Then it was Shikamaru versus Kin.
Shikamaru, while pretending to use shuriken to pin her down, calculated the position of each of her jumps, the angles of the surrounding walls, and the length of the shadows cast by the light on the ground.
When he felt the solution to the equation was about ready, he let his shadow extend from the edge of the oil lamp's silhouette—which had been perfectly elongated by the sunlight right next to her legs—and grabbed Kin's legs.
Kin was controlled by Shikamaru and sent rushing toward the wall. After her forehead hit the stone wall with a dull thud, she slid down and passed out.
The display board scrolled again.
Naruto versus Kiba.
The moment the matchup list appeared, the corners of Naruto's lips curled slightly. He turned his head to look at Kiba, who was standing not far away, feeding Akamaru a military ration pill.
"Kiba, I didn't expect us to actually meet."
"Hmph, just you wait. I'm definitely going to beat you until you're crawling on the ground." Kiba tilted his chin to the sky, and wore a confident smile.
He was now able to coordinate with Akamaru to use the Beast Mimicry Ninjutsu and the Beast Human Clone. The Inuzuka clan's system of Ninjutsu had quite strong suppression power against ninjas of the same level in close-quarters combat.
"Naruto-kun, good luck." Hinata stood behind Kiba and said timidly.
"Hey, Hinata, you're only cheering for Naruto and not for me?" Kiba said.
"Ah! No... that's not it, Kiba, good luck too."
Hinata waved her hands frantically in front of her chest, her face red.
Naruto nodded at Hinata.
The red on Hinata's face spread from the tips of her ears down to her neck. Her fingers twisted together, and she said in a soft voice, "Naruto-kun, good luck... I will watch carefully."
Naruto smiled.
He vaulted over the railing, and landed on one side of the circular arena.
Kiba followed closely behind and jumped down. Before he hit the ground, Akamaru jumped off his head onto the floor, landing on all fours and barking at Naruto.
At this moment, as the two stood at opposite ends of the arena, all eyes in the stands were focused on them.
Hiruzen's fingers tapped lightly on the armrest of his chair, his gaze passing through the curling smoke to land on Naruto.
Kakashi was in the sealing room suppressing Sasuke's Cursed Seal, so there was no Jonin team leader standing on the sidelines to back Naruto up, but Hiruzen was not worried.
He wanted to know just how much this child, who was becoming more and more like Minato, could demonstrate in a real battle.
Kurenai stood by the second-floor railing with her arms crossed, her gaze shifting from Naruto to Hinata and back again.
As Hinata's Jonin team leader, she had seen the tone Naruto used when speaking to Hinata just now very clearly. His attitude toward Hinata was clearly different from how he treated others. That kind of concern was not just polite banter between teammates.
Kakashi had told her before that Naruto had changed quite a bit recently, and now it seemed it wasn't just his strength that had changed.
Gaara stood in a dimly lit corner on the second floor, his arms crossed over his chest.
He stared at Naruto in the center of the arena, recalling that brief encounter on the streets of Konoha. Naruto had said to him, "We might be the same kind of person."
'The same kind of person...' Gaara repeated these words in his mind several times.
Now he wanted to see just how much strength this Konoha Genin, who claimed to be the same kind of person as him, really had.
Kiba crossed his arms. "Naruto, now I'll let you know just how hard the fists of the great Inuzuka Kiba are."
"Akamaru, let's go!"
"Come on!" Naruto walked toward the center of the arena.
"The eighth match, Uzumaki Naruto versus Inuzuka Kiba."
"Begin!"
The moment Hayate's voice fell, Kiba's body began to change.
Click, click...
His Chakra exploded from his body, rushing at high speed along the Chakra pathways of his limbs. The bones in his fingers and toes made sounds under the stimulation of his Chakra.
Kiba's nails grew longer and harder. His posture changed from upright to on all fours, his back arched like a dog preparing to pounce.
Four Legs Technique!
Swish!
Kiba's limb muscles bulged under the reinforcement of his Chakra as he lunged at Naruto with top speed. But only dust swirled in the wind where Naruto had been standing.
Kiba's beast-like pupils constricted suddenly. His nose had captured Naruto's movement faster than his eyes.
Left?
No, it's behind to the right!
Kiba twisted his waist to turn but before his body had fully turned, Naruto had already appeared behind him.
So fast!
Shikamaru's fingers, resting on the rail, tightened involuntarily.
He had imagined Naruto would get stronger. In his predictive model, Naruto would likely be able to hold out for a few rounds against Kiba and then turn the tables using the sheer number of Shadow Clones.
But the speed Naruto was displaying now had completely jumped out of his range of deduction.
The reactions of the few Jonin were more complex than those of the examinees.
Asuma, who had been holding a cigarette in his mouth, took it out after seeing Naruto's instantaneous movement and held it suspended in mid-air.
Kurenai's brows arched slightly, a hint of undisguised surprise flashing in her pupils.
That technique of concentrating Chakra at the soles of the feet was not something a Genin could master, nor was it even a technique a Chunin could use proficiently.
This method of exerting force, the precision of Chakra distribution, the near-zero transition time from stillness to top speed—this was clearly a technique only Jonin possessed.
No, it was even more proficient and fluid than a Jonin's.
Guy stood in place with his arms crossed, his gaze a few shades more serious than usual.