13

"Yo, good job in the fight today. How did it feel?" as soon as Naruto slept on his bed, he entered his mindscape to spill all the details of his day to his elder brother.

"It was so awesome. I was like BAM, and then Sasuke was like BOOM. It was so much fun. We were almost equally matched you know. I wonder who thought him his skills?" Naruto excitedly stated.

"Yeah, you guys were equally matched in strength for the moment. But don't let that fool you. You still haven't unlocked your chakra; I don't think Sasuke has as well. As soon as that happens, it will be up to you to decide how big of a leap in the strength you will want to take.

But for now, we will begin with today's lesson.

Where were areas that you could improve upon in today's fight?" Hiroki asked going into teacher mode.

"Ano, I don't know." After thinking for a long time, Naruto responded.

"Is that so? You don't know, or you don't want to admit it?" Hiroki sternly questioned.

"um.." he hesitated to answer.

"You know, I was watching the fight from in here. I didn't say anything because I wanted you to figure it out yourself but seeing you today, I have to say, you made a very grave mistake as a shinobi. Do you know what it is?"

"…was it that I was trying to sho…" naruto answered hesitantly

"You were trying to show off, exactly. Now tell me, why is that not good in a fight between ninjas?" Hiroki completed Naruto's answer for him, his voice having a small edge to it.

"Because showing off when the opponent is equal to or stronger than you will increase the chances of you getting killed. You should only show off when it's an exhibition match, or you are fighting someone way weaker than you. But I should still be careful to not get overconfident." Naruto summarised the teachings of Hiroki in a succinct sentence.

"Exactly. Now. Since this was your first offense, I will not treat it seriously. After all, this was your first fight in the real world with someone on your level. And you are still a child. You couldn't help yourself. So, I will not give you any serious punishment, only deduct 10 points for now. Is that fair?" Naruto looked down in slight shame as Hiroki talked.

".yes Ni-san," Naruto answered in a whisper.

"Good. Now don't let this happen again.

Now cheer up. You will get to fight Sasuke once more." Ruffling the boy's hair, Hiroki walked to an empty space in the vast mindscape and conjured up a sparring ring. The exact same one that naruto fought on in the afternoon.

"Now go one. You will fight with Sasuke until you can defeat him in less than 2 minutes. Calm your mind. Forget about showing off your skills and abilities. Analyze the opponent, find out his flaws, and claim your victory. Understood." Hiroki said with a smile on his face, as a copy of Sasuke Uchiha manifested in the ring, still wearing the same arrogant expression from before.

"What? How is Sasuke inside my head?" Naruto looked at the copy in surprise as he yelled comically, pointing towards the emo.

"Stop rambling boy. He is just a shade. A memory of your fight with him. Everything that you saw him do in the fight this morning, this one can do the same." Hiroki explained.

"Oh, so that's it. I thought he somehow found a way into my head. Ugh, just thinking about it makes me want to puke." Saying so, Naruto walked to the ring, all traces of playfulness gone as a serious look appeared on his face, ready to face the opponent.

"START"

Just like before, Naruto rushed ahead at the same time as Sasuke, both engaging in a flurry of punches and kicks.

But this time, Naruto was no longer laughing at finding an opponent worthy enough to witness Hiroki's fighting style.

Now, Naruto was fully serious, his brain working hard to understand the way his opponent moved. He recalled the battle from earlier, attempting to recall patterns of attack.

Right hook, uppercut, high kick, followed by another kick to the ribs. This was the most common pattern Sasuke had this morning, as he repeated the combo at least 17 times in the 20 minutes they fought.

"Got you." Just as Sasuke followed the right hook with an uppercut, Naruto defended for a high kick aimed at his head, only to get hit on the thigh, making him lose balance.

"Don't predict attacks based on patterns. Predict the attack based on the actions preceding the movement. Focus. Find out the weak points of the opponent's form and use it to your advantage." Hiroki's calm voice sounded in the mindscape, as Naruto regained his balance, and composed himself.

"Don't focus on patterns. Focus on movements, and use them to predict the moves. Got it." With renewed vigor, Naruto rushed up and the two once again engaged in combat, a flurry of fists and kicking thrown around.

Eventually, after around 15 minutes, Naruto was panting hard, as Sasuke lay on the floor out of bounds, his body fading away into particles of light.

"Well done. Now take a 5-minute break and analyze the fight. Where could you have done better, what went wrong, and what was good this time? Go through it all. And then, we start again."

With that, Naruto and Sasuke fought each other a total of 8 times, and every time, the time taken for Naruto to win decreased significantly, indicating his rapid improvement.

"Excellent. 1 minute 49 seconds. Winner by knockout. Well done, Naruto." Praising the boy who didn't even break a sweat, Hiroki cleared up the mindscape before the tired and mentally exhausted Naruto bid his goodbyes and went back to the real world, snoring instantly as his head hit the pillow.

"Terrific improvement Naruto. Good night."

"Well then. Now that that's done. Why don't we go and visit the new roommate of this mindscape?"

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