"A pity."
Hyūga Hiashi felt a flicker of regret.
Even so, Neji had performed very well. His opponent was Uzumaki Naruto, after all—the kid with the Multiple Shadow Clone Technique and the Rasengan.
Thinking of that left Hiashi with mixed feelings. Who would've thought you'd see a Rasengan in a routine academy spar?
He remembered back in his own school days, even seeing a student use Fire Style: Great Fireball was rare.
His gaze shifted to Hinata.
Uchiha Sasuke had shone, and Hinata and Neji hadn't done badly either.
All in all, in this Student Council selection match, the Hyūga and Uchiha were about even.
Hiashi had actually been worried Sasuke might beat Naruto—if that happened, the Uchiha would steal the whole show. As it stood, the balance wasn't bad.
"Naruto!"
Might Guy gave a big thumbs-up. "You didn't betray youth!"
"Guy-sensei!" Naruto skidded to a stop, shouting excitedly, "I can feel youth boiling in my veins!"
"Naruto, keep walking that path!" Guy urged. "Never stop—that's what youth is!"
"Ehem."
Kurenai quickly cut in. "The next match is about to start. Let Naruto clear the field first."
In other words: enough with the youth talk.
"True," Kakashi—rarely—agreed. Mainly because Naruto was the center of attention now.
Their little back-and-forth would draw eyes… and then people would notice him. Kakashi had waded through seas of corpses, but this kind of torture still wasn't his thing.
"Kakashi," Guy turned. "How would you rate Naruto right now?"
Kakashi fell silent. He'd said earlier that Naruto was winning on chakra reserves alone—only to get slapped in the face. Across these last two fights, Naruto had used the Rasengan smartly. Maybe not impressive by Kakashi's standards, but for a seven-year-old? Very, very good.
He thought of Namikaze Minato. If Minato were still here, he'd be proud of Naruto.
"Not bad at all," Kakashi said at last.
"Ha-ha!" Guy beamed, as if he'd personally beaten Kakashi in a spar.
"Round three, match five: Nara Shikamaru vs. Inuzuka Hana," Kitazawa announced after drawing lots.
Twelve students had made round three. Four matches down, two to go, which meant four students hadn't appeared yet. With Shikamaru vs. Hana set, the last pairing fell into place: Yamanaka Ino vs. Tenten.
"Why can't we forfeit the Student Council selection fights?"
Shikamaru looked at the three huge wolf-dogs across from him and twitched at the corner of his mouth. If nothing went wrong, he was going to be chased around the field.
If he could forfeit, he would—he'd already exceeded his goal by reaching round three.
Unfortunately, Kitazawa had predicted that he'd predict this. Not only was forfeiting banned, sandbagging was too. If Kitazawa caught you throwing it, there'd be "serious consequences."
What consequences? Kitazawa didn't say, and Shikamaru didn't care to find out.
"Please."
Hana opened at full power—Shikamaru's previous-round win over Tenten with brains and skill had left an impression.
Fang Over Fang!
Hana and Haimaru leapt and spun into a tornado, drilling straight for Shikamaru. Behind them, the other two ninken charged.
Shikamaru dodged left. He slipped past Fang Over Fang, only to run face-first into the other two hounds.
At the same moment, Hana and Haimaru braked hard, wheeled, and launched another Fang Over Fang.
Shikamaru vaulted high, clearing the two hounds.
Shadow Gathering!
In midair, his shadow overlapped the dogs' shadows—his darkness stretched into two tendrils and snared both dogs by the neck. Their attack halted on the spot.
"What?!"
Hana and Haimaru's focus snapped from Shikamaru to the two restrained ninken. They stopped, canceling Fang Over Fang.
Shadow Imitation Technique!
Landing lightly, Shikamaru used his shadow to puppet one of the dogs and sent it barreling at Hana and Haimaru.
"Haimaru!" Hana barked, and Haimaru dropped the drill form, meeting the controlled dog in a grappling rush.
Four Legs Technique!
Chakra flooded Hana's limbs and she pounced like a tiger down the mountain toward Shikamaru.
"I forfeit."
Shikamaru promptly raised a hand. "I'm out of chakra—can't keep fighting."
"…Huh?"
Hana yanked back the swipe she was about to deliver. What?
From her viewpoint, she'd been the one at a disadvantage.
"Winner: Inuzuka Hana," Kitazawa said with a small shake of his head. If Shikamaru had wanted it, Shadow Imitation plus Shadow Gathering gave him a path to win. But he lacked the will. After a token exchange, he surrendered.
"…," Nara Shikaku in the stands suddenly remembered something Ino had said earlier.
Yeah—time to have Kitazawa "treat" Shikamaru.
"Round three, match six: Yamanaka Ino vs. Tenten," Kitazawa announced once Shikamaru and Hana left the field.
"Shikamaru, did you go easy on my sister?" Kiba asked.
"No." Shikamaru spread his hands. "You know our secret arts burn chakra."
"Ino's sister brought three ninken," Ino chimed in to help. "Shikamaru trying to control four targets at once was basically impossible."
The Nara and Yamanaka both specialize in control, with plenty of overlap. If it had been Ino out there, she would have lost even quicker; her Mind Clone Switch Technique can control at most two targets.
"Ino's right," Shikamaru nodded.
"Your turn, Ino," Sakura reminded her.
"Her ninja tools are a pain," Shikamaru advised. "If you get an opening, control her. If you don't, don't force it—just surrender."
If the Nara's arts can be used solo in a pinch, the Yamanaka's really aren't: long cast time, hard to land, and once you do, you can't move your own body.
"Got it." Ino smiled. "I'll do my best. Worst case, I'll go see Kitazawa-sensei after."
At the name "Kitazawa," Sasuke glanced over without thinking. He'd awakened the two-tomoe Sharingan and still couldn't beat Naruto or Yakumo… maybe he should ask Kitazawa for help?
The fight began.
Having learned from losing to Shikamaru, Tenten opened with her arsenal and refused to let Ino get close.
Chased around by a storm of weapons, Ino had no time to use her secret arts and ultimately conceded.
"That's the end of round three. Next is the challenge round," Kitazawa said after a pause.
"Everyone who reached round three is now a challenge target."
The audience had all seen the flyers and knew the rules, so nobody was surprised.
"Hope someone challenges me," Naruto grinned. Today's fights had him riding a high.
"Who'd challenge you?" Kiba snorted. "Only someone blind."
"Don't be so sure," Shikamaru yawned. "Overconfidence exists everywhere."
"True," Shino adjusted his glasses. "Plenty of kids who think they're strong got stuck in the regular bracket. They won't be satisfied."
"Then Sasuke's more likely to get called out," Ino reasoned. "He's the bigger name."
"I don't have a name value?" Naruto gaped. "I just beat Sasuke!"
"…?" Sasuke's mouth twitched. Really? You had to bring that up?
"The regular bracket didn't see our matches," Ino said. "But after today your name recognition will skyrocket. You might even pass Sasuke."
Sasuke's face froze. Damn it… is he going to beat me in popularity too? No way. The more he thought about it, the more it burned.
An Uchiha does not lag behind. He had to show his own strength. For some reason, even though Yakumo had beaten him too, what really stuck in his craw was losing to Naruto.
Time slipped by.
Before long, Sarutobi Hisao came in with five students. They all looked older than Naruto and Sasuke—fifth- and sixth-years, in fact.
"Principal," Kitazawa greeted Hisao, then turned to the five. "You'll go up in order."
He handed over a roster listing the twelve round-three students and their classes.
"I challenge Uchiha Sasuke!"
A boy in white strode out.
"…" Sasuke's fists clenched. Lose twice and suddenly everyone thinks you're easy pickings?
Expression like ice, he took his place across from the boy.
Genjutsu: Unknown Fire.
His two-tomoe spun—and a heartbeat later the challenger stood screaming in an inferno only he could see.
"Winner: Uchiha Sasuke," Kitazawa said, one brow lifting. A two-tomoe Sharingan versus a kid who hadn't even graduated to genin yet was just a dimensionality reduction strike.
Still, ending it that fast was off—Sasuke had a lot of pent-up frustration.
The remaining four challengers exchanged looks—shock and confusion written on every face.
First-years were this busted? One-shotting a sixth-year? Even for an Uchiha, that was ridiculous.
After two seconds of hesitation, the second student stepped up. "I—I challenge Kurama Yakumo." He'd picked by surname recognition—Uchiha, Hyūga, Nara, Aburame, Yamanaka were famous clans. Kurama? Never heard of it.
Yakumo stood before him… and that was that. She dragged him into an illusion. From the outside he just stood there, then toppled backward a few seconds later. Yakumo hadn't even seemed to lift a finger.
"???"
The challengers were full of question marks. Was this still a ninja academy? Where did we end up? They hadn't just failed to beat the first-years—they didn't even know how they'd lost.
"Looks like splitting the brackets into regular and elite really was the right call," Hiruzen said, shaking his head.
The gap was too big; sometimes ignorance really was bliss. This way, all the regular kids got was a sense of utter despair.
"Nothing left worth seeing, I—" Tsunade began, then was cut off.
"Since we're here, we might as well stay until the end. Start something, finish it," Hiruzen said cheerfully.
"What are you up to now?" Tsunade eyed him.
"What could I be up to?" he replied blandly. "Walking out now—what does that say to Kitazawa?"
"…Fine. We'll wait." Tsunade sat back down.
The challenge round was quick in and quick out—five instant losses.
"Please wait a moment; we'll now announce the rankings for this practical exam," Kitazawa said with a smile. "The list is long, so we'll only read the top thirty. The rest will be posted."
"Kitazawa-senpai," Umino Iruka hurried up and handed over a roster. "These are the elite bracket rankings."
"Thanks."
Kitazawa took the list and found Sarutobi Hisao.
The two quickly aligned on final placements.
A moment later, Kitazawa faced the students with the results. Plenty had already guessed their spots, but anticipation still ran high—except for Sasuke.
"First place: Uzumaki Naruto," Kitazawa said without preamble.
"Yes!" Naruto bounced in place. He'd beaten Sasuke and Neji; nobody could complain. He hadn't faced Yakumo due to the limited rounds, but they'd fought before.
With the Nine-Tails backing him, he didn't fear her genjutsu; and as a pure genjutsu specialist, if Yakumo's illusions didn't stick, she had no options.
"Second: Kurama Yakumo," Kitazawa continued.
Yakumo rose, calm as ever, and gave a small bow.
"Third: Uchiha Sasuke."
Even with two losses, opening the two-tomoe put him solidly at third.
"…"
Sasuke scowled. His target was first. Third felt like an insult.
"Fourth, Hyūga Hinata. Fifth, Hyūga Neji. Sixth, Aburame Shino. Seventh, Inuzuka Kiba," Kitazawa rattled off.
"Hahaha!" Kiba burst out laughing. "I'm seventh!" For him, that was a breakthrough—and this was school-wide, not just their class. Take Neji out and he'd be sixth.
"But still below Naruto," Shikamaru said flatly.
Kiba's laughter cut off. Not surpassing Naruto meant he still owed Ichiraku.
"That's the top thirty." Kitazawa flipped the page. "Now for the Student Council officers."
Sasuke's heart gave a thump. He'd forgotten the rankings determined the council lineup. Sitting at third meant the presidency had slipped through his fingers.
"Since it's already the end of term, the Student Council handoff will be moved to next semester," Kitazawa said evenly. He was worried about missing his "mission," so he'd pulled a small, reasonable trick—and no one objected. In other words, he'd continue as acting president until next term.
"The official Student Council President will be Uzumaki Naruto," he announced.
"Thanks for the support, everyone!" Naruto folded his hands and bowed. "I'll make sure the Student Council is bursting with youthful energy!"
"…"
Sasuke and the others fell into collective silence.
"Vice Presidents: Kurama Yakumo and Uchiha Sasuke," Kitazawa went on.
"Yakumo, I'm counting on you to stop Naruto's 'youth,'" Ino said solemnly.
"Eh?" Yakumo blinked.
"Agreed," Shikamaru nodded. "We can't let 'youth' spread through the council."
"We must defeat the evil green-tights monster!" Kiba declared, fists clenched.
Sasuke nodded along, dead serious.
"Academic Officer: Hyūga Hinata," Kitazawa continued once the chatter died down. "Discipline Officer: Hyūga Neji…"
In short order, all the officer posts were announced.
"You've all worked hard these past two days. With that, the Student Council selection spar and the term-end exams are successfully concluded!"
Kitazawa said loudly. "Now go enjoy your well-earned break!"
Cheers erupted from the students.
"Let's go meet Kitazawa," Hiruzen said, rising.
Fugaku, Hiashi, Shikaku, and the other Clan Heads—who'd been about to leave—followed along. If the Hokage stayed, so would they.
Kitazawa arched a brow. Couldn't deny it—this was quite the lineup. Aside from Shimura Danzō, Mitokado Homura, and Utatane Koharu, Konoha's top brass were all here.
"Hokage-sama," Kitazawa said, stepping forward.
"Well done, Kitazawa," Hiruzen nodded, moved. "Konoha's new generation leaves nothing to be desired. I can retire in peace."
Silence fell over the field. The clan heads were veteran foxes; they all heard the layers in that one sentence.
No doubt about it—Hiruzen intended to step down. The next Hokage… everyone's eyes slid to Tsunade.
Only Tsunade clenched her fists.
They'd set her up again.