You Actually Snuck Off!

After school, Naruto did not head straight home.

When he arrived at the woods where he usually trained, Naruto set his backpack aside.

Then he turned around with a smile. "Why have you been following me, Hinata?"

The girl's tracking skills were simply too clumsy. Naruto had noticed her halfway there. At first, he had thought they were merely going the same way, but he had not expected her to follow him all the way here.

The woods fell silent for several seconds. Then a Byakugan girl with short pale-purple hair stepped out from behind a tree, her cheeks slightly flushed.

"Naruto-kun, you remember me." The girl cried out happily.

"Um... um, I didn't mean to follow you. I just wanted to say hello. I still haven't thanked you for helping me last time."

After glancing at Naruto again, the girl lowered her head shyly and spoke hesitantly.

Then she bowed solemnly in thanks.

"Thank you, Naruto-kun."

Naruto smiled and waved his hand. "It was nothing. Don't mention it."

As he spoke, Naruto sat down on the stone bench where he usually rested and gestured for Hinata to sit across from him.

Seeing this, it felt as though a huge weight had been lifted from Hinata's heart. After sitting down, she looked around and asked curiously, "Is this where Naruto-kun usually trains?"

"Yes, this is where I train. If you want to find me in the future, you can come here. Other than when I'm sleeping at night, I should be here the rest of the time."

Naruto answered with a smile.

"You really are diligent."

Listening to Naruto's words and looking at the many traces left behind by training throughout the grounds, the girl could not help sighing in admiration.

Then she said happily, "Naruto-kun, I trained hard after that. I've completely mastered the Gentle Fist now. The next time I run into those bad kids, I'll definitely be able to defeat them easily."

"Is that so? You must have put in a lot of effort."

Naruto smiled, then quietly listened as Hinata told him about the things she had encountered during training.

From time to time, Naruto also spoke about his usual training routine. The two of them got along surprisingly well.

After going home to put down his backpack, Sasuke also headed this way.

But from far away, he saw Naruto chatting happily with a girl with short pale-purple hair.

He knew that girl. She was Hyuga Hinata, a member of their class from the Hyuga Clan, and she possessed the Byakugan Kekkei Genkai.

The Hyuga Clan often competed with the Uchiha Clan in the village, so Sasuke, as an Uchiha, did not have much goodwill toward members of that clan.

Besides, although Sasuke was still young, he knew that being a third wheel was not a moral thing to do.

With a cold snort, Sasuke decided to train at the clan grounds today.

Time passed quickly as they chatted.

Before they knew it, the sky had gradually darkened.

"Hinata, it's about time you went home."

Naruto suddenly paused the conversation and pointed at the sky.

It was already dusk. He did not care much; no one would worry no matter when he went home.

But Hinata's family would worry about her.

"Ah, Naruto-kun, see you next time."

When she saw the sky, Hinata could not help crying out.

Although Hinata was reluctant to part with Naruto, she thought there would be plenty of time in the future. She hurriedly stood, gave a slight bow in farewell, then turned and ran off in a hurry.

Naruto laughed silently as he watched Hinata's back vanish into the distance. Then he created a huge number of Shadow Clones and began training hard.

Having wasted the entire daytime, Naruto decided to train a little longer before bed to make up for the lost time.

The third day after the Ninja Academy started.

At dismissal time, Itachi was busy with a mission and could not come pick Sasuke up.

So Sasuke, who was obsessed with his older brother, finally thought of his little companion named Naruto.

Naruto had barely spoken to him all day. Could he have been angry because Sasuke had gone straight home with Itachi yesterday?

Thinking this, Sasuke followed Naruto out of the school gates and into a quiet, deserted alley. Just as he was about to greet him and head together for the forest training grounds—

Naruto suddenly went Poof! and exploded into smoke.

"A Shadow Clone?"

"This guy didn't even come to school today? No wonder he wasn't talkative. It was a Shadow Clone! Was he trying to save Chakra?"

Having figured it out, Sasuke's face puffed up angrily like a steamed bun.

He quickly ran to the training grounds and angrily questioned Naruto, "Damn it! Why didn't you tell me Shadow Clones could be used like this? You made me go to class alone while you snuck off here for extra training?!"

Ever since meeting Naruto, Sasuke had been highly motivated to train, all so that he could surpass him.

To that end, Sasuke had learned Lightning Fire nature transformation training methods from his brother, along with Shadow Clones and some Fire Release Ninjutsu.

Whenever he used Shadow Clones to assist his training, his Main Body was also undergoing intense Taijutsu training.

This grueling training, far beyond what children his age could endure, was all so he could defeat Naruto, catch up to his brother, and become a ninja as powerful as him.

Yet he had never expected the target he wanted to defeat to be secretly getting ahead here.

Sasuke had thought Naruto was his best friend. That was way too superficial.

"But you never asked. You learned Shadow Clones last year, and you still went to school with your Main Body. I thought you really liked going to school."

Faced with Sasuke's questioning, Naruto's expression did not change at all as he answered calmly.

Sasuke's expression froze at those words.

It really did seem that way...

People could not possibly take the initiative to examine their own responsibility. Sasuke quickly put the matter of Naruto not telling him he could use Shadow Clones to attend school out of his mind.

Instead, he looked at Naruto sitting on the ground and asked curiously, "You're actually sitting here daydreaming instead of training?"

"I'm not daydreaming. I'm sensing the power of the wind."

Naruto raised his hand without forming a single seal, yet Sasuke saw a visible current of air flowing between Naruto's fingers and palm. It was faint, but it was undeniably the power of wind.

"You've already trained your Wind Release Chakra nature transformation to this extent?" Sasuke asked in shock.

Being able to turn Chakra into wind without relying on seals meant he had trained Chakra nature transformation to a certain level. It was absolutely Jonin-level.

"Yeah. I'm trying to instantly transform a large amount of Wind Release Chakra, then use it as a medium to manipulate the surrounding air currents. After all, wind is essentially flowing air."

Although Naruto was speaking, he did not relax his control over the Chakra between his fingers.

"But what would be the use of doing that?" Sasuke asked, vaguely feeling that Naruto might be attempting something earth-shattering.

"Then I'll be able to fly," Naruto said helplessly.

"I told you to read more, but you wouldn't listen. Don't you know birds can fly because their wings create rising air currents that support their bodies and overcome gravity?"

"If people can use Chakra to manipulate airflow, naturally they can do the same thing."