Even though Kiba Inuzuka lost to Naruto Uzumaki in the first round, his score was over 80—so he still advanced to round two.
At first, Kiba had been pumped to hear he made it. There was still a chance to improve his ranking, after all.
But now that he saw his opponent was Sasuke Uchiha?
Yeah. He kinda wished he'd just flunked out.
"You've got this, Kiba! Be smart like Shikamaru!"
Naruto cheered loudly from the sidelines.
Sasuke glanced at him instinctively.
After hearing that, he let out a quiet scoff. There's no way an Uchiha makes the same mistake twice.
"Miracles aren't something you can just whip up,"
Ino said, shaking her head. "Trust me—Sasuke's gonna come out swinging from the start."
"My bad, man. I set you up for this," Shikamaru said, patting Kiba's shoulder, looking a little guilty.
"Just remember to treat me to Ichiraku later."
Kiba grinned bitterly and walked into the ring like a soldier heading to war.
He tried his old move—activating his Four Legs Technique right at the start to boost speed and gain the edge.
But Sasuke didn't give him even a second.
Fire Style: Phoenix Sage Fire Jutsu!
Without budging an inch, Sasuke formed his hand seals, tilted back slightly—and unleashed a barrage of small fireballs.
Under his control, they scattered in all directions like flaming cherry blossoms, boxing Kiba in from every angle.
Kiba was fast, but not fast enough. One of the fireballs clipped him.
The flames caught on his jacket.
Panicked, he instantly dropped his transformation, tore off the coat, and stomped it out frantically.
Sasuke didn't move the entire time—just stood there, watching calmly.
"I… I give up."
Kiba muttered, still shaken.
If Sasuke had fired off another jutsu while he was trying to put the fire out, he'd be dead meat.
"Winner: Sasuke Uchiha."
Kitazawa announced.
"Sasuke-kun!!"
Sakura shrieked.
That was a clean, flashy win. Powerful and stylish—very Sasuke.
"Man, Sasuke's straight-up scary now," Shikamaru said, pulling his collar up a bit. "Glad I didn't end up facing him again."
"The stronger he is, the more I want to fight him!"
Naruto yelled, eyes blazing. "I need a true, hot-blooded clash with him!"
"You're insane," Kiba muttered as he walked past.
What is up with our class? Are we really just first-years? Anyone watching would think this was the Chūnin Exams.
"Contestant number three, please come forward."
Kitazawa cut off their conversation.
"I'm number three," Shikamaru glanced around. "Anyone else got three?"
"I… I do."
A soft, gentle voice spoke up.
"Ugh. Great. It's Hinata."
Shikamaru instantly felt a headache coming on.
She might look timid, but she had the Byakugan.
The only reason Shikamaru had gained the upper hand against Sasuke earlier was the element of surprise with his Shadow Imitation Jutsu—using kunai and wire shadows to catch Sasuke off-guard.
But chakra-based jutsu don't work against Byakugan. It sees everything.
The moment his shadow so much as twitched, she'd see it coming.
This fight? Hopeless.
"Well, guess I'm not the only unlucky one today,"
Kiba said with a grin.
"Go all-out, Hinata! Don't hold back!"
Ino shouted like the true chaotic friend she was.
Hinata hesitated, flustered for a second, then ran onto the field.
She took a deep breath and glanced at Kitazawa.
"You've got this."
He smiled reassuringly.
Hinata nodded firmly.
"Let's just take it easy, alright?"
Shikamaru said with a half-hearted smile as he stepped up.
Byakugan, activated!
Hinata's face went serious. She took a Gentle Fist stance—this was no warm-up round.
Shikamaru had almost beaten Sasuke, and she wasn't going to let all that training from Kitazawa go to waste.
Shikamaru twitched.
She looked ready to break his ribs.
Normally, he'd tap out instantly.
But now… For summer break, I guess…
He threw two kunai to start, retreating and weaving hand signs at the same time.
Hinata didn't dodge.
She charged straight at him.
Just as the kunai were about to hit her, she slapped them out of the air with pinpoint palm strikes.
She closed the gap fast. Her hand lifted again.
Shadow Imitation!
At the very last second, Shikamaru's jutsu connected—
But Hinata tapped two fingers to his wrist.
His chakra flow seized up. The jutsu recoiled like a shocked snake.
Hinata didn't wait. She stepped in and struck with a full palm.
With no chakra to defend, Shikamaru went flying.
Hinata froze where she stood.
That's it?
She hadn't expected Shikamaru to go down so fast—or that she'd gotten this strong.
She had no idea that Kitazawa had maxed out her Gentle Fist proficiency behind the scenes, and she'd been trained by her jōnin dad, Hiashi Hyuga.
Compared to Shikamaru, her growth had skyrocketed.
"You're incredible, Hinata," Shikamaru said, brushing off the dirt as he stood up.
"You're way stronger than last time," Ino said, eyes wide with envy. "So that's the power of the Byakugan, huh…"
Even among ninja clans, the Hyuga's bloodline techniques were just on a different level from traditional secret arts.
"Everyone's really leveling up, huh?"
Choji scratched his head. "Is Kitazawa-sensei's training really that effective?"
"It's amazing!"
Ino gushed. "He knows so much—even stuff about clan techniques!"
"Yeah," Shikamaru added, "but it's a grind."
Shadow carving. Endless combat drills. It was suffering.
Hinata nodded… then shook her head.
She agreed with the first part—but not the second.
"I don't think it's that hard," Naruto said, rubbing his head. "If you've got time, you should try Guy-sensei's training."
"Guy-sensei? What's his training like?"
Choji asked curiously.
"Super simple," Naruto said. "Wake up at five, run thirty laps around the village, then it's pull-ups, frog jumps, handstand sprints—"
"HUH??"
Choji started sweating bullets.
"Is that even humanly possible??"
Ino was stunned.
Training from 5 a.m. until 9 p.m.? She wouldn't last till lunch.
"You seriously earned your progress," Sakura finally admitted, looking at Naruto differently.
She used to think he was just loud and reckless, nowhere near as cool or composed as Sasuke.
But after hearing that training routine, she could only respect him.
Sasuke, meanwhile, felt phantom pain just hearing it.
He'd been training with Guy and Naruto too, but he could only manage a third—maybe half—of what Naruto did.
That's exactly why he saw Naruto as his biggest rival.
Still, he hadn't expected Shikamaru to nearly trip him up.
"Number four, step up!"
Kitazawa called out after scoring the last match.
"My turn!"
Sakura said brightly, glancing at Sasuke with stars in her eyes.
Too bad he wasn't looking.
Sasuke was thinking hard about how to beat Hinata if they ended up matched.
He'd already lost to Neji. If he lost to Hinata too? Utter humiliation.
"Good luck, Sakura!"
Ino, Shikamaru, and the others cheered.
"Wait—who am I fighting again?"
Sakura looked around, confused by all the encouragement.
"Me," Shino Aburame adjusted his glasses.
"…Oh no."
Sakura's face paled.
Just thinking about those creepy black bugs made her skin crawl.
"I forfeit!"
She declared on the spot.
Bugs aside, she knew she wasn't beating Shino.
And yeah, she had trained under Kitazawa—but she'd focused on medical ninjutsu, not combat.
"Winner: Shino Aburame."
Kitazawa said, unsurprised.
Most shinobi were lenient with medical nin, and the rule to protect medics during battle was even official.
"Contestant number five, come on up."
"Looks like I got the best draw!"
Ino smiled confidently.
All the heavy hitters—Sasuke, Shikamaru, etc.—had already gone. Even Sakura, the only civilian prodigy, had her match.
Her opponent? Just an average girl with average grades.
After a quick bow, Ino made hand signs—two clones appeared.
Three Inos rushed forward.
The poor girl panicked, got punched, and gave up.
"Alright! Twenty-minute break," Kitazawa announced. "Then we begin the final round. Only students who scored 90 or higher in the first two rounds can participate."
Iruka read the list:
"Sasuke Uchiha, Naruto Uzumaki, Shino Aburame, Ino Yamanaka, Hinata Hyuga, and Shikamaru Nara."
"Finally, it's almost over," Shikamaru sighed.
"But you're still in. One more fight to go," Choji nudged him.
Choji had done alright, but without a clan technique, he didn't make the cut.
Sakura was in the same boat—she was a medic.
Kiba had a technique, but no ninja dog to pair with, and he lost both his matches.
"I don't have a choice," Shikamaru said. "I've got a reason I can't skip this."
"Sasuke!"
Naruto shouted, fired up again. "In the name of youth, I'm taking first place!"
"You're not even close," Sasuke muttered, clenching his fist.
For the pride of the Uchiha, he had to win.
Hinata glanced at Kitazawa and made a quiet vow: I won't let Sensei's training go to waste.
~~~
I'm going to gift 50 Paid Memberships on my Patreon tomorrow! Make sure to join the Free Membership so you'll get notified!
Patreon(.)com/Bleam
— Currently You can Read 100 Chapters Ahead of Others!