Sarutobi Asuma passed out because he'd burned through too much chakra.
"Samehada."
While Kitazawa was healing him, he said, "Give his chakra back."
Samehada opened its mouth at his command and spat Asuma's chakra back into him.
Asuma's pale face quickly returned to normal.
After coughing up his chakra, Samehada happily scampered over to Uzumaki Naruto and started rubbing against his leg.
Asuma slowly came to.
He stared blankly for a moment, then remembered what had happened right before he blacked out.
The corner of his mouth twitched. Honestly, it might've been better to stay unconscious.
"Asuma, anywhere else still hurt?"
Kitazawa finished treating his hands and asked.
"I'm good. Thanks."
Asuma pushed himself up and couldn't help complaining, "How are your students all stronger than the last?"
"They're just very talented."
Kitazawa answered with a smile.
Asuma opened his mouth, then closed it again.
So you're saying my talent isn't that great?
Thinking about it carefully, compared to Naruto and the others, he really did seem pretty average.
"Forget it, I'll get off the field first."
Asuma waved a hand.
Losing was embarrassing, sure, but in the end it just meant he wasn't as good. He adjusted his mindset pretty quickly.
"Kitazawa-senpai."
Iruka Umino walked up and asked, "We've finished all eighteen sparring matches. Do we start announcing the rankings now?"
"Hold on, there's still one more match."
Kitazawa shook his head. "Naruto said earlier he wanted to challenge Sasuke."
"That really is exactly what I expected."
Iruka couldn't help smiling.
After all, Uchiha Sasuke and Uzumaki Naruto had already sparred countless times. At this point they were life-long rivals who pushed each other forward.
In a way, it was a relationship people could only envy.
Plenty of people go their whole lives without finding a friend like that.
"I'm challenging him right now!"
Naruto had stayed on the field. As soon as he heard Kitazawa, he blurted it out, unable to wait.
"Naruto, rest for fifteen minutes first."
Kitazawa looked over at him. "You just fought Asuma. Your condition is definitely affected."
Naruto was about to say he was fine, but then thought about it—if it was Sasuke, he really did need to go all-out.
He nodded and walked back into the Advanced Class line.
"Naruto, I seriously don't know where you get all that chakra."
Inuzuka Kiba jabbed him enviously with an elbow. "If I had your chakra, I'd be first place every day."
"Having a ton of chakra doesn't automatically make you strong."
Shikamaru Nara shook his head. "Talent matters too."
"On top of that, you'd better have a big sword like Samehada."
Tenten chimed in.
Sasuke's mouth twitched when he heard "Samehada."
The reason Naruto could beat Asuma was partly because of Samehada.
And Sasuke himself had suffered from that blade in a previous spar.
Even now, with his three-tomoe Sharingan, he still had to watch out for that thing.
Fortunately, his perception was way sharper now. In theory, he could keep Samehada from touching him at all—then it wouldn't be able to drain his chakra.
"Can't you guys at least let me daydream a little?"
Kiba sighed dramatically.
"Chasing after the strong—that's the true meaning of youth!"
Rock Lee clenched his fist. "Once the practical exam is over, I'm going to run another hundred laps!"
"You're making me sound lazy."
Kiba covered his face.
Objectively, he was already very hard-working, but compared to Naruto and Lee, he was still way behind.
"Sasuke, fifteen minutes from now, let's have a youthful showdown!"
Naruto gave Sasuke a big thumbs-up.
"Get ready to face defeat."
Sasuke said calmly, "In front of these eyes, you won't win."
"As expected of Sasuke!"
Naruto shouted excitedly, "I can feel your fiery youth burning!"
"…"
Sasuke was speechless.
"You two should hurry up and recover."
Yamanaka Ino reminded them.
Sasuke and Naruto both shut up, sat down where they were, and started resting.
Neither of them wanted to lose.
Sasuke believed that now that he had awakened his three-tomoe Sharingan, he had to keep winning for the sake of the Uchiha.
Naruto's thoughts were a lot simpler: he gave every single spar his all. That was his way of living out "youth."
While they rested, the other students in the Advanced Class started whispering.
"Who are you guys rooting for?"
Kiba asked curiously.
"Sakura, you don't even need to answer. We all know who you're supporting."
Ino cut off Haruno Sakura before she could launch into a speech.
"…"
Sakura felt a stab of pain.
Then she thought about it again. If she didn't say anything, maybe that meant Sasuke would win.
"Naruto's youth has no limits!"
Rock Lee held up a thumbs-up.
"In terms of chakra, Naruto really does outclass Sasuke."
Shikamaru nodded. "But the advantage of the three-tomoe Sharingan is huge too."
"If every one of Naruto's moves is read by the three-tomoe Sharingan, it's going to be hard for him to win."
Aburame Shino adjusted his glasses.
"Naruto can use Multiple Shadow Clone Jutsu to make up for that weakness."
Hyuga Neji thought for a moment.
"And Samehada doesn't care about close combat."
Tenten added right after.
"Putting it all together, it feels like their odds are about the same."
Ino arched a brow.
"They're total monsters, that's what they are!"
Kiba couldn't help blurting out, "Having one freak in our year would be bad enough—why do we have two?"
Everyone fell silent. They wanted to know the answer to that too.
Since the academy was founded, there had been a lot of graduating classes.
But usually, each year only had one truly outstanding prodigy.
Like Hatake Kakashi, or Uchiha Itachi.
In their year, though, there wasn't just one stand-out—they had more than one.
"It's definitely because of Kitazawa-sensei!"
Hyuga Hinata, who hadn't said much up to now, spoke up.
On the other side, Kitazawa had gone back to his seat.
Before leaving the field, he'd explained things to the audience.
When they heard that Uzumaki Naruto and Uchiha Sasuke were going to spar, everyone settled in to wait patiently.
All the clan heads and elite jonin of the major families were there. They all knew exactly who Naruto and Sasuke were.
So they were very curious who would win.
After all the earlier matches, even Uchiha Fugaku didn't dare claim Sasuke would win for sure.
"Nineteenth match: Uchiha Sasuke versus Uzumaki Naruto!"
When the break was over, Iruka shouted.
Sasuke and Naruto stepped onto the field one after the other.
Hyuga Hiashi, Uchiha Fugaku, and the others all turned their eyes on them.
"Begin!"
Iruka announced, then backed away.
"Fire Style: Great Fireball Jutsu!"
As usual, Sasuke formed the hand seals and spat out a huge fireball.
Then he drew the Sword of the Thunder God. With a hum, the blade appeared in his hand.
He rushed in right behind the fireball, charging Naruto.
"Wind Style: Gale Palm!"
Naruto didn't immediately use Multiple Shadow Clone Jutsu. Instead, he slapped his hands together.
Wind chakra exploded into a violent blast, shooting forward like a cannon shell.
Boom!
Wind and fire collided.
Naruto's chakra output was higher, and his wind shattered the fireball, scattering it in all directions.
Tongues of fire flew toward Sasuke.
Sharingan—three tomoe!
Sasuke easily slipped past every ember. The Sword of the Thunder God flashed as he swung.
Lightning leapt from the blade, forming a bolt that shot straight at Naruto.
Naruto didn't even hesitate. He just raised Samehada in front of himself.
Samehada opened its mouth and swallowed all of the lightning.
"Leaf-Style: Willow!"
Sasuke's wrist twisted and dozens of overlapping sword afterimages appeared in front of him.
Naruto's body froze for a moment under genjutsu—then Kurama immediately broke it for him.
If Naruto was hit by some other ninja's genjutsu, Kurama might think about it first.
But an Uchiha's genjutsu? Not happening.
Now!
Sasuke's three-tomoe Sharingan seized on that instant when Naruto blanked out, and the Sword of the Thunder God thrust forward like a bolt.
Samehada snapped at the blade on instinct, but missed—its teeth bit only air.
"Violent — Leaf Adamantine-Strength Whirlwind!"
In the nick of time, Naruto's kick slammed into the Sword of the Thunder God.
A huge force surged through it. Sasuke's hand went numb and he instinctively let go; the sword flew spinning up into the air.
"Leaf-Style Swordsmanship!"
Naruto grabbed Samehada and swung it down at Sasuke.
The momentum of the fight flipped in an instant.
But Sasuke didn't panic.
He was reading Naruto's movements clearly.
The only real problem was Samehada.
Sasuke immediately drew two kunai.
He crossed the kunai against Samehada, then sprang up, catching the falling Sword of the Thunder God out of the air.
He poured Lightning Release chakra into it and whipped it downward.
Lightning burst out.
In the blink of an eye, bolts of thunder poured down from above like a storm.
"Wind Style: Gale Palm!"
Naruto slapped his hands together again.
Wind howled into existence out of nowhere, surging upward to meet the falling lightning.
At the same time, he grabbed Samehada and sprinted backward without hesitating.
Crackling filled the air.
The wind was strong, but it wasn't a wall of earth or water. Plenty of lightning leaked around it, zig-zagging wildly through the air.
Because Naruto retreated quickly, he managed to avoid getting hit.
Sasuke stepped back and landed lightly.
Looking at Naruto, he could feel the difference from before.
Put simply, Naruto wasn't charging in blindly anymore. He'd gotten better at adapting mid-fight.
That, really, was Sarutobi Hiruzen's doing.
He'd taken Naruto out on missions many times and given him pointers.
And there was another reason.
The enemies they met on missions were not the same level as their Advanced Class classmates.
With Hiruzen taking the lead, they often ran into jonin.
In the Advanced Class, Naruto could brute-force his way through on chakra alone. Against jonin, he'd had to change his approach.
Honestly, it wasn't just him. A lot of the Advanced Class had grown through those missions.
"Multiple Shadow Clone Jutsu!"
Naruto shouted and split into over a hundred clones.
"Dynamic Entry!"
One shadow clone flew at Sasuke with a leaping kick the instant it appeared.
Sasuke slipped left. The Sword of the Thunder God punched straight through that clone's chest.
With a pop, the clone exploded into smoke.
"Leaf Whirlwind!"
Another clone rushed him.
The moment its leg came up, the Sword of the Thunder God was already swinging for its head.
"Leaf Double Whirlwind!"
Two more clones came in from both sides with spinning kicks.
A shrill, chirping sound burst out.
Lightning Release: Chidori Current!
Lightning erupted around Sasuke, wrapping his whole body in crackling light.
The two clones' kicks slammed into the lightning and went numb on contact.
Sasuke kept walking forward step by step.
Every step, his sword precisely cut down another clone.
In front of his three-tomoe Sharingan, the clones were simply too slow.
Of course, with that many clones, a few still managed to slip past his gaze—but none of them could get through the Chidori Current.
"Naruto, these clones can't threaten me anymore."
Sasuke flicked his sword, dispersing another clone, and spoke calmly.
Standing there wreathed in lightning, face expressionless, he really did look like a thunder god descended.
"As expected of my eternal rival!"
Naruto gave him a big thumbs-up. "Your power of youth is every bit as strong as mine!"
"…"
The mood snapped in Sasuke's head.
He'd had a seriously cool moment going—and then Naruto had to go and call it "youth." Now the whole vibe was weird.
"Wind Style: Gale Palm!"
Realizing taijutsu wasn't working, Naruto's clones regrouped.
Massive chakra poured into wind. The raging gusts roared forward, the ground shaking and dust billowing in their wake.
"Wind Style: Vacuum Shuriken!"
Dense volleys of shuriken rode the storm, falling from the sky like a rain of arrows.
"So it's finally here."
Sasuke remembered his last fight with Naruto in Hozuki Castle.
Back then, he'd used his three-tomoe Sharingan to dodge Wind Style: Vacuum Shuriken, then let Chidori Current tank Gale Palm, winning the match.
He'd been possessed by Satori at the time, but he figured he could recreate it.
Sasuke tightened his grip on the Sword of the Thunder God and dashed forward, wrapped in Chidori Current like a streak of lightning.
Clang!
He knocked one shuriken flying.
Even more came right after.
"I can see them."
Sasuke's wrist blurred as he unleashed Leaf-Style sword style.
In his hands, the Sword of the Thunder God became pure lightning, batting the shuriken away at high speed.
"This looks familiar."
Watching from the sidelines, Shikaku Nara thought back to Naruto's earlier battle with Asuma.
"Looks like unlocking the three-tomoe Sharingan really does give you jonin-level strength."
Shibi Aburame remarked.
"But Sasuke isn't Asuma. He won't last as long."
Akimichi Choza glanced at Fugaku and added.
"He's still young, his chakra reserves aren't that deep."
Shikaku agreed.
Fugaku didn't join in.
All his attention was on Sasuke.
He had to admit, Naruto was a nightmare to deal with.
If their positions were reversed, Fugaku didn't have a great solution either.
As expected of the Fourth Hokage's son—Namikaze Minato's boy was nothing but trouble.
Suddenly, the steady clang of metal stopped.
Mid-swing, Sasuke realized something was wrong and withdrew the Sword of the Thunder God.
He couldn't copy what he'd done in Hozuki Castle.
Without Satori, he just didn't have that much chakra.
"Chidori Senbon!"
Sasuke compressed all the lightning around him into a storm of senbon and flung them forward.
He'd first transformed Chidori into Chidori Current. Now he shifted Chidori Current into Chidori Senbon.
The countless senbon collided with the shuriken in midair, locking them into a deadlock and opening a rare clear path in front of him.
Body Flicker!
Sasuke charged Naruto without hesitation.
Naruto was still hurling Wind Style: Vacuum Shuriken alongside his clones.
When he noticed Sasuke vanish from his line of sight, he instinctively grabbed Samehada off the ground.
Then he looked up and saw Sasuke's three-tomoe Sharingan.
Genjutsu: Sharingan!
Sasuke instantly cast genjutsu.
Naruto froze for a heartbeat.
Chakra burst from Sasuke's legs as he gripped the Sword of the Thunder God in both hands and swung down.
Lightning wrapped the blade as it cleaved toward Naruto.
Clang!
Samehada reacted first, leaping up to block the strike.
But because it was rushed, the sword's power blew it backward.
Samehada slammed straight into Naruto.
On reflex, Naruto crossed his arms to catch the sword, but the barbs on Samehada still tore through his sleeves and skin. Blood trickled down.
Naruto hissed, but didn't spare the pain a second thought. He just brought his leg up and kicked.
Sasuke was pouring everything into the Sword of the Thunder God and never expected that kick.
Pain exploded in his gut and he staggered backward.
"Multiple Shadow Clone Jutsu!"
Naruto took the opening, formed the seals, and split again.
Sasuke felt a chill.
He didn't have nearly as much chakra as Naruto. If the battle reset from here, there was no way he could keep suppressing that many clones.
He couldn't drag this out any longer.
Sasuke stopped retreating and slammed the Sword of the Thunder God into the ground.
Blazing lightning burst from the blade, spreading outward in all directions.
Many of Naruto's clones were hit the moment they appeared, their bodies going numb.
"Lightning Release: Dual Chidori!"
As soon as the nearby clones were taken out of the fight, Sasuke flashed through hand signs.
The harsh chirping sound filled the air again.
Lightning flared in both his hands, bright enough to be like two suns in the dark.
He flashed forward straight at Naruto.
This was his final strike.
If this didn't win it, he probably wouldn't get another chance.
"The blazing power of youth—this is our Rasengan!"
Naruto and his clones shouted in unison, voices full of passion.
Sasuke froze for a second, then saw something that made him want to cry.
A whole crowd of Rasengan appeared in front of him.
"…"
Sasuke slammed on the brakes.
Seriously, what was he supposed to do with that?
"Rasengan can be used like this too?"
Shibi's eyes widened.
He was very familiar with the Rasengan.
Back when Namikaze Minato was still alive, they'd often gone on missions together.
But Multiple Shadow Clone Jutsu plus Rasengan? That was new.
Even Fugaku, who'd stayed calm the whole time, looked stunned.
The scene in front of him was just too absurd.
Two or three dozen Rasengan surrounding Sasuke—he'd never seen anything like it.
"His chakra is even higher than ours…"
Choza didn't know whether to laugh or cry.
A ninja's chakra was their innate chakra plus what they built up through training.
As jonin, their chakra was, frankly, already at their limit.
And yet their maxed-out reserves still couldn't match Naruto's.
Even if Naruto had been training chakra from the moment he was born, it shouldn't be this outrageous.
The only explanation was that he'd been born this way.
Which, in a way, made it even more depressing.
"His talent is higher than ours too."
Shikaku shook his head. "At the very least, none of us were mastering two A-rank jutsu at that age."
"Back then, the Fourth Hokage struck fear into his enemies with Flying Thunder God and Rasengan."
Shibi sighed. "When Naruto grows up, he'll probably have the same effect—though in his case, it's mostly thanks to that ridiculous chakra."
Fugaku frowned slightly.
At this point, Naruto was clearly Sasuke's biggest rival for becoming Hokage.
Hinata and Neji were far behind.
Plus Naruto's father was Namikaze Minato. Even though he was dead, his legacy still held weight.
Hiashi was thinking about the same problem.
There were too many prodigies in this generation.
In any other year, with Hinata and Neji's talent plus their connection to Kitazawa, the Hokage seat would practically be theirs for the taking.
But now they just had to coexist with Naruto and Sasuke, whose talent was even more terrifying.
"Did you teach him to use Rasengan like that?"
Tsunade turned to Kitazawa.
"No."
Kitazawa shook his head. "I'm guessing it was the Third."
"The old man, huh? Makes sense—he did used to be a professor of ninjutsu."
Tsunade paused, then added with a sigh, "But only Naruto could use Rasengan like this."
An excellent ninja built their own system of ninjutsu, combining techniques to get the best results.
What Naruto was doing—blowing all his chakra on a swarm of Rasengan—really wasn't necessary.
Sure, the power was insane, but it was easy to dodge.
If it didn't work, he'd have wasted a massive amount of chakra, making the rest of the fight much harder.
Unless you had Naruto's absurd reserves to back it up.
Kitazawa couldn't help smiling.
In the original story, Naruto had once whipped out two thousand Rasengan at once.
"Winner: Uzumaki Naruto!"
Iruka finally broke the awkward tension lingering over the field.
At his words, Sasuke silently dispelled his Dual Chidori.
What else could he do? He was just as frustrated as anyone.
It wasn't like he could charge straight into two or three dozen Rasengan with two Chidori and call that a plan.
Kitazawa stood and walked onto the field.
He glanced at Sasuke and said, "The spar's over. Both of you, step down and wait for the ranking announcement."
Then he had Naruto hold out his arms.
Samehada's barbs had cut him up; there were dried streaks of blood all over.
But Kitazawa quickly realized the blood had already scabbed over.
In other words, if Naruto didn't get immediate treatment, his body was about to heal the wounds on its own.
Kitazawa couldn't help silently complaining that this cheat was way too broken.
Sasuke had really worked hard to fight him to a standstill.
Soft green light flowed from Kitazawa's hands.
Under his Mystical Palm Technique, Naruto's arms were fully healed in less than thirty seconds.
"Sasuke, do you still need something?"
Kitazawa noticed Sasuke was still standing there.
"Kitazawa-sensei, I want to challenge Yakumo."
Sasuke took a deep breath.
He'd decided that once he awakened his three-tomoe Sharingan, he was going to challenge two people: Uzumaki Naruto and Kurama Yakumo.
He'd lost the first fight by a hair to Naruto's ridiculous chakra. So he wanted to win the second one back.
That way, one loss and one win would still preserve some face for the Uchiha.
"You just finished a match. Why not rest and spar Yakumo another day?"
Kitazawa hesitated and tried to talk him down.
"I'm not tired."
Sasuke refused.
In his mind, the fight with Yakumo was going to be a contest of genjutsu anyway, so physical fatigue didn't matter as much.
"Yakumo."
Kitazawa had no choice but to go along.
He turned and waved Yakumo over.
Kurama Yakumo walked up to him right away.
"Sasuke wants to challenge you. What do you say?"
Kitazawa asked.
"I accept."
Yakumo nodded.
"All right."
Kitazawa stepped aside and shouted, "Twentieth match: Uchiha Sasuke versus Kurama Yakumo!"
"…?"
Fugaku's face changed.
You idiot!
Why would you challenge her without asking me first?
He hadn't realized Yakumo's genjutsu was at Mangekyo Sharingan level.
And sitting up in the stands, there was no way for him to warn Sasuke.
Itachi's eyes narrowed thoughtfully.
Well…
Sasuke definitely wasn't going to win.
He knew exactly how vast the gap was between three-tomoe and Mangekyo.
But this was also the perfect chance to let Sasuke see for himself that Mangekyo existed, so he wouldn't get too full of himself just because he'd awakened three tomoe.
The battle started—and ended.
Kitazawa watched Sasuke trapped in Yakumo's terrifying illusion and shook his head.
He had tried to persuade Sasuke, but with that personality, there was no way he'd let it go without fighting for himself.
Time ticked by.
Suddenly, Sasuke jolted awake.
He dropped onto his butt, staring at Yakumo, panting hard, his face full of disbelief.
How was this possible?
Why was he completely helpless against her genjutsu even with his three tomoe?
"Winner: Kurama Yakumo!"
Kitazawa paused, then added, "That concludes the Advanced Class's final exam. We'll announce the rankings in ten minutes."
He walked over and helped Sasuke to his feet.
"If you want to know why, wait until after the rankings and talk to your brother."
Kitazawa said after thinking it over.
Sasuke blinked.
My brother knows?
He instinctively glanced over at Itachi.
But with the stands still full, he couldn't exactly run up to him right now.
Silent, Sasuke stepped off the field.
Kitazawa looked away and went to discuss the rankings with Hiruzen and Kurenai.
The rest of the Advanced Class gathered around Sasuke to cheer him up.
"I'm fine."
Sasuke shook his head.
Losing to Yakumo and Naruto was nothing new.
This time the problem was that the three-tomoe Sharingan had given him a lot of hope. He'd thought he could finally beat them—and then things had turned out almost the same as before.
He had no idea how to beat Yakumo.
But Naruto… he felt like he'd been so close.
This loss was because he hadn't expected that ridiculous swarm of Rasengan.
Now that he knew, things might be different next time.
The others relaxed when they saw he was taking it in stride.
"You guys are improving too fast. We can't keep up at all."
Kiba suddenly sighed.
He was this close to saying he was even more miserable than Sasuke.
"Look on the bright side."
Shikamaru patted him on the shoulder. "There's no point comparing yourself to these monsters."
"It's fine!"
Ino planted her hands on her hips. "So what if they're geniuses? Who gets first place next time is still up in the air!"
"Exactly."
Tenten understood the subtext right away. "We're not going to have a spar like this every month. It'll probably go back to mission work next."
"Then let's burn with youth and fight for first place on the next mission!"
Naruto raised his thumb again, fired up.
"Even if it's a mission, Sasuke-kun will still get first!"
Sakura announced without hesitation.
Sasuke instinctively glanced at her.
Had she ever said anything like that after his matches with Naruto and Yakumo?
Ten minutes later, Kitazawa walked back onto the field with the score sheet.
The Advanced Class and both sides of the stands all fell silent and turned toward him.
"I'll announce the rankings for this practical exam first."
Kitazawa paused and added, "The ranking is based mainly on performance, and only secondarily on wins and losses."
Sasuke, Neji, and the others tensed up.
They had a pretty good guess about the order, but guessing was still just guessing. Only hearing it in person would settle it.
"First place: Kurama Yakumo."
Kitazawa said with a smile.
Yakumo had fought twice.
Once against Kiba's sister, Inuzuka Hana; once against Uchiha Sasuke.
Both had been one-sided wins, so first place was more than deserved.
"Second: Uzumaki Naruto."
He continued, "Third: Uchiha Sasuke."
No one had any objections to the top three. The whole class accepted it without fuss.
Including Sasuke.
He'd just lost to both Yakumo and Naruto. Coming in third left him nothing to complain about.
Starting from fourth place, though, there was a lot more uncertainty.
Neji and Shino had both defeated jonin.
Hinata's opponent had "only" been a special jonin, but with the Earth Curse Mark active, his power was about jonin-level too.
And Kimimaro Kaguya's opponent had also been a jonin, although Kimimaro hadn't managed to win.
"Fourth: Aburame Shino."
Kitazawa announced.
A flicker of surprise crossed Shino's face.
The other students were also a little shocked.
In previous exams, Neji and Hinata had always ranked above Shino.
"Judging by performance alone, Shino did better than I did."
Neji thought it over and admitted.
Shino's opponent had been Uchiha Tekka, and their fight had been a real back-and-forth of strategy.
Hinata and he, on the other hand, had leaned heavily on their Fatefeather Bow and Moonchaser Bow. In terms of personal performance, they'd been a little weaker than Shino.
"Fifth: Hyuga Neji."
Kitazawa continued. "Sixth: Hyuga Hinata."
The two of them had been pretty close.
But Hinata's Moonchaser Bow had an emotional-sense ability, which had made Neji's fight tougher overall.
"Seventh: Kaguya Kimimaro."
Kitazawa glanced at the sheet.
Kimimaro had lost, but he'd still done very well against a jonin.
In terms of raw strength, he still outclassed most of the other Advanced Class students.
From eighth place down, the power gap wasn't quite as big.
Kimimaro clenched his fist.
In the Advanced Class, he'd almost always been fourth or fifth.
Dropping to seventh felt like a serious warning sign.
And his seventh place wasn't exactly secure either.
"Eighth: Tenten. Ninth: Yamanaka Ino. Tenth: Nara Shikamaru. Eleventh: Haruno Sakura."
Kitazawa read on. "Twelfth: Inuzuka Hana. Thirteenth: Inuzuka Kiba. Fourteenth: Jugo."
"I'm actually eighth?"
Tenten's eyes lit up. She was both surprised and thrilled.
"I'm guessing it's because you used the Shiromari."
Shikamaru speculated.
With that summoned chameleon, Tenten had basically steamrolled her opponent.
As for his own ranking, he figured cracking the top ten in a group of freaks like this was more than enough. He had no complaints.
"Awesome!"
Ino said proudly. "Sakura, I placed higher than you again!"
"My written test score is definitely higher than yours!"
Sakura shot back. "We'll call it a draw at worst!"
"My rank dropped again…"
Kiba groaned.
"…?"
Tayuya's eyes widened and she took a step back.
Why hadn't she heard her name? Had she not even cracked the top fourteen?
Her vision went dark for a second. She'd been around tenth before. Dropping that far hurt.
"Fifteenth: Tayuya. Sixteenth: Rock Lee. Seventeenth: Akimichi Choji. Eighteenth: Haku."
Kitazawa read off the last four names.
Tayuya bit down hard.
Being fifteenth was something she really didn't want to accept—but she couldn't argue with it either.
Everyone ahead of her did deserve their place.
Time passed.
Kitazawa finished reading out the written exam rankings and the overall rankings.
Because the practical exam had been such a huge spectacle this time, the written and final rankings had become a bit of an afterthought.
"The Advanced Class's end-of-term exam has wrapped up perfectly. Thank you all for watching."
Kitazawa turned back to the class. "You can go home with your parents now. I'll see you next term."
At that, Sasuke hurried off to find Fugaku and Itachi.
Neji, Shikamaru, Ino, Kiba, and the others all left as well.
"Tsunade, are you satisfied with how our students did?"
Hiruzen chuckled as he noticed her walking over.
"If I said no, I'd just be picking a fight for no reason."
Tsunade gave him a look. "Old man, I see you've already gotten used to being an academy teacher."
"It's actually pretty nice."
Hiruzen nodded. "I kind of regret not retiring earlier now."
"…"
The corner of Tsunade's mouth twitched. She felt like he was implying something.
"Good thing Kitazawa invited me to teach in the Advanced Class."
Kosuke Maruboshi smiled. "Otherwise my life wouldn't be nearly this interesting."
"True enough."
Master Chen agreed.
Thanks to the Advanced Class, he'd found a new reason to live and had given up on faking his own death.
Kurenai didn't have quite the same emotional journey.
She was still young.
Her main feeling was simply: the younger generation really was overtaking the old, and the old guard was getting washed up.
The current batch of students was so outrageous that as a teacher, she felt constant pressure.
With talents like Yakumo and Naruto, she wasn't even sure she could beat them herself.
[Current Mission: Achieve ten wins against officially ranked ninja in the final exam.]
[Reward: Gentle Step Tailed Beast Twin Lion Fists.]
[Mission Completed. Reward Granted.]
After receiving the system's message, Kitazawa walked over to Tsunade.
"Are we going to have Advanced Class vs. full-fledged ninja every month from now on?"
Hiruzen asked him.
"No."
Kitazawa shook his head. "I'm thinking once or twice a year at most."
Full-fledged ninja were busy, especially special jonin and jonin.
Dragging them in every month would interfere with their work and missions.
It was the same for the Advanced Class students.
For them, the most effective training was still doing missions. They grew faster under real enemy pressure.
As for building their reputation, one or two big events were enough. Do it too often and the impact wears off.
The first time would always be the most shocking.
"Once or twice a year sounds a lot more reasonable."
Kosuke nodded in agreement.
"Let's head back and come again tomorrow."
Hiruzen said with a smile.
Vacation started tomorrow, but plenty of students would keep training at the academy.
Now that he was retired, he had free time and could drop by to give them pointers.
"I'm heading back to the Hokage's office."
With that, Tsunade turned and left.
Kitazawa suspected she was trying to dodge paying up on their bet, but he wasn't in any rush.
He went home with Kurenai, had lunch, and only then strolled over to the Hokage Building.
"Tsunade-sensei."
Kitazawa pushed open the office door, walked in, and asked straight out, "Do you remember the bet we made this morning?"
"What do you want?"
Tsunade looked up at him, meeting his gaze—and felt her heart skip.
There was a blazing intensity in his eyes.
She didn't need to ask to know what he wanted.
Kitazawa didn't answer. He walked up to her desk.
He slowly bent down, eyes fixed on her soft, rosy lips.
Feeling that stare, Tsunade unconsciously licked the corner of her mouth; the tip of her pink tongue flickered into view and vanished.
Kitazawa didn't hesitate. He kissed her.
Tsunade had been expecting it, so she wasn't surprised.
She closed her eyes and let out a faint, sweet little hum through her nose.
Then her eyes flew open, pupils shaking.
Their earlier kisses had all been brief and light. This time was different—it turned into a deep kiss.
The Hokage's office fell quiet.
Aside from the soft sounds of their lips and tangled breathing, there was nothing else at all.
~~~
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