The Transformation and Growth

At that moment, faced with Boruto's desperate pleas for death, Sasuke wasn't about to indulge him.

"Smack!"

He slapped Boruto across the face, sending him flying out of Sumire's arms. Caught completely off guard, Boruto rolled away like a ball, and his entire left cheek quickly swelled red.

"Boruto!"

Sumire was worried about Boruto, but given Uchiha Sasuke's fearsome reputation, she didn't dare intervene.

It was his student, and his teacher was disciplining him. What right did she have to interfere?

Besides, Sasuke didn't look like he was actually going to kill Boruto.

"You run into a little setback and start wailing that you want to die. Is this how Naruto taught you?"

Sasuke frowned and scolded him, inwardly lamenting that this generation of Konoha's young shinobi had terrible mental fortitude.

Back in his generation, aside from Sakura in the early days, if anyone else had suffered a tragedy like this, they might not have been able to toughen up right away, but they wouldn't have gone straight to begging for death.

Take Shikamaru, who lost Asuma; Hinata, who lost Neji; Naruto, who lost Jiraiya; and himself, who lost all his family... and so on.

They'd all endured it.

"Master... I..."

Still dazed from the slap, Boruto clutched his swollen left cheek and stared blankly.

"If you really want to die, I won't stop you. Kill yourself."

"I'll pretend I never had you as a student."

"As for Naruto, he can pretend he never had a useless son. And Himawari can pretend she never had a useless older brother!"

Sasuke drew his Kusanagi Sword and tossed it in front of Boruto, leaving the choice up to him.

That was the difference between Sasuke and Naruto.

Sasuke was willing to help Boruto, but only if Boruto was willing to help himself.