The next day, we find Naruto assembled in the training ground of the academy, along with all the other students in his class, along with their parents, as the teacher who was a chunin got ready to make an announcement.
" Students, we are going to hold a small Taijutsu competition among you, to see how much you have improved over the break. The winner will get a brand new set of shuriken and kunai . Now let's start".
" The participants should come into the ring when I call their name. One of you wins when the other competitor is knocked out or pushed out of the Taijutsu arena. And to our delight, along with all your parents we also have the venerable Third Hokage sama as audience, so I want a clean competition and Sarutobi sama will be the judge ", the chunin who was probably the instructor, announced.
Naruto looked at the chunin with a scar on his nose, and though he felt familiar, he couldn't recall his name, but after a few seconds gave it up as irrelevant for now.
But he did have a brief fanboy moment when he saw the Third Hokage standing in front of them. That man was a living legend and one of the main reasons why Konoha came out the victor in three shinobi wars, even when facing the rest of the shinobi world alone. And though seeing him many might consider him weak, especially after the damage done to his chakra system during the Kyuubi attack, due to which he fully retired from being an active shinobi, Naruto was sure that this old man could still probably kick the asses of the majority of the present Konoha shinobi with his sheer experience alone. Because in Naruto's opinion, an old shinobi was a deadly shinobi. As you didn't survive to that age as an active shinobi, without being bloody good at what you do.
So, when all the students bowed in respect to the third Hokage, Naruto sincerely bowed low in genuine respect to this living legend.
" Well students, thank you for that and I wish you all the best! " Sarutobi said in his soothing dulcet voice, as he beamed happily at what he considered to be the future of Konoha. He knew that this bunch consisted of most of the next generation of the clan heirs of Konoha and was genuinely looking forward to seeing their potential.
Sarutobi was also looking forward to see how the boy he considered a honorary grandson and someone whom he hasn't seen since he woke up from his coma, due to being away from the village, was doing. He had heard from Tsunade that his entire personality had done a 180 turn after that tragic incident. And apparently Tsunade had been impressed at his work ethic. He searched the students for Naruto, and found him at the back of the group of students wearing a loose white T shirt and a pair of blue shorts and shin high ninja sandals. He didn't have his usual blinding smile on his face, but was instead surveying all his competitors with a razor sharp glance and Hiruzen could practically see the gears on his head turning as he worked out how to defeat every single one of them. That analytic gaze mixed with his red hair and purple eyes, reminded him somewhat of Arashi Uzumaki, the Storm God of Uzu, the Third and the Last Uzukage, the person who had personally killed both the Second Tsuchikage and the Second Mizukage during the invasion of Uzu. That man had been a beast of a shinobi. He had been saddened to hear that Naruto had lost all his memories, as it felt like losing his dear friend Arashi , all over again. He was determined to re cultivate his relation with his grandson, and if required then he would himself train him, as he was now a civilian and Minato couldn't order him not to train Naruto, like he could order Tsunade, using the excuse of giving away Naruto's identity.
" Infact, with their sunny attitude outside of battle, they do are alike in a way, but he is Naruto's grandfather, so maybe it is his genes ", Hiruzen wondered, as Iruka called on a pair of civilian children as the first contestants. And he couldn't help but shake his head in despair at how badly they fought. And to add to that, finally both of them fell out of the ring, making it a double knockout.
Sarutobi was broken from his musings when he saw Naruto being called on to fight his first match against Sasuke Uchiha, and Hiruzen was worried that this was it for Naruto, as Naruto had nowhere near the training that the Uchiha boy had.
Hearing that his first match was against Sasuke, Naruto kept a stoic face as he ignored jeers from classmates, calling him a dobe and saying how he was done for.
But inside, Naruto was cussing the chunin like a sailor, as he knew that it was a ploy to get him out as quickly as possible, because there was no way that the top student had been paired with the last ranked student, as till now all the contestants had been about equal in strength, even if all their performances had been pathetic, but they were all civilian born students till now. Sasuke was the first clan shinobi called on to fight. And seeing the smile on the chunin's face, confirmed Narito's suspicions that he had been set up for failure.
But he didn't let any of his feelings show on his face, as the first rule of being a shinobi was to not let your opponent know your emotions.
And while Naruto knew that Sasuke was stronger than him currently, atleast technique wise, he knew that he would face much stronger opponents in the future, and decided to think about this as his first test, to see if he could overcome them. He knew that he would have to be smart if he wanted to defeat Sasuke.
Looking at the cocky smirk on Sasuke's face as he assumed that he had already won, and what he knew about Sasuke's character from what little of the show that he had watched, he hit upon an idea, and decided to go with it. It might not work, but he didn't see any loss to him even if he lost. But if he won, then it would be a good confidence booster for him.
After making up his mind on his plan, Naruto entered the ring, stood opposite Sasuke, and got into academy stance as they both made the seal of confrontation.
Kushina's pov :-
Kushina's blood boiled in anger when she saw her son being jeered and heckled.
She knew that her son had been set up to fail, as she knew that he had ranked dead last in his first year at the academy.
But she couldn't do anything, so she just stood mutely, hoping that her son didn't get beaten too badly.
But to her surprise, there wasn't a single hint on Naruto's face, that the heckling was getting to him. He simply faced Sasuke with a small mischievous smirk on his face, which gave the impression that he knew something that you didn't know.
It brought painful flashbacks to Kushina, as it was like watching her father to her. He always used to have that expression on his face, when he used to spar with her.
There was a reason that she was especially fond of Naruto, among all her four children and it was because he looked exactly like her dear departed father.
She suddenly got the feeling that her son had some plan to deal with Sasuke, and so decided to watch the match carefully.
And another reason for her sudden confidence was the smirk on Tsunade's face, as she stood beside her.
" Tsunade, why are smirking like that? " Kushina asked.
But Tsunade just shook her head and said " see and you will find out", making Kushina pout in exasperation.
" Hajime! " Iruka shouted, indicating the start of the fight.
But everyone was surprised when Naruto immediately didn't rush at Sasuke, screaming that he would win. Instead he simply stood in his position and smiled softly at his opponent.
Seeing that the dobe was not rushing at him, Sasuke decided to needle him in order to make him rush at him, so that Sasuke could use his Uchiha Taijutsu to quickly defeat him.
" Why are you smiling dobe. I heard that you suffered from brain damage at the end of last year. Did that rob you of what limited intelligence you had, but then you never did have a brain, so I don't see how that is possible ", Sasuke jeered at Naruto, confident that he would come rushing at him.
But instead, Naruto just smirked and said " you can call me dobe all you want. But I can say that I had no training from anyone. But despite belonging to the oh so prestigious Uchiha clan, you are surprisingly weak. I heard that your brother already had the sharingan and was a genin by our age. But you, you are nothing compared to your brother. I guess you are the useless brother and he is the genius one! ".
And immediately Sasuke saw red, as all his insecurities reared their head, and he dashed towards Naruto at full speed and was satisfied to see that Naruto seemed to be frozen in place, and just as he was ready to punch his face in with a straight jab, Naruto suddenly bent his body backward, and with his palms on the ground behind him, he launched a textbook rising kick with his full strength to Sasuke's jaw, and Sasuke who had been caught completely unaware, couldn't do anything as his entire head rocked with pain and his body was lifted into the air by a few inches. And before he could regain his balance and block out the pain, Naruto appeared behind him and with a strong kick to his ass, the slightly disoriented Sasuke was launched out of the ring.
" Shousa, Naruto! " Iruka announced with a stupefied expression on his face, as his plan backfired spectacularly and his top student was knocked out in the first round itself and that demon won the match.
Sasuke got up from the ground, with a footprint on the ass of his white shorts, and took in the shocked whispers as he realized that he had lost to the class dobe, making him see red in anger as he saw Naruto's amused face, and he was about to charge at Naruto, when he felt a strong hand on his shoulder and he looked besides him to see his brother Itachi and his father Fugaku looking at him with a disappointed expression on his face, making him stop his charge and look to the ground in shame.
And seeing the complete success of his plan, Naruto just smirked in satisfaction as he returned to the line of students who progressed to the next round.
Audience pov :-
Seeing the gobsmacked looks on all the clan heads and the smouldering glare on Fugaku's face, Tsunade smirked as she watched her godson clinically take apart the cocky Uchiha brat.
" That kick on the ass was the icing on the cake! Pfft,Ha ha ha !" Tsunade burst out laughing, as after all she was a Sanju and seeing a arrogant Uchiha prick get his ass kicked, literally, had her in stitches.
And while Kushina also wanted to support her son openly, she knew that she couldn't do it as Sasuke was the son of her best friend and it would be weird if she openly cheered his defeat, so she silently cheered on her son. That trash talk by her son was exactly like her, as Minato was more of a silent shinobi, and she was bursting with joy as she saw that her son was taking after her. She wondered if he would be interested in learning Kenjutsu, or any others weapon for that matter.
Hiruzen was smirking as he saw the expert beat down by Naruto. He was impressed by the way Naruto had perfectly targeted Sasuke's ego and insecurities and he was even more impressed with the way Naruto had not given time to his opponent to recover and finished it quickly, as Hiruzen knew that Sasuke was technically superior to Naruto and he would have won in a prolonged exchange. But Naruto had taken advantage of the rules, to kick his opponent out of the ring, to win the fight. But he did feel slightly sorry for the Uchiha boy, as he saw the thunderous expression on Fugaku's face and the small tears on the boy's face as Itachi and Mikoto consoled him. But then again, you should be ready to accept what you so readily dish out to others.
But Hiruko Uzumaki Namikaze was fuming at the humiliation meted out to her friend by the class dobe, and vowed to kick is ass if she fought him. Sasuke had been her friend from when she was little and she knew that he was very insecure and this humiliation would definitely not help that.
And the other Sasuke fan girls were all also fuming at Naruto and were shocked at Sasuke's loss, but they all chalked it up to a fluke, and they all vowed to beat up Naruto, when they saw him softly crying in his mother's embrace.
And Uchiha Fugaku was fuming as he saw the utter humiliation of his son by the demon brat, as Mikoto and Itachi tried their best to console Sasuke who had started crying on seeing his father's expression. They knew that Sasuke always tried to get his father's approval, and had unfortunately started adopting many of his unsavoury characteristics like his unwanted pride and looking down on anyone who was not an Uchiha. They just hoped that this defeat would curb his ego a little.
Shizune just smiled softly as she saw the person whom she saw as a little brother, being victorious.
Naruto found himself winning the next two matches with ease, as his opponents barely provided him with a challenge.
And now it was time for his next match and it was against Hiruko Uzumaki Namikaze, and he was mentally preparing himself for this match, as there was no way that the daughter of the Yellow Flash and the Red Death, was not trained atleast a little bit by them, which was definitely more than any training that he had.
Mentally psyching himself for the upcoming match, Naruto got into position and put his game face on.
Seeing Naruto get into his stance, Hiruko looked at him angrily, as she remarked.
" I am going to smash your face, Naruto. You didn't have to insult Sasuke like that, ttebasa! ", she remarked.
" Well, he should have kept his mouth shut then, instead of mouthing off to me. His ego was making claims that his skills coudnt cash, and so he got what he deserved, and you can stop being indignant on behalf of the crybaby, as he is no victim. Now stop trash talking and get ready to bite the dust ", Naruto remarked in a non nonsense tone, making Hiruko seethe in anger, as though what Naruto was saying was true, Sasuke was her friend and she would avenge him.
And as soon as Iruka signalled the start of the match, she attacked him with a rapid barrage of punches and kicks, which he struggled to defend against and he had to take several steps back to give himself room to breathe and recover from a strong blow to his gut, which had winded him a little.
But Hiruko was in no mood for mercy as she kept advancing on him continuously, making Naruto himself take several steps back.
And just as Hiruko thought that she could knock Naruto out of the arena, he suddenly slapped aside her double punch and making use of the opening, he blurred forward with more speed than he had demonstrated this far, and buried a fist in her solar plexus and while she was winded from the punch, he wrapped both hands around her waist and executed a German suplex and bending backwards he threw her out of the ring, earning himself another upset victory, as he defeated the Hokage's daughter, by making her underestimate his speed and reflexes, and baiting her to come near the edge of the ring, by making her believe that she had him where she wanted, all the while falling into her trap. Though he did take a few strong blows which he could have avoided, as while reasonably fast, Hiruko's moves were all telegraphed,but he still let a few blows hit on his body, to sell the ruse.
Audience pov :-
" That was beautiful. He played her from the start till the end. Even the blows which she hit him with, most of them he allowed to land, so that he could deceive Hiruko chan. That boy is brilliant. He managed to lure her to just where he wanted her and then took her down with just two moves. And though they wouldn't hurt her, she still lost the match. The boy eliminated her endurance from the equation entirely ", Sarutobi said to Tsunade and Kushina who were standing beside him.
" Yeah, the way he planned all that, reminds me of Orochimaru", Tsunade remarked.
On seeing a glare directed at her from Kushina for the comparison, Tsunade just lifted her hands in surrender and was about to defend herself, but instead Sarutobi responded.
" Don't take it the wrong way, Kushina. Whatever Orochimaru might have become later on, remember that he was a nearly unparalleled genius in the shinobi arts. He became a S ranked shinobi with no backing from any clan, and only through his own efforts And my training.And so it is a good thing that Naruto takes after him in intellect, as it will aid him greatly ", Hiruzen remarked, and Kushina cooled down, though she was incredibly proud of the way Naruto had taken down a clearly superior opponent by tricking them thoroughly.
" I am proud of my Naru chan, but I wonder how Hiruko will take this loss, as Minato and Jiraiya have clearly spoiled her, especially Minato, as he tries to make up for not being able to take care of our son, by spoiling Hiruko", Kushina said.
" Do you think that Naru chan will win? ' Kushina asked.
" Maybe. I believe that he can. But in the final match which is next, he will have to face Tsume's son and all the Inuzuka are Taijutsu specialists, so Naruto kun will be at a disadvantage. But we have seen how cunning he can be, so we can't rule out his chances just yet", Tsunade said.
" That boy is crafty. He won both his difficult matchups , while giving away nothing about his skills. I didn't know that he was this shrewd. How troublesome? " Shikaku Nara, the Nara clan head muttered to his son who was standing beside him after forfeiting a match.
" He was always this crafty. You remember how much shrewd he would have to be to pull off some of his pranks, don't you? But now he is applying it to his shinobi skills. He would be a troublesome foe to fight! ", Shikamaru exclaimed.
" Well atleast something good came of that debacle", Choza Akimichi, the Akimichi clan head remarked, as he cast a sideways glance at Inoichi, who didn't meet his glance, as he knew that if not for being his daughter, his daughter Ino would have had her chakra sealed and kicked out of the shinobi program. And while he knew that it was unfair to Naruto, he couldn't not do anything, as Ino was his one and only child. He just hoped that she learned something from that event.
Final : Naruto vs Kiba Inuzuka
" Hajime! " Iruka shouted.
And Naruto had to immediately fend off a whirlwind of claws and fists, an Kiba attacked him like an enraged animal.
Naruto managed to evade most of the blows by swaying out of the way, but some of the blows made contact, and there were a few cuts on his body which were bleeding from Kiba's sharp nails and there were also a few good bruises on his body. And Naruto himself had also landed a few good blows, and Kiba had one of his eyes swollen shut due to a perfect upper cut from Naruto.
Naruto finally got his chance to end the match, when Kiba fell into a trap and taking advantage of an opening in Naruto's guard, he kicked at Naruto's midsection, and instead of trying to dodge, Naruto let it land and immediately latched onto the leg with both hands and immediately kicked Kiba in his balls, making him collapse on the ground and curl up into the foetal position and not wasting any time Naruto picked him up and threw him out of the arena, winning himself the competition.
" That was brutal! " was the thought going through everyone's minds as all the gents immediately closed their legs when Naruto landed his blow.
" Naruto, how dare you land such a cheap blow! I should disqualify you! " Iruka shouted in anger, at having his plan completely backfire and the demon brat winning.
" Oh can it! you idiot. There is no such thing as a cheap blow. I am a shinobi. I saw an opening and took it. Nothing else. I am not a samurai, to consider myself with ridiculous concepts like honour in combat. I didn't break any rules and I won. That's all there is to it! " Naruto exclaimed in anger at Iruka's obvious bias.
" Naruto kun is right, Iruka. What are you teaching these children if they think that there is honor in combat. You only care about winning, nothing else. And Naruto kun is the winner, there is no doubt about it ", Hiruzen declared with a proud glint in his eyes, as he was happy that Naruto had grasped the lesson that there was no such thing as a cheap trick in combat. Only fools complain about such things . That was the first lesson that Tobirama sensei had thought his team.
" Well done brat. You defeated all the so called geniuses with just one month of basic training and your shrewd brain ", Tsunade congratulated her godson, and ruffled his hair playfully.
" Thank you Tsunade San! " Naruto said.
" Yes, you did very well, Naruto kun! ", Kushina said as she congratulated her son, while trying to keep her emotions in check.
" Thank you Kushina san! ", Naruto said, making Kushina choke in sorrow at Naruto addressing her formally like that and not as Kaa chan.
But thankfully for Kushina, Hiruzen came to her rescue, as he diverted Naruto's attention from Kushina, by giving him his prize.
And then all the students were sent back to their homes after Tsunade and Shizune healed everyone's injuries. And Naruto immediately scramped from the academy to get on with his own training for the day.