NoviceAuthor
patreon
[NSSSG] [ARC-04] Chapter : 174 - Naruto's defeat
🕑 Added 2025-08-28 15:36:52 +0000 UTC“The final practical test of this semester begins now. Everyone, step forward and draw lots.”
Kitazawa’s announcement drew every eye. He set down the lot box in front of the students.
Sasuke gave Naruto a sidelong glance before striding ahead, the first to act. He looked at the box, his expression unreadable, and slowly reached in.
What he wanted most was obvious—Naruto.
But with so many students from both classes participating, pulling Naruto’s number would be pure luck.
“Number one.”
Sasuke announced his draw and returned to the line, composed as ever.
“Youth! Let me get number one too!”
Naruto slapped his hands together, muttered a quick prayer, and bounced up to the box. He pulled out a slip of paper and froze. His eyes lit up.
“No way—it’s really number one!” he shouted, practically shaking with excitement. “Youth never lets me down!”
“Is it really that miraculous…?”
Shikamaru narrowed his eyes. Something smelled off. This wasn’t coincidence. No—this was arranged. And if it was a setup, then only one man here could have rigged it.
Kitazawa.
Shikamaru hunched his shoulders. Well, at least he wasn’t the target.
“Sasuke versus Naruto again?” Shino adjusted his glasses, voice calm. “Strange. They always seem to end up facing each other. Almost like they’re bound together.”
Neji frowned faintly. A pity. He’d been hoping to face Sasuke himself. His chance would have to wait for the Student Council trials.
“Students holding number one, step onto the field,” Kitazawa ordered.
Sasuke and Naruto walked out, facing each other in the center.
“Do you think Sasuke will win this time?” Ino flicked her bangs out of her face.
“Hard to say,” Shikamaru replied lazily, hands behind his head. “He is an Uchiha, after all.”
Karin shook her head. “Naruto’s still the tougher one.”
Sakura clenched her fists. “Sasuke-kun will definitely win!”
“Begin!” Kitazawa’s voice cut the air.
“Multiple Shadow Clone Jutsu!”
Naruto’s opening move filled the training ground with fifty Narutos in green jumpsuits.
“Leaf Whirlwind!”
One clone charged first, leg whipping through the air.
Sasuke stayed perfectly calm. He raised an arm, blocked the kick, then flicked a kunai at the clone. It burst into smoke.
“Leaf Double Whirlwind!” “Dynamic Entry!”
Three more Narutos attacked at once, but Sasuke didn’t even flinch.
He moved with sharp precision—six shuriken flashing from his hands. Each struck true, hitting the clones in pairs. All three vanished.
And then Sasuke moved again. His fingers twitched. The embedded shuriken lifted, strings snapping taut in midair, forming a deadly web.
Clones stumbled, snagged, or fell to the whirling blades. Smoke burst across the field. In less than a minute, half of Naruto’s army had vanished.
“W-what the—?” Ino’s eyes widened. “Why does it feel like Sasuke’s a different person?”
Karin nodded, astonished. “He looks so… composed.”
“It’s his style,” Neji said seriously. “Before, Sasuke fought by instinct. Now it’s calculated. Every move has purpose.”
Shino adjusted his glasses. “He’s seems to have memorized Naruto’s entire fighting pattern.”
Sakura’s eyes sparkled. “Sasuke-kun is amazing!”
“Special training,” Shikamaru muttered. “Definitely Kitazawa-sensei’s hand in this.”
On the field, Naruto grinned fiercely. “Again! Multiple Shadow Clone Jutsu!”
This time the ground shook under a hundred clones. A wave of green spandex.
Sasuke’s lips curved into the faintest smirk.
Kitazawa’s words echoed in his mind: when the crowd is too big, only a few can strike at once. The rest only get in each other’s way.
Six wooden shuriken spun into the clones’ legs. One toppled, then another, and then chaos erupted. Like dominoes, clones tripped, collided, and crashed into each other until most were sprawled on the ground.
Gasps erupted from the crowd.
“A few shuriken… took out an entire Shadow Clone army?”
“Terrifying…”
“Is this even the same Sasuke?”
The students stared in awe.
Shikamaru clicked his tongue. "Same, huh? This isn’t the old Sasuke. He’s not pretending to be calm anymore—he is calm.”
“The real monster is still Kitazawa-sensei,” Kiba muttered, half in awe, half in envy.
Sasuke heard the reactions and couldn’t resist a smirk. Time to finish it.
Two Shadow Clones appeared beside him.
Naruto’s side, however, had collapsed into chaos.
“Who stepped on my hand?!”
“Get off, I can’t breathe!”
“Hey, don’t sit on me, bastard!”
Naruto groaned. “Oi, get it together, will you?!”
But three Sasukes were already in front of him.
“Multiple Shadow Clone Jutsu!” Naruto created ten more in a rush.
“Fire Release: Phoenix Sage Fire Jutsu!”
The Sasuke on the left struck instantly, spitting a stream of fireballs. Seven Narutos vanished in bursts of smoke.
“Raging Lion Kick!”
Naruto lunged at the Sasuke in the middle, chakra flaring on his leg. The kick howled through the air—
And struck nothing.
Sasuke’s form blurred with a flicker, reappearing behind him.
Naruto’s eyes widened. “What—he learned Body Flicker?!”
“Naruto!” the Sasuke on the right barked sharply.
Naruto glanced instinctively—
And fell into an illusion. His eyes filled with fluttering crows.
“Genjutsu: Bubble.”
Naruto snapped out of it just in time to see the real Sasuke weaving signs.
A giant fireball roared forward, swallowing his vision.
Just before it struck, a wall of water surged upward, blocking the flames.
Kitazawa appeared between them, voice calm but firm.
“The spar is over. Winner—Uchiha Sasuke.”
To be fair, Sasuke had performed exceptionally well today.
Maybe it was because he had been losing for far too long, forcing him to hold his frustration in until it became fuel. Or perhaps it was Kitazawa’s special training finally paying off. Either way, he surpassed expectations and managed to defeat Naruto.
“Sasuke-kun, you were incredible today!”
Naruto, despite his loss, grinned brightly and gave a thumbs-up. “But don’t think I’m giving up! I’ll stake my youth on it—I’ll definitely beat you next time!”
His optimism never faltered; defeat only sharpened his determination.
“Hmph. Beat me? You don’t stand a chance anymore!”
At last, Sasuke’s composure cracked. A grin split across his face, and then he erupted into laughter, wild and unrestrained. “Hahahaha!”
Confidence surged through him. The victory felt easy, natural—relaxing, even. All he had done was follow Kitazawa’s instructions, and with just one clean execution, Naruto had fallen.
But Sasuke had yet to dismiss his Shadow Clone, and in an instant, the field filled with three laughing Sasukes. Their arrogant chorus of laughter rang out toward the sky, making the atmosphere almost unbearable.
“...Naruto, your combat issues today are serious. After the test, come see me.”
Kitazawa’s calm voice cut through the noise.
“Huh?”
Naruto froze, his heart sinking with dread. Strangely, he feared no one—not even Lord Third—but when it came to Kitazawa, something about the man left him uneasy. Even so, he lowered his head and nodded without protest.
Kitazawa chuckled softly. He wasn’t angry at Naruto. On the contrary, he was preparing to correct him—because, truth be told, Naruto’s loss was partly his own fault. Two-thirds of the blame lay with him… and besides, hadn’t he given Sasuke an extra push to ensure the mission’s completion?
Well, that just meant it was Naruto’s turn to receive “special training.”
【Mission: Assist Uchiha Sasuke in defeating Uzumaki Naruto in a practical test.】
【Reward: Genjutsu – Unknown Fire.】
【Mission completed. Reward granted.】
Three glowing lines appeared before Kitazawa’s eyes. Information surged into his mind.
Genjutsu: Unknown Fire. Much like Genjutsu: Bubble, it required the Sharingan to cast. Its effect? To trap the victim in an illusion of being engulfed by searing flames, the pain indistinguishable from reality.
“…Time to step off the field, Sasuke.”
Kitazawa snapped back to the present, watching Sasuke still laughing maniacally with his clones.
Sasuke quickly dismissed the extras, looking a little embarrassed, before striding off with his usual cool air.
“Sasuke-kun, that was amazing!”
Sakura and the others immediately rushed to his side. Sasuke’s lips twitched upward again. Yes… this was what he craved—the admiration, the recognition. His past failures melted away under the warmth of their praise. In that moment, he silently vowed to keep winning, no matter what.
Kitazawa observed him quietly. Everything was going exactly as planned. Sasuke’s ego had grown dangerously inflated; if he triumphed in the Student Council selection test, it would only embolden him further. But if he lost—especially in front of Fugaku, Itachi, and the rest—the blow might crush him.
The test went on. In the next two rounds, Kitazawa subtly manipulated the matchups, steering Sasuke away from threats like Yakumo and Hinata. Sasuke swept his opponents with ease, leaving the grounds with three consecutive victories and a cocky swagger.
Meanwhile, Naruto trudged toward Kitazawa with a heavy heart.
“Kitazawa-sensei…”
“Relax,” Kitazawa said gently, patting his shoulder. “I just want to review your spar with Sasuke”
Naruto exhaled in relief.
“Tell me, what was the biggest issue in your fight?” Kitazawa asked.
Naruto frowned in thought. “…I think it was how I used the Multiple Shadow Clone Jutsu. When Sasuke disrupted them, everything fell apart. I shouldn’t have panicked, but… it was my first time in that situation, and I didn’t know what to do.”
He lowered his head. “Sorry, Kitazawa-sensei… you taught me that jutsu, and I still couldn’t use it properly.”
“There’s nothing to apologize for,” Kitazawa replied with a small shake of his head. “You’re young. You lack experience. Mistakes are natural and ok—as long as you learn from them.”
Naruto’s eyes lit up again. “Yes, Kitazawa-sensei!”
“Good. Starting tomorrow, you’ll be joining my practical training sessions.”
Naruto’s gloom evaporated instantly. “That’s awesome!”
“Practical training is important,” Kitazawa reminded him, “but don’t neglect the Rasengan. You need to keep progressing.”
“Don’t worry!” Naruto beamed, fists clenched with determination. “I’ll master it in three days, I swear!”
“In that case,” Kitazawa smirked, “I’ll treat you to Ichiraku Ramen once you succeed. But for now—let’s go over your match in detail.”
The two spent half an hour reviewing every moment of the spar. When Kitazawa finally walked Naruto home, the boy waved vigorously at the door.
“See you tomorrow, Kitazawa-sensei!”
Kitazawa smiled faintly, then turned back into the night.
By day, he was a sensei. By night, he reverted to a student.
When he arrived at Yūhi’s home, Tsunade and Shizune were still absent—Tsunade’s gambling habit had flared up again. Kitazawa was hardly surprised. He unlocked the door and stepped inside.
As always, Kurenai was seated at the coffee table, diligently practicing the Fire Sealing Method.
Kitazawa strolled over, his eyes inevitably drawn to her shapely figure. Without hesitation, he slipped behind her and wrapped his arms around her waist.
“You’re distracting me again,” Kurenai scolded, glaring over her shoulder. But her chakra flow didn’t falter. Symbols etched themselves neatly onto the scroll.
“You’ve nearly mastered this technique,” Kitazawa murmured, resting his chin on her shoulder. “Just a few more days.”
“That only proves my talent in sealing jutsu,” she said smugly, lips curving upward.
His gaze dipped lower, betraying him as it slid down the line of her collar. White mesh blocked his view, much to his frustration.
“I’m finished. Now let me go,” she said at last.
Kitazawa ignored her. Instead, he leaned back onto the sofa and pulled her into his lap.
“Shouldn’t you be practicing Super Strength right now?” she asked pointedly, though she didn’t resist.
“Tsunade-sama isn’t back yet,” he answered, his hand sliding down to caress her thigh.
“…What’s the next sealing jutsu I should learn?” she asked, glancing down at his hand, her cheeks tinged pink.
“Four-Limbs Weight Seal,” he replied after a moment. It was one of the few sealing arts he had access to, excluding the cursed Tongue seal, which was clearly unsuitable for her.
“And what does it do?”
She leaned back into him, her voice softening. His hand traced circles along her skin, and though her face grew hotter, her smile betrayed her pleasure.
Perhaps… she thought, her lips parting slightly, her breathing quickening…
