Chapter 29
At the front of the line stood two boys.
Sasuke—dressed in a black stand-collar shirt—had both hands in his pockets, expression cool and distant, staring at the field as though lost in thought.
Beside him, Naruto—in his signature orange vest—was casually doing warm-up stretches, occasionally twisting his waist or pressing his legs.
"Hey, Sasuke."
Naruto tilted his head, flashing a small grin at the boy next to him. "Why the long face? Didn't eat enough at lunch? Scared you won't last during the run?"
"Idiot."
Sasuke shot back without missing a beat. "Don't get cocky just because you've won more times. I'll catch up eventually."
Their voices weren't loud, but the atmosphere around them shifted noticeably.
Ever since they met at age three—when Naruto first started showing up at the Uchiha house looking for Sasuke—their rivalry had never stopped.
Competing over meals, training, throwing, fishing—even rock-paper-scissors.
"If I remember correctly…"
Naruto straightened up and waggled a finger. "Current score: twelve wins for me, eleven for you."
"That last one was you cheating!"
Mentioning it made a vein throb on Sasuke's forehead. He ground his teeth. "We agreed to a fishing contest—and you brought a bunch of fireworks orbs to bomb the fish!"
The shinobi world had a New Year fireworks festival tradition—lighting displays and parties.
Back then Naruto had bought a huge batch of harmless firework orbs from a traveling pyrotechnician. He still had plenty left over.
They weren't lethal to people, but they were fantastic for blasting fish.
"The rules never said how you had to catch them. A win's a win. All's fair in war."
Naruto shrugged, completely unapologetic.
Sasuke's Uchiha pride ignited instantly. "Fine—my turn to choose. This race will be our twenty-fourth match. First one to give up loses!"
"Bring it on. You picked it yourself."
Sasuke declared confidently: "After this, I'm tying the score."
Naruto stood tall, clapped his hands once, and gave a cocky grin. "Sorry, but I think it's gonna be thirteen to eleven. Better luck next time, loser."
"Idiot Naruto—no cheating this time."
Their eyes locked. Sparks practically crackled in the air between them—an invisible battlefield forming.
Iruka had finally finished dealing with Shikamaru and Chōji.
He returned to the front of the students and carefully guided everyone through pre-run warm-ups.
"Everyone ready? On your marks—"
Tweet—!!
At the sound of Iruka's whistle, the children shot forward like birds released from a cage.
Everyone gave their maximum speed from the start.
This test had no finish line—or rather, every person's finish line was different.
After only three laps, the group had already strung out into a long, ragged line.
"I can't… I can't anymore…"
Two more laps and Akimichi Chōji clutched his stomach, sitting down in the middle of the field first.
"What a drag…"
Nara Shikamaru stopped right behind him, walked slowly up to Iruka, raised a hand while panting: "Iruka-sensei, I'm done too."
Iruka's eye twitched. "This is only the fifth lap!"
"No helping it. This is my limit." Shikamaru plopped down beside Chōji, looked up at the clouds, and began slacking off with total peace of mind.
As the laps increased, girls like Yamanaka Ino, Haruno Sakura, and Hyūga Hinata also ran out of stamina and stopped, gasping for breath.
Later, other boys like Aburame Shino gradually dropped out too.
In the end, only a handful were still maintaining speed on the field.
Inuzuka Kiba slowed down—still gritting his teeth and pushing forward.
But even his proud endurance was nearing its end.
If he deliberately slowed his pace, he might last hours—but that defeated the purpose of the test.
The goal was to find each person's physical limit.
His lungs burned like fire. His steps grew heavier.
"Damn it… how are those two still going…"
Kiba stared at the two figures ahead—one black, one orange.
Uchiha Sasuke and Uzumaki Naruto weren't just maintaining speed—they were accelerating.
In—out—
Naruto regulated his breathing pattern.
"Hey, Sasuke, is that all you've got?"
He even squeezed out enough breath to taunt: "Your breathing's getting messy."
"Shut up… you're going down this time!"
Sasuke's face was flushed, breathing rapid but still rhythmic—every step landing on the beat.
The elite Uchiha education had given him stamina far beyond most children his age.
And Naruto… this guy's physique was just ridiculous.
"These… these two monsters…" Kiba watched their backs disappear into the distance, his pride crumbling.
After two more laps, he couldn't hold on any longer. Reluctantly he stopped and collapsed onto the ground.
"We lost to those two, Akamaru."
The puppy on his head gave a small whine in sympathy.
Now only the final two remained on the field.
Thirtieth lap. Fortieth lap…
The other students had already sat down along the inside of the track, watching in stunned silence as the two tireless monsters kept going.
Even Iruka was surprised by their endurance.
This wasn't normal for brand-new academy students. Both were prodigies.
"Sasuke-kun, keep going!!"
"Naruto! Pass him—don't let him win!"
"Sasuke-kun, don't lose to that Uzumaki Naruto!"
"Naruto… go for it!"
Cheers rose in waves. The students grew curious—who would last longer?
But Sasuke heard none of it.
In his world now there was only the sound of his own labored breathing.
No matter how hard he ran, that orange figure beside him stuck like glue—impossible to shake.
"Damn it… miscalculation. Does this guy have infinite stamina?"
Sasuke's vision began to blur. His lungs burned. His leg muscles screamed in protest.
He glanced sideways at Uzumaki Naruto.
Sweat covered the other boy's forehead too. His expression wasn't any more relaxed.
Naruto's breathing still followed a strange "three long, one short" rhythm.
This was a breathing method Xuanming had created by combining Daoist techniques—maximizing oxygen extraction from the blood and improving efficiency.
Honestly, adapting养生 (health-preserving) breathing methods into something optimized for intense exercise had almost stumped him.
The Uzumaki clan's terrifying constitution allowed Naruto's recovery speed—even at his limit—to edge out Sasuke's by a fraction.
And Xuanming floated beside them like a ghost, monitoring both boys' condition.
Running shouldn't kill anyone.
"I'm… at my limit…"
Sasuke could no longer feel his legs. Pure willpower drove them mechanically forward.
His steps faltered. He had reached his absolute limit.
Finally, rounding the next curve, his leg buckled. The taut string snapped.
His body pitched forward uncontrollably. In his blurred senses, he fought with everything he had to keep from falling too badly.
He knew he had lost.
Naruto wasn't far behind in exhaustion. From the corner of his eye he saw Sasuke collapse.
"I… won…"
Three meters past Sasuke's position, he could hold on no longer. He collapsed flat on his back on the track.
"Haa… haa… haa…"
One after the other, both boys lay sprawled on the ground, chests heaving violently, clothes soaked through with sweat.
Iruka hurried over to check. Seeing they were simply exhausted, he let out a long breath of relief.
Sasuke lay face-up, covering his eyes with his arm in frustration.
"…Damn it. Lost again."
Naruto—still gasping—looked over at Sasuke. "Current score: thirteen to eleven."
"Haa… shut up…"
"You… haa… haa… are you… a monster…?" Sasuke ground out through clenched teeth.
He turned his head reluctantly, voice hoarse. "Next time… next time for sure…"
"Sure. Next time definitely."
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