Water Release: Trash Collecting Technique

Release the Shadow Clones.

Poof~

After a puff of smoke, all the clones vanished.

The world instantly became peaceful, and all four of them felt saved.

The physical clones created by various release techniques were manageable enough—they could follow orders.

But Shadow Clones were a complete free-for-all, each with a different personality. It seemed he would not be able to use them again in the future. Summing it up, Naruto turned around and scratched his head awkwardly. "There seems to be a problem with my Clone Technique."

Kakashi, Sakura, Sasuke: -_-||

Since the clones would not work, Naruto could only do it himself.

Taking the lead, he grabbed a large net and ran off at top speed, beginning to collect trash.

Before he could even start, he heard Sakura cry out behind him.

"Naruto, how did you do that?"

Sakura pointed in shock at Naruto, who was standing on the water while picking up trash.

Sasuke looked over at her call and was equally stunned.

Kakashi glanced over without much surprise in his eyes, as though he had already guessed it.

Naruto looked himself over, but there was nothing different about him.

"What's wrong with me?"

"Naruto, how are you standing on the water?" Sakura asked in astonishment.

Naruto lifted one foot, then hopped several times in succession. "It's simple. Just attach Chakra to the soles of your feet, and you can stand on the water."

It was that simple?

Sasuke refused to believe it and gave it a try.

Splash~

Whether he had used too much force or had been too confident, the river was deep. He instantly fell in and disappeared beneath the surface.

"Sasuke!" Sakura shouted anxiously.

Naruto was dumbfounded by the whole sequence.

This Sasuke seemed a little too confident.

If Naruto can do it, then so can I?

Sasuke, it was time to recognize your place. You were no longer the protagonist—you had been demoted to the second male lead.

Did you think you were a protagonist like Naruto?

You just stepped onto the water right away?

The water was too deep. You couldn't handle it.

After mocking him twice and venting twelve years of misunderstandings and resentment, Naruto ran over and fished him out.

Even after the blows he had suffered yesterday and this morning, this kid still refused to admit defeat. He always wanted to compete with Naruto.

After being pulled out, Sasuke seemed to have lost all strength and let Naruto move him around as he pleased. A heavy low-pressure atmosphere brewed around him.

Dreams shattered.jpg

The gap was getting bigger and bigger!

Sasuke, struck by the blow, blanked out as scene after scene flashed before his eyes.

Lessons in the academy classroom, lying awake alone at home, training alone, prankster Naruto running past him, and that man's final look.

He had clearly been dead last in school.

Why?

Why was the gap getting bigger and bigger?

At this rate, forget revenge—he would not even be able to beat Naruto, that dead last!

He thought of that man's eyes, that night, and the scene he saw when he returned home.

Suddenly, he raised his head, his gloomy gaze locking onto Naruto.

There was refusal to concede, but also suppressed hatred. Naruto could tell that Sasuke wanted to challenge him to a duel.

The kind where only one of them survived.

He was unwilling to accept it. He wanted revenge. He desperately craved strength.

That was how Naruto understood the meaning behind that look.

His entire family had died, his clan had been massacred, and the murderer was his beloved older brother.

It sounded simple when put into words, but when it happened to you, it was a mountain crushing down on you.

Before, seeing that Sasuke had not gone to extremes, Naruto had thought, as expected of a protagonist—he really was different, acting as if nothing had happened.

But now that he looked closer, that hatred had long since corroded Sasuke's heart until it was riddled with holes, waiting only for the day it erupted all at once.

Could this Sasuke, driven to seek strength and revenge, be why he chose to leave Konoha?

But why leave Konoha?

Could there be anyone more suitable as a teacher than Kakashi, who had become a Jonin at twelve?

That person must have come from outside the village and tempted Sasuke into defecting. But what was the purpose?

After only a moment of thought, Naruto came back to his senses.

Though he understood Sasuke, Naruto was no pushover in the face of Sasuke's provocative stare.

"What? Want to fight me, Sasuke? Just wait. I'll satisfy you tonight."

Remembering the agreement between the three of them tonight, when Naruto would tell them the secret to becoming stronger, Sasuke withdrew his gaze and hope ignited in his eyes once more.

As long as he learned Naruto's secret to getting stronger, with Sasuke's own effort and sweat, he would definitely surpass Naruto!

Not only that, if it could make a dead last grow this much in such a short time, then Sasuke's growth would only be even greater.

At last, he could see a chance for revenge!

At that moment, light returned to Sasuke's world.

"Hmph~"

The kid snorted coldly, climbed to his feet under Sakura's concerned gaze, and continued picking up trash.

This time, even collecting trash filled him with motivation.

Neither Sasuke nor Sakura had learned how to walk on water, so all the trash on the river's surface had to be handled by Naruto alone.

But looking at so much garbage, Naruto felt a little despairing.

There was so much trash. If he picked it all up himself, when would it ever end?

He needed a shortcut.

He glanced at Kakashi and found him leisurely reading a little book.

Sharp-eyed Naruto caught the title.

"Make-Out Paradise"?

Just from the name, it was obviously not a serious book. It might even be some kind of smut novel.

Kakashi-sensei had exposed himself.

"Kakashi-sensei."

Naruto called weakly, "Is there any ninjutsu that can make all this trash fly into the net by itself?"

"There's no such ninjutsu. Just collect it properly." Without even looking over, Kakashi continued staring at his dirty book and answered perfunctorily.

"Really? I don't believe you."

Seeing that Kakashi did not take the bait, Naruto's eyes shifted as he asked again, "Kakashi-sensei, is there a ninjutsu that can control water and make it move?"

Annoyed, Kakashi finally closed his book.

Though they had only known each other for two days, Kakashi knew that if he did not teach Naruto a ninjutsu now, Naruto would not let the matter rest.

"This is a Water Release ninjutsu created by the Second Hokage. I'll demonstrate it for you."

Kakashi jumped down and landed on the river.

Water Release: Water Colliding Wave!

Under Kakashi's control, the river instantly churned, while the water around him spun rapidly around his body.

Suddenly, spiraling river water shot into the sky. The surging water spun with immense force and crashed into the cliff wall beside them.

The cliff wall, hardened by years of wind erosion and battered by the river for countless years, still had chunks blasted off it.

If that water hit a person, would they not end up black and blue?

Ahem.

After mocking it twice, Naruto closed his eyes, seeming to recall it—or perhaps learn it.

"Great, Kakashi-sensei, I've learned it. But a move this fierce isn't very suitable."

"Oh?" Kakashi was somewhat dismissive.

So what if a genius could learn something like that after seeing it once?

He should still honestly pick up trash.

Whether it was mentality or experience, this was all training for them.

Which ninja had not gone through this stage?

"Watch me!"

Naruto shouted and jumped onto the river.

"Sasuke, Sakura, grab the nets and get ready! Here it comes!"

"Huh?"

Though the two did not know why, as teammates, they still obediently cooperated.

The moment he formed the Dragon hand seal, all the water around him—no, all water molecules—came within his perception.

Chakra control as high as 404!

This was a height never achieved in the entire ninja world—no, in the entire world, even across the whole plane of existence.

All water molecules rushed to answer Naruto's control.

Water Release: Trash Collecting Technique!

Several streams of water as thick as barrels surged continuously from the river. Mixed with large amounts of trash, they rose from the water and shot straight toward the nets.

After being delivered into the nets, the streams did not splash wildly when they landed. They even defied gravity, not splashing Sasuke or Sakura with a single drop.

They all obediently continued flowing back into the river, ready to join the next cycle.

Under Naruto's control, the river water no longer churned and flowed wildly. Instead, it methodically pushed the trash together toward Naruto.

Naruto's profound Chakra control and his powerful control over the form of Water-attribute Chakra left Kakashi staring in stunned silence.

It was not even surprise anymore, but horror.

What is this? This has to be a joke, right?

Was this control something a human could achieve?

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