"You're graduating early?"
Uchiha Sasuke, who had somehow learned about Naruto's early graduation, found him out of breath, wanting to confirm it in person.
"Yes!"
Naruto nodded and said,
"There's nothing left for me to learn at the Ninja Academy, so I'm graduating early. After that, I'll leave the Village with my new teacher to train."
"New teacher? Leave the Village?"
Sasuke heard two more pieces of news he didn't know, and his expression instantly turned incredulous. He said with extreme unwillingness,
"Damn it, why are you the only one who gets a new teacher and can leave the Village?!"
Those last two pieces of news made Sasuke completely overlook the fact that Naruto could graduate early—or rather, deep down, he had already acknowledged that Naruto was qualified to do so. He just couldn't accept it.
But having a personal teacher and being allowed to leave the Village to train almost made Sasuke lose his composure.
Even his brother hadn't received such treatment back then!
"Because I'm a genius!" Naruto grinned proudly.
"…"
Sasuke couldn't refute that reason. No matter how unwilling he was, he had to admit that Naruto was a genius.
Graduating early after only one month of enrollment had already broken the Ninja Academy's fastest graduation record since its establishment—a record that might never be broken again.
"Naruto, let's fight again!"
Sasuke suddenly stepped forward, closing the distance between them, and said with burning eyes,
"A fight where we use our full strength. I want to know how far apart we really are!"
"A fight is fine, but using full strength…" Naruto looked conflicted and didn't finish his sentence—but Sasuke immediately understood.
"Bastard, stop looking down on me!" Sasuke glared at Naruto angrily. "This time, I'll definitely… definitely make you use your full strength!"
"Alright then."
Naruto looked at Sasuke's expression and nodded helplessly. He didn't agree because he had expectations for Sasuke's strength, but because he saw a shadow of his former self in him.
As for whether Sasuke could make him use his full strength… Naruto truly had no expectations at all.
Facts quickly proved Naruto was right.
"How can this be…"
Sasuke lay on the ground, staring blankly at the sky. He then turned his gaze to Naruto standing beside him and asked unwillingly,
"Damn it, I've trained so hard—so why can't I even see your back? Why?!"
Three moves.
He had only lasted three moves against Naruto before being mercilessly knocked down, and he could clearly feel that Naruto had held back.
In other words, the gap between them had not only failed to shrink—it might have grown even wider.
The more Sasuke thought about it, the more painful it became, until tears finally began to fall.
"…"
Naruto looked at the teary-eyed Sasuke. After thinking carefully, he cautiously said, "Maybe… it's because I'm a hundred times more diligent than you."
"Impossible!"
Sasuke immediately refuted him. "To beat you, I've used all my free time for training! How could you possibly be a hundred times more diligent than me?!"
"That's not it."
Naruto shook his head and then, without holding back, explained Shadow Clone training to Sasuke and how he used Shadow Clones to multiply his training efficiency.
Of course, saying "a hundred times" was an exaggeration. Recently, he had only been training with ten Shadow Clones. It wasn't that he couldn't use more—it was that Jiraiya had limited him to ten for now.
"Shadow Clone… it actually has that kind of effect?!"
Sasuke stood frozen for a long time. Then he suddenly jumped up, grabbed Naruto by the collar, and shouted furiously,
"Damn it! So you've been using this cheating method all along! No wonder you got so strong so fast!"
Why didn't you tell me earlier that there was a training method like this?!
"This isn't cheating."
Naruto calmly patted Sasuke's hand away and said,
"Training with Shadow Clones isn't something just anyone can do. You'll understand if you try it yourself."
Setting aside the Ninjutsu itself, the Chakra required just to maintain Shadow Clones was enough to stop most Ninja from using this method.
Based on Naruto's assessment, Sasuke's current Chakra reserves probably couldn't support it yet.
"I'll try it even if you hadn't told me!"
Sasuke said stubbornly. He stared at Naruto with a complex expression for a moment, then spoke with burning determination.
"Naruto, I'll train even harder—harder than you. Next time we meet, I definitely won't lose to you. Definitely!"
"And… thank you."
Sasuke turned away, muttered those last words, and walked off with his hands in his pockets, never looking back.
"…"
Naruto watched Sasuke's retreating figure, his lips curling slightly. He whispered,
"Looks like I got a pretty nice farewell gift."
For the first time, Naruto felt that the boring Ninja Academy hadn't been completely useless after all.
However…
After Sasuke disappeared, Naruto suddenly turned and glanced at a large tree nearby. Then, imitating Sasuke, he put his hands in his pockets and swaggered away.
Moments later, a figure wearing a Ninja uniform with the Uchiha clan's fan symbol—tear troughs marking his face—emerged from behind that tree.
"Was I discovered?"
The figure gazed in the direction Naruto had left, murmuring softly, his expression unreadable.
The next morning, at the Ninja Academy.
The Third Hokage, Hiruzen Sarutobi, personally presided over Naruto's early graduation ceremony and placed the Konoha headband on his forehead himself.
"Congratulations on your graduation, Naruto. From today onward, you are a true Konoha Ninja."
After tying the headband, Hiruzen gently ruffled Naruto's hair and said with a benevolent smile,
"Although you are only leaving the Village temporarily, I hope you will always remember the spirit of the Will of Fire and uphold the responsibility and resolve of a Konoha Ninja."
"Isn't that obvious?"
Naruto adjusted the headband, looked up, gave Hiruzen a thumbs-up, and said with his familiar grin,
"I'm Uzumaki Naruto—the Ninja who will become Hokage someday and surpass all the Hokage who came before!"
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