Healing a Dead Horse

After thinking it over, Sasuke decided to start from the beginning and go through everything with Rock Lee. After all, they usually only sparred in Taijutsu, and Sasuke had never paid much attention to his Ninjutsu situation. Rock Lee had never mentioned it either.

"Have you ever tested your Chakra nature? Do you know what Nature Transformation you have?"

"No, I know nothing. Sorry!"

"Naruto, make a trip and buy him a pack of Chakra Test Paper."

"Okay, but Sasuke..."

Naruto scratched his head and spread his hands at Sasuke awkwardly.

"I'm out of money."

"Didn't you earn so much money working for me a while ago?"

"I rewarded myself by eating Ichiraku Ramen for a whole week, hehe, and then..."

Rock Lee raised his hand to interrupt him.

"Since Sasuke is helping me train, I should be the one paying. How much will it cost?"

"One sheet of Chakra Test Paper costs 60 Ryo. If you want to confirm which of the five natures you have, you'll need at least five sheets. Of course, if you can't control your Chakra precisely, five sheets might only reveal the same nature."

"Then... could we just buy one sheet first?"

Sasuke explained, "It's not that I want you to buy so many. The shop just doesn't sell them individually. One pack has five sheets, 300 Ryo."

"Do you have that much money? Forget it, I'll pay."

"It's fine. I should have 300 Ryo saved up. I'll head home right away."

"Actually, there's no need to rush..."

Before Sasuke could finish, Rock Lee dashed off like the wind, dragging Naruto along with him.

Seeing that Rock Lee had temporarily left, Neji figured that they were fairly familiar with each other and came over to show some concern.

"Do you really have a way to teach Rock Lee Ninjutsu?"

"I never said I had a way, nor did I promise him anything."

"Then why are you..."

"I'm just trying every method I can think of. If none of them work, there's nothing I can do."

He and Rock Lee were merely sparring partners in everyday life. It wasn't as though they were especially close or important to each other. Helping out within the bounds of ordinary friendship was fine, but if it meant spending more money, then forget it.

In the long run, Rock Lee would not be much help in saving the world. With all that fiery enthusiasm, he was unlikely to betray Konoha. Even with plot armor and surviving until the end, he would merely live on as Konoha's guard dog.

It was better to be practical. Since Sasuke had a practical mindset, and the difference in their mental ages was right there, there was no need to wave banners about friendship and sincerity when making friends.

Teaching Naruto Fire Style was to make sure he had somewhere to use all that Chakra. Once they teamed up in the future, it would make things easier for Sasuke.

Agreeing to let Naruto teach Fire Style to others was because, aside from the Uchiha, only the Sarutobi family had the strongest Fire Style. Sasuke simply wanted to disgust that old man while he was at it.

They returned in less than half an hour. They must have run the entire way.

Obviously, Rock Lee's inability to use Ninjutsu was not because he lacked Chakra. The Sharingan, the Byakugan, and the shattered Chakra Test Paper all proved it.

"Earth Nature Transformation. Obviously, if you wanted to train Fire Style from the start, you were only making things difficult for yourself. Setting Naruto's wishes aside, if you want to learn an elemental style, the best and easiest choice is undoubtedly to start with Earth Style."

"So what do you think? Do you still want to force yourself to learn Fire Style?"

Sasuke fell silent, looking at Rock Lee, who said nothing, then at Naruto standing to the side with disappointment in his eyes.

"Sorry, Naruto..."

"Rock Lee, don't Care About my side! If you can learn Earth Style, you'll have a better chance of becoming a ninja, right?"

"Thank you, Naruto! I've decided! I want to learn Earth Style Ninjutsu!"

Watching the two embrace and weep with fiery passion, Sasuke somehow felt as though... Hinata's head was glowing green.

"Sasuke, please teach me how to use Earth Style Ninjutsu!"

Whenever this happened, it was time to throw a bucket of cold water over them and make them face reality.

"If learning one elemental Ninjutsu were enough to graduate, Naruto would have had nothing to worry about long ago."

"And I never said I would teach Rock Lee Earth Style."

Naruto stood up for Rock Lee.

"You know so many techniques. What's wrong with teaching him one or two? Don't be so stingy!"

Fire Style could still be called the Uchiha clan's own proprietary knowledge.

If Sasuke taught Wind Style to Naruto, the Third Hokage probably would not pursue it.

But teaching other Ninjutsu to outsiders whenever he pleased? Even Kakashi would not dare mess around like that. Sasuke was not an Otsutsuki yet, and there was no way Naruto could talk him into selfless devotion with just a few words.

"Neji mentioned Ninjutsu secrecy before. Don't take it lightly. I won't explain the deeper reasons."

"If you want to do whatever you please, then first surpass everyone else and become the Hokage you keep talking about."

"Sasuke is so stingy." Naruto stuck out his tongue and made a face.

"Calling me stingy?" Sasuke laughed instead of getting angry.

He reached out and used a secret Uchiha technique on Naruto, a family heirloom—the forehead poke. The user experience was somewhat more comfortable than Thousand Years of Death.

It only made Naruto clutch his head and yelp.

"Naruto, let me ask you. Before you learned Wind Style, how many skills had you learned in total?"

"Substitution Technique, Transformation Jutsu, Sexy Jutsu... Does Tree Climbing and Water Walking count?"

"They count. Now guess how many Rock Lee knows."

Naruto froze for a second, raised his index finger, then curled it back down...

"Rock Lee, what can you do now?"

"I told you before, I can't use any Ninjutsu. I wasn't joking. It's true."

"You really can't use any of the Three Body Technique?"

"Really."

"You can't even do Tree Climbing and Water Walking?"

"I can climb trees, but I don't really understand what you mean by Water Walking." With that, Rock Lee wrapped both arms around a tree and scrambled up it in a flash.

After that display, Naruto still did not see what he wanted. "The Tree Climbing I mean seems different from your tree climbing."

Naruto looked at Rock Lee with pity. "I get called out and criticized by the teacher every day just because I can't use the Clone Technique. You must have been scolded even worse than me, right? You're too pitiful."

"It's okay, I'm used to it!"

Seeing that the two were about to embrace in youthful passion again, the sight was too painful for Sasuke's eyes, so he spoke up to stop them early.

"Naruto, what do you think Rock Lee should do now?"

"Practice Tree Climbing and Water Walking?"

Sasuke shook his head. "First, we should test whether Rock Lee has the most basic qualification to become a ninja—mobilizing Chakra."

With that, he activated the Sharingan and looked at Rock Lee again. "Can you concentrate Chakra in a certain part of your body? Your hands or feet, for example?"

"I'll do my best to try!"

Rock Lee's face turned as red as Hinata's whenever she held Naruto's hand.

"Just now, I tried to gather Chakra in my right hand."

Sasuke nodded. The general direction of the Chakra flow was correct.

"Although it seems very difficult, there really was a little effect."

Naruto looked even more excited than Rock Lee. "Rock Lee, does that mean he can start practicing other things?"

"Don't rush. There's one more test. We need to determine whether Rock Lee can't use Ninjutsu because of his brain or his body."