Training Ground Seven was crowded.
Naruto stopped at the edge of the clearing and stared at the collection of people waiting around the familiar three wooden posts. Apparently telling Kiba about a private spar had been the tactical equivalent of announcing it from the Hokage Monument.
Shikamaru was lying beneath a tree.
Choji sat beside him with a bag of chips.
Ino and Sakura stood near the posts, while Kiba and Akamaru had somehow claimed a rock like it was stadium seating. Shino stood beside them, Hinata nearby, still taking things easy despite looking considerably better than she had a few days ago.
Naruto's eye twitched.
"What are all of you doing here?"
Kiba grinned.
"Watching you get your ass kicked."
"You told everybody?!"
"No."
Naruto relaxed.
"Ino did."
Naruto looked toward her.
Ino shrugged.
"Sakura told me."
Sakura immediately pointed at Kiba.
"Kiba told me!"
Kiba pointed toward Shino.
"Shino mentioned it!"
Everyone looked at Shino.
Shino adjusted his glasses.
"I informed Kurenai-sensei because a supervised match between two Chūnin Exam finalists seemed relevant to our training."
Kurenai stood several feet behind him.
"Which it is."
Naruto stared.
Asuma lifted one hand from where he stood beside her.
"Then Kurenai mentioned it to me."
Naruto slowly looked toward Kakashi.
His sensei was reading his orange book.
"Don't involve me."
"You allowed this!"
"I scheduled this."
"Same thing!"
"No, it isn't."
A massive hand landed on Naruto's head.
"Quit whining, brat."
Naruto ducked away.
Jiraiya stood behind him with his arms crossed, looking considerably more awake than he usually did before noon.
Naruto narrowed his eyes.
"You're on time."
"Of course."
"You were forty minutes late yesterday."
"Yesterday wasn't important."
Naruto gasped.
"My Fūinjutsu training wasn't important?!"
Jiraiya ignored him.
Then the clearing quieted.
Sasuke walked from between the trees.
He wore his usual dark clothing, kunai pouch secured tightly against his leg and several additional shuriken visible along his belt. Three days of training hadn't made him look bigger, but something about the way he moved had changed.
Naruto noticed immediately.
Sasuke's steps were lighter.
More controlled.
And when his eyes found Naruto across the clearing, the corner of his mouth lifted.
"You're here."
Naruto grinned.
"Was thinking about sleeping in."
"Would've saved you the embarrassment."
"Oh, you're definitely getting punched first."
Kakashi closed his book.
"Alright."
Everyone's attention shifted toward him.
"This is a spar."
He looked toward Naruto.
"Not an assassination."
Then Sasuke.
"Not an assassination."
Both boys frowned.
Naruto raised his hand.
"What if he starts assassinating me first?"
"No."
"What if—"
"No."
Naruto lowered his hand.
Jiraiya walked toward the center.
"You two can use whatever you normally carry and any techniques you can control."
His expression sharpened slightly.
"But if either of you starts something you can't stop, we stop it for you."
Naruto looked toward Sasuke.
Sasuke looked back.
Neither seemed particularly worried.
Kakashi sighed.
"That's exactly the expression I didn't want to see."
The two boys walked to opposite sides of the clearing.
Naruto rolled his shoulders while Sasuke loosened his wrists. Neither spoke now; the insults had disappeared the moment distance opened between them.
Hinata noticed first.
"They're taking this seriously."
"Of course they are," Sakura muttered.
Ino glanced toward her.
"Who do you think wins?"
Sakura hesitated.
Three weeks ago, the answer would have come instantly.
Now?
"I don't know."
Shikamaru opened one eye.
"That's why everybody showed up."
Kakashi stood between Naruto and Sasuke.
"Standard spar rules. Victory by surrender, incapacitation, or my judgment."
Naruto crouched slightly.
Sasuke's hand drifted toward his kunai pouch.
Kakashi raised one hand.
"Ready?"
Blue eyes narrowed.
Black eyes sharpened.
"Begin."
Kakashi vanished.
Sasuke's hand moved first.
Six shuriken flashed into the clearing.
Naruto's did the same.
Metal struck metal between them.
CLANG! CLANG! CLANG!
Four of Naruto's weapons were knocked away.
Two of Sasuke's changed direction.
Naruto's eyebrows rose.
Sasuke had aimed for the weapons.
Not Naruto.
The collisions redirected his own shuriken around Naruto's first defense, one curving high while the other skipped low across the grass.
Naruto twisted sideways.
The first passed his cheek.
He jumped the second.
Then Sasuke was already there.
Naruto barely got his forearm up before a kick slammed into it. The impact shoved him backward, and Sasuke followed immediately with a straight punch meant to catch him before his feet settled.
Naruto tilted his shoulder.
The fist passed.
His own knee drove upward.
Sasuke blocked it with his shin, rotated with the impact, and snapped his heel toward Naruto's temple. Naruto ducked beneath it, planted one hand against the ground, and swept both legs toward Sasuke's supporting ankle.
Sasuke jumped.
Naruto smiled.
"Gotcha."
A second Naruto erupted from the grass beneath him.
Sasuke's eyes widened.
The clone slammed both feet into his chest.
THUMP!
Sasuke flew backward.
He twisted in the air and landed in a crouch.
Naruto stood beside his clone.
"One."
Sasuke looked toward him.
"What?"
"First hit."
Sasuke's Sharingan turned red.
Two tomoe spun in each eye.
Naruto's smile widened.
"Oh."
He cracked his neck.
"Now we're fighting."
Sasuke attacked differently with the Sharingan active.
Naruto saw it immediately.
Before, Sasuke had been reacting to movement.
Now he was reacting to intent.
Naruto threw a punch toward his ribs. Sasuke moved before Naruto's shoulder had fully rotated, slipping inside the strike and driving two fingers toward the nerve cluster beneath Naruto's arm.
Naruto jerked away.
A kunai appeared in Sasuke's other hand.
Naruto blocked it with his own.
CLANG!
Sasuke changed grips.
Naruto's eyes widened.
The kunai hooked around his weapon, pulled his guard outward, and created exactly enough space for Sasuke's elbow to slam into his jaw.
Naruto staggered.
Sasuke kicked his feet out.
Naruto hit the ground.
"One."
Naruto looked up.
Sasuke's mouth curved.
Naruto slowly grinned.
"Asshole."
From the edge of the clearing, Kiba leaned forward.
"They're way better."
Nobody answered him.
They were.
The last time most of them had seen Naruto or Sasuke fight seriously had been during the preliminaries. Even then both had been dangerous, but what was happening now was faster, cleaner, and much more deliberate.
Shino watched Naruto reposition.
"Naruto is testing him."
Kiba glanced sideways.
"What?"
"He has not used either elemental nature yet."
Kurenai looked toward Shino.
"Good observation."
Shino adjusted his glasses.
Kiba frowned.
"Wait. Either?"
Hinata smiled faintly.
"Naruto can use two."
Kiba's head snapped toward the fight.
"HE HAS TWO?!"
Naruto created four Shadow Clones.
They didn't charge.
Sasuke noticed.
The clones spread instead, each moving toward a different angle while the original Naruto retreated two steps.
Sasuke's eyes moved.
One clone reached for kunai.
Another formed hand seals.
The third ran directly at him.
The fourth disappeared into the trees.
Sasuke chose the one making seals.
Three shuriken left his hand.
Naruto reacted
"Water Release: Tidal Wave!"
Chakra surged through him.
Water blasted from his mouth in a concentrated stream, striking the incoming shuriken and knocking them violently from the air. The stream continued toward Sasuke, widening as Naruto swept his head across the clearing.
Sasuke jumped.
Exactly what Naruto wanted.
The rushing water spread beneath him.
The charging clone threw two kunai.
Sasuke twisted between them.
A third weapon came from behind.
The clone in the trees.
Sasuke's Sharingan caught the movement.
He threw his own kunai without looking.
CLANG!
The weapons collided.
Sasuke landed.
His sandal touched wet earth.
Naruto's grin appeared.
"Wind Release: Gale Pierce!"
Compressed wind screamed through the clearing.
Sasuke's eyes widened.
He dove sideways.
BOOM!
The wind tore through the place he'd been standing and carved a trench through the soaked ground behind him. Water exploded upward in a curtain, briefly obscuring everything between Sasuke and Naruto.
Sasuke couldn't see.
The Sharingan didn't matter if there was nothing to see.
Naruto came through the water.
His fist caught Sasuke in the stomach.
Sasuke folded.
Naruto followed with an elbow.
Sasuke blocked it.
Naruto drove a knee toward his ribs.
Sasuke caught it with both hands.
For a moment they froze.
Then Sasuke smiled.
Naruto realized why.
"Fire Style: Fireball Jutsu!"
"OH CRAP—"
Sasuke released him and leaped backward.
A massive fireball erupted from Sasuke's mouth and was sent across the wet clearing.
Naruto substituted.
POOF!
A log vanished inside the flames.
Sasuke's Sharingan immediately shifted.
Above.
Naruto dropped from the trees with three clones.
"GET HIM!"
Sasuke sighed.
The clearing became chaos.
Naruto's clones attacked in rotating pairs, forcing Sasuke to constantly turn while the real Naruto stayed just outside the pattern. Every time Sasuke committed to destroying one clone, another appeared from an angle designed to exploit his movement.
But the Sharingan kept finding them.
Sasuke ducked under one punch, kicked through a second clone, and used the dispersing smoke to hide his hand. Two shuriken disappeared into the cloud.
Naruto heard the metal.
He moved.
Too late.
The first shuriken passed him.
The second struck the first.
CLANG!
Its path changed.
Naruto's eyes widened.
The redirected weapon came straight toward his side.
He blocked with a kunai.
A third shuriken struck that one.
CLANG!
Naruto's weapon jerked violently from his hand.
Sasuke appeared through the smoke.
Naruto barely blocked the punch.
Sasuke's next strike hit his ribs.
Then another.
Naruto jumped back.
Sasuke didn't let him.
For ten seconds, Naruto was entirely defensive.
Punch.
Block.
Kick.
Slip.
Elbow.
Redirect.
Sasuke's Sharingan followed every adjustment Naruto made and attacked the opening created by the previous defense. Naruto finally shoved both palms forward and released a burst of wind between them.
Sasuke crossed his arms.
WHOOM!
The blast threw him backward.
His sandals tore twin trenches through the dirt before he stopped.
Naruto breathed harder now.
Sasuke lowered his arms.
Both smiled.
Asuma exhaled smoke through his nose.
"Kid's good."
Jiraiya glanced toward him.
"Which one?"
"Yes."
Jiraiya chuckled.
Kakashi didn't.
His visible eye remained fixed on Sasuke.
Three days.
The boy had only had three days with Chidori training, speed work, and the conditioning regimen Kakashi had started building around it.
Yet Sasuke's movement was already cleaner.
More importantly, he wasn't letting frustration control his pace.
Naruto had landed hits.
Sasuke wasn't chasing revenge for them.
He was thinking.
Kakashi's eye curved slightly.
'Good.'
Naruto landed beside one of the wooden posts.
His chest rose and fell.
Sasuke stood forty feet away.
Neither moved.
Naruto reached toward his ankle.
Sasuke saw it.
"What are you doing?"
Naruto grinned.
"Cheating."
His activated his Flash Anklet, move speed increasing by 20% for the next minute.
CLICK.
Chakra surged through the device.
Naruto vanished.
Sasuke's eyes widened.
His head snapped left.
Naruto was already there.
Sasuke blocked.
THUMP!
The impact sent him sliding.
Naruto disappeared again.
Right.
Sasuke turned.
A kick came toward his ribs.
He caught it.
Barely.
Naruto twisted in midair and kicked with the other leg.
Sasuke ducked.
Naruto landed.
Gone.
Sasuke's Sharingan spun faster.
For everybody else, Naruto had become brief flashes of orange and blond crossing the clearing.
For Sasuke, there was still a body.
Barely.
He could see Naruto's feet compress the grass before each burst.
Could see the shift of weight.
The angle of the shoulders.
The direction his hips prepared to turn.
Seeing it wasn't the problem.
Moving fast enough was.
Naruto appeared behind him.
Sasuke turned.
Too slow.
A fist clipped his shoulder.
Naruto disappeared.
Sasuke gritted his teeth.
Another attack came from the left.
He slipped it.
The next came low.
He jumped.
Naruto appeared above him.
Sasuke's eyes widened.
A heel came down.
Sasuke crossed both arms.
BOOM!
The impact drove him into the ground.
Naruto landed several feet away.
"Having trouble?"
Sasuke rose.
His arms trembled.
"No."
Naruto vanished.
Sasuke breathed.
Grip.
Pull.
Breathe.
Don't fall.
The cliff returned to him.
Not physically.
The lesson.
There was no room for frustration.
No room to be angry that Naruto was faster.
No room to think about how he should be better.
Only the next movement.
Naruto appeared.
Sasuke moved.
CLANG!
Kunai met kunai.
Naruto's eyes widened.
Sasuke rotated.
His heel struck Naruto's side.
Naruto flew several feet.
He landed.
Then grinned.
"There you go."
Sasuke didn't answer.
Naruto came again.
This time Sasuke met him.
For the next twenty seconds, the clearing sounded like a storm.
Naruto flashed from angle to angle, attacking with speed that would have overwhelmed Sasuke three days earlier. Sasuke's Sharingan tracked every burst while his newly conditioned body desperately fought to obey what his eyes saw.
Naruto punched.
Sasuke slipped.
Sasuke countered.
Naruto vanished before the strike landed.
Naruto attacked low.
Sasuke hopped over the sweep and threw two shuriken downward.
Naruto twisted between them.
Sasuke landed and immediately ducked beneath Naruto's return kick.
Their movements accelerated.
Naruto had the advantage.
Everyone could see it.
But the gap refused to become decisive.
Every time Naruto's speed created an opening, Sasuke found some tiny movement that bought enough time to survive it. A shoulder turn became a warning, a flexing leg became a direction, and a slight change in Naruto's breathing told Sasuke when another burst was coming.
Thirty seconds.
Sasuke's lungs started burning.
Forty.
His calves screamed.
Naruto attacked from behind.
Sasuke blocked.
Fifty.
Naruto's fist slipped past his guard and scraped his cheek.
Sasuke answered with a kick that caught Naruto's thigh before he could escape.
Fifty-five.
The Flash Anklet pulsed.
Naruto knew the minute was almost over.
So did Sasuke.
Neither backed down.
Naruto burst forward one final time.
Sasuke's Sharingan tracked him.
Punch.
Block.
Elbow.
Duck.
Knee.
Catch.
Sasuke drove his forehead into Naruto's.
THUNK!
Both stumbled backward.
The Flash Anklet went dark.
Silence.
Naruto rubbed his forehead.
Sasuke did the same.
"You headbutted me."
"You were faster."
"That's your solution?!"
"It worked."
Naruto considered that.
"...Fair."
Lee would have understood.
Guy definitely would have cried.
Kakashi simply watched Sasuke breathe.
The boy's legs shook.
His arms were heavy.
But he'd done it.
A full minute against speed his body initially couldn't match.
Not because the Sharingan magically made him faster.
Because three days of Kakashi forcing him to move while exhausted had taught his body how to keep functioning when every muscle wanted to stop.
Sasuke looked toward Naruto.
Naruto was smiling.
Not mockingly.
Excited.
That irritated Sasuke significantly more.
"You're better."
Sasuke frowned.
"What?"
Naruto rolled his shoulder.
"Than three days ago."
Sasuke's eyes narrowed.
"So are you."
Naruto smiled.
"Obviously."
There it was.
Sasuke attacked.
Naruto laughed and met him.
Their second exchange was uglier.
Both were tired now.
That made it better.
Sasuke's superior weapon technique became increasingly obvious as their physical speed dropped. Naruto could create strange trajectories with Shadow Shuriken and midair collisions, but Sasuke was simply cleaner with every throw.
Naruto sent four weapons from separate angles.
Sasuke threw three.
The first knocked Naruto's highest shuriken downward.
The second redirected another.
The third threaded between both altered trajectories and continued toward Naruto.
Naruto leaned away.
The blade sliced a thin line across his sleeve.
He stared.
"Show-off."
Sasuke smirked.
Naruto formed a hand seal.
"Shadow Clone Jutsu!"
Eight Narutos appeared.
Sasuke sighed.
"Again?"
The clones smiled.
"Nope."
Sasuke's expression changed.
The Narutos scattered.
Not toward him.
Around him.
One slapped a tag onto a tree.
Another placed one beneath a rock.
Two more stretched wire between trunks while the others attacked just enough to keep Sasuke occupied.
Jiraiya's eyebrow rose.
"Finally."
Kakashi glanced toward him.
"What?"
"He's using his head."
"Rare event."
Jiraiya nodded gravely.
"Very."
Sasuke destroyed two clones.
Then a third.
The fourth forced him left.
A tag flashed.
Sasuke jumped instinctively.
Nothing exploded.
His eyes widened.
Barrier.
The air hardened beneath his foot.
His balance shifted.
A wire snapped tight.
Sasuke twisted.
A kunai missed his ear by inches.
Naruto appeared ahead of him.
"Gotcha!"
Sasuke changed direction.
Another tag activated.
This one pulled.
Gravity surged sideways toward a nearby tree as Naruto's barrier provided the surface the formula needed.
Sasuke's body lurched.
His Sharingan widened.
He drove chakra through his feet and ripped himself free before the pull could pin him.
Naruto blinked.
"Huh."
Sasuke was already moving.
Naruto smiled.
"Okay."
The game changed again.
Sasuke stopped trying to avoid Naruto's trap network.
He attacked it.
A shuriken severed one wire.
A kunai struck the corner of a barrier tag before it finished activating.
Fire erupted across another section of grass, forcing one hidden Naruto clone to reveal himself before he could complete the next arrangement.
Naruto's eyes narrowed.
Sasuke was learning the field.
Fast.
That was the Sharingan's real problem.
Tricks became worse the second time.
Naruto sent two clones from opposite sides.
Sasuke ignored them.
His eyes were on the original.
Naruto realized it.
"So you found me."
"Your clones move differently."
Naruto frowned.
"They do not."
"That one protected the trap."
Sasuke pointed.
"That one protected you."
Naruto's eyes widened slightly.
Sasuke ran.
Naruto grinned.
'Smart bastard.'
Naruto formed hand seals.
Water surged across the ground.
Sasuke changed course before it reached him, jumping onto one of the wooden posts and immediately launching shuriken downward. Naruto blocked two and allowed a clone to take the third.
The clone vanished.
Naruto swept his hands forward.
Wind caught the water.
The surface exploded into a wide spray.
Sasuke's vision disappeared behind thousands of droplets.
Naruto moved.
He didn't need the Flash Anklet this time.
He needed uncertainty.
Three clones entered from different angles.
Sasuke's Sharingan searched through the water.
Movement.
Too much movement.
A fist emerged.
Sasuke blocked.
Clone.
Another attacked.
He destroyed it.
A kunai came through the spray.
He deflected it.
Naruto was behind that.
Sasuke ducked.
Naruto's Gale Pierce formed over one hand.
Sasuke's eyes widened.
The compressed wind tore a line directly towards Sasuke's center mass, a cut emerged along his guarded forearms as he was slided back significantly.
Naruto followed.
Sasuke landed directly beside one of the tags.
The seal activated.
A barrier snapped into place.
Another activated behind him.
Then a third.
Three surfaces.
Sasuke was boxed.
Naruto appeared beyond them.
"Done."
Sasuke looked around.
Then smiled.
Naruto's grin faded.
"Oh, come on."
Fire exploded outward.
BOOM!
The nearest barrier cracked.
Not broke.
Cracked.
Sasuke didn't attack it again.
He used the explosion.
The blast threw his body backward toward the second barrier. Sasuke twisted in midair, planted both feet against the chakra surface, and launched himself diagonally through the only incomplete section of Naruto's trap formation.
Jiraiya's eyes widened slightly.
Kakashi smiled beneath his mask.
Sasuke hit the ground running.
Naruto activated another tag.
Sasuke threw a kunai.
THUNK!
It pierced the parchment before Naruto's chakra reached it.
Another trap activated.
Sasuke jumped.
Wire appeared.
He slid underneath.
A gravity formula pulsed from the right.
Sasuke kicked off a tree before it fully caught him.
Naruto stared.
The entire trap field he'd spent the last minute building disappeared behind Sasuke in seconds.
"Okay."
Naruto's grin slowly returned.
"That's awesome."
Sasuke came straight toward him.
No tricks.
No detours.
His right hand began forming seals.
Naruto recognized them.
Ox.
Rabbit.
Monkey.
His eyes widened.
"Oh."
Lightning screamed.
CHIRP-CHIRP-CHIRP-CHIRP!
Chidori formed around Sasuke's hand.
Everyone at the edge of the clearing straightened.
Kakashi's eye sharpened.
Jiraiya stopped smiling.
Naruto stared at the lightning.
Then smiled.
Wind compressed around his own hand.
The air began screaming.
"Wind Release..."
Sasuke accelerated.
Naruto planted his foot.
"...Gale Pierce!"
The compressed wind sharpened, and instead of launching from his hand, it stayed. Wind natured chakra swirled to a precise point, a physical manifestation appearing in Naruto's hand
Chidori screamed louder.
Sasuke crossed the remaining distance.
Naruto surged forward.
Blue-white lightning.
Compressed wind.
Two boys.
Neither slowed.
Sakura's eyes widened.
"Wait."
Kakashi disappeared.
So did Jiraiya.
Naruto thrust forward.
Sasuke did the same.
Two hands caught their wrists.
BOOM!
Wind and lightning detonated upward.
Naruto's arm was ripped harmlessly toward the sky by Jiraiya.
Sasuke's Chidori buried itself into empty ground as Kakashi forced his wrist downward.
The earth exploded.
Everyone covered their faces.
Dust rolled through the clearing.
Then silence returned.
Naruto blinked.
Jiraiya was holding his wrist.
Sasuke looked sideways.
Kakashi had his.
Both boys breathed heavily.
Jiraiya looked at Kakashi.
Kakashi looked at Jiraiya.
Then both looked at their students.
Kakashi sighed.
"You two got a little carried away."
Naruto immediately pointed at Sasuke.
"He started it!"
Sasuke stared.
"You formed yours too."
"Because you were doing yours!"
"You could've moved."
"You could've not tried to stab me with lightning!"
"It's a piercing technique."
"THAT'S WORSE!"
Jiraiya released Naruto.
"Enough."
Naruto stopped.
Jiraiya looked between the two boys.
Then toward the destroyed clearing.
Broken trees.
Scorched earth.
Water everywhere.
Fūinjutsu tags hanging from branches.
A crater where Sasuke's Chidori had struck.
A small hole in the nearest cloud where the trajectory of Naruto's wrist was moved by Jiraiya.
The pervy sage rubbed his chin.
"Pretty good."
Kakashi's eye shifted toward him.
"Don't encourage them."
"I'm not."
Naruto and Sasuke both looked toward Jiraiya.
Jiraiya grinned.
"I'm encouraging Naruto."
Kakashi sighed.
Sasuke looked offended.
Naruto pointed both thumbs at himself.
"HA!"
Kakashi released Sasuke.
"Call it a draw."
Silence.
Naruto turned.
Sasuke turned.
"A draw?"
They spoke simultaneously.
Kakashi's visible eye curved.
"Neither of you won."
Naruto crossed his arms.
"I was definitely winning."
Sasuke scoffed.
"You were about to lose."
"My Gale Pierce would've destroyed your stupid bird hand!"
"Chidori would've gone through it."
"Would not!"
"Would."
"WOULD NOT!"
Jiraiya looked toward Kakashi.
"You deal with this often?"
"Constantly."
"Explains the book."
"Helps."
Around the clearing, the audience slowly relaxed.
Kiba was staring at the battlefield.
"What the hell happened to them?"
Shino adjusted his glasses.
"They trained."
"WE train!"
Shino looked at him.
Kiba frowned.
"...Yeah, okay. We need to train harder."
Hinata smiled.
That had been the entire point.
Nearby, Ino stared at Sasuke.
Then Naruto.
Then the destroyed training ground.
"Are Genin supposed to be able to do that?"
Asuma lit another cigarette.
"No."
Choji ate another chip.
"Cool."
Shikamaru closed his eyes.
"Troublesome."
Sakura hadn't said anything.
Her attention moved between her teammates.
Naruto had traps.
Sasuke had Chidori.
Both had become terrifyingly fast.
Anko's words returned to her.
If your opponent is stronger, cheat.
Sakura smiled slightly.
She had work to do.
Naruto dropped onto the grass.
Everything hurt.
That meant it had been awesome.
Sasuke sat several feet away.
Neither looked at the other.
For approximately ten seconds.
Naruto broke first.
"I would've won."
"No."
"My trap almost got you."
"It didn't."
"I was faster than you."
"For a minute."
Naruto frowned.
That was annoyingly true.
"You were struggling."
"I kept up."
"Struggling."
"Kept up."
Naruto opened his mouth.
Then stopped.
Sasuke looked toward him.
Naruto smiled.
"So three days?"
Sasuke understood immediately.
His mouth curved.
"Three days."
Kakashi heard them.
"No."
Both ignored him.
Jiraiya laughed.
PING!
Naruto froze.
His smile widened.
Sasuke noticed.
"You're doing that thing again."
"Shut up."
Naruto stared at the windows appearing before him.
Rival Battle Complete!
You fought Sasuke Uchiha to a draw in a full-power supervised spar!
Your Rival Growth Link has strengthened through direct competition!
Naruto sat straighter.
More notifications appeared.
Multi Shadow Clone Jutsu LVL 1 6/10 -> LVL 3 (8/30)
Trap Making LVL 5 (27/50) -> LVL 6 (10/60)
Shadow Shuriken Jutsu LVL 3 (24/30) -> LVL 5 (2/50)
Wind Release proficiency increased!
Repeated combat application against a skilled opponent has improved your timing, output control, and offensive use of Wind Release!
Wind Release Gale Pierce: LVL 4 (38/40) -> LVL 5 (43/50)
You successfully used Gale Pierce through multiple combat situations and adapted its use around terrain, water, clones, and Fūinjutsu traps!
Water Release proficiency increased!
Water Release: Tidal Wave: LVL 4 (02/40) -> LVL 4 (29/40)
You successfully used Water Release for defense, terrain manipulation, visual obstruction, and combination attacks!
Naruto grinned.
Sasuke narrowed his eyes.
"What?"
"Nothing."
"You're smiling."
"I'm allowed to smile."
Another window appeared.
Naruto's grin grew.
Another notification followed immediately.
Advanced Fūinjutsu LVL 2 (14/20) -> LVL 2 (18/20)
Naruto's eyes widened.
Your seal fundamentals were successfully applied under live combat pressure!
Barrier applications, gravity applications, trap sequencing, activation timing, environmental placement, and layered formula use have improved!
Jiraiya watched Naruto's expression change.
The brat was clearly experiencing whatever strange internal celebration he sometimes had.
Then Naruto nearly choked.
Naruto's mouth fell open.
Then came the reward.
Rival Milestone Achieved!
You have fought your primary rival at comparable strength and neither shinobi could decisively overcome the other!
Your rivalry growth link has evolved! Moderate/Unstable -> Advanced/Stable
The debuff has been removed from your growth link leading to sizeable stat increases when Sasuke experiences breakthroughs within battle!
Rewards:
+3 Strength
+4 Agility
+3 Endurance
+3 Intelligence
+2 Charisma
+150 System Points
Naruto stared.
Then—
PING!
Major Quest Complete
A Rival Worth Chasing
Primary Objectives:
Fight Sasuke Uchiha in a serious one-on-one spar.
Rewards:
+3 Strength
+3 Agility
+3 Endurance
+3 Intelligence
+100 System Points
Optional Objective — No One-Trick Ninja:
Successfully utilize at least five different combat skills or disciplines during the battle.
Reward:
+1 Intelligence
+25 System Points
Optional Objective — Make Him Adapt:
Force Sasuke to meaningfully alter his strategy in response to your techniques at least three times.
Reward:
+1 Agility
+1 Intelligence
+30 System Points
Optional Objective — Eyes Aren't Everything:
Successfully land three clean attacks after Sasuke activates his Sharingan.
Reward:
+2 Agility
+30 System Points
Hidden Objective: Force Sasuke into a draw!
Rewards:
Rival growth link Moderate/Unstable -> Advanced/Stable
One rare item box!
Hidden Objective: Best your rival in a one on one spar! (Failed)
Rewards:
+3 Luck!
+1 Skill evolution stone
Greatly reduced cost of lightning affinity in Shinobi Codex store!
+300 System points
Naruto slowly looked toward Sasuke.
Sasuke noticed.
"What?"
Naruto smiled.
"Nothing."
Sasuke's eyes narrowed.
Naruto lay back in the grass and put both hands behind his head.
The fight had been a draw.
Three days ago, that would've bothered him.
Now?
Naruto looked toward the clouds.
He'd gotten faster.
Smarter.
His seals had worked.
His elements had worked together.
And Sasuke had still found ways through all of it.
Naruto's grin returned.
That meant there was more to figure out.
Sasuke leaned backward beside him.
Neither spoke for a while.
Then Naruto glanced sideways.
"Next time I win."
Sasuke closed his eyes.
"Keep dreaming."
Naruto laughed.
The end of the month continued to creep closer. Day by day, spar by spar.
Name: Naruto Uzumaki
Village: Konohagakure
Rank: Experienced Genin
Stats
Strength: 74
Agility: 93
Endurance: 89 (+10%)
Intelligence: 91
Charisma: 62
Luck: 12
System Points: 695
Inventoryxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx
Flash Anklet - 20% move speed buff for 60 seconds, 300 second cooldown
Shinobi Mesh Undershirt - Reduced damage against slashing/piercing attacks, +10% physical and elemental damage resistance. Contains 4 sealing formula locations
Damaged Uzumaki Record (Fragment)
2 Medium Skill experience packs
Standard First Aid Kit
Basic Smoke Bombs x 5
Basic Shinobi Wire - 20 feet
Military Rations x 3
2 Soldier Pills - stamina/chakra boost at cost of extreme fatigue
Chakra Stabilization Band: +15% experience boost to Chakra Control training
Uzumaki Vital Surge Capsule: +50% END/AGI Special interaction. Massive chakra boost
x1 Rare item Box
Skillsxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx
Trap Making – LVL 5 (27/50)
Academy Taijutsu – LVL 7 (MAX)
Multi-Shadow Clone Jutsu – LVL 3 (8/30)
Shadow Shuriken Jutsu LVL 5 (2/50)
Tree Walking LVL MAX
Water Walking LVL 1 (5/10)
Advanced Fuinjutsu LVL 2 (18/20)
Wind Release: Cyclone LVL 6 (0/60)
Wind Release: Gale Pierce LVL 5 (43/50)
Water Release: Tidal Wave — LVL 4 (29/40)
Perks/Achievementsxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx
First Gamble (+1 Luck)
Poison Resistance - Grants a minor resistance to poisons
Seal Curious - +20% success rate when replicating seals, + 2 Intelligence
Words that Reach: +15% to convince enemies to change their current views!
Bathroom Bandit - +50% bonus to assassination success chance if target is using the bathroom!
Rival Growth Link - Advanced/Stable (Effect can grow stronger with increased relationship status)
Description: Sizeable stat gains when rival experiences breakthroughs in battle as well as the chance for bloodline Awakening fragments. Decreased cooperation due to current rival debuffs!
Wind Affinity Passive - Increased compatibility with wind-based techniques, Reduced chakra cost for wind jutsu, Enhanced cutting potential
Water Affinity Passive - Increased compatibility with water-based techniques, Reduced chakra cost for water jutsu, Enhanced water creation potential when not near a source of water!
Ramen Worshipper: +10% Bonus to Skill experience for (1) day after eating Ichiraku Ramen
Uzumaki Bloodline (Weak): 2/3 -> Next upgrade = Moderate.
Slight increase to Endurance and overall chakra capacity (10%)
Improved compatibility with fuinjutsu (+20% lvling speed for fuinjutsu related skills)
Uchiha's Personal Trainer!
When Sparring together, both user and Sasuke will experience a 25% experience boost to skills!
When facing the same opponent, all stats for both individuals will receive a 10% stat boost!
Konoha Native: Increased navigational awareness during times of stress while within Konoha limits!