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~ I'm planning to increase the number of advanced chapters to +18 this weekend!
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"Yatta-dattebayo!" the orphan yelled and fist-pumped gleefully.
Warning! Your [Relationship] with Toji Mizuki cannot go any lower!
Naruto rolled his eyes as he walked away, closing the screen with a twitch of a finger. As if he cared about what Mizuki thought of him. If the man wanted to cause trouble with him, the blond boy would fight back. It was as simple as that.
'Naruto-kun…' Hinata blushed and poked her fingers together. 'So cool…'
Sakura was surprised that Naruto had done so well against Mizuki-sensei. The pinkette had sparred against him on a more frequent basis since her victory against Ino and never won a single time, but this was different. Even Sasuke-kun had been forced to push himself against a chunin-level opponent, but Naruto wasn't even breathing hard.
'Jeez, Iruka-sensei was right; he is a stamina nut!' the pinkette thought with a shake of her head.
The Last Uchiha smirked at his rival's victory. That was very precise taijutsu that Naruto had just used, a very good use of the standard Hakage kata, with a few things thrown in that were obviously Naruto's own twist on the style. No matter how good it was, it was no match for the Uchiha's Sekkendō (Intercepting Fist) style.
'Get a new style, Dobe. I want a strong rival to try my hand against.' The young Uchiha smirked as the taijutsu sparring came to an end and the class trooped back to the classroom for the last section of the genin exam…the ninjutsu portion.
With the Hokage and the Jonin
"He's gotten better at taijutsu since I last sparred with him." Asuma mentioned to his father. The former member of the Twelve Guardian Shinobi had his hands in his pockets as he observed the crystal ball that the Hokage was using his Tōmegane no Jutsu on.
"He has indeed." Sarutobi smirked at his son. "Naruto-kun has come a long way in such a short period of time."
'Minato…Kushina…you would be so proud of him.' he thought sadly.
"Most of the rest aren't exactly standing out, aside from the clan kids." A silver-haired man with his hitai-ate pulled down over one eye said disinterestedly.
"That pink-haired girl did well on the written portion…she got full marks according to this." A black-haired woman wearing what looked like a bundle of temple sutras observed, waving a page.
"Haruno Sakura. Currently this year's Top Kunoichi." The Hokage informed her. "Her intelligence is very impressive, and her skill with genjutsu is strong, but her other scores are about average. She has been training with Naruto-kun recently and has improved her physical condition. She has quite a lot of potential as either a genjutsu mistress or as a Med-nin."
Yūhi Kurenai raised an eyebrow, slightly impressed. As the acknowledged Genjutsu Mistress of Konoha, she was more aware than anyone of how hard to attain such skills were. The exacting chakra control needed to craft illusions of the highest calibre was something most ninja and kunoichi were incapable of, aside from the Uchiha, who merely had to look once at any sort of technique and copy it with their Sharingan. With the only Uchiha loyal to the Leaf more inclined to ninjutsu than genjutsu, she doubted her position as the preeminent genjutsu expert was in any danger.
Med-nin had just as exacting chakra requirements as a genjutsu mistress did, except they were also required to have in-depth knowledge of not only the human anatomy at a level that surpassed most assassination specialists, but also a deep amount of focus, as a single fluctuation of chakra at an inopportune moment could spell disaster for their patients.
"So who's getting who?" Asuma asked curiously. "You've been playing things pretty close to your vest, Oyaji."
"Unfortunately, the ANBU have been investigating the Academy recently." Sarutobi sighed. "Unbeknownst to me, standards have slipped. The Academy is not as good now as it was even five years ago. Through no fault of their own, I fear this crop will need additional training before they are up to standard."
The muttering of the jonin went up a notch.
"Such as?" Hatake Kakashi asked, his one visible eye sharpening as he regarded the soon-to-be genin.
"To grab a random example, out of all of them, only Uzumaki Naruto has been blooded against chakra mutations, since the Academy cancelled the final year trip to a semi-saturated training ground 'out of concern for their innocence' or some such drivel." The Hokage stated lowly, his tone radiating disapproval and more than a bit of frustration. "Naruto-kun has been clearing Training Ground 13 for the past few months and is in the process of clearing the third sub-area."
"If what I've heard about that particular training ground is true then it's an impressive accomplishment." The silver-haired jonin said with a nod before turning from the globe to give the Hokage a curious look. "So what genius is going to be having a nice talk with Ibiki and Anko-chan about sabotaging our precious little recruits?"
"Several members of the Merchant Council and the Headmaster of the Academy." Sarutobi said with a bite of sharp satisfaction in his voice. "Another area which is in need of addressing is shinobi tactics and strategy. Just about the only ones in this class who understand what a shinobi is supposed to act like are the Nara and Aburame Heirs. So, this is what I am proposing…"
Back with Iruka
"Haruno Sakura!" the scarred chunin called out. He was looking forward to this, as Naruto had hinted over the past month that Sakura had some kind of secret weapon tucked up her non-existent sleeve for this exam. Iruka had to admit that his curiosity was somewhat piqued.
"Hai, sensei!" the pinkette said as she came down from her seat to stand in front of him and Mizuki.
'Mizuki…what has happened to you…?' Iruka thought mournfully, casting a sad glance to where his old friend was sitting next to him. Even when they were still Academy students Mizuki had always been sarcastic and had a bit of a dark streak, but since the start of the year Iruka had started to notice all sorts of incongruities about him and the way he acted, especially in regards to Naruto.
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