"Uzumaki Jōnin is so friendly!"
"Yeah, he's so polite! This training camp is going to be a breeze."
"Right? That smile—it's like sunlight. He feels so warm and approachable. I'm actually excited now!"
"I mean, I want to get stronger, but I hope he's not too soft on us. Uzumaki Jōnin, show us what you've got!"
The Genin laughed, tension fading as they watched Naruto smile. His golden hair caught the light, and that bright, easy grin made him seem less like the terrifying legend they'd heard about—and more like the big brother everyone wished they had.
But not everyone was fooled.
Naruto's old classmates—Chōji, Ino, Shino—stood stiff, their faces pale.
They remembered.
That same sunny smile had once preceded a massacre—Sasuke flattened, trees shattered, half the training ground destroyed. It was that day Naruto earned his infamous title: The Smiling Demon King.
The new Genin didn't know any better. The veterans did. And they trembled.
Meanwhile, on the edge of the field, several Jōnin watched from a distance.
"Strange," one muttered. "Shouldn't he be sterner? A training camp needs discipline, not smiles."
"Exactly," said another. "You have to show authority early. If you let kids relax, they'll walk all over you. He's too young to be taken seriously."
Someone snorted. "If I were the Third, I'd replace him before this turns into a circus."
He turned, expecting agreement—but his companions weren't listening. Their eyes were wide, faces pale.
"What? Why are you—"
Then he felt it.
The air thickened.
A weight pressed down from all directions, invisible but suffocating.
Naruto had simply taken one quiet step forward. His smile didn't fade—but his gaze sharpened, and his eyes gleamed like molten gold.
A single pulse of killing intent burst outward.
Boom.
The world crashed into silence.
The laughing Genin froze mid-breath. It was like thunder exploded inside their heads. Their knees trembled, hearts pounding as an invisible mountain crushed down on them.
They couldn't move. Couldn't speak. Could barely breathe.
Some felt the urge to scream—anything to release the terror clawing up their throats—but no sound came. Sweat poured down their faces, soaking their clothes.
And Naruto? He didn't move an inch. He just stood there—calm, straight-backed, that same faint smile still resting on his lips.
Yet in their eyes, he wasn't a man anymore.
He was a mountain.
An unstoppable force towering above them.
One Genin gasped, eyes rolling back, and collapsed with a thud.
The moment he hit the dirt, the pressure vanished from his body—like a drowning man finally reaching air. He gulped in breaths, drenched in sweat, staring at Naruto as though looking at death itself.
One by one, more fell. Knees buckled. Bodies crumpled. Dozens dropped where they stood.
Only a handful still stood trembling, their legs shaking violently.
The observing Jōnin were stunned speechless.
They couldn't feel the oppressive force themselves—but they didn't need to. Watching their students break down like leaves in a storm was enough.
"Th-That wasn't even killing intent," Kurenai whispered. "That was… pure pressure. Just raw dominance."
"Good lord…" Asuma muttered, cigarette trembling between his fingers. "If this is what his chakra alone can do, what's he holding back?"
Guy crossed his arms, his face unusually serious. "He's beyond anything I've ever seen. Not even I could make so many fall without lifting a hand."
Even Kakashi, silent until now, narrowed his visible eye. "He's not showing his strength. He's testing their will."
Back on the field, Naruto smiled faintly and spoke at last.
"Very good," he said softly. "Not bad."
He withdrew his aura.
The handful who had lasted till the end exhaled sharply—then collapsed as well, gasping for breath, faces pale as chalk.
Naruto stepped closer, hands in his pockets, gaze sweeping across the field.
"Impressive," he said warmly. "A few of you lasted longer than I expected."
That gentle tone only made their skin crawl.
Every Genin who met his eyes shivered uncontrollably. The smile that once looked warm now looked… predatory.
They finally understood why the world called him The Smiling Devil.
It wasn't just a nickname. It was truth.
Several began to cry quietly, heads bowed in shame and fear.
Naruto chuckled lightly. "I'll be honest—at first, I thought all of you were trash."
Heads shot up.
Did he really just—
"But," he continued, hands clasped behind his back, "it seems a few of you aren't completely hopeless. That's a relief."
Half the group looked devastated. The other half looked insulted. None knew whether to feel proud or humiliated.
"Those who stood till the end, follow me," Naruto said casually. "The rest of you… will receive the baptism of love right here."
He clapped once, and a shadow clone appeared beside him.
The clone looked at the group still on the ground with open disgust, eyes cold as winter.
"Trash," it muttered.
Naruto's true body turned and walked away with the remaining few—Lee, Tenten, Kiba, and Chōji among them. The rest watched them go, faces burning with frustration and envy.
Then they turned back to the clone, who smiled faintly.
"Don't look so bitter," it said. "You'll have your turn."
It folded its arms. "You think you're impressive because you're Genin? You're not. You're cannon fodder. When real war breaks out, one A-rank jutsu will erase hundreds like you in an instant."
A few of the Genin looked away, fists clenched.
"Feeling angry? Good," the clone snapped. "If you can't even handle the truth, you don't deserve to be ninjas. Go home. Cry to your mothers."
His voice sharpened. "But if you're staying here, then get ready. I'm done being nice."
The clone's hands flashed through seals. Four identical clones appeared beside him, surrounding the entire training field.
They slammed their palms down.
"Ninja Art: Four Purple Flame Formation!"
Boom!
Four towering walls of violet fire erupted, enclosing the entire Seventh Training Ground in a blazing cage.
The air shimmered with heat.
The Genin stared, frozen between awe and dread, as Naruto's clone smirked.
"Welcome to reality," it said. "Let's see if any of you can survive it."
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