Aluko's two years with the Tigers have been plagued by a sequence of Achilles problems, limiting him to 32 league starts since his arrival in 2012.
Promising signs came in the final months of last term when the 25-year-old returned to action and those foundations have been built upon with a bright start to pre-season.
As well as enjoying a 90-minute run-out in the City's 1-1 draw with North Ferriby on Monday, Aluko scored one and set up another for Yannick Sagbo during the Tigers' 2-0 win at York two days later.
Aluko's next chance to impress will come when City travel to Barnsley tomorrow and Bruce, who has known the forward since his formative years at Birmingham City, is delighted by the progress on show so far.
"Sone looked bright again at York," said Bruce. "He's worked extremely hard all summer. He's not had much time off. He worked in a training camp that we set up for him (in Portugal) and it was vitally important both for him and Robbie Brady.
"There's no kid gloves anymore. Touch wood, he looks as good as I've seen him. I've known him a long time and he looks great at the moment.
"We just have to hope it stays that way because we all know what he's capable of."
City round off a brief sequence of warm-up fixtures tomorrow with the trip to Oakwell as the Europa League third qualifying round looms large.
Aluko is one of eight members of Bruce's squad to boast experience of European football following his time at Aberdeen. In 2007-08, he scored in a 2-2 draw with Bayern Munich at Pittodrie, against stars Bastian Schweinsteiger, Philipp Lahm and Miroslav Klose.
