A/N: Hello, guys! Welcome to the next chapter. I know I have problems with grammars, but to say truthfully using Past Tense to write story is a total pain. Either way, I will answer some questions from the reviews.
Yeah, Bunta's Subaru Impreza was supposed to have turbocharger, however for the sake of Naruto's training he replaced with NA one, but don't worry he will return the OG engine in Ashinoko GT round.
As for the Godly Fifteen list, it's like this:
Ishigami Fuujin
Michael Beckenbaur
Sakamoto Yuudai
Ohtani Yohsuke
Aiba Shun
Yanagida Takuya
Oishi Daigo
Jackson Taylor
Emile Hänninen
Akaba Kaito
Uzumaki Naruto
Yashio Kakeru
Maezono Kaezuhiro
Kitahara Nozomi
Katagiri Kanata
Oh, I also need to apologise for the previous chapter. I thought there was not enough place to put Maezono in, so I removed him in the previous chapter. But he will be in the race. Naruto basically replaced that Natsume guy that we have never seen his face.
As for why despite Naruto's insane driving the computer A.I didn't put the attention flag on him. That's because the computer deemed his driving to be not realistic, since he could control his speed completely due to his special vision, that didn't recieve tunnel vision at high speed. That was also the reason why he could drive in Death Area without deceleration. He paid attention to the side window and remembered the smallest detail on the turning corner from the demo run. It was kinda inferior then Kanata's idetic memory during poor visibility, but it still worked out for our blond.
I hope you guys will be satisfied with that explanation. I guess I will hopped in to the story
Disclaimer: I don't own anything
The last day of qualifying round.
With the sudden appearance of the young generation hidden gems, people expected for something to happen today. Clearly yesterday's run performed by 17 years old left quite impression to the viewers.
At the starting point, Kanata was waiting for the signal to start. And as usual it was Tanaka Yoji's commentary that served to fire up the viewers.
"Today's challenger is from England. His name is Katagiri Kanata, 19 years old. The car he drives is Toyota 86 GT, which coincidentally the same as his car number. After yesterday's shocking run performed by participant Uzumaki, I have quite high expectations for new generations. So, let's see what this new challenger will bring on the table?" comment Tanaka with his usual cheering voice.
Ren Saionji received shock for another day. Yesterday she found out that her classmate participated in MFG and today she found out that her tenant was in this too. What's more upsetting both didn't bother to tell her even one word!
The signal was given for Kanata to go and the English driver launched his car forward. Kanata knew that his car had probably the weakest engine power amongst all participants and he was actually thankful that he got to see the blond boy's run yesterday.
'I don't know how he did that, but that guy's line and turning point was basically ideal. As underpowered as 86, I guess copying his line is my best move in Sector 1' thought Kanata analytically trying to find the best solution to the weaknesses of his car.
(Insert eurobeat Break Out fire by Mega NRG Man)
86 drove on Sector 1 at maximum speed and because he copied Naruto's yesterday line, he could shave off more time then using his actual driving. But because 86 engine power was lower then Subaru Impreza, even if it made the same move the result wouldn't be the same. Despite that Kanata got in to 47th place.
With Naruto
The blond was eating ramen in his room with his smartphone in front of him. He was slurping his ramen while playing close attention to Kanata's run.
"Oho, so he realised that copying my line was the best move for his underpowered 86. Not bad, Kanata-san! Let's see what you have more in store"
Back Kanata's run.
"So fast! And it seems to me that participant Katagiri copied participant Uzumaki's movements and line from yesterday. Needless to say, that's a brilliant move since participant Uzumaki managed to break the sector record with his method" comment Tanaka Yoji, reminding the viewer's of yesterday's upset pulled of by a 17 years old.
Meanwhile with Ogata
Aiba managed to befriend Kanata some days before. And since he was a very caring person, he was worried about Kanata due to being an inexperienced rookie. So he asked for the organisers to allow him into the booth too. Hence why right now they are watching Kanata's run through the monitor.
Aiba thought that Kanata would had a much harder time in Sector 1, but it seems he founded a way to overcome that.
"Who would have thought that Kanata would copied yesterday's brat movements to overcome the power section? Who can even drive like that?! He barely even brakes!" grumbled Aiba Shun, 9th rank of the previous MFG tournament.
"I am more shocked that Kanata could replicate that. Seeing 86 passed the Sector 1 at 47th is enough send goose bumps through my spine" retort Ogata, gulping loudly.
"Did you recheck that? It can be system error though. It happens all the time. I can't believe like your busted 86 could do that" inquired Aiba, which upset Ogata a bit for insulting his car
"Hey! Busted is a bit much" complained Ogata, though he sighed in acceptance at Aiba's comment. "However I agree with you, there is no way 86 could be in that position"
However the monitor showed that Kanata had gained a different position with his driving, rising up to 45th. Not only that, but A.I put the attention flag on him.
"Look! It's not an error! The A.I computer out the attention flag on him" comment Ogata, feeling more impressed with Kanata's driving.
"It's impossible!" Aiba could only muttered in disbelief looking in the screen.
To Tanaka Yoji
"Otto! What an expect thing to happen? The center computer has put the attention flag on 86! I am also curious about why participant Uzumaki didn't receive the flag despite his brilliant run. That aside, as far as a remember the only rookie that got attention flag was Beckenbauer from the previous year. 19 years old Katagiri Kanata is on the roll!" announced Tanaka in excitement.
(End of eurobeat)
Back to Kanata
Ogata warned the young driver to switch the panel as the downhill will mostly beginning from here. Kanata replied that he understood and stated that he got used to the car so he will pick up the pace from here. And true to his words, the moment Kanata hit downhill, he accelerated even more all of the sudden. However when it was time to hill climb, he will lost a position due to the lack of engine power from 86. He cleared Sector at 40th position, despite all those hill climb struggles.
As he about to enter Sector 3, he heard a warning from Aiba, that he should be careful as this sector had the longest downhill from here and even veterans prefered to play dafe here. However Kanata replied that he had remembered everything in his mind as clear as a movie and cut off the communication by telling the booth that he needed to concentrate from here on. Aiba certainly was not pleased for a junior plus a rookie to dismissed his advice like that.
(Insert eurobeat Night of Fire)
Kanata tried to push down all those exhilarating feelings deep down his guts since his sensei stated never showed your emotions during drive. The truth was Kanata wanted to get into main race and compete with that blond boy from yesterday. The English driver noticed from yesterday's run that their cornering speed was nearly equal, he was a bit faster though. However he was more or less needed to declarate a bit for turning, but the blond boy bare needed to do that.
As Kanata picked up his pace, he rose up to 28th position all of a sudden. And Tanaka Yoji definitely felt that he should commented on Kanata's super performance.
"He is fast! The only downhill that I saw was nearly as fast as Katagiri Kanata's was probably from yesterday's participant, Uzumaki Naruto. He blazed through the downhill of Sector 3 without any fear! However such run also has a scent of danger" comment Tanaka on Kanata's fabulous driving.
"He is about the heads to the area that most MFG drivers dread the most, Death Area. People also called that White Reaper. And from my memories, I recalled that the only one that managed to blaze through Death Area without deceleration was driver of car number 99 from yesterday! Can Katagiri Kanata smashed his record? This is the intense clash between two rookie young drivers. It's not even the race and yet I could still feel the spark lit between this two" added Tanaka Yoji cheerfully.
That thought basically shared with all the MFG fans, as they all wanted to see Kanata got into the race and has a fierce battle with Blue Phantom on Gunma.
For all drivers the Death Area seemed like the most difficult part of the race, since they are forced to decelerate here due to the visibility as nearly nonexistent. However Naruto managed to conquer this area without much declaration due to his special eyesight that helped he to realise, when the turning point was near from the smallest detail on the sideways. But Kanata had an even greater advantage over him. His idetic memory allowed him to memorize everything he had seen like a picture. So by watching the demo run on the official website, Kanata remembered the entire course layout just by watching it.
Toyota 86GT blazed through the streets of Death Area with high precision and conquered the corners in no time. The mere sight sent shivers down the spine to all viewers since to was very hard to explain in words, what Kanata managed to pull off.
Ogata and Aiba were equally shocked. The earlier though felt like vomiting due to the fear that Kanata might crash at any monent out there. Aiba tried to find some kind of logical explanation to what Kanata did, but found none.
Kanata escaped the Death Area and the timer then showed that he surpassed Naruto's record by 3 seconds. Tanaka Yoji felt like he definitely should comment something about this miraculous performance.
"He passed 8 person in Death Area, folks! I don't have a vocabulary to comment about car 86 performance. What is even more shocking Katagiri Kanata managed to surpass Uzumaki Naruto time within Death Area by 3 seconds! He is currently in 20th position! But I believe if anyone can pull that off then it will be HIM, Katagiri Kanata, The Miracle Boy!" exclaimed Tanaka feeling more hype then ever.
With Naruto
Naruto watched his recored being surpassed so easily couldn't help but whistle in praise at Kanata's performance.
"OMG! This guy is crazy! He actually managed to surpass my time by 3 seconds. Oh, the main race will be so much!" Naruto couldn't help, but cackled like a madman. However the hint about executing his line perfectly in Sector 1 & this crazy run with high precision in nearly zero visibility made Naruto realized what was special about Kanata.
"Oh? Special memory vs special eyesight, eh? I guess it will be fun. The problem here is the engine output of 86. If he wants to seal the deal here he needs to build more margin before entering Kamoboko Straight. The standard speed on that area is 230 km/h, however 86 only has the maximum of 200 HP" analysed Naruto curiosly, watching as Kanata speeded up even more before he entered Kamoboko Straight. He was currently at 16th place.
With Kanata
Kanata asked through the incom about his position and Ogata replied loudly that there was only 1 car in front of him till he reached Godly Fifteen before he entered Kamoboko Straight. Before entering the straight course, Kanata managed to bypass the shadows of Kitahara Nozomi Alfa Romeo 4C and Maezono's Civic FK8 got into 13th place.
"Now here is the greatest obstacle for Toyota 86GT, Kamoboko Straight. Can he keep this position and get into the race or will he fail to get into it? Most of Godly Fifteen are making 300 km/h, but seeing how underpowered 86 is it will be the greatest challenge for him" comment Tanaka Yoji.
Upon entering Kamoboko Straight, Kanata stepped on gas with all his might, however despite that the wall of air was slowly pushing him back and the shadow of Civic FK8 managed to overtake him. He was down to 14th position. And Alfa Romeo was slowly catching up to him. Kanata felt that he once again needed to borrow the blond boy's high precision at choose the ideal point for turning without deceleration. It was nearly the point for 90 turn and by that time the Alfa Romeo managed to bypass him. Kanata quickly changed his line and copied Naruto's high speed drift without much brakes then he quickly cleared the S-shape bend and blazed towards the finish line. The result shocked both Tanaka Yoji and the viewers
"It was close! Very close! Katagiri Kanata managed to finish the run 0.1 second faster then the 16th place car! He is qualified for the race!" announced Tanaka Yoji in excitement, but he was not the only one, as all viewers sighed in relief that Kanata got into the race. After his miraculous performance, ge sured gained lots of fans.
(End of eurobeat)
With Kanata
The English driver exited his car with a satisfying smile. Ogata and Aiba came out to greet the young driver and to congratulate him.
"That was awesome, Kanata! You did it" exclaimed Ogata emotionally with a bit of tears on the verge of falling.
"Congratulations, man! But it was definitely a very close call!" stated Aiba Shun messes around with Kanata's hair.
The English driver bent down a bit from older ones joke.
"I am glad that I will be in the race. But to say truthfully, I need to thank the blond boy that run before me. Thanks to copying his line I managed to clear the sectors that were unfavorable for me much faster" stated Kanata with gratitude.
"That highschooler? Who is he even? I doubt anybody else could copy what he did, except you, Kanata? How did you even do that? Driving with barely braking is just nearly suicidal" Aiba recalled the image of the young blond highschooler.
"My sensei did tell that I could probably run into him in MFG. He was my sensei stepson. I actually never meet him in person though. I only know him through sensei's story" answered Kanata earnestly
"I think this year's MFG will be much more challenging that any other years. The young generation is rising up one after another" stated Aiba, thinking about Beckenbauer, Sawatari, Uzumaki and Kanata. But the older driver put off those thought away.
"Let's make a congratulation party to celebrate Kanata's passing qualification. It's on me! We will go to my casual offal restaurant!"
"Offal? What is that?" asked Kanata curiously. But the other two just grinned mischievously.
With Naruto
The youngest participant of MFG was on his way to delivery right now. Those that recognised his car were pointing at his direction in recognition and whispered something to themselves. But Naruto had his own thought right now.
'Katagiri Kanata, you are as skilled as expected. It's no wonder that you are stepfather's best student. Drifting at high speed with barely any brakes is only possible for me due to my special eyesight, but you managed to copy that on the first try. You must have one heck of a memory and the skill to reproduce that. However no matter how skilled you are, if your car is not competitive enough, then you won't be able to rise to the top. You will realise that soon enough' thought Naruto while driving through Akina smoothly. The young driver practiced both grip driving and drift driving to confuse his opponent with the sudden shift.
The next day
Today is the start of the official race and the MFG fans were probably the most hype in the history of MFG. Obviously part of that was the joining of 2 young super rookies, Katagiri Kanata and Uzumaki Naruto. Fans from Gunma were exceptionally excited and proud of their local legend.
After the Angels performance of the new song, they dispersed and the race is about to start. Tanaka Yoji is commenting as usual and there was another person next to him
"Good afternoon to 30 mil fans of MFG around the globe, it's your favourite commentator, Tanaka Yoji. And today we have a special guest in our booth. He got lots of attention as racing driver and is now working as a racing coach. Kogashiwa Kai is here with me" stated Tanaka then turned to the said man.
"It's good to be here" replied Kogashiwa simply.
"By the way, I heard the rumours tat you are quite close with the bigwigs of MFG. So do you know the identity of the mysterious Ryo Takahashi, the head organiser of MFG?" Tanaka decided to usr this opportunity to ask the question that stuck in his mind.
"Well, we were friends from back then. And yeah, I know his identity, but he told me to not reveal any information about him. So unfortunately I can't reveal anything" replied Kogashiwa.
"I see. It's a shame! But talking about mysterious. There are two young mysterious drivers, that just recently joined MFG. Calling myself the MFG walking encyclopedia, I put my pride on the line and found quite shocking informations about those. Also you guys won't believe this, but there was indirect connection between those two. I will share those information with guys, when I found the time" answered Tanaka feeling a bit depressed, but quickly regained his optimistic attitude.
Then he commented about how the Godly Fifteen were in the meeting and was about to walk out. The first to walk out was Ishigami Fuujin. Behind him was Sakamoto Yudai, a man that always cover his face with a hood and dark sunglasses. After him was Beckenbauer with disinterest look in his pure white racing suit. Follow him was Ohtani Yohsuke, Aiba Shun, Yanagida Takuya, Oishi Daigo, Jackson Taylor, Emile Hänninen, Akaba Kaito. Uzumaki Naruto was behind him waving friendly to the camera with a foxy grin. Tanaka reminded the viewers that Uzumaki is the youngest participant in this race and was driving the oldest car out of all the participants. However Kogashiwa commented that he was quite familiar with the car that Uzumaki was driving, which made Tanaka felt very curious about that answer.
Ren was just starring at the waving figure of her classmate impassively from the distance.
With slight glimmer of Yashio and Kakaru, the camera turned to Katagiri Kanata. Tanaka comment that as expected Kanata is very handsome and will gain tons of fan girls being the hybdrid of English mother and Japanese father.
The camera then showed how Godly Fifteen were headding to their car. Just as Naruto about to pass Kanata to go to his car he decided to greet him.
"Nice to finally meet you in person Kanata-san! Stepfather probably talked a little bit about me, right?" stated Naruto and offered Kanata to shake hand. Naruto's behaviour caught Aiba's attention to little bit.
"Nice to meet you too! Sensei surely speaks highly about you. But it's about time to race, we will talk to each other more after this. Good luck!" responded Kanata, shaking the blond's hand.
Naruto nodded his head and headed straight to his car.
(Insert eurobeat Hi Love by Jay Lehr)
With that 15 cars were slowly making their moves throught the gate. Tanaka commented that the cars were limited to 40km/h until the last car past the gate, if an earlier car broke past 40km/h before the blue signal was given that car will get the penalty of the delay for 15 seconds. Ren noticed through the window that Naruto expression was totally opposite of his usual attitude, it was totally void of any emotions, which sent chills down her spine. Kanata was also keeping a cool expression, but he didn't seem as scary as Naruto's, rather she thought he was even more handsome. As the 86 passed the gate, the blue signal was given. Immediately 15 cars started to accelerate. The first one to make the move however was Aiba's GT-R, as soon as the sign for acceleration was given he immediately overtook Ohtani. Kogashiwa comment about Ohtani's car has no traction at the early start and Aiba used that opportunity to overtake him. Meanwhile Naruto decided to stick to Akaba's car as close as possible for slipstream. The highschool driver knew what he needed to do for the first lap, so there was absolutely no hesitation within his driving. Meanwhile Akaba wanted to get rid of him as soon as possible, but knew that it was still too early to make a move here.
"Oh, that was unexpected. To think a car as old as Subaru Impreza could keep up with Ferrari out of all the cars. What do you have to comment on this, Kogashiwa-san?" asked Tanaka, seeing that it was quite unusual sight.
"Hmm, I would say it's just that Akaba decided to not make any move for now. It's the tire management. It was basically the fundamental rule, that drivers shouldn't make any hasty move during the first lap. However Uzumaki also made a clever move by sticking as close to Akaba as possible, he is basically using Akaba's car as air resistant wall to avoid as many damage to his car as possible" replied Kogashiwa.
"I see. However after reading the informations I found about him, that's kinda expected. Now let's take a look at the leader group" comment Tanaka and the camera showed how Beckenbauer was still keeping his second place with ease.
"I am honestly surprised. Battling the horde of monster machines with 600 HP and yet he is still keep his lead. Can you explain this to me, Kogashiwa-san?" wondered Tanaka in curiosity.
"I would say it's about his tire management. The driver of this class can totally grasp how much heat the tire needs and can cool down when it needs to" answered Kogashiwa.
"Is that actually possible?" replied Tanaka in surprise at Kogashiwa's answer.
"Surely. And I am sure out of all 15 drivers here. Only he was capable of that" respond Kogashiwa.
As if denying Kogashiwa's earlier words, Kanata felt that his rear tires need a bit more heat, so he made an unexpected slide, which alert Ogata in the booth.
"What happened, Kanata! Is everything ok there?" asked Ogata worriedly through the incom.
"No problem, Ogata-san. Just a minor adjustment. What is more important, that I want you to keep your eyes on the 99 car. If there are any changes in his position, please, inform me. Over!" replied Kanata and asked Ogata for unexpected favor.
"Sure!" Ogata respond back and thought that the highschool driver must be one heck of a monster for Kanata to be this alert about him.
Meanwhile, Akaba was surprised that Uzumaki didn't make any move. The way he broke the record on sector 1, not even Beckenbauer managed to do that. The only explanation, Akaba could think of that he is preserving his grip for now. But Akaba speculated, the only place that Uzumaki will make his move was in sector 3.
Naruto however never intended for any ovetake during this lap. He planned to pressure Akaba, a bit with fake attempts for overtake and nothing. His main objective right now is to maintain the condition of his car as best as possible for the 2nd lap. Nevertheless, Naruto informed Iketani in the booth to keep an eye on any of 86's movements.
"Aren't you just overestimate the 86's driver, Naruto? Even if he is an exceptional driver, but his car is not competitive enough to get to you" stated Iketani, feeling that Naruto was giving too much credits for car 86.
"Don't underestimate him, Iketani-san. I forgot that he is stepfather's best student. There is no way he will finish the race on the place he is now. Over!" replied Naruto.
He noticed that Akaba accelerated a bit a straight and there was a but of distance between their cars. But Naruto decided to not push his car, and just bet on catching up to Akaba on the next turning point. And surely enough on the next corner, Naruto with his usual high speed drifting with barely brakes managed to close the distance between them.
"Wow! That's surprising! Ferrari just can't get rid of Impreza. And that unique driving style that barely used brakes! What do you have to comment on that Kogashiwa-san?" comment Tanaka, seeing how easy Impreza was closing the distance during the corner.
"Well, how should I say it. This is the driving that only Uzumaki Naruto is capable off. There were hardly, if any drivers, that can find the perfect point for cornering. However Uzumaki-kun is capable of that. Despite how young he is, he can perfect control his speed, that explains why he barely needs any brake to turn into corners. His engine was no where close to compete against Ferrari, however because he didn't waste any time to brake and that will quickly close the distance against both cars" explained Kogashiwa, actually quite impressed at Uzumaki's driving style.
"He actually broke the record on Sector 1 with that. I was honestly shocked when I saw that with my own eyes. I am sure that the audience are dying to know about what informations I found about him. But ask you guys to wait a little bit more, since the race has just started" replied Tanaka.
Yashio tried to catch up to Naruto, he just couldn't keep up with the pace and was left behind together with Maezono, his sister and Kanata behind.
"Tch, I don't even see the tailight of car 99! How the heck did he do that? Such an old model as Subaru Impreza shouldn't be able to keep up with Ferrari!" complained Yashio, feeling annoyed that he still yet be able to see the shadow of 99 car. Plus he felt impatient as Nozomi was still not there for them to collaborate. "What the heck are doing, Nozomi? Just overtake that Civic already!"
"I need a bit of help, big bro! This one despite being FF is quite fast at corners" replied Nozomi.
"Tch, it can't be help" retort Kakeru and decelarated a bit to bait the Civic behind him
Maezono saw the opening and tried to pass the Lotus, however Kakeru quickly changed line and Nozomi used that slight opening to bypass Civic. However 86 decided to also made a move and quickly overtake the Civic right after Nozomi's overtake. Maezono was shocked to see the 86 car before him.
"What the heck are you doing booth! If the 86 was approaching you should have informed me earlier" complained Maezono through the incom. He also wondered how the heck a car with just 2 liter NA managed to keep up with them.
Nozomi noticed Kanata's presence behind her and informed her brother. Kakeru knew that they won't stood a chance when they reached Sector 3, so he told Nozomi to keep close to him and using slipstream to bypass 86.
Meanwhile Aiba Shun was out for blood at Sakamoto for the 3rd place. Uzumaki Naruto was still stuck close to Akaba Kaito, which annoyed the previous 2nd place of last year. Iketani informed Naruto, that 86 just recently overtook the 13th car.
'Huh? He made his move already? Isn't it a bit too soon? Did he has something in mind' speculated Naruto. He moved aside his car a bit to see what was in front of Akaba and saw that they could already see the taillight of 10th car, that belonged to Emile Hänninen.
(End of eurobeat)
Seeing as Naruto decided to stay low for now, Tanaka decided to share the information he found with the viewers. "I believe this timing is ok. This is the information I found about participant Uzumaki. Real name: Uzumaki Naruto. 17 years old. He is currently living with his grandpa and does delivery for him. He was taught to drive from early age and his grandpa had always been hard on him. The source told that he wanted to participate in MFG for a while now, but his grandpa didn't give him permission unless he broke the record of the recorded set by his mother. And it seems during those 4 years, participant Naruto tried to overcome that recorded. And he finally managed to clear that condition by this year. But what I found more shocking is, his mother's identity! She was known through Japan as the 'racing queen' due to her absurd and yet fast driving. She was known as local legend during street racing as Benihime, due to her crimson hair. Her true name however is Uzumaki Kushina! Known as the fastest woman in Japan!"
A/N: Few, the chapter was a bit longer then usual since I decided to combine Kanata's qualifying and the opening race. Naruto is gonna use slipstream from Akaba probably until he reached Kamoboko Straight, no actually Akaba will be able get rid of him for a little bit since Naruto's Impreza can't keep up when Akaba accelerated to 300 km/h. However things will start escalating real fast since Naruto will break lose during the 2nd lap.
Next chapter, the focus will probably on Kanata's battle with Yajikita siblings like in anime. So far the status of the race is like this.
Ishigami Fuujin
Michael Beckenbaur
Sakamoto Yuudai
Aiba Shun
Ohtani Yohsuke
Yanagida Takuya
Oishi Daigo
Jackson Taylor
Emile Hänninen
Akaba Kaito
Uzumaki Naruto
Yashio Kakeru
Kitahara Nozomi
Katagiri Kanata
Maezono Kaezuhiro
Hope for more R since I really did try my best to make the story interesting. Until next time. Bye!