Since that day, Uchiha Sasuke became another regular truant from the class.
As their homeroom teacher, Iruka's face now bore more wrinkles than before.
Meanwhile, the riverside woods echoed with the sounds of "bang bang," accompanied by the sight of figures dragging trees.
At first, after a whole day of pounding trees, Sasuke was utterly exhausted.
Fortunately, Naruto provided him with a special recovery potion.
Upon discovering the miraculous effects of Naruto's potions, Sasuke trained just as fiercely as Naruto, pushing himself relentlessly.
Although Sasuke wasn't as monstrously strong as Naruto, he still followed Naruto's method of dragging trees to complete his weighted training.
If dragging three or four trees was too much, he would settle for just one.
By now, the eastern outskirts of the village had almost been plowed into a new riverbed by these two.
Even Might Guy couldn't bear to watch anymore.
During this time, the Third Hokage, unable to endure it any longer, had Kakashi deliver two sets of weighted equipment.
These weights were crafted from a special metal, and their mass was roughly equivalent to the weight of the trees Naruto had been dragging. The Third Hokage thought that with these weights, maybe these two wouldn't continue their bizarre tree-dragging routine.
And the result?
Naruto, while assuring that he wouldn't train the same way anymore, immediately donned the weighted equipment and continued dragging trees.
Seeing the boy so set in his ways, the Third Hokage finally gave up trying to stop him. He even designated the eastern outskirts of the village as a training ground for Naruto and Sasuke, just to prevent them from tearing up other parts of the village.
Konoha couldn't afford to have these two running amok.
As for Hinata, Naruto was much more thoughtful in her case, never daring to make her train like he and Sasuke did. Instead, he gave her a punching bag and a wooden dummy, and would occasionally spar with her to help improve her taijutsu.
Training days are always monotonous, and before they knew it, six years had passed.
This year, Naruto turned 12...
"Sasuke, Hinata, check my chakra flow."
Naruto sat cross-legged on the ground, closing his eyes as he began circulating Wind Release chakra within him to break through the "gates."
Over the past six years, he hadn't given up on perfecting that technique. With the help of the Byakugan and Sharingan, and in collaboration with Kurama, Naruto had been improving both his chakra flow and the technique itself step by step.
Naruto had even named it—Wind Release: Blood Burst.
When he first executed this technique, it was similar to the initial attempt, but with his enhanced physical resilience, he managed to shatter Konoha's barrier in the process.
The Third Hokage had nearly fainted from anger at the time.
However, Naruto had now achieved a level of control over his Wind Release chakra, ensuring he could push the technique to its limit without endangering his own life.
He discovered that the Wind Release: Blood Burst technique's peak state could only be maintained for 15 seconds before leaving him on the brink of death.
To gauge its strength, Naruto had even sought out Might Guy for evaluation. Guy, after seeing the technique in action, praised Naruto as a genius. The power unleashed by the Blood Burst was on par with opening the third gate of the Eight Gates.
But upon further observation, Guy realized something was off...
This technique was one that only Naruto, with his unique constitution, could use.
For ordinary people, attempting this technique...
...would likely end in tragedy, as demonstrated by Danzo from the Root.
When the Third Hokage learned of Naruto's new technique, he immediately classified it as an A-rank forbidden jutsu, even categorizing it under both Ninjutsu and Taijutsu.
However, the Third Hokage wasn't unfair to Naruto—he offered him a scroll of sealing and allowed him to choose a forbidden jutsu to learn.
He had hoped that Naruto would pick the Flying Thunder God technique...
But to his surprise, Naruto opted for the A-rank Multi-Shadow Clone Jutsu instead.
As for why he didn't choose the Flying Thunder God...
Naruto simply claimed he didn't understand it.
No one expected Danzo to secretly attempt learning Naruto's technique...
Though no one knew the full details, the fact that Danzo disappeared from the Third Hokage's sight for three years indicated that he had probably suffered quite a severe injury.
According to the Root's reports, Danzo had turned into a bloody mess during his practice of the Blood Burst technique.
It sounded quite pitiful.
Once it was confirmed that only someone with Naruto's monstrous recovery abilities could learn this technique, the Third Hokage had no hesitation in removing it from the records.
He didn't want some curious kid to try it, only to die young.
"Move your chakra a bit closer to the heart," Sasuke said, his Sharingan active as he monitored Naruto's chakra flow with a serious expression.
Honestly, Sasuke found Naruto's technique impressive. It was just a pity that he didn't have Wind Release chakra. Otherwise, he would have tried learning it himself.
"Naruto-kun, your chakra is too intense," Hinata said, standing on Naruto's other side, her Byakugan activated, guiding him.
Boom—
As time passed, an overwhelming surge of Wind Release chakra exploded from Naruto's pores, bringing with it a cloud of blood mist. From a distance, it looked as though he was enveloped in a crimson barrier.
Sasuke and Hinata, standing nearby, shielded their faces with their hands. Using chakra to brace themselves, they managed to hold their ground against the turbulent winds.
"This power..."
"It's already at the level of the fourth gate of the Eight Gates, isn't it?" Sasuke murmured, his mouth agape.
Earlier, Guy had opened the fourth gate to demonstrate its power to them. Now, Naruto's sheer presence alone was equal to that of Guy's fourth gate.
"Naruto-kun... has gotten even stronger," Hinata said softly, feeling both happy and slightly dejected. Despite her best efforts over the years, she couldn't keep up with Naruto's growth.
Even Sasuke, with his natural talent, was ahead of her.
Naruto slowly opened his eyes and deactivated the Blood Burst technique.
At this point, he could maintain the technique for about a minute, with the side effect being exhaustion for half an hour afterward.
He could manage to use Blood Burst three times a day. Any more, and it would be too much for him to handle.
"Naruto-kun..."
"Don't forget, the graduation exam is at noon today. Iruka-sensei asked me to remind you two," Hinata said hurriedly, having suddenly remembered.
But then, a tinge of worry crept into her heart.
Would she be assigned to the same team as Naruto...?
"Alright, let's head back to school," Naruto said, glancing at Sasuke and then at Hinata.
According to Kurama's calculations, Sasuke's chakra had reached 80 units—close to what Naruto had when he first started training.
Hinata's chakra, on the other hand, was a bit lower, hovering around 50 units.
But, there was no helping it—Hinata wasn't like them, after all.
As for Naruto himself, his chakra reserves had swelled to 270 units.
From what Kurama had observed over the years, there weren't many people in Konoha with that much chakra.
The only one with more than 200 units of chakra was the Third Hokage himself, which was quite a surprise to Naruto.
Though, in hindsight, it made sense. After all, someone who mastered all five nature transformations would naturally need a vast amount of chakra.
The three of them stepped through the space portal and arrived back in the classroom, where several students had already gathered in preparation.
Sakura, upon seeing Sasuke, immediately slipped into her usual fangirl mode.
Ahhh!
'Sasuke looks even cooler!'
'I love him so much!!'
Shikamaru lazily greeted Naruto, his voice devoid of energy. Although they hadn't seen much of Naruto and Sasuke over the years, they still occasionally exchanged a few words.
Before long, Iruka entered the classroom, a roster tucked under his arm, his face strained with worry.
Upon spotting Naruto, Sasuke, and Hinata in the back row, his expression softened, and a rare smile appeared on his face.
Finally!
Uzumaki Naruto and Uchiha Sasuke were about to graduate!
Iruka had been genuinely concerned that these two would corrupt the entire class.
As for whether they would fail the exam, that thought never even crossed his mind.
After all, everyone in Konoha knew that these two had practically carved a new riverbed on the eastern outskirts with their training. With that kind of strength, they didn't belong in the Academy anymore.
"Alright, everyone, get ready. When I call your name, go to the next room for the transformation jutsu test."
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