Page 47
Page 47
When Kakashi brought Sasuke to the training ground where Team 7 usually gathered.
Naruto had already begun tree-climbing training in the nearby woods.
Naruto was upside down against the trunk of a large tree, his feet firmly planted on the vertical trunk, completely still, intently practicing chakra control.
Sasuke had only started practicing tree-walking techniques yesterday afternoon, and seeing Naruto already performing such tricks, he couldn't help but raise an eyebrow.
Naruto noticed someone approaching, looked down and saw Kakashi and Sasuke, and immediately jumped down from the tree trunk.
The moment his front foot touched the ground, the corners of his mouth curled up, and he gave Sasuke a teasing smile.
"Hey, Sasuke~" Naruto called out in a drawn-out voice, "How did you sleep last night? Did you have any dreams?"
Sasuke frowned upon hearing this: "Boring."
Naruto, seemingly oblivious to the coldness in his tone, continued, "By the way, I heard some people say they don't want to, but actually they're really looking forward to it..."
He blinked, then suddenly put on an exaggeratedly serious face, mimicking Sasuke's arrogant and disdainful expression from their parting yesterday. With his arms crossed and chin slightly raised, he said in a sarcastic tone, "Who wants to dream like that! I don't want to!"
After learning that sentence, he suddenly turned around, clenched his fist, and cheered loudly, "Yay—great! It's me again today!"
As Naruto spoke, he exaggeratedly shook his head and swayed his body, repeatedly imitating Sasuke's two completely opposite postures, making him look just like a monkey.
"You—!" Sasuke had been trying to keep a straight face, but now the veins on his forehead were throbbing, and he finally couldn't hold back anymore.
Last night, Naruto publicly displayed his embarrassing situation in the audience of the dream world, which was a great humiliation for him, who is always proud and concerned about his image.
Sasuke's handsome face flushed bright red instantly. Enraged, he rolled up his sleeves and roared, "Idiot Naruto, try talking nonsense like that again, and I'll beat you to a pulp!"
"Come on!" Naruto retorted, clapping his fists together. "Don't try to show off your power, you defeated opponent!"
Seeing that the two brats were about to start fighting, Kakashi helplessly covered his forehead, then flashed between them, pressing down on each of their heads and forcibly separating them.
"Alright, alright, that's enough!" he scolded, his face full of headache. "Arguing so early in the morning, you guys really have a lot of energy..."
Naruto and Sasuke each snorted and turned their heads away unhappily, finally stopping their argument.
Just then, a series of light footsteps came, and Sakura ran breathlessly to the training ground.
Seeing Naruto and Sasuke at each other's throats from afar, she tilted her head in surprise: "What's going on?"
"It's nothing." Kakashi gave her a "don't ask" look, then sighed and said helplessly, "Alright, you guys continue practicing. By the way, I just wanted to let you know that the Third Hokage has assigned us a more difficult mission. We'll be setting off in a few days."
"That's great!"
Upon hearing that there was a mission, Naruto and Sasuke finally reached an agreement.
The two then gave each other a cold snort, reluctantly ending their confrontation, turning back to their respective trees, and continuing their diligent tree-climbing practice.
Sakura couldn't help but smile when she saw this, and quickly ran towards the trees on the side.
She already had good chakra control, and yesterday she was the first to master the tree-climbing technique. But now she found that Naruto and Sasuke were full of fighting spirit and had climbed to even greater heights.
Sakura's heart tightened.
She has fallen behind in overall strength!
In any case, we must not fall too far behind!
The girl clenched her fist secretly and quickly immersed herself in cultivation.
In the soft light of dawn, the three students from Class 7 diligently practiced their basic skills, and time quietly slipped away...
After a whole morning of intensive training, the three boys showed remarkable progress.
Sasuke was the first to successfully reach the top of the tree and climb to the highest branch.
Naruto, not to be outdone, followed closely behind, reaching the height of the treetop.
On the contrary, Sakura, who initially made the fastest progress, has fallen behind Naruto and Sasuke in terms of speed.
Clearly, Naruto and Sasuke, through their continued efforts, have caught up and gradually widened the gap between themselves and her.
"Very good, everyone did a great job." Kakashi smiled with satisfaction, his eyes narrowing. "That's all for today. Go back and get some rest and recharge. We'll be going on a mission in a few days, so don't let us down."
"Yes!"
The three little ones cheered and happily ended their training session.
Upon learning that he could rest in the afternoon, Naruto was so happy he jumped for joy.
After a brief farewell, Sasuke and Sakura left the training ground one after the other to go home and rest.
"Kakashi-sensei!" Naruto stayed behind after his companions had all left.
He rushed to Kakashi and said eagerly, "You promised to teach me the training method for the third stage of the Rasengan! Can you teach me now?"
Kakashi was taken aback for a moment, then smiled knowingly: "Watch closely."
……
Half an hour later, Naruto finally understood the training method for the third stage.
After saying goodbye to Kakashi, he couldn't wait to run home and prepare to start his special training on his own.
Back home, Naruto, without even bothering to fill his rumbling stomach, immediately began training in his own backyard.
He tried to use shadow clones to help him improve the stability of his chakra, but the third stage of the Rasengan was much more difficult than the first two stages. He had to compress the chakra in his hand to stabilize it and not burst this fragile balloon.
That's way too difficult!
Based solely on Kakashi's instruction and his own trial and error, he simply couldn't get started in the short term.
Naruto tirelessly tried all afternoon.
Time and again, chakra is gathered, compressed, and rotated...
Failed again and again.
Naruto only stopped when the sun was setting.
By this time, he was soaked in sweat, his hands ached, and his stomach was growling with hunger, but he still couldn't bring himself to eat.
He dragged his exhausted body back to the bedroom, collapsed onto the bed, panting heavily, his limbs sprawled out limply.
However, Naruto had a satisfied smile on his lips, and his azure eyes were filled with joy.
"Phew—I'm exhausted..." He stared at the ceiling, muttering to himself, "The third stage of the Rasengan is difficult... but it's okay."
Thinking of this, Naruto excitedly rolled over, clenched his fist, and gently punched the bed. "I will definitely learn the ninjutsu that Dad taught me on my own!"
Naruto closed his eyes contentedly, the gentle smiling face of Minato Namikaze appearing in his mind.
A smile played on his lips as he quickly drifted off to sleep.
Chapter 53 Damn Imposter
Meanwhile, Sasuke also dragged his aching body back to his residence in the evening.
Instead of resting immediately, he went to the kitchen, filled a large glass with cold water, and drank it all in one gulp.
Then, the boy stood quietly in the center of the living room, his mind still echoing the words he had heard from Kakashi during the day.
Gradually, a long-lost relaxed smile appeared on Sasuke's lips.
He figured it out!
The knot in my heart that had troubled me for many years was finally untied last night and today.
Despite the overwhelming anger and deep-seated hatred for the culprit still bubbling within him, Sasuke felt a clarity he had never known before.
Because he understood.
The culprit who ruined her life was never her gentle brother, but that despicable imposter.
The real Nisan was likely murdered by the imposter long before he left Kakashi's team.
Sasuke's eyes welled up with tears at the thought.
"That damn imposter!"
He muttered a curse under his breath.
Sasuke closed his eyes, took a deep breath, and felt his blood boiling. "...No matter who you are, I will not let you go!"
The flames of revenge burned fiercely in the boy's heart.
Sasuke suddenly opened his eyes, and the blood-red one-tomoe jade pendant spun rapidly, evolving directly into a double-tomoe jade pendant.
Sasuke was stunned. The Sharingan had actually evolved?
But it's not enough!
He needs to become stronger, many times stronger than he is now, before he can make that bastard pay the price!
In last night's dream, his brother pointed out that his chakra control was very poor, and many of his fire-style chakra techniques were wasted.
If this can be improved, his strength will definitely increase significantly.
Sasuke immediately went out the door and came to the steep cliff outside the village where he often practiced rock climbing.
Instead of climbing the rocks with his bare hands as usual, he took a deep breath, concentrated his chakra in the soles of his feet, and then carefully stepped onto the cliff face.
Sure enough, it clung to the vertical cliff face as if walking on flat ground.
Sasuke smiled slightly and began to slowly climb the cliff, step by step, toward the top.
To stabilize his chakra, he simply sped up and ran along the cliff face, moving up and down the steep rock like a gecko.
Soon, sweat beaded on his forehead and his legs began to ache, but Sasuke did not stop. Instead, he continued to increase his speed, challenging his own limits.
After a whole afternoon of grueling training, Sasuke returned to the bottom of the cliff, panting heavily. His chakra was almost completely depleted, and his legs felt as heavy as if they were filled with lead.
However, as he gazed at the slowly setting sun in the west, a look of satisfaction appeared on his face.
It's about time to go back and rest.
That night, Sasuke finished washing up and went to bed early.
For the first time, he felt a sense of peace he hadn't experienced in a long time.
In reality, one can train hard during the day and continue cultivating in dreams at night.
In this way, he effectively has twice the amount of cultivation time as others.
Such an opportunity is not available to everyone.
NABC