw and dropped the seals.
"Winner: Sasuke Uchiha."
Kitazawa announced.
Sasuke had won—but he looked anything but happy.
He walked off, clearly frustrated.
Meanwhile, Shikamaru—despite losing—got a chorus of gasps from the class.
No one thought he had that in him.
"Kitazawa-senpai, how are you scoring that?" Iruka asked after a beat.
"Both get 95," Kitazawa said casually. "It's only round one. Don't overthink it."
"Got it."
Iruka nodded and gave them both the same score.
"Number Six, you're up."
Hinata and a boy stepped into the arena.
Clone Technique!
The boy reacted fast and created two clones.
Hinata activated her Byakugan, located the real one, and ended the match in a single strike.
The Byakugan couldn't spot real Shadow Clones, but illusion clones? Totally visible.
"Winner: Hinata Hyūga."
Kitazawa nodded.
Hinata saw his nod and lit up with joy, skipping off the field.
"His Clone Technique wasn't bad," Iruka commented. "With a bit more polish, he'd meet the graduation standard. Too bad he faced Hinata."
He gave Hinata 90, the boy 80. Kitazawa scored similarly.
Then Sakura, Choji, and Ino took the field one after another.
They lucked out—not facing each other—and all won easily.
"That's the end of Round One. Take a 15-minute break," Kitazawa announced. "Everyone who scored 80 or above advances to Round Two."
"I'll read the names now," Iruka said, pulling the list after tallying scores with Kitazawa.
"Sasuke-kun… are you okay?"
Sakura hesitated before asking.
Since his fight with Shikamaru, Sasuke had stood there, cold and silent.
"I'm fine," Sasuke replied flatly.
Barely beating Shikamaru had hit him hard.
But it was his own fault—he underestimated him and paid for it.
If they fought again, he'd make him understand what real cruelty looked like.
Still, it was a good wake-up call—never look down on anyone.
He had to secure first place, no matter what.
"Biggest surprise of the first round? Gotta be Shikamaru," Iruka said, scanning the score sheet. "His growth is insane."
"It's all thanks to his hard work," Kitazawa nodded.
"I've tried to change his attitude before, but nothing worked. You're amazing, Kitazawa-senpai. It's like you turned him into a new person."
"Seems I was right recommending you to Shikaku as Shikamaru's tutor," Hiruzen said, walking up during the break.
"The Hokage recommended him?" Iruka said, stunned—and a little jealous.
That meant Kitazawa had earned real recognition.
Maybe even the only academy teacher Hiruzen actually remembered.
Kitazawa blinked, caught off guard.
He hadn't realized Shikaku came on the Hokage's word.
"Thank you for the trust, Hokage-sama," he said quickly.
"No need," Hiruzen smiled. "You've got the skill."
Fifteen minutes flew by.
Students gathered again to draw lots for Round Two.
"I got number one again!" Naruto grinned.
Two rounds in a row—clearly destiny.
"Guess it's my turn?" Choji chuckled. "Naruto, take it easy on me."
"No problem!" Naruto pounded his chest. "We'll keep it friendly."
Choji breathed a sigh of relief.
They traded blows using basic taijutsu.
Choji hadn't learned the Akimichi secret techniques yet, relying on standard Konoha-style.
Under Naruto's Leaf Whirlwinds and Leaf Great Whirlwinds, he surrendered pretty quickly.
"Winner: Naruto Uzumaki."
Kitazawa paused, then said, "Number Two, step forward."
Sasuke walked out, face cold as ice.
"I'm doomed…"
Kiba was practically crying.
"Can anyone possibly be unluckier than me?"
~~~
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