"Looks like it's already started!"
By the time Shikamaru, Choji, Kiba, Shino, Ino, and Sakura arrived at the east-side training ground, Naruto and Sasuke were already locked in combat. Sparks from clashing Kunai and the dull thuds of taijutsu rang out without pause—clearly the fight had been raging for a while.
Hinata, whose home was farthest, showed up even later than Shikamaru's group, little Hanabi in tow.
The moment Hanabi spotted the two fighting—especially the kind "big brother Naruto" who'd once treated her to a meal—she lit up.
She wriggled free of her sister's hand, cupped her small palms around her mouth like a trumpet, and shouted with everything she had:
"Big Brother Naruto—go for it!!"
Her clear, childish voice cut through the clash of battle like a bell.
After another fierce exchange, Naruto and Sasuke sprang apart, putting a brief gap between them.
Sasuke panted hard; he could feel his Chakra almost gone.
Hardly surprising—they were still Ninja Academy students, and Chakra capacity was tied directly to age and physical development, a mix of mental and bodily energy.
Children simply didn't have much of either, so the Chakra they could refine and store was limited.
Chakra almost gone… do I have to use… that technique?
Sasuke steeled himself, flashed through hand-seals, sucked in a huge breath that swelled his chest—the pattern of seals and flow of Chakra clearly different from the Great Fireball Technique.
Naruto saw the buildup and sensed something off.
The preparation looked far more complex than for a fireball.
"Naruto, watch out!"
Inside the Sealing Space, the Nine-Tails—who'd been stuck with Uchiha Madara for a time—recognized the familiar pattern at once.
"That's a large-scale Fire Release Ninjutsu—Great Fire Annihilation! Not some little fireball!"
Hearing that, Naruto's eyes sharpened; without hesitation he pulled a prepared slip of white paper from his pocket and snapped through his own seals.
Chakra surged, channeling precisely into the paper; black Runes seemed to come alive, condensing and appearing across the sheet.
Fire Sealing Technique!
Almost simultaneously—
"Fire Release: Great Fire Annihilation!"
Sasuke roared, pouring every last drop of Chakra from his body.
A sky-filling inferno surged forward like a true scorching tidal wave, carrying enough force to obliterate everything in its path.
Its breadth covered nearly half the training ground.
The onlookers outside the field gasped.
A jutsu this huge?!
"Not good!"
Kiba's face changed; he yelled and sprinted toward the center where Naruto stood.
Shino moved even faster, already a black blur racing ahead, his Kikaichu poised to block the flames.
Even if every insect burned, Naruto must not be hurt.
"Damn it! That power's at least B-rank—has Sasuke lost his mind?!"
Shikamaru cursed and charged out, unwilling to waste another second.
"Naruto!"
"Naruto-kun!"
Ino and Hinata cried out in panic, rushing onto the field without a second thought, hearts pounding.
Yet an astonishing scene unfolded before everyone's eyes.
The roaring, wave-like flames—able to swallow everything—slammed to a halt less than a meter from Naruto, as though hitting an invisible wall.
At the same instant the ordinary-looking paper lifted into the air; its black Runes magnified, glowing with a deep light, forming a miniature black-hole vortex.
The towering fire was sucked into the expanding Runes like rivers returning to the sea, not a spark escaping.
In mere breaths the B-rank fire jutsu capable of massive destruction was swallowed, sealed, and erased without a trace by a single sheet of paper.
Only rising heat haze and stunned faces remained on the field.
Thus the sealing technique specialized against flame—Fire Sealing Technique—showed its might.
Strong enough to seal even the so-called never-extinguishing black flames of Amaterasu.
Seeing Naruto safe, Kiba exhaled in relief—then fury flared anew. He spun toward the drained, unconscious Sasuke, clearly ready to land a couple of punches.
"You bastard!"
But he'd taken only one step before Shikamaru and Choji seized him left and right.
"Kiba, cool it! He's out cold!"
Choji planted his sturdy frame in front, shouting.
"Kiba, calm down."
Shikamaru yanked Kiba's arm, voice stern: "He's collapsed from Chakra exhaustion; whatever needs saying can wait till he wakes up."
Shikamaru looked further ahead.
Sasuke was dangerously weak; Kiba, enraged, might strike without restraint. If he accidentally killed the last Uchiha, catastrophe would follow.
As a Nara, Shikamaru hated the adult world's schemes, yet he knew how vital a blood-limit clan was to the village.
The Sharingan's power was undeniable—one of Konoha's strategic assets.
And Sasuke was now the clan's sole known survivor.
If he died at the hands of the Inuzuka heir, the fallout would be unimaginable.
Both Kiba personally and the entire Inuzuka clan would face immense trouble.
"All right, Kiba, take it easy."
After rolling up the sealing paper, Naruto first murmured "I'm fine" to the worried Ino, Hinata, and Hanabi, then stepped to Kiba's side and pressed a calming hand on the tensed shoulder.
Meanwhile Sakura had already dashed to the unconscious Sasuke, struggling to hoist him onto her back for a dash to the hospital.
Naruto, seeing his friend's anger and worry, spoke with quiet certainty. He patted Kiba's shoulder:
"Kiba, I get how you feel, but don't act rashly. Leave this to me."
He paused, glanced at Sasuke, and the corner of his mouth curled with sharp intent:
"Besides… if someone's going to beat him black-and-blue, it should be me, don't you think?"
Kiba blinked at Naruto's words.
Meeting the steady confidence in those eyes, his own taut frame slowly relaxed; he stopped struggling.
At the same moment Shino—already beside Sasuke helping Sakura—looked up through dark lenses, studying Naruto in silence.
He lifted a hand; the Kikaichu poised over Sasuke's skin receded like a black tide, vanishing beneath Shino's sleeve.
Since Naruto had said "leave it to me," the only thing left for friends to do was believe in him.