14 The battle
"Okay. Let's get started!" Tsunade shouted, her voice cutting through the air and snapping everyone to attention. The tension that had been building finally broke, and the evaluation match was underway.
The Konoha ninja moved instantly, falling into a practiced, defensive ten-man formation designed to maximize their diverse skill sets. Shikamaru positioned himself at the rear to analyze the battlefield, flanked by Sakura and Ino to protect his blind spots. Tenten took the forward-center position, scrolls gripped tightly in her hands, while Shino guarded the front line, already dispersing a quiet perimeter of insects. The outer ring was formed by Neji, Lee, Kiba, and Hinata, creating a highly mobile vanguard, while Choji stood ready just behind them as the ultimate shield.
Across the field, Naruto stood entirely still, his arms hanging loosely at his sides. His total lack of a defensive stance irritated his former classmates.
Kiba, unable to keep his mouth shut, barked out a laugh. "Come on, Naruto! Just beg for mercy and say you're sorry. There's no way you're beating all of us at once." While none of the others said it aloud, their confident stances showed they agreed.
On the sidelines, Kurenai frowned slightly. "Kiba's right. If Naruto backs down now, this can end before anyone gets seriously hurt."
Asuma, Kakashi, and Guy exchanged glances. "There's no shame in calling it off," Asuma muttered, shifting his unlit cigarette.
Jiraiya sighed deeply, crossing his arms. "You four should really just watch."
"But Lord Jiraiya—" Kakashi began.
"He's an Uzumaki," Jiraiya interrupted, his voice dropping to a serious tone. "Once he sets his mind to something, he doesn't back down. You know that better than anyone, Kakashi."
Back on the field, Naruto cracked his neck slowly, his eyes sweeping over the complex formation. A faint smirk crossed his face. "If you're going to bore me with speeches," he said casually, "I'll just take the initiative."
He dropped into a slight crouch, clenching his fists.
The next split second, a shockwave of raw chakra exploded outward. The ground shattered beneath his sandals, blasting dust and debris into the air. His chakra flared violently—dense, golden, and heavy enough that even the sensory ninja on the sidelines stiffened in pure shock. Only Jiraiya and Tsunade remained composed. Temari's eyes widened as she watched the energy burn like a wild flame.
Before the dust could even settle, Naruto vanished.
Shikamaru felt the impact before he even registered motion. A brutal fist buried itself deep into his stomach, completely bypassing his guards. His eyes widened in shock as the air rushed out of his lungs, and he spit blood from the sheer force.
"It doesn't matter how good your strategy is," Naruto said coldly, "if your body isn't fast enough to execute it."
Shikamaru was launched backward, skidding across the dirt before collapsing into unconsciousness.
"So much for the brains," Naruto muttered, turning smoothly. "Who's next?"
"You've gone too far!" Sakura screamed, her fist instantly glowing with precise chakra as she charged in to retaliate.
Naruto didn't block; he simply sidestepped her linear trajectory effortlessly. As she overextended, his heel snapped upward in a textbook counter-kick, striking her cleanly on the side of the head. The impact sent her flying in the same direction as Shikamaru, limp before she even hit the ground. Two down in seconds.
Kiba snarled, leaping forward alongside Akamaru in a coordinated strike, while Shino immediately sent a wave of parasitic insects to lock down Naruto's escape routes.
Naruto met them head-on with terrifying speed. He intercepted Kiba mid-air, smashing a fist directly into his face. The momentum drove Kiba backward, crashing him violently into Shino. The collision took both of them out of the play instantly.
"Four," Naruto said flatly.
"Partial Expansion Jutsu!" Choji roared, his arm expanding to massive proportions as he brought a boulder-sized fist crashing down. "This is for Shikamaru!"
"Being bigger just makes you an easier target," Naruto replied.
Instead of dodging, Naruto lunged forward, a massive, swirling sphere forming instantly in his palm. "Oodama Rasengan!"
The dense sphere slammed directly into Choji's reinforced chest armor. The explosive rotation detonated on impact, shattering the armor and sending Choji crashing to the earth with a thunderous boom. Smoke rose from the crater.
"Five left," Naruto noted, his eyes tracking the immediate follow-up.
Lee appeared in front of him in a green blur, spinning into a fierce Leaf Whirlwind aimed straight at his temple. Anticipating the trajectory, Naruto brought his hand up and caught Lee's ankle mid-strike, absorbing the kinetic force.
"You're still wearing your training weights," Naruto noted calmly.
Using Lee's own momentum, Naruto spun him through the air and hurled him across the clearing. Lee flipped gracefully, digging his fingers into the dirt to skid to a stop right next to Neji.
"Leave him to me!" Tenten shouted, leaping high into the air. She unfurled a massive scroll, summoning a torrential rain of steel. "Twin Rising Dragons!"
Thousands of blades, kunai, and shuriken screamed down toward Naruto.
"It doesn't matter how many weapons you throw," Naruto said, his left hand forming a standard Rasengan, "if you can't bypass the wind resistance."
He thrust the Rasengan upward. The violent, spiraling chakra created a massive localized gale, deflecting the entire barrage. Blades clanged uselessly into the dirt or scattered harmlessly across the field. Tenten landed heavily, staring in disbelief at her empty scrolls.
"A weapons master without weapons," Naruto observed.
From his blind spot, Ino clapped her hands into the signature hand sign. "Mind Transfer Jutsu!"
"Nice try, Ino. But a weak spiritual intrusion won't work on me anymore," Naruto said. Before the spiritual energy could connect, he vanished from her line of sight.
Ino felt a precise, blunt strike to the back of her neck and collapsed instantly. Naruto caught her before she hit the ground, already manifesting a shadow clone. "Take her to the medical area," he ordered. The clone nodded, lifting Ino gently and flashing to Tsunade's side.
Poof. The clone dispersed.
Naruto turned back to face the remaining opposition. "Two Hyuga, a taijutsu specialist, and a weapon specialist with nothing left to throw," he said, his voice entirely even. "You already know how the rest of your teams fared. Let's end this here."
Tenten's composure cracked, her fists clenching tightly. "What are you trying to say, Naruto?! I am a proud kunoichi of the Leaf. Even without my ninja tools, I will keep fighting!"
Naruto shrugged, his expression softening with practical honesty. "Tenten, this is an evaluation, not a death match. The reality is, you don't utilize high-level ninjutsu. Without your tools, your combat effectiveness drops to near zero. That's just a tactical fact." He shifted his gaze. "And Hinata won't fight me with lethal intent. I used the absolute minimum force required to incapacitate Ino. Don't let stubborn pride dictate a bad tactical decision. Step aside."
"There's no way I'm backing down!" Tenten snapped, bracing herself. Hinata opened her mouth to speak, but Tenten's fierce glare silenced her.
Naruto closed his eyes and sighed. "Fine. Have it your way."
He vanished. Tenten's eyes widened as Naruto materialized directly in her guard, his fist driving forward. But before the strike landed, a heavy shadow intercepted the blow.
Lee.
Crossing his reinforced forearms, Lee blocked the strike head-on, his boots digging deep furrows into the earth from the sheer kinetic energy. Utilizing the contact, Lee instantly gripped Naruto's wrist, locking him in place. "I cannot let you harm my teammate!" Lee grunted through gritted teeth.
Naruto glanced at the grip. "Against you, I actually have to try."
"Neji! Now!" Lee yelled.
"Understood," Neji replied instantly, his veins bulging around his eyes. "Byakugan!" He and Hinata moved in perfect synchronization, closing the distance instantly.
"Eight Trigrams: Sixty-Four Palms!"
Neji struck with lethal precision, and Hinata followed his rhythm seamlessly. Their combined, rapid-fire assault hammered into Naruto's tenketsu network, systematically sealing his chakra points one by one. The final, dual palm strike drove Naruto backward, slamming him into the dirt as an explosion of dust obscured the field.
On the sidelines, Temari gasped, gripping the railing. "Oh no… Naruto!"
Kurenai turned sharply toward the Hokage. "He took a direct, combined Gentle Fist assault. His chakra network is completely locked down. Should we stop the match?"
"Let the dust settle," Jiraiya said, completely unfazed. "He's broken through the Sixty-Four Palms before."
"But Lord Jiraiya," Kurenai urged, "that was a synchronized assault by two Hyuga elites. That's over a hundred precise strikes to his internal organs. No normal ninja survives that baseline trauma."
Jiraiya smiled faintly. "When it comes to Uzumaki Naruto, never bet against the baseline."
Before she could argue, Naruto's voice echoed calmly from the settling dust cloud. "Honestly… have you two not refined your tactical execution over the last three years?"
The dust cleared to reveal Naruto standing completely upright, his breathing steady.
"Relying on a static grapple to land a slow-developing sequence?" Naruto analyzed coldly. "That's a dangerous habit. It works against mid-tier opponents, but against an S-rank threat, you just overcommitted three of your remaining assets to a single point."
"Easy for you to say after knocking out half our friends!" Tenten yelled defensively.
Naruto's eyes hardened. "If this were an actual war zone, every single one of them would be dead. My Oodama Rasengan was aimed precisely at Choji's reinforced armor plating, not his skull. I pulled the velocity on Sakura's counter to ensure no brain trauma. I manually escorted Ino to safety. I gave you a clear tactical exit." He stepped forward, his presence expanding. "It's not my fault you prioritized pride over survival. But now that you've proven you can land a hit, I'll stop holding back."
On the sidelines, Shizune exhaled slowly. "He's right. His spatial awareness and holding back mid-strike takes incredible mastery. He's controlling the entire pacing of the field."
"The Konoha teams are fighting at a high B-rank coordination level," Jiraiya muttered. "But Naruto's baseline physical conditioning is high A-rank, borderline S-rank when he draws upon his reservation."
"The only real variable left is the boy in the green suit," Tsunade added, her eyes narrowing.
Beside them, Asuma's cigarette finally dropped to the dirt. Guy's signature grin was completely gone, replaced by intense focus. Kakashi quietly slid his forehead protector up, revealing the spinning three-tomoe Sharingan to track the incoming speed.
On the field, Naruto blurred. There was no massive explosion of chakra this time—just pure, unadulterated physical speed.
He closed the distance instantly, engaging Lee in a lightning-fast exchange of high-level taijutsu. Fists, elbows, and knees collided in a rapid staccato of impacts that echoed across the training ground. Both pushed their physical limits, Lee using his legendary hard-fist style while Naruto countered with fluid, efficient deflections.
Naruto internalally acknowledged it: Lee was the only one present who could genuinely pressure him in pure close-quarters combat.
Lee lunged inside, attempting a clinch to lock Naruto down for Neji once more. Anticipating the strategy, Naruto stepped on Lee's incoming knee, using it as a literal stepping stone to vault cleanly over his head just as Neji's vacuum palm struck from the rear.
The Friendly Fire was instantaneous. Neji's palm struck Lee's shoulder, disrupting Lee's balance for a fraction of a second.
That single window was all Naruto needed.
Naruto dropped from the air directly into Tenten's guard, delivering a swift, blunt strike to her diaphragm. The air burst from her lungs, and she lost consciousness instantly. Naruto caught her before she hit the ground, laying her down gently.
He turned his gaze to Hinata, who stood frozen, her hands trembling as her Byakugan deactivated. Naruto's expression softened. "I know you don't want to be out here, Hinata. You, Choji, and Shikamaru were the only ones who didn't look at me like a monster back at the Academy. That matters to me." He lowered his hands entirely. "Yield. I promise you no one in this village will question your courage."
Hinata looked at her unconscious teammates, then back at Naruto's steady eyes. She quietly dropped her kunai. "I surrender, Naruto." She knelt down, lifted Tenten carefully, and walked off the active combat zone.
As Hinata reached the sidelines, Shizune immediately took Tenten, laying her next to Ino under the shade of a tree.
"You made the right tactical call, Hinata," Ino said quietly, holding an ice pack to her neck.
Tsunade looked down at Hinata, her stern expression softening into genuine approval. "I am proud of you, Hinata. You recognized when the objective was lost and prioritized the safety of your teammate over empty pride. That is the hallmark of a true chunin decision-maker."
"She's right," Temari added, crossing her arms with a smirk. "Knowing when you're outmatched isn't cowardice. It's survival."
Back on the field, the dynamic had shifted completely. Naruto stood opposite Lee and Neji.
The two remaining members of Team Guy moved in perfect unison, their years of joint training evident as Lee controlled the high line with fierce strikes while Neji covered the lower angles with defensive sweeps. The exchanges were blindingly fast, but Naruto's conditioning allowed him to comfortably predict the rhythm.
With a sharp, sweeping low kick, Naruto forced Neji to leap backward to reset his stance, leaving Lee isolated.
Naruto rolled his shoulders, his eyes locking onto Lee. "Alright, Lee. Let's see the results of your three years of training. Drop the hesitation." He glanced at Lee's legs. "You've refined your body enough. What about the Eight Gates?"
Lee hesitated, his muscles twitching from the exertion.
From the sidelines, Guy's voice cut through the air, unusually solemn. "Naruto is correct, Lee. I will not always be on the battlefield to authorize your limits. The choice to break your restraints belongs to you now."
Lee looked toward his sensei, then back to Naruto, his resolve hardening.
Before Lee could trigger his chakra gates, a massive roar echoed from the edge of the woods. "FANG OVER FANG!"
Kiba came tearing back into the clearing, Akamaru spinning alongside him in a desperate, last-ditch vortex. Behind them, Shino advanced, a massive cloud of insects forming a dark wall to shroud their approach.
Naruto raised an eyebrow. "I distinctly remember knocking you both out."
"Sakura gave us a quick medical burst before she fully passed out!" Kiba roared through the wind resistance.
Further back, Shikamaru was up on one knee, pale but conscious, his shadow stretching out defensively to provide whatever tactical support he could manage.
Naruto exhaled slowly as his chakra began to rise once more, turning a deeper, more resonant hue. "So, you're all willing to stand up for one final exchange."
On the sidelines, Ino looked at Tsunade. "Wait… can we go back out there?"
Tsunade didn't look at her. "You could. But tactically, it's irrelevant. The only reason your injuries are this light is because he chose to spare your lives. Out of all of you, only Tenten took a direct combat strike. The rest were precise tactical incapacitations. He's operating on an entirely different level of restraint."
With a heavy thud, Choji dragged himself back to his feet, his breathing labored but his posture determined.
"Ready to call it quits, Naruto?" Kiba barked, his vortex dispersing as he took a breathing window.
On the sidelines, Kurenai pinched the bridge of her nose. Ino and Hinata looked down, while Jiraiya simply sweat-dropped at Kiba's complete lack of situational awareness.
"Well," Naruto said, his voice echoing with absolute authority as he brought his fingers into a cross sign. "Shadow Clone Jutsu."
A massive, dense cloud of smoke blanketed the entire center of the training ground. When the wind cleared, twenty identical Narutos stood perfectly spaced across the field—calm, collected, and completely surrounding the remaining opposition.
The original Naruto took a step back, folding his arms. "I'll let my clones handle the closing sequence. If you can bypass them, you earn the promotion debate."
Kiba scoffed, though his voice cracked slightly. "They're just standard shadow clones!"
Shicamaru, Neji, and Shino all collectively cursed Kiba's mouth in their minds.
Naruto tilted his head, a dangerous glint in his eyes. "Before we execute… a tactical question for you all. Do you want my clones to utilize elemental ninjutsu?"
The field went dead silent. Lee's eyes flared with pure excitement, but the rest felt a cold sweat break out.
On the sidelines, Tsunade and Shizune looked away, the sheer disparity in power making the evaluation almost uncomfortable to watch.
"That's… that's not fair, Naruto," Sakura muttered from the grass, her voice weak.
Naruto turned his gaze directly to her, his expression entirely neutral. "If we are discussing fairness, Sakura, you deployed a ten-man specialized unit against a single target without a single complaint from me. You have clear exit parameters. You can yield right now. But if you choose to stay on the field, accept the reality of the threat environment you chose to enter."
The twenty clones shifted their weights simultaneously. The match was over, and everyone knew it.
The clones moved as a singular, crushing wave.
Kiba and Akamaru attempted a desperate rotation, but two clones simply timed the trajectory, stepping inside the blind spot of the spin to catch Kiba by his flak jacket and drive him hard into the earth, while another pair neutralized Akamaru with a non-lethal submission hold. Kiba hit the dirt, completely pinned and out of breath.
Shikamaru attempted to snap his Shadow Possession outward to catch multiple targets, but three clones instantly flared their raw chakra reserves. The sheer spiritual and physical pressure of the chakra output literally tore the oncoming shadows apart, the backlash sending Shikamaru sliding backward into unconsciousness.
Shino's insect swarm was completely dispersed by a coordinated release of localized wind pressure from the clones' palms, followed by a swift sweep that left him disarmed and grounded.
Neji managed to execute a flawless Heavenly Rotation, dispelling three clones in a burst of smoke, but as he recovered his breath, four more clones were already inside his defensive radius, their palms hovering inches from his primary blind spots. Neji froze, recognizing the checkmate.
Lee was the only one left moving. "First Gate, Open! Second Gate, Open! Third Gate, Open!" His skin flushed red as steam erupted from his pores. He vanished, shattering two clones with pure, unadulterated speed. But as he landed, the real Naruto was already waiting in his landing vector.
Naruto didn't strike. He simply placed a palm against Lee's chest, absorbing the forward momentum while utilizing a subtle application of chakra to disrupt Lee's unstable inner gates balance. The sudden feedback caused Lee's gates to snap shut, his stamina completely depleted as he dropped to both knees, gasping for air.
"Enough," Tsunade's voice boomed across the training ground, carrying the absolute authority of the Hokage. "The evaluation is complete. The match is over."
The oppressive chakra pressure vanished instantly. Naruto stood alone in the center of the shattered field, completely clean, his breathing entirely normal. He turned toward the Hokage. "So. The promotion?"
"Granted," Tsunade said without a second of hesitation. "The council will receive my direct recommendation within the hour. Does any Jonin sensei present object?"
Kakashi, Asuma, Kurenai, and Guy remained completely silent. The tactical display was undeniable; Naruto had controlled the pacing, lethality, and positioning of ten capable mid-tier ninja without sustaining a single scratch or relying on the Nine-Tails' chakra.
Jiraiya grinned broadly, clapping Guy on the shoulder. "Told you the kid grew up."
As Tsunade manifested medical clones to begin treating the bruised genin, Naruto walked back to the sidelines, stopping in front of Temari. He smiled, extending his hand. "Thanks for holding the jacket."
Temari handed it back, a genuine, highly impressed smirk playing on her lips. "You said you'd dismantle them. You did. Holding the jacket was the easy part."
Before he could slide the jacket on, a pair of arms wrapped firmly around his neck from behind. Ino leaned her head against his shoulder, groaning slightly. "You absolute idiot. Did you really have to flex that hard on all of us?"
Naruto laughed softly, tapping her forearm to loosen the grip. "Come on, Ino. I pulled every single strike. You guys got out with nothing but bruises."
Ino let go, rolling her eyes but offering a small, proud smile. "Yeah, yeah. But you definitely made your point."
Naruto looked back at the field, watching his former classmates slowly help each other up, the realization of the massive gap in their abilities finally setting in. The point had been made, and the hierarchy of Konoha's new generation had officially changed.