Sasuke's Strength

"Ha! I can finally get the Bells!"

Naruto rushed beneath the large tree at top speed. Just as he was about to jump up and grab the Bells, his ankle suddenly tightened, as if something had tripped him, and his entire view spun one hundred and eighty degrees.

The next moment, Naruto was hanging from the tree.

Kakashi jumped down from the tree and sneered at Naruto. "You fell for the same trap twice. How did you even get your forehead protector?"

Naruto cried out in frustration.

An opening!!!

Sasuke seized the moment when Kakashi was most off guard. Several shuriken materialized in his hands, and he forcefully hurled them toward Kakashi!

The shuriken flew toward Kakashi along different trajectories.

The smile on Kakashi's face gradually froze.

The next instant, all the shuriken pierced Kakashi's body. He fell with a thud, his fate unknown.

Sakura stared at the sight in horror. "D-Dead?!"

Only in the next second did they realize that the shuriken had not struck Kakashi, but a wooden stick.

"Whew..."

Only then did Sakura let out a sigh of relief.

Sasuke could not help frowning as he charged forward.

Kakashi had been prepared. Sasuke swept a kick at him, but Kakashi raised one hand and deftly neutralized it.

Sasuke threw several punches in succession, but Kakashi barely even looked at him. He predicted the direction of Sasuke's attacks in advance and blocked them all.

Sasuke's frown deepened.

The gap in their strength was far too great.

Refusing to accept it, Sasuke exchanged several punches with Kakashi at top speed. Yet in the end, Kakashi found an opening and pinned him to the ground from behind.

No matter what Sasuke did, he could not move. His eyes burned with humiliation and fury!

But just then, Kakashi suddenly vanished.

Along with Sasuke.

Sakura froze. The scenery around her had not changed, but Kakashi and Sasuke, who had been fighting moments ago, were both gone. Naruto and Ye Lan were gone as well.

"Sasuke!! Naruto! Lan!! Where are you?"

"Kakashi!"

Sakura shouted several times, but no one answered.

Then, a rustling sound suddenly came from behind the large tree at Sakura's back. She instinctively turned around.

She saw Sasuke covered in kunai, blood pouring from his body!

"Sakura..."

Sasuke called weakly before collapsing to the ground and ceasing to breathe.

"Ah!!"

Seeing the one she loved die right before her eyes, Sakura lost control of her emotions. Her eyes rolled back, and she fainted.

In truth, Kakashi, Sasuke, Naruto, and Ye Lan had never left their original positions. The fight was still continuing. Everything Sakura had seen earlier was an illusion Kakashi had deliberately created.

Kakashi had seized upon Sakura's weakness: she cared too much about Sasuke. Otherwise, she would not have been so frightened by the illusion of Sasuke's death that she fainted on the spot.

Sasuke still refused to give up and continued trying to seize the Bells at Kakashi's waist. He even touched them several times, but he simply could not pull them off.

Feeling the enormous gap between himself and Kakashi, Sasuke's gaze gradually turned cold. This was not the outcome he wanted!

He had come to the Ninja Academy, worked hard to become a Genin, and then entered Team 7. He had not done all that just to be defeated so easily!

Suddenly, he thought of that man—the man who had slaughtered his entire clan. That cruel, bloodthirsty demon who killed without blinking: his older brother, Itachi Uchiha!