You Call This a Test...

"Training?" x3

The three little ones reacted in completely different ways.

After a brief pause, anticipation appeared in Sasuke's eyes.

Naruto, on the other hand, looked utterly resigned.

Here we go again... Am I going to be the negative example again?

Naruto wasn't yet all that hungry for power.

Sakura glanced furtively at Cangwu, then lowered her head.

Are we training together?

I'll definitely do my best... But with Teacher Cangwu... there'll definitely be a punishment... He isn't going to hit me there again, is he...?

"When do we start?" Sasuke suddenly asked.

He closed his spotless lunchbox and set it on the log.

Naruto: ???

How did he eat so fast?

Naruto looked down at his own lunch.

It was delicious. Really delicious.

Naruto thought it was the best lunch he'd ever eaten.

But in the time it had taken Sasuke to finish, Naruto, who'd always been confident in his appetite, had only eaten about half.

Sakura had only finished a third.

Sasuke noticed Naruto giving him a strange look.

He wiped the corner of his mouth, then put his hands in his pockets and glanced at Naruto with a cold expression.

"Idiot."

Naruto: ???

What did I do?

"Damn it, Sasuke, you show-off!"

"Hmph." Sasuke snorted.

Ignoring Naruto, he walked straight toward Cangwu.

"Damn it!"

"What does that guy Sasuke have to be so smug about?!"

Naruto glared viciously at Sasuke.

Then he hurriedly picked up the pace.

Sakura wasn't affected.

She only thought that the lunch Cangwu had made them was so delicious she could swallow her tongue.

Teacher Cangwu... Mmm... He's really perfect~

One more devoted fangirl.

"Cangwu, I don't want to know all the reasons behind it."

"Tell me, how much of your strength did you use?"

"Also, how did you manage to ignore my Fire Release?"

With his hands in his pockets, Sasuke wore a cold expression.

Although his outlook had changed somewhat, his resolve to kill Uchiha Itachi hadn't.

Hatred had driven him forward until now.

And now, a chance to gain power was right in front of him.

No matter what, he had to seize it.

"I see." Cangwu stroked his chin, then raised his index finger.

Then, after a moment's thought, he held up seven fingers.

"Huh?!"

"One-tenth? Or seventy percent?!"

Sasuke's pupils contracted.

If it was one-tenth...

Sasuke couldn't imagine what that would mean. He couldn't accept it, either.

But Cangwu shook his head.

"Wrong."

Seeing Sasuke's baffled expression, Cangwu patted his head.

Sasuke tried to dodge, but Cangwu's words stunned him.

"What I mean is..."

"If you speak so rudely again next time..."

"I'll kick your butt to pieces from seven different angles within one second."

"Don't worry. It's just your butt. At worst, it'll hurt a few times a day from then on. It won't affect your ability to use your strength..."

Cangwu spoke as gently as he did when teaching them.

But to Sasuke, his words sounded like a bolt from the blue.

He could tell Cangwu wasn't bluffing.

Sasuke instinctively covered his butt. The kick from earlier still hurt faintly.

He hadn't hidden the gesture at all.

The moment he did it, Sasuke regretted it.

He turned his head away.

"I understand."

"Sorry, Teacher Cangwu. I'll be more careful."

It's all for the sake of power!

Cangwu patted his head in satisfaction.

"Not bad. That's the right way to speak to your teacher."

Naruto and Sakura, standing not far away, stared in bewilderment.

"Sasuke-kun... He should be okay, right?" Sakura asked, looking a little strange.

Sasuke seemed kind of like a girl right now.

Naruto snorted.

"Hmph, Sasuke, you show-off!"

Sakura rolled her eyes.

"Do you two have special nicknames for each other?"

You sound like a couple, all lovey-dovey.

"Go on, what is it?" Cangwu stretched and glanced at Sasuke, who was still hesitating where he stood.

"Cangwu... Teacher, I wanted to ask you about that man... Uchiha Itachi. Do you know anything about him?"

"Pretty much everyone in the shinobi world knows about it." Cangwu's lips curved slightly.

Sasuke gritted his teeth, his face filled with hatred.

"Then, Teacher Cangwu, with your strength, how likely are you to win if you fought that guy?"

Cangwu thought it over seriously for a moment, then shook his head.

"How is that possible... Your intangibility ability..."

Before the dumbfounded Sasuke could speak, Cangwu waved a hand. "It's hard to say."

"Because the fight could go to extremes."

"There are only two possibilities."

"Either I defeat him instantly."

"Or he defeats me instantly."

Cangwu was telling the truth.

If this reward came with a boost to his spiritual power, then there'd be one outcome.

Spiritual power wasn't linked to physical strength.

It had to be cultivated.

And, as it happened, Cangwu's talent had been less than impressive.

"Sharingan!"

After a brief daze, Sasuke immediately understood.

"Mangekyō Sharingan," Cangwu added.

He wasn't worried at all.

If he was prepared, he definitely wouldn't fall for it so easily.

Besides, once the three little ones grew stronger, he'd surely get more rewards.

As long as they weren't repeats, he'd eventually get a similar reward.

"Mangekyō..." Sasuke murmured, his whole body trembling uncontrollably.

Naruto and Sakura had come closer, but stopped in their tracks.

They could feel the chill radiating from Sasuke.

But along with the hatred on his face, there was fear.

Tap—

"I know you're in a hurry, but don't rush just yet." Cangwu tapped Sasuke on the head.

Sasuke snapped out of it and looked at Cangwu in a panic.

"Give me power!"

"I'll give you everything I have!"

"That man... I have to kill him with my own hands!"

"Give me the power to defeat him instantly!"

Sasuke spoke in a frantic, agitated rush.

In the end, under the worried gazes of Naruto and Sakura, Sasuke climbed out of the lake, rubbing his nearly ruined butt.

Cangwu had kicked him into it.

The lake water was ice-cold, and it helped Sasuke regain his senses.

He forcefully suppressed the hatred and murderous intent in his heart.

Then he returned to Cangwu.

"Sorry... Teacher Cangwu."

"I really need that kind of power."

"I..."

Before Sasuke could finish, Naruto suddenly pulled a little frog from his pocket.

Eager to please, he stepped over to Cangwu and stuffed it right into his pocket.

Cangwu: "..."

It was heavy, with quite a bit inside.

Rustle—

As Naruto unzipped it, the clinking of coins came from within.

Naruto grinned and took back the now-deflated little frog.

There was a hint of pain deep in his eyes.

"Teacher Cangwu, I'll give you all my money. You have to make me stronger first—ideally, strong enough to kick Sasuke's show-off butt to pieces with one kick!"

Sasuke: !!!

Sakura: ???

Cangwu pinched Naruto's ear. "Where did you learn to say that?"

Ignoring Naruto's pained yelps, he took the coins out of the frog.

They were old, and all small-denomination coins.

Cangwu was silent for a moment, then made the little frog plump again.