Never Give Up

Genma's words left Naruto anxious, his brow furrowed in concern.

"Hey, Sasuke's not here yet!" he exclaimed.

Genma's gaze fixed on Naruto as he spoke.

"Not my problem. Read the battle rules, everyone except you and Hayashi, head to the spectator area."

The other candidates quickly dispersed, leaving only Naruto and Hayashi behind. Even Naruto, who was trying to stall for Sasuke's arrival, knew he had to follow the rules.

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As I scanned the arena, my eyes landed on Hayashi. The proctor's voice still rang in my ears - it was my turn to face off. And, of course, Sasuke was nowhere to be seen. Figures the guy would be late to something this important! 

The other candidates quickly dispersed, leaving only Hayashi and me standing in the arena. This was it - my first real test in the Chunin Exam, and I was up against the toughest opponent here.

Hayashi stood across from me, his arms crossed, looking like he didn't have a care in the world. I'd seen him in action before, and I knew he was strong.

"Give up," Hayashi said, like it was the most obvious thing in the world.

"Not a chance! I'm gonna be Hokage someday! You think the future Hokage would just quit?" I shot back.

A faint smirk played across Hayashi's lips, like he was amused by my declaration.

Then, he whipped out a tiny knife from behind his back, and my jaw dropped in surprise. Where was his sword? This was a joke, right?

I couldn't help but blurt out, "Uh...you gonna use that little toothpick against me?"

I felt a sting of insult - did he really think I was that easy to take down?

Hayashi's gaze remained unchanged, the knife still pointed at me.

"This is all I need," he said, his voice as flat as ever.

I clenched my fists. He was totally looking down on me! Well, I'd show him. I made a hand sign, focusing my chakra.

"Shadow Clone Jutsu!" I shouted.

In an instant, the arena was filled with over a hundred shadow clones, surrounding Hayashi from every angle.

I flashed a fierce grin. Even this guy would have trouble against mass-produced ninja awesomeness! Hayashi's eyes narrowed slightly as he took in the number of clones.

I grinned. No way could he take us all down!

"Attack!" I yelled, and my clones rushed at Hayashi from all angles. But to my shock, he began to take them down with ease.

In mere moments, the arena was littered with dispersed clones.

Damn, Hayashi was strong! But I wasn't out of tricks yet. I formed another hand sign, and a new wave of clones appeared, charging at Hayashi with a barrage of kunai and shuriken.

He dodged and deflected the projectiles with ease, his movements almost... It was as if he knew exactly where each attack was coming from.

A group of my clones tried to ambush Hayashi from behind while he was occupied with the ranged attacks. But he spun with blinding speed, cutting them down instantly without even looking. My jaw dropped a little. Just how good were his senses?

The remaining clones regrouped, forming a tight circle around Hayashi. One of them struck from behind, throwing a punch at his gut.

But Hayashi leaned back at the last second, dodging the blow by a hair's breadth. He slashed out with his knife, dispelling the clone in an instant.

"Not bad," he said calmly.

"You've clearly been training," he added, his gaze never leaving mine.

I sent more clones charging at Hayashi. There was no way he could track all of their movements, no matter how good he was!

But with almost arrogant ease, Hayashi flowed between their attacks, parrying and dodging while constantly thinning their numbers.

I grimaced as I was soon the only one left, the arena littered with smoke from my failed assault. Hayashi regarded me, knife still in hand.

A yell came from the spectator stands.

"Give up, idiot! You'll never beat him!"

I bristled at the insult, but I tried to block it out, focusing on the fight at hand. I glared at Hayashi, not backing down an inch.

"I'm not done yet!" I shouted back.

"I still have more tricks up my sleeve!"

Hayashi's lips quirked up slightly.

Gritting my teeth, I formed another hand sign, and a few shadow clones materialized beside me. But this time, I had them start making more hand signs of their own.

Hayashi's eyes narrowed as he realized what I was trying to do.

The clones and I finished the hand seals that Pervy Sage had taught me.

"Wind Release: Naruto's Breakthrough!"

I shouted, and we unleashed a blast of cutting wind. The air rushed towards Hayashi, who braced himself with his knife at the ready, his eyes fixed on the incoming attack.

When the gusts finally died down, Hayashi stood unharmed in the center of a shallow crater. I was stunned - he'd somehow deflected the entire technique with just that small knife!

"Not bad," he said, standing up straight.

My fists clenched harder, my nails digging into my palms. Of course, he was downplaying my best efforts!

"Oh yeah? Well, watch this!"

The arena erupted into chaos as I summoned another wave of clones. Hayashi remained calm, his eyes fixed on the swarm of clones charging towards him.

"Alright, everyone, kunai blitz!" I roared.

My clones unleashed a storm of kunai towards Hayashi. At the same time, other clones swarmed in, trying to keep him occupied from all sides. 

But Hayashi remained calm, effortlessly knocking away the clones near him and lazily deflecting the kunais raining down from every angle without even turning his head.

It was like he had eyes in the back of his skull!

No matter how many kunais we threw or from which direction, Hayashi blocked and evaded everything. It was infuriating!

I refused to give up. I activated the detonation bombs on the scattered kunai, and a chain reaction of explosions rocked the area.

The blast sent my clones flying, and for a moment, I thought I had finally gained the upper hand.

As the last of my clones dissipated in bursts of smoke, I stood alone. But to my surprise, Hayashi emerged from the smoke, not a single scratch on him from my most intense combination attack.

Hayashi nodded in approval.

"Well done," he said, his expression serious.

I scowled, refocusing on him.

"Don't get too cocky!"

To my surprise, Hayashi's face creased into a faint smile as he looked at me.

"That's good, Naruto. Keep pushing forward. Never give up," he said.

I knew he was planning to end the fight, but I wasn't about to let that happen. As he took a step closer, another clone burst forth from the ground behind him, its fist flying towards his back.

Hayashi dodged the attack without even turning around, his knife flashing as he dispatched the clone.

"Hardly anything can evade my perception," he said, his voice calm and detached.

As he spoke, a small, almost amused grin spread across his face. His eyes met mine briefly before he struck me.

In that moment, I thought: I hope Boss knows what he's doing.

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As the crowd watched, a spectator glanced up, sensing a change in the sky. It was getting darker by the second. He followed the crowd's gaze upward, curious about the sudden shift. That's when he spotted a tiny black speck growing larger and larger in the sky.

The ground shook violently, and in an instant, Hayashi was gone. In his place, a massive toad towered over the crowd. Naruto sat on its back, a sly grin spreading across his face.

"Gotcha!" he exclaimed, clearly thrilled with himself.

"Did you see that coming?"