'Damn, I really thought I had a chance.' Kudo thought of evading, but he winced at the shallow cuts plaguing his body. Despite the pain, he pressed on.
An hour and a half went by,
"I yield again!" Kudo screamed, his chest heaving, a shallow puddle of sweat between his legs, his arms trembled, lying limp as he looked at the sky. Throughout the entire fight, he barely landed a blow on Ito.
"This time, I will accept your surrender, Kudo. No matter how great or despairing the odds, it's your duty to fight for your life, family, friends, and village. I know deep within you lies a hatred, a burning revenge for your father, and maybe that is directed at the village. I will warn you once. If you ever threaten the village, I will put you down myself. Your enemies and the village are not one entity. Remember that." Ito flickered out of the training ground. As Ito disappeared from the training ground, a solemn atmosphere lingered.
"What if my enemies are the ones who hide behind the village?" Kudo mumbled, heaving a deep sigh, and he lay down resting. The Uchiha weren't disgruntled with the civilians of the village, but with the treatment of the higher-ups, the Hokage faction. With recent relations becoming smoother between the two factions, also backed by the Mangekyo sharingan and civilian shinobi, the two factions had no choice but to coexist.
A few hours later, Kudo stood up and stretched, easing his sore muscles. 'On the 1st of the new year, I will be a full-fledged sensor; from then on, I will start sharpening my knowledge and skills before I graduate. The only way to become stronger is to have at least a jonin sensei, but given our class, the top 10 will study under an elite jon in. I can't enter the Genin Corps. 13 years to 19 years of age is a rapid growth period; I need to maximize it. Right now, my main weakness is the academy taijutsu. I have mastered the basic and advanced forms, but it still lacks in lethality. Perhaps I should try incorporating chakra into my blows. The academy taijutsu style isn't necessarily the best; it's more a jack of all trades, master of none. The Hyuga's gentle fist is more about internal blows to incapacitate the enemy, the Uchiha is more about maximizing their vision paired with advanced mobility, and the Senju, though few of them, are about devastating blows upon impact, something like Lady Tsunade's taijutsu.
If I channel chakra into my blows, then I could rapidly advance both my taijutsu's lethality and my chakra reserves. When it comes to chakra reserves, I'm not bad but not great either; I have yet to reach peak levels in terms of genin chakra. At the end of my 6th year, I should aim for chunin-level chakra or at least peak genin chakra level. For weapons, I am familiar with shuriken, kunai, and senbon needles. I will add kenjutsu into the mix. While I am decent with a kunai in a fight, it's too close for comfort. Once I become a genin, I should look into wind nature jutsu; my water jutsu lacks power. I can't wait to become better at it; I will use them to bridge the gap in experience.' His mind cooling off, he left the training ground. It was dusk, and he had about two months before the academy resumed. It was time to sharpen his skills and knowledge before he left the academy.
A long time passed, and Kudo's relationship with his mother had mellowed out. She still wasn't okay with him being a shinobi, but at least she didn't totally hate the idea. The following day, 24th December 994 AH; Kudo was 11 years old and heading off to visit Naruto."I will see you later, Mom."
"Don't come back late!" Ina shouted as Kudo left.
Racing down the streets, he casually flickered once or twice to rush ahead. He was getting used to the just and had reduced it from 9 hand seals to just 3. One thing that was different as he hit 11 years old was that he sought out more advanced methods of strengthening his body, like weights, but that wasn't recommended.
The next alternative was gravity seals; they increase the gravity on his body, making the body stronger through exertion. Plus, given his young frame, they won't deform it like weights.
As a gift for the New Year, he hoped to ask his mother, and he was also going to ask Naruto to come along. Reaching the apartment complex, he took the stairs heading up to Naruto's apartment .Knocking at the door, Kudo had an idea and used the transformation jutsu.
"Who is it?" A shout came from inside. "Student Naruto, open up. This is an inspection for the Genin Corps.""Hiii!" Clanking sounds came from inside as Naruto rushed to open the door.
He saw outside: a man in his 40s, wearing spectacles and holding a notepad, dressed in a blue jumper suit with a Konoha symbol."Morning, I'm Naruto Uzumaki." He stood stiff, uncomfortable as he clasped his hands. 'I am being sent off into the genin corps. This is bad, really bad. Kudo and Iruka sensei will kill me if I enter the Genin corps.' His thoughts a jumbled mess.
"Pfft!" "Got you." The man transformed into Kudo, who was laughing, and Naruto stood surprised, then angry, "Yo-you, don't do that! I was really worried I was being sent into the Genin corps!" Finger pointed at Kudo, Naruto ranted. "That's not funny." Naruto fumed as he headed inside the apartment. Kudo followed him, still laughing.
A few moments later, "So, I wanted to find out if you want to come over for the New Year's festival, spend it with my mom and me. What do you think?"
"Is that okay? I am used to spending it alone."
"It's okay, and I don't want you spending it alone, it's sad, but that's why I am here, you know, cause we are friends." Kudo smiled sheepishly."Ok, I will be there." Naruto agreed, rubbing the bridge of his nose. "But we are not sparring today!"
"But I wanted to spar! Naruto, come on, let's spar for a bit."
"No. I would rather sit at home or go have fun." "Don't you want to become Hokage? A Hokage who is afraid to spar, how will you prove you are the strongest then?"
"Ha, I won't fall for it this time. I will beat you one day, you will see."Kudo smiled. He spent the rest of the day at Naruto's place, playing cards or going out to eat. Thanks to Kudo's antics, few places dared not serve Naruto, or else they would be visited by an inspection officer of the village.