Hokage, no one knows better than me how to cultivate talent.

He genuinely didn't recognize his opponent, who was completely wrapped in a navy blue turtleneck trench coat and wearing black sunglasses even in broad daylight.

Shino Aburame: "..."

His eyes behind his sunglasses revealed no emotion, but after a few seconds of silence, he raised his hand and formed the Mudra of Opposition.

"The match begins."

As soon as Akisui finished speaking, Naruto moved, using Shadow Clone Technique as before.

Ten Narutos appeared simultaneously, their shuriken raining down on Shino Aburame. Then, the ten figures charged forward with overwhelming force.

But Shino Aburame was faster than him.

With a slight movement of his collar and a flick of his sleeve, thousands of parasitic worms surged out like a dark cloud in an instant.

The insects precisely knocked away each shuriken, then turned and pounced on Naruto's clone, crawling all over it, biting and gnawing.

Bang bang bang.

One after another, the clones turned into white smoke and dissipated.

"This bug is amazing." Naruto stood there, staring wide-eyed at the scene.

Aburame Shino gave him no chance to breathe; under his control, the swarm of insects surged toward Naruto's body like a black tide.

Naruto turned and ran, but his hands were not idle. He formed hand seals again, and ten more clones appeared.

The ten clones stopped in unison, turned to face the swarming insects, took a deep breath, raised their hands, and whispered, "Wind Release: Gale Palm."

Eleven shockwaves erupted simultaneously, and the powerful wind pressure swept through like a hurricane, instantly scattering the swarm of insects in the air. The dark mass of parasitic insects was blown away, and most of them fell to the ground with a crackling sound, struggling to get up.

"When did Naruto, that loser, become so strong?" The student who hadn't believed Sasuke's elimination moments before was now gaping, eyes wide. "It's only been two months since spring break, hasn't it?"

"Still calling him a loser?" The student who had previously been too lazy to explain finally seized the opportunity. "Now, even without Wind Release: Gale Palm, he can easily beat you with just Shadow Clone Technique, right?"

"That's true," another student said thoughtfully, staring at the swarm of insects scattered in the field. "But who do you think will win? Shino Aburame's insects look pretty strange too, what if..."

"Is that even a question?" someone immediately chimed in, looking at him like he was an idiot. "How can you win against a dozen of them? You'd be exhausted even if you had to fight them off in a tag-team battle."

The situation on the field indeed confirmed the judgment of most people.

After Shino Aburame's parasitic insects were dispersed by Gale Palm, he did not panic. From under his collar and cuffs, a dark swarm of insects surged out again, rolling towards Naruto like a small wave.

But Naruto's ten clones stood still again and simultaneously formed hand seals to use Wind Release: Gale Palm.

The shockwave exploded, scattering the newly risen swarm of insects into pieces, which then fell to the ground with a crackling sound.

Shino Aburame stood there, slightly out of breath.

He is only ten years old now, and the number of parasitic worms in his body is limited. He is far from being able to control tens of thousands of swarms of worms to blot out the sky, as he will be able to do in a few years. Moreover, controlling the worms consumes a lot of chakra. After a few rounds, his physical strength has been exhausted.

But Shino Aburame did not give up. During the battle, he had already released several insects that landed silently on Naruto's clothes. Then, taking advantage of the moment when Naruto had just used his ninjutsu, he suddenly rushed towards Naruto and chose to fight him in close combat.

Naruto was taken aback for a moment, then realized what was happening.

Shino Aburame was halfway there when he was surrounded by three or four clones at the same time. They attacked him with both fists and feet, and he was sent flying, landing heavily outside the training ground.

"Naruto Uzumaki wins." Shusui announced the outcome of the match.

The next two matches will be Naruto Uzumaki versus Kiba Inuzuka.

When Naruto stepped onto the field, he saw Akamaru on Kiba Inuzuka's shoulder and recalled the scene of Tsurugi Inuzuka's battle that morning.

"We absolutely cannot get sprayed by that stuff."

The moment the match began, Naruto almost reflexively formed hand seals.

Bang bang bang.

Twenty Narutos appeared in the arena at the same time, standing densely packed together, which surprised Kiba Inuzuka on the opposite side.

"This...so many?"

Before he could react, twenty figures rushed forward. Kiba Inuzuka gritted his teeth and fought back, using both fists and feet. Akamaru also pounced and bit from the left and right, but Naruto's clones were simply too numerous.

Kiba Inuzuka was kicked in the chest by Naruto in less than three minutes, and he was sent flying backward and crashed heavily to the ground.

"Naruto Uzumaki wins."

In another match, Hinata Hyuga faced off against a tall, imposing boy.

The boy's basic skills were extremely solid, his footwork was steady, and his defense was tight. Hinata tried to probe him with Gentle Fist several times, but he blocked them all steadily. The two fought back and forth in the arena for nearly fifteen minutes, and the spectators on the sidelines were getting a little sleepy.

In the end, Hinata seized an opening and struck her opponent's pressure point with a palm strike. The boy's body stiffened, and he slowly collapsed.

Hinata Hyuga wins.

After the two matches, the final will be between Hinata Hyuga and Naruto Uzumaki.

The atmosphere on the sidelines suddenly heated up.

"Hinata—go for it—! Defeat Naruto—!"

Yamanaka Ino cupped her hands around her mouth, her face flushed, and shouted loudly. Haruno Sakura and several other girls also shouted in unison, and for a moment, cheers for Hinata rose and fell.

Hinata felt both happy and nervous as she listened to these voices of support.

Naruto stood in the center of the field, turned his head to look at Shusui on the sidelines, took a deep breath, and looked at Hinata opposite him seriously, saying, "Hinata, I will not let you have this first place."

Hinata's gaze didn't waver. She assumed the Gentle Fist stance and said firmly, "Naruto-kun, I... will also give it my all."

The outcome of the match was never in doubt. Although Hinata Hyuga had been training with Shusui for the past two weeks and her physical stats had improved slightly, she still hadn't awakened the Byakugan, the most important feature of the Hyuga clan, and her Gentle Fist technique was only at the eighth level. It was already difficult for her to deal with Naruto's Shadow Clones, not to mention that Naruto also had the suppressive power of long-range ninjutsu. In the fifth minute of the match, Hinata was knocked to the ground by the shockwave of a Gale Palm and lost the match.

Qiu Shui looked at Naruto on the field and saw that he had no intention of holding back. Although this was the situation he wanted to see, he couldn't help but mutter to himself: "You little brat, you don't know your own strength. This is your future wife."

"I declare the winner to be Naruto Uzumaki," Shusui announced loudly, reading out the result of the final match of the day.

Although the onlookers had already witnessed Naruto's performance in several battles, they were still somewhat incredulous to hear that he had won first place.

But among the crowd were naturally some quick-witted individuals, and one of them immediately stepped forward, eagerly asking, "Naruto, how did you suddenly become so strong? Is there some training secret you've learned?"