Chapter 641: Earning Respect
Chapter 641: Earning Respect
Naruto immediately blew an intense wind current at Kiba and Akamaru.
He thought, \'I wanted to blow both of them away and win in one shot, but their rotation could create an issue. I need to keep blowing intense winds until they are blown away! Otherwise, it\'ll be painful.\'
At the same time, Kiba wondered in shock, \'What the hell is this?\'
The Great Breakthrough jutsu hit Kiba and Akamaru and put immense pressure on both of them. However, since they were rotating at high speeds, they weren\'t blown away and continued to move towards Naruto. Even so, none of them were relaxed as their linear and rotational speeds were both decreasing rapidly!
Kiba wasn\'t the only one who was shocked. Ino shouted, "What the hell is that? Since when could Naruto do that?"
Shikamaru exclaimed, "That\'s the Wind Release: Great Breakthrough jutsu! No way, has he improved so much?"
"Naruto-kun" A smile appeared on Hinata\'s face as she looked at Naruto\'s cool new jutsu.
Lee exclaimed, "Impressive, Naruto!"
Kankuro said, "I underestimated him. His wind jutsu is almost as intense as yours, Temari."
Temari frowned on hearing his words. Gaara, Dosu and Neji watched intently as well. None of them expected Naruto to use such a strong jutsu.
With no other choice, Kiba and Akamaru continued drilling through the intense winds until they were only a foot away from Naruto! Unfortunately, the intense winds from the Great Breakthrough jutsu finally prevented them from moving any further.
Both Kiba and Akamaru were launched back at great speed! Akamaru crashed into a wall and was knocked out. Kiba crashed into the ground and barely managed to land safely even though he skidded along the ground for a few meters. To make matters worse, the sharp winds created several cuts on his body with his arms and legs taking the most damage! He began losing blood very rapidly. Naruto finally stopped blowing air and took a deep breath as he landed on the ground as well.
Seeing that Akamaru was knocked out and Kiba was in terrible shape, there was no more suspense in the match. Kurenai\'s expression became dark as she thought, \'No way! I thought that Naruto was a total dunce. His academic record was terrible. How did he improve so much in less than a year?\'
When the match started, Kurenai was as confident as Kiba in his victory. However, Naruto repeatedly proved her wrong. She couldn\'t help but look at Kakashi. Most of the other Jounins in the room did so as well. Naruto was just too famous, be it for his legendary pranks or his Jinchuriki status. None of them ever expected such a turnaround in the boy. It caused everyone to respect the boy.
The silence in the hall was finally broken when Sakura loudly cheered, "Great job, Naruto! Go get him! Finish the match with another Great Breakthrough jutsu!"
Kiba got back on his feet. He wiped the blood from his lips and analyzed, \'He caught me and Akamaru off guard by that wind jutsu. Just like how we were waiting for him to jump up, he wanted us to jump as well so that we wouldn\'t be able to defend or dodge. Thankfully, the rotation saved us and I was lucky to not be slammed into a wall like Akamaru. Still, how do I win this battle?\'
He quickly formulated a plan, \'I still have the advantage of speed. I won\'t allow Naruto to use this jutsu again. I will interrupt him and knock him out with the Four Legs Technique. And, I need to do it quickly. Otherwise, the blood loss from my cuts will affect my speed! Whether I win or lose will be decided in the next couple of minutes.\'
Naruto loudly said, "Of course!"
He quickly began weaving hand seals. However, at that very moment, Kiba launched several shurikens at Naruto, forcing him to dodge repeatedly. Kiba used that time to use the Four Legs Technique and quickly shortened the distance between the two.
He appeared behind Naruto and said, "Too late!"
Even though he was dodging the shurikens, Naruto\'s eyes never lost track of Kiba. As Kiba attacked him from the rear, he launched a kick at him without even turning around. Kiba didn\'t expect such a counterattack and couldn\'t dodge in time. The kick landed on his chest and sent him flying away.
Kiba coughed blood but managed to flip in the air and landed on his feet. Naruto looked at him and said, "I told you that I only got hit because I wanted to test your strength! Don\'t think that I am slower than you! It\'s the opposite, believe it!"
Unlike in the original story, where Kiba comfortably outsped Naruto, the difference in their speed wasn\'t very significant due to the training Kakashi put Naruto through.
Kakashi analyzed, \'No, it\'s not just about the speed. Under normal circumstances, Kiba wouldn\'t be hit by that kick. However, he was very distracted as he desperately wanted to win with that attack.\'
Kurenai also analyzed, \'In addition to his desperation, Naruto\'s counterattack and speed caught him off guard, making him unable to defend or dodge. Just what the hell did Kakashi do with Naruto? How did he improve so much?\'
Shino calmly said, "Not only does he have a strong Wind jutsu, but he is also at the same level as Kiba in terms of Taijutsu."
Standing next to him, Hinata thought, \'Naruto-kun… Everyone is finally acknowledging you.\'
Ino couldn\'t help but look at Shikamaru and ask, "Are you sure that he is Naruto? Is someone disguised as him using the Transformation jutsu?"
Shikamaru didn\'t reply. He was speechless by Naruto\'s development as well.
Naruto said, "Since you don\'t want to be hit by my Great Breakthrough, I\'ll try out the new killer move that I\'ve been practicing!"
\'Multi Shadow Clone jutsu!\'
Four clones appeared next to Naruto. He copied Sasuke\'s Lion Barrage and renamed it Uzumaki Naruto Barrage. With his injuries and tiredness, Kiba couldn\'t handle the assault and was pummelled until he could no longer get up.
Fujin nodded and thought, \'Well, other than the initial cockiness, he fought well. That said, he didn\'t try to abuse his Shadow Clones or his massive chakra. There\'s a lot of scope for improvement…\'
Hayate checked Kiba and announced Naruto as the winner of the battle. Among cheers from a few of his fellow Genins, Naruto returned back to the viewing area while Kiba was carried away on a stretcher.
The next battle was a fight between the two Hyugas. Their battle was identical to the canon fight.
Seeing Neji hitting the chakra points on Hinata\'s arm, Hoka said softly, "That\'s Neji. He is probably the greatest genius in the entire history of the Hyuga clan!"
Standing next to him, Renjiro nodded. Fujin, who was standing in front of them, said, "Hmm, I have seen him a few times earlier though this is the first time I have seen him fight. I have to say…"
Fujin paused for a bit as Neji gave a speech about genius and failures. He continued, "I\'m disappointed."
Both Hoka and Renjiro were surprised by Fujin\'s words. Kakashi, Guy and their students heard his words and looked at him as well. Neji\'s incredible talent was visible to the naked eye. Yet, Fujin said that he was disappointed.
Lee asked, "What do you mean, Fujin-san?"
Hoka added, "What disappointed you? In terms of talent, he is head and shoulders above me."
Fujin watched as Hinata got back to her feet once again and said, "True, he has talent. However, what use is that talent when he has constrained himself by imaginary chains of Fate?
He thinks too highly of himself and too little of the ones who weren\'t born geniuses. With such a mentality, he\'ll find it hard to progress. Perhaps he might become a Jounin. However, I don\'t see him progressing any farther beyond that rank unless he improves his mindset."
Hoka frowned on hearing Fujin\'s words. As someone who had the Bird Cage, he knew how horrible the feeling of someone else controlling your life was. In fact, he had even talked about Fujin regarding the same. He also knew how Hizashi was sacrificed to save Hiashi. So, he could understand why Neji developed such a mindset.
Naruto heard his words as well and said, "That\'s right! Who is he to say that a failure will never improve? HANG IN THERE, HINATA!"
Hoka ignored Naruto and said, "Even though his words are harsh and misguided, that doesn\'t mean that his future progress would be restricted. Besides, his words are having a mental impact on his opponent. That\'s not much different from your trash talk."
Fujin replied, "If he did it just to get under her skin, I would have been impressed. Unfortunately, he believes every word he says. Besides, his words aren\'t the issue. The issue is how narrow his view is."
Hoka became confused and asked, "What do you mean?"
Sakura, Naruto and Lee were confused as well. Unlike them, Kakashi, Guy and Renjiro understood what Fujin was implying.
Fujin chuckled and answered with a question, "How exactly can he maintain such beliefs after being his student for nearly 2 years?"
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