The next morning, Naruto stood in front of the small cracked mirror in his bathroom. He rubbed the sleep from his eyes and looked at his reflection.
There was a small but noticeable difference.
His arms looked slightly more defined than they did the day before. His stomach wasn't as soft, and there was a faint outline of muscle starting to show along his shoulders and chest. It wasn't dramatic, but it was definitely there.
Naruto stared at himself for a moment, then slowly grinned.
"No way… it actually worked already?"
He flexed his arm and turned to the side, checking his reflection again. The change was small, but it was real.
After staring at himself a bit longer, he walked over to the table and ate one of the nutrition bars, then mixed some of the protein powder with water and drank it. Once he finished both, he got dressed, grabbed his hitai-ate, and headed out the door.
The morning air was cool as he made his way toward Training Ground 3. He felt completely recovered from the intense workout he had done the night before. His legs didn't feel sore at all, and his body felt light and energized.
When he arrived, Sakura and Satsuki were already there. Sakura was sitting on the grass looking bored, while Satsuki stood near one of the wooden posts with her arms crossed, staring off into the distance.
Naruto walked over and raised a hand.
"Yo."
Sakura looked up and gave a small nod. Satsuki glanced at him briefly before looking away again.
Naruto scratched the back of his head and tried to start some light conversation.
"So… you guys ready for whatever Kakashi-sensei's got planned today?" he asked, glancing between them. "I've been doing some extra training lately. Kinda excited to see how it goes."
Sakura perked up a little and turned toward Satsuki with a brighter expression.
"Yeah, I've been training too," she said, her tone noticeably softer when speaking to Satsuki. "I've been focusing a lot on chakra control. I think it's really important for a shinobi to have good control, don't you think, Sasuke?"
Satsuki gave a short nod, her expression calm.
"It's important," she replied simply.
Naruto saw an opening and tried to keep the conversation going, directing his next words toward Satsuki.
"Hey, Sasuke… you've always been really strong. Got any tips or anything? I've been trying to train more seriously lately, but I feel like I'm still behind compared to you."
Satsuki turned her head slightly and looked at him. She was quiet for a second before replying in her usual calm voice.
"…Just keep training consistently. That's all there is to it."
Naruto nodded, genuinely taking her words in.
"Yeah… that makes sense. Thanks."
Sakura, who had been watching the exchange, stayed quiet. She looked a little surprised. Naruto usually argued with "Sasuke" or acted loud and competitive around him. Seeing him actually try to have a normal, genuine conversation without any teasing or arguing was unexpected.
Satsuki didn't say anything else and simply looked away again, but she didn't seem annoyed either.
The three of them fell into a somewhat awkward silence after that. Sakura kept glancing between Naruto and Satsuki, still a bit surprised by the shift in attitude, while Satsuki remained as calm and distant as ever.
They continued waiting in tense silence.
Another thirty minutes passed before a familiar figure finally appeared, walking slowly down the path with his hands in his pockets.
Kakashi.
He waved lazily as he approached.
"Good morning," he said in his usual calm tone.
Sakura's face turned red with anger.
"You're late!" she shouted. "By over two hours!"
Kakashi rubbed the back of his head.
"Sorry, sorry. I got lost on the path of life."
He walked past them and headed straight toward a large tree stump near the center of the training ground.
He placed a small alarm clock on top of it and set the time before turning back to face the three of them.
"Alright," he said, pulling out two small silver bells and holding them up. "Your mission today is simple. You have until noon to take these two bells from me."
He set the alarm and let it tick.
"And If you can't get a bell before the alarm goes off, you don't get lunch. The one who fails will be tied to this stump… and sent back to the Academy."
The three of them stared at him.
Naruto thought to himself 'So that's why he told us not to eat breakfast…to bad for him I already had a nutrition bar and protein shake this morning. So what if It's cheating; Ninjas need to be well fed anyway!'
Sakura's scrunched her face in anger 'So that's why we couldn't have Breakfast… He planned this from the start.'
Satsuki's didn't really care to much.
'So that's why we couldn't have Breakfast. He's making this into a competition.'
Kakashi looked at the three of them with a calm, almost bored expression.
"One more thing," he added. "Come at me with the intent to kill. If you hold back, you won't stand a chance."
He took a few steps back and slipped his hands into his pockets.
"Alright. The test starts… now."
The moment the words left Kakashi's mouth, Naruto and Satsuki moved at the same time.
Naruto charged straight forward with a loud yell, fist pulled back.
"Take this, Kakashi-sensei!"
Satsuki moved a split second later, darting to the side in a low, fast approach, kunai already in hand. She didn't say a word, but her eyes were sharp and focused.
Kakashi's visible eye curved slightly in mild surprise as the two genin attacked from different angles at once.
Naruto threw a wild punch while Satsuki slashed low with her kunai, aiming for the bells. Kakashi casually sidestepped Naruto's punch and deflected Satsuki's kunai with a single finger, spinning away from both attacks with almost no effort.
"Not bad," he murmured. "You actually coordinated your attack. Most teams don't do that on the first try."
Naruto grinned as he landed and immediately followed up with a kick.
"Yeah? Then take this!"
Satsuki didn't waste time talking. She threw a set of shuriken at Kakashi's blind spot while Naruto kept him occupied from the front. The two of them moved in sync better than either of them expected, almost like they had trained together for years.
Sakura, who had been watching from the side, felt a spark of motivation flare up inside her.
(They're working together… Naruto and Sasuke. If they can do that, then I can't just stand here and not do anything!)
Satsuki glanced at Naruto for a brief second, her expression unreadable.
(This idiot and I actually work pretty decent together…)
Naruto grinned as he landed after another missed strike.
"I haven't even really tried yet, Kakashi-sensei!"
With that, he formed the familiar hand seals and shouted.
"Shadow Clone Jutsu!"
Seven clones appeared in puffs of smoke around him. All eight Narutos moved in perfect sync, fists raised, charging forward from multiple angles at once.
Satsuki's eyes widened slightly.
(What sort of jutsu is that…? They're physical. Not illusions. They have real presence…)
Sakura, who had been preparing to throw more kunai, froze for a second.
(Those clones… they're solid? Not just afterimages? How is he doing that?)
Kakashi's visible eye curved in mild amusement as the swarm of Narutos attacked. He moved with effortless grace, blocking punches, sidestepping kicks, and flicking clones away with precise strikes. One by one, the clones exploded into smoke as Kakashi dismantled them without breaking a sweat.
The last clone dispersed with a loud poof.
Naruto, breathing a little harder, didn't hesitate.
"Again!" he shouted, forming the seal once more.
This time, twenty clones appeared in a massive puff of smoke. The army of Narutos surged forward, yelling loudly as they tried to overwhelm Kakashi from every direction.
Kakashi sighed softly.
"You really don't hold back, do you?"
In a blur of motion, he disappeared.
The clones suddenly found themselves attacking empty air. They stumbled, looked around in confusion, and started arguing with each other.
"Hey, where'd he go?!"
"I thought you were watching the left side!"
"You're the one who tripped me!"
"What's RUBBING AGAINST MY BUTT!"
The original Naruto, standing a short distance away, facepalmed.
"Shut up, all of you!" he yelled.
With a quick hand seal, he dismissed the clones. They disappeared in a series of puffs, their memories and experiences flowing back into him.
Naruto stood there for a moment, catching his breath, while Sakura and Satsuki stared at him in stunned silence.
(Damn… he's on a completely different level. )
Naruto opened the SUPERZON window in his mind. He didn't how this would work, but he needed something,anything to turn this around.
His eyes went straight to his balance.
Ryo: 21,584
Naruto's eyes widened in surprise.
+20,000 Ryo?! My Sexy Jutsu sold already?!…
A wild, impulsive grin flashed across his face. Without thinking too hard about it, he jumped straight into the Skills section. He started adding things to his cart on pure instinct.
Boxing.
Kickboxing.
Dirty Fighting.
Wrestling.
ITF Taekwondo.
WT Taekwondo.
Jeet Kune Do.
Each one cost 1,200 Ryo.A whopping 8,400 Ryo and He wasn't even entirely sure what all of them were or how they worked, but the names sounded strong and useful since they were at the top of Popular skills!
He bought every single one without hesitation.The moment the purchase went through, a powerful shock ran through his entire body.Especially his head, arms, legs, and core. It wasn't painful, but it was intense, like lightning crackling through every nerve and muscle fiber.
Knowledge, technique, and muscle memory flooded into him all at once.
Boxing was drilled into him sharp, efficient punching combinations and proper footwork,Kickboxing added powerful kicks, knees, and better striking flow.
Wrestling engraved how takedowns, clinch and controlling someone on the ground. The Taekwondo styles (both ITF and WT) sharpened his kicking Technique's,speed, precision, and power.
Jeet Kune Do made everything feel fluid it was an adaptive way of fighting using whatever worked in the moment much like Dirty Fighting filled in the gaps with ruthless tactics; low blows, eye pokes, using the environment, and anything else to gain an advantage.
He'd never felt so lacking in his life looking at how just a few seconds ago he'd go off of pure instinct and while that was good sometimes he'd run straight at people with his fist held out…Now he had proper technique to help his wild and chaotic way of moving during a fight.
He simply looked over at Sakura and Satsuki with a wide grin.
"Let's go find RatKashi-sensei!"
Sakura stared at him, eyes wide with surprise. She had always seen Naruto as loud, reckless, and a bit of a joke when it came to being a ninja but her mind had shifted today. (When did he get this strong…? He's keeping…no he might be stronger then Sasuke!)
She looked at 'Sasuke' and he was just looking at Naruto , no change on his face;she could only wonder what was going on in his mind.