CHAPTER 3: THE END
Sasuke weaved through hand signs at tremendous speeds, pouring all of his chakra into one last-ditch effort to win."Fire Style: Fireball Jutsu!" Sasuke shouted. A large fireball spewed from his mouth, headed straight for Benimaru.
Benimaru saw the fireball approaching at rapid speed but didn't panic. He mirrored Sasuke's exact hand seal movements down to the tiniest detail and perfectly mimicked his chakra flow and movement before casting his jutsu."Fire Style: Fireball Jutsu!" Benimaru shouted in response. He had perfectly copied Sasuke's jutsu and sent it back at him with full force, making the Uchiha's eyes widen.
Both fireballs met in the middle and collided, but Benimaru's fireball overpowered Sasuke's, leaving the Uchiha defenseless as the large blaze came speeding toward him.
Completely out of chakra, Sasuke had no way to protect himself from the incoming ball of fire. With only seconds before being hit, Sasuke braced himself for impact.Looks like I lose. Benimaru… you were stronger than me. I'll admit that much.
But right before his body was even grazed by the fireball, he was saved. Iruka had jumped in at the last second, seeing that Sasuke had no means to defend himself, and rushed in to protect him."You don't think I'd actually let one of my students get seriously injured now, would I?" Iruka asked with a warm smile as he carried Sasuke, who had now fallen unconscious from his injuries and chakra exhaustion.
"Ryota Benimaru is the winner!" Iruka announced boldly."Yeah, I won," Benimaru muttered.
Thump.Benimaru had blackened out, finally succumbing to the effects of the numberous blows he had taken throughout the fight, and seeing this, Iruka carried both boys to the infirmary, thoroughly impressed with their performances.These kids… really something else. I don't doubt they'll have a very bright future one day.
"Wow, he actually beat Sasuke…" some kids muttered to each other."Yeah, but since they both blacked out, doesn't that make it a draw?" another boy asked."Nah, Benimaru only blacked out 'cause he was too proud to dodge," one of them said."What an idiot," he tried to ridicule him, but was instantly shut down by the rest."It was cool how he didn't dodge," one kid said."Yeah, he looked so manly doing it," another added, leaving the first boy silent.
"At the end of the day, it doesn't matter how strong they are," Naruto shouted."I'll surpass them all and become Hokage one day!" he declared with a cheeky grin.
"Still going on about that, are you?" one of them shook his head in disbelief."A loser like you could never be Hokage. Not in a million years," he egged him on, and Naruto's smile faded a bit."You'll see… you'll all see!" Naruto shouted back.
Iruka stopped the arguments and signaled for the matches to continue as normal."Next match," Iruka began. "Kiba Inuzuka vs. Naruto Uzumaki. Both fighters, come forward."
Naruto and Kiba stepped forward, both boasting that they were going to win."I'll make this quick so you don't have to suffer too much," Kiba said to Naruto, a cocky tone evident in his voice."That's my line," Naruto responded, equally as confident.
"You may now... BEGIN!"
Both fighters jumped back, waiting for the other to make the first move—until Naruto ran at Kiba with a sloppy punch aimed at his abdomen. Kiba blocked it, but then Naruto smirked and sent a second punch at his face.
Kiba caught his fist before pulling him forward and kneeing him in the stomach, making Naruto stumble back a bit and cough up some spit from the impact."Don't tell me that's all you've got?" Kiba mocked."I'm just getting started," Naruto responded.
Naruto rushed at Kiba once more as they began throwing blows. Hit after hit, punch after punch, kick after kick—neither side was willing to give up.
The fight became a battle of endurance and physical strength, in which Naruto surpassed Kiba in both and eventually outlasted him, leading to him winning the match."I did it! I told you all I'd win!" Naruto declared, panting heavily, his breath ragged and uneven but still with that stupid cheeky grin on his face.
"Naruto Uzumaki is the winner," Iruka said with a smile, but his eyes held something more... hatred.Why did that Nine-Tailed brat have to win? He should've lost. He should've even died. Things would've been better without him.
Although his smile contradicted what he was inwardly thinking, Iruka kept silent, maintaining self-control and not making any rash decisions.
"The next match will be..."Iruka continued calling out the fights until there was no one left.
After sparring, they did shuriken jutsu training, in which both Sasuke and Benimaru scored 10/10. All the other clan kids did well, while the civilian kids all failed.
Then they did an endurance test—a 100m run to test their stamina. Benimaru beat everyone except Naruto, who ended up getting first, while Benimaru got second and Sasuke third. A certain pineapple-haired kid, however, simply slept midway through the race.
Overall, it was a pretty good day for our protagonist.
To be continued...Find out next time on Dragon Ball Z... I mean COPYCAT!