"Alright."
The instructor spoke, cutting off their bickering. He turned toward Uchiha Sasuke and said,
"Your opponent will be Nara Shikamaru. You two—"
"Teacher."
Before he could finish, Nara Shikamaru lazily raised his hand.
"I haven't fully mastered the Replacement Technique yet. I'm no match for Sasuke-kun… I forfeit."
"..."
The instructor stared at Shikamaru, momentarily speechless at his complete lack of motivation. In the end, he could only sigh and have the next pair step forward.
Sasuke looked a little disappointed. He had wanted a chance to show off, but Shikamaru clearly wasn't the opponent he was interested in anyway, so he quickly lost interest.
The remaining sparring sessions passed uneventfully.
No one used clever tricks like Naruto had, and no one displayed anything particularly eye-catching.
Soon, the practical session ended, and dismissal time arrived.
Because he was in an excellent mood, Naruto treated himself to Ichiraku Ramen that night—two large bowls in one sitting.
He noticed, vaguely, that he seemed to be eating more than before.
Night fell.
After Naruto fell asleep, his consciousness once again returned to the sealed space.
"Big Fox! I'm back!"
Naruto stood before the sealing gate, shouting excitedly,
"Come out and chat! I learned Ninjutsu today! I was the first in the whole class, and I even beat my opponent in practical training!"
He was clearly eager to share his brilliant performance at the Academy.
"Stop yelling."
The Nine-Tails appeared behind the seal, looking thoroughly unimpressed.
"This old man already knows. You learned a basic Replacement Technique and beat a brat."
To it, the so-called practical exercise was nothing more than children playing house.
"Eh? You know already?"
Naruto blinked, then suddenly realized and scratched his head.
"Oh right—you said you can perceive what's happening outside after we bumped fists."
"It's perception, not sight."
The Nine-Tails corrected him coolly, then lay down lazily.
"When can you return to that other world again?"
Compared to Naruto's childish Academy activities, it was far more interested in the world beyond.
"I don't know either…"
Naruto's excitement faded immediately. He sat down in front of the gate and sighed.
"To go back, I need to get something called a qualification."
"What qualification?" the Nine-Tails asked at once.
"I don't know."
Naruto shook his head, then clenched his fists, his eyes shining with determination.
"But I'll definitely get it. I promised Yamato that I'd go out to sea with her!"
"Is that so…"
The Nine-Tails pondered briefly, then said,
"If you encounter trouble, this old man can lend you strength."
"Mm! Thank you, Big Fox!"
Naruto nodded seriously, then looked at it hopefully.
"We're friends now, right? Can you tell me your name?"
"Hmph. Who said we're friends?"
The Nine-Tails snorted—but unlike before, it didn't retreat into the darkness. Instead, it continued listening as Naruto rambled on about his day.
The next morning.
Naruto went to the Academy in high spirits.
Today's lesson was the Transformation Technique, one of the Three Body Techniques.
Just like with the Replacement Technique, Naruto mastered it after seeing the demonstration once—again becoming the first in class.
However, Transformation Technique wasn't suitable for combat practice, so the instructor didn't arrange sparring. Instead, he moved on directly to the final technique—
Clone Technique.
Clone Technique creates one or more illusory copies of the caster. These clones have no physical substance and can only be used to deceive opponents, making them easy to see through.
Even so, it was the most difficult of the Three Body Techniques.
Yet Naruto still succeeded in one try.
Not only that—he produced five clones at once.
He was once again the fastest learner and the one with the highest number of clones, drawing astonished looks from everyone.
Especially from a certain pale-eyed girl hidden in the crowd, whose gaze sparkled faintly as she watched him.
I really might be a genius… Naruto thought proudly.
"Alright."
The instructor clapped his hands.
"Next is practical training. The requirement is to perform all Three Body Techniques once."
After scanning the class, he called out,
"Uzumaki Naruto. Uchiha Sasuke. You two will demonstrate."
"Oh!~"
Naruto raised his hand excitedly and turned toward Sasuke.
"Hmph."
Sasuke snorted softly and stepped forward, his confident posture immediately earning gasps of admiration from the pink-haired and blonde girls.
"Sasuke-kun is so cool!"
"Hmph… show-off."
Naruto muttered, then jumped in front of Sasuke, pointing at him.
"Sasuke, I'm already annoyed today. You'd better watch yourself!"
"You're the one who should be careful," Sasuke shot back coldly.
"Enough. Both of you, shut up and prepare."
The instructor stepped between them, raised his hand, then brought it down sharply.
"Begin!"
The moment the signal was given, both Naruto and Sasuke formed hand seals at the same time.
"Clone Technique!"
Two voices rang out simultaneously.
Sasuke produced three clones.
Naruto produced five.
"Haha! I've got more people than you!"
Naruto laughed loudly and charged forward together with his clones.
"Transformation Technique!"
While running, two Narutos simultaneously formed seals.
In the next instant, one of them transformed into Sasuke's appearance, attempting to blend in among Sasuke's clones.
But the real Sasuke only sneered coldly.
"Idiot. That's way too obvious."
A clone created by Clone Technique couldn't use Ninjutsu.
This wasn't a Shadow Clone.
The real Sasuke rushed forward and punched the fake Sasuke squarely in the face.
Bang!
The figure instantly turned into a log.
"…What?!"
Sasuke's eyes widened in shock.
Then he heard triumphant laughter from behind him.
"Haha! You're the idiot!"
Naruto's voice rang out.
"Take this punch!"