Chapter 41: Exchange Battles
Kiba confronted Naruto. But before he could even use his favorite technique—the Beast Human Clone—he was instantly defeated by Naruto.
The process was very simple. Naruto relied entirely on pure speed. At the very start of the sparring match, he closed the distance and took Kiba down.
Kiba was completely shocked. He couldn't believe that this was a genin's speed. He couldn't believe that he had been taken out in an instant by Naruto. The gap between them was just that huge. It left him feeling utterly crushed.
Sasuke faced Aburame Shino. Although the process was a little more troublesome, it ended with Sasuke winning in the end.
Even though Shino still had a big move he could have used, Sasuke didn't give him the chance. With the help of the chakra nature transformation Naruto had taught him and the application of lightning-nature chakra, Sasuke found the right opportunity, closed the distance, and defeated Shino before he could react.
After the battle, Naruto also took a good look at Shino and couldn't help but narrow his eyes.
He could tell that Shino looked ordinary on the surface. But perhaps he was also someone who was seriously underestimated. Shino must have had some other techniques he hadn't used yet. He hadn't gone all out.
Still, this was enough to show how much Sasuke had progressed during this time. After all, Sasuke hadn't even used his Sharingan.
He had already begun to master chakra nature transformation, and his strength had improved rapidly. He had already far surpassed Kiba and the others.
This made Sasuke very satisfied, and he became even more convinced that asking Naruto to guide his training had been the right decision.
And the final match—the duel between Hinata and little Sakura—was even more exciting.
Naruto noticed that the best-performing genin in Kurenai's group was actually Hinata.
Hinata, for reasons unknown, had been training extremely hard, and her strength was improving very quickly.
In this duel, Hinata skillfully used her Byakugan, cleverly dodged little Sakura's attacks, and accurately struck little Sakura's tenketsu points.
That didn't mean little Sakura had no ability to fight back, though.
In this short period of training, little Sakura had also improved a lot.
At the very least, she performed better than Kiba.
In the end, the result of the battle was declared a victory for Hinata.
Hinata had performed really well. With her Byakugan in use, she moved like a dancer—dancing gracefully, attacking with superb precision, and ultimately defeating little Sakura.
After all the fights, the results were two wins and one loss.
Kurenai Yuhi was taken aback. She stared deeply at Naruto with admiration in her eyes.
Because she knew, after several days of observation, she had clearly noticed that Sasuke and little Sakura's training was all being guided by Naruto.
Sasuke in particular had followed almost exactly the plan Naruto had laid out for him.
And because of that, Kurenai was shocked.
Sasuke's improvement was just too fast.
Not long ago, Sasuke hadn't had this kind of strength at all. But in such a short period of time, Sasuke had already begun to master chakra nature transformation and could even apply it to his body. That was incredible to her.
This wasn't the kind of strength a genin should have.
And the one responsible for all of this was Naruto.
Kurenai Yuhi deeply understood that Sasuke's growth was inseparable from Naruto.
All she had to do was look at the respectful way Sasuke looked at Naruto.
The same was true for little Sakura. During this time, little Sakura—who had originally only excelled in theoretical knowledge—had also rapidly improved her combat ability. Her strength was already at the level of an elite genin. Her progress was nothing short of remarkable.
In truth, Naruto hadn't needed to guide little Sakura very much. They were a team of three, and they all followed the same training plan.
If little Sakura had improved, it was probably because she saw Naruto and Sasuke working so hard and never giving up on their training, and she didn't want to be left behind.
Seeing the performance of all three of them, Kurenai was completely shocked.
Even if Kakashi had been teaching them himself, he couldn't have done this well.
The entire team—all three of them—had improved significantly. Sasuke had grown by leaps and bounds. It was unbelievable.
And the person teaching them was just a genin—Uzumaki Naruto.
Kurenai took a deep, disbelieving look at Naruto. Then she shook her head and called for Kiba and Hinata to leave.
It seemed Kurenai was also preparing to step up their training.
As the days passed, Sasuke and the others threw themselves back into the training plan Naruto had created for them.
A month later.
While everyone was training day by day, Naruto suddenly noticed something.
Konoha had become lively.
The village, which had been peaceful and quiet, suddenly had many unfamiliar faces—ninja from other villages.
Some were Cloud shinobi, some were Sand shinobi, some were Mist shinobi, some were Rock shinobi, and so on.
Ninja from many different villages had gathered in Konoha.
Looking at all these unfamiliar faces wearing different forehead protectors, Naruto and the others were also taken aback.
Soon, they realized what was happening.
The Chunin Exam that Asuma had mentioned earlier was coming.