Naruto's POV (Uzumaki Residence - Hidden Leaf Village)
Naruto grits his teeth as he swings Riptide to the left, cleaving an invisible enemy in half. He groaned as he twirled in place around an imaginary attack and lashed out with Riptide at the end to finish off the faux attacker.
Kushina had offered the blonde a crash course for Riptide and the Shadow Clone Jutsu. The blade, thankfully, was simple enough. They simply didn't have time to pursue Kenjutsu or any other style. But his mother had deemed that just swinging it around skillfully enough would improve his close game by dividends. However, using a sword consistently proved to be a more trying task than Naruto had thought. It was easy to swing too hard and unbalance himself or misjudge the distance. However, he had made enough progress to become somewhat empowered by the new sword.
The two hours he spent trying to learn the Shadow Clone Jutsu had been even more trying. The Jutsu was similar to the Clone Jutsu in theory and practice. They both created chakra productions; one made a solid and interactive one, while the other was simply an image projected. The difference is the amount of chakra and the difficulty of creating the clones in the first place. With his abysmal control thrown on top, it was only with the patient's aid of his mother that he progressed further. Soon, Naruto had gotten both down enough to use them confidently against Mizuki in the Remedial.
Naruto sighed as he dispelled the clones and ignored the headache they brought. Apparently, each shadow clone had feedback, and together, as he was using them, it was more than enough to cause some pain. His hands ached from using Riptide for as long as he had.
His mother walked into the home with him. Watching as Naruto dusted off his person and stretched his muscles to relax them. The blonde could sense her concern but knew better than to play into them. As tough as his mother was, she could be an absolute softy when it came to him. But Naruto had no time for such; today was the day.
"Where are they being held again?" His mother asked innocently.
"Training Ground 32," Naruto answered with a roll of his eyes. "You're not gonna embarrass me like some bad comedy, right?"
"Of course not, sweety! I'm just asking in case of emergencies. You can never be too safe, you know!" Kushina replied sweetly. I know you can do this, son. We may not have always agreed, but right now, there is no doubt in my mind that you were meant for this…"
"Thanks, Ma…" Naruto said genuinely, sharing a moment with his mother. I better get going! Wish me luck!" the blonde called out before racing out the front door. Normally, he'd be more patient, but it was sunset, which meant the time for the Remedial Exams was steadily coming! Naruto Uzumaki was ready!
X-X
Naruto's POV (Leaf Training Ground - Hidden Leaf Village)
Naruto approached the training field where the exam would be held. It was a simple field clear of equipment or spectators. It was a decent distance from the central Leaf Village, an extra one scarcely used on the outskirts of his home. It did strike the blonde as slightly strange; the Academy did have ones of its own, but he supposed this kept it out of the way.
It was apparent he was the last of the three to arrive. Two were already stretching and warming up as they waited. One was Choji, just as the portly man had told Naruto earlier; the other was someone Naruto did not recognize. He was doing upside-down push-ups, which allowed the blonde to come to grips with his look. He had a shining bowl cut perfectly trimmed with no imperfections, a green, disturbingly skin-tight jumpsuit, and orange leg and arm warmers. As Naruto got close, Choji spotted him and tapped the strange man, who flipped his hands to see who had arrived. But the man only got a stranger with a closer look, thick eyebrows that framed simple black eyes. Naruto needed to figure out just what his deal was. But before Naruto could say hello, the strange man flashed forward at a speed that surprised the blonde before stopping before him straight in a posture with a thumbs up.
"Why hello there? My name is Rock Lee," he said politely. I'm assuming you're also here for the Remedial Exam! From what Choji said, you sound like a most youthful comrade. Come join us!" He excitedly yelled, "We're in the prime of our youth and shall easily conquer this exam!" Naruto smiled at his energy. The guy was an oddball, but he never liked the cynical type.
"Hell yeah, we're gonna kick ass," Naruto replied, throwing his arm around the bushy brow man. "Glad to have some solid backup!"
"Yes, if we do not, I'll walk a thousand miles!" Lee said as he similarly threw his arm around the blonde.
"Believe it! I'll do it backwards!" Naruto cheered in agreement. The positivity was somehow infectious.
"Yosh, that is the beauty of youth~! We'll do it with only our hands." Lee said.
"Um," Naruto interjected but could not get through to the man who excitedly listed punishments he would endure. Namely, because Naruto was not walking a thousand damn miles on his hands. He leaned towards Choji with a whisper. "Is Bushy Brows guy ok?"
Choji laughed happily. "Pretty much; believe it or not, that's pretty much his default. Don't let it fool you; he is pretty strong and reliable. I got into him a few times during the Academy. He's no joke!" Naruto admittedly felt some level of doubt, but he could use all the help he could get, so instead, he merely started to stretch himself. Thinking over what the exam may prove to be. The group sat patiently as the sky grew dark, easily an hour later than the man would usually come. It was a shame the main village would be closed when they got home. However, before Naruto could begin complaining, the man in question arrived.
"Excellent, we're all here," Mizuki said with a large, almost coy smile. "Now, the Exam in question is rather simple." As he said, the three men before him steeled themselves. They couldn't be more different, yet they all had experienced failure before and had no intention of failing again. Naruto would not allow his dream to be slowed down! "All you need to do to become shinobi is defeat me. I will combat you in an intense but nonlethal spar, and defeat will be due to surrender or lack of ability to continue. Upon detaining or otherwise disabling me, you will succeed and become Genin. If you cannot, then it will be counted as a failure." he said, his voice taking on a gleeful tone. "You may begin now."
Even without communication, the three men's brains came to the same conclusion. They were all close-range fighters and outnumbered him three to one. It was best to try to immediately overwhelm him. Lee dashed forward quickly, Naruto trailing close behind and Choji a few paces behind both. As Lee drew within range, he fired off a high roundhouse that Mizuki blocked but also blocked his ability to see Lee throw a body uppercut. This snaked through the Chunin's guard and made him stumble back with a grunt, but before he could gain any distance, Naruto appeared behind him, kicking him in the back and knocking him back toward Lee. Even unbalanced, Mizuki dodged a spinning back fist Lee fired and landed a vicious leg sweep in return. Mizuki intended to press the advantage, but once again, Naruto attacked from his blind side. Drawing a kunai and aiming for a painful but non-life-threatening cut to the shoulder. However, he cursed as Mizuki somehow caught his thrust and attempted to wrench his hand to break it. But Naruto sacrificed the kunai instead, jabbing Mizuki with his fist, making the Chunin stumble back as Naruto used the moment to regroup. However, all three paused when they heard.
"DUCK!" Choji screamed. All three men didn't even look, just dropping low, a giant hand swinging over their heads. Before Lee and Naruto could recover, Mizuki punched Lee with an overhand and simultaneously hit Naruto with a backkick. The two young men rolled with the blows, and Choji, with a yell, whipped his hand around again, trying this time for a vertical chop. But Muzuki merely smiled as he dashed forward and jumped, smashing his knee in Choji's face before he could bring his large hand around. Choji dropped to the ground, stunned, and their hand shrank due to this; Naruto cursed as Mizuki targeted the seemingly out Choji with a cruel-looking axe kick to the head.
"Dynamic Entry," Lee named as he crashed into the unguarded back of the Chunin, sending him flying into a tree with a nasty crash. Naruto had thought the fight was over, and the group paused with hesitant smiles. Deep down, they know realistically, Mizuki was done and likely had been holding back some. But they had controlled the fight reasonably well, and we're confident this would be enough for a victory to be declared.
"Not bad, not bad at all," Mizuki growled. The group all flinched at his tone, the raw fury it held. Why was he so upset? "Let's see how you like my A GAME!" He then flew through hand signs. Then called "Fire Style: Flare Blitz Barrage!"
He then spat out a ridiculous amount of head-sized fireballs that flew out in a wide range and randomly. All three men froze for a moment. Surely, he knew this would be incredibly deadly, at odds with the short rules he had offered earlier. But with the flaming death quickly approaching, they were forced to adapt quickly.
Lee effortlessly weaved around the fireballs, loosening and removing his weights as he did. They couldn't be sure what Mizuki was thinking, but it was clear Mizuki needed to be taken down. They couldn't afford to hold back!
Naruto dodged desperately before deciding to charge in with Lee to end the barrage. But Choji in the back struggled to dodge the fast-moving attacks, being clipped by one and flying back from the power of flames. Seeing this, Lee dashed towards the Akimichi, hoping to help him extinguish the fire. Naruto carried forward, knowing that only stopping them would save them.
Naruto ducked under a fireball and jumped over another. As he rose, he let fly a barrage of shuriken up close to the Chunin. Mizuki laughed at his attack. He removed a Fuma shuriken from his back and swung it to deflect the shuriken. As Naruto landed, he drew Riptide and slashed at his head. Mizuki blocked the basic attack with a snarl.
"What the hell are you doing?! You're going to hurt someone!" Naruto growled. He leaned forward, matching Mizuki's might and attempting to overpower him. He had always known the teacher to be suspect, but where had this attitude and intensity come from? Was it because of him?
"Don't worry; the other two can live," Mizuki answered darkly. Naruto flinched, his suspicion being confirmed, and the moment allowed Mizuki to take advantage. The man dropped the Fuma shuriken altogether. This caused Naruto to stumble forward as Mizuki drew a kunai in his other hand.
Naruto cursed as he was helpless, and Mizuki made a lazy attack. He thrust the kunai into the blonde's shoulder with a laugh; Naruto cried out as blood spilled from his own flesh; he rolled back to escape Mizuki's grasp and to stop the Chunin from finishing him off. Mizuki laughed and fired the Fuma toward Naruto, who was helpless to avoid it, grounded as he was.
But Lee appeared before him; skillfully, he caught the shuriken through the loophole in its center and threw it back instantly. Mizuki charged as he ducked under the attack, but to his shock, one of the training posts planted into the ground was aimed low just beneath the shuriken. Naruto's eyes whipped to where it had come from, and Choji, covered in bad burns, stood with a giant hand extended from the throw. The three watched as the post hit Mizuki's legs with a sickening crunch, both snapping the wrong way before it batted the man back.
Naruto smiled as the man flew back. He had nearly killed Choji and was playing around with his secrets. Naruto chased after the airborne man, leaping in front of his path. The man turned to hate, and pain-filled eyes met Naruto's. "Mizuki, you've gone too far! I don't care if you don't like me!" Naruto roared as he reared back his fist, filling it with chakra. "Get the hell out of my way!" Naruto smashed his fist into the helpless Mizuki; so great was the force that it reversed the man's flight, the man tumbling along the ground before collapsing into a heap from the blow.
The three of them cautiously approached the downed and seemingly unconscious Chunin. It was clear to the three of them that Mizuki had clearly been intending to harm them, even had almost outright threatened Naruto's life. Now that he was down, they were unsure what to do next.