The sudden punch sent Sasuke flying, and his Activation Imprint was dispelled. His body arced through the air before crashing to the ground.
"Cough, cough, cough—"
Sasuke propped himself up with both hands, looking down at the almost imperceptible spiral pattern on his waist. His eyes widened involuntarily.
So, when Naruto attacked him at the very beginning, he had already left this thing on him?
"You bastard! If you already had this trick up your sleeve, why did you fight me for so long?!" Sasuke yelled at Naruto, furious.
Naruto brushed off the dirt on his clothes and said with a helpless expression, "This kind of Ninjutsu is supposed to be a surprise. If I expose my trump card right away, I won't know what moves you have later."
Hearing this, Sasuke felt that if he could evolve his Sharingan through anger, he would definitely have the Mangekyo now.
"Bastard!"
"Same to you."
Naruto didn't care about Sasuke's anger, picking his nose with his pinky.
"Alright, the battle is over." Shinji walked slowly between the two, smiling helplessly as he spoke.
"Naruto, your combat thinking has improved greatly. You're finally not just charging in headfirst anymore."
Shinji first praised Naruto, as achieving this level was enough to show that Naruto was no longer that impulsive.
"However, there are still some areas where you need to improve. For example, you had many more opportunities to defeat Sasuke, but for the sake of drama, you chose a different approach."
After praising Naruto, Shinji then pointed out issues from Naruto's recent battle with Sasuke.
Although this age group often behaves this way, Shinji still felt it was important to point it out. He worried that if Naruto used this approach against an enemy in the future, it would simply be asking for trouble.
In ninja combat, a slight mistake can mean the difference between life and death.
"Yes, sensei."
Naruto, who had been smiling, rubbed his head sheepishly when he heard the latter part. He had wanted to tease Sasuke a bit earlier.
"Sasuke, your performance was also good. You discovered the key to Naruto's Ninjutsu in a short amount of time. However, you also got caught in the dead end of only thinking about kunai."
Saying this, Shinji pointed to the mark on Sasuke's body.
"The Chakra imprint on your body actually has several locations."
Sasuke's face stiffened upon hearing this, and he quickly checked the places where Naruto had gotten close to him.
As expected, each spot had that almost imperceptible spiral mark.
Sasuke slumped to the ground. Naruto had completely defeated him.
However, he wasn't too disheartened. Even if they started over, Naruto would have other ways to achieve the same result. After all, he wasn't like Naruto, who could use Ninjutsu continuously without worrying about Chakra reserves.
"I will continue to work hard, sensei." Sasuke looked up, his expression serious, and said to Shinji.
Shinji showed a relieved expression at this. At least for now, Sasuke's personality wasn't too bad. He wouldn't fall into extremes just because someone surpassed him.
After a moment, Sasuke asked Shinji, "But sensei, why can't I copy Naruto's Ninjutsu?"
He suddenly felt that his Sharingan seemed a bit useless. He couldn't copy Yang Release Chakra Armor, and now he couldn't copy Naruto's Ninjutsu either.
Naruto was very displeased to hear that Sasuke wanted to copy his Flying Thunder God, and he spoke up, "Tch, arrogant Sasuke, you actually want to cheat."
Sasuke said, "Isn't using a Ninjutsu inherently preparing for it to be copied?"
Sasuke wasn't embarrassed by this. He even knew Rasengan. However, compared to Chidori, Rasengan wasn't as compatible with him.
Shinji said with a smile, "Most Ninjutsu can be copied, but the Flying Thunder God that Naruto used just happens not to be among them."
If Flying Thunder God could be copied and used simply by observing it with the Sharingan, then this famous space-time Ninjutsu would have been commonplace long ago.
Shikamaru and the others looked enlightened upon hearing this.
Naruto squatted down to watch Sasuke, who was being treated by Ino and Karin using Medical Ninjutsu to heal his injuries.
Naruto asked, "Your Activation Imprint, why does it feel like the burden is much lighter than before?"
Sasuke pouted when he heard this, raising his hand to show Naruto the Amenohakari in his hand. "Sensei's weapon isn't just an ordinary enhancement, and I haven't been slacking off lately."
Sasuke naturally told Naruto the truth about his confusion. After all, the two would discuss it after battles.
As for being defeated in a future battle because of this discussion...
That could only mean he was inferior.
"Sensei, I want one too." Naruto immediately turned and pleaded with Shinji, as the boost from a weapon was simply too great.
Shinji flicked Naruto's forehead in annoyance and said, "Let's not even talk about whether you can use a weapon. Yang Release Chakra Armor itself is your best weapon."
This was also why Shinji gave Amenohakari to Sasuke, as he himself could use Yang Release Chakra Armor.
If it were other weapons, he might have kept them. For example, Gunabi or the Truth-seeking orb.
One could deflect small Tailed Beast Balls, and the other would turn the target to ash upon contact.
Naruto scratched his head, it was true. He only needed to solidify his existing abilities now.
Adding another weapon...
It would only disperse his energy, as he didn't have much time to train in other things.
"Alright, I have seen your progress in this battle." Shinji said to Naruto and Sasuke with a beaming smile.
"I think you two already have enough strength to apply for early graduation, but—"
Naruto and Sasuke, who had been delighted to hear they could apply for early graduation, suddenly shivered at Shinji's next words.
"I have one condition. You just need to pass the trial I set up in the shinkirou pearl."
"If the trials you passed before were A-rank, then the difficulty of this stage can be called S-rank."
Naruto and Sasuke exchanged glances, both seeing resistance in each other's eyes. After all, the existing illusions were enough to give them a hard time. If the difficulty increased further...
The outcome was self-evident.
Ino and the others, who hadn't experienced it, exchanged bewildered glances.
Shikamaru twitched his lips. He was one of those who had experienced it, and he had even reached the S-rank that Shinji mentioned.
That kind of trial could no longer be passed by mere strength. It required a certain mindset and maturity to face.
If it were Shikamaru, he wasn't sure he could pass it again. After all, his previous success was purely by luck.