Bang, bang, bang—
The shadow clones vanished once again.
With Sakura's provocation, too,
and Sasuke hitting the ground after just one step,
Naruto's confidence soared.
He slowly placed a foot on the tree trunk.
One step, two steps...
Bang—
Sasuke's pupils contracted sharply.
An expression of disbelief crossed his face.
"How is this possible... You idiot dead-last!"
At that moment, Sasuke could no longer stay calm.
He had seen it clearly.
Before, even when Naruto had climbed five meters, it had looked like he was relying on brute force.
This time, Sasuke saw that Naruto's feet were sticking to the tree trunk.
He had fallen because he wasn't skilled enough at controlling his chakra. It had suddenly become unstable, and he could no longer stick to the trunk.
"Impossible!"
Sasuke's breathing grew rapid.
He hurriedly copied what Naruto had done and planted a foot on the trunk.
Suddenly, he felt something different.
Under the pressure, he had indeed made a breakthrough.
Bang—
However, Sasuke still fell after just one step.
But this time, falling after one step had shown him what he needed to work on.
Ignoring Naruto's mocking laughter beside him,
Idiot dead-last. You only managed one more step than me. Just wait—I'll surpass you in no time!
After mocking him, Naruto didn't waste time either. He immediately made a shadow clone and continued practicing chakra control.
Sakura sat on a thick branch, swinging her legs as she watched the two of them work hard below. The corners of her mouth lifted slightly.
She was happy because she had finished first.
At the same time, she felt she was running out of steam.
The chakra consumption was simply too great.
Of course, that amount of chakra was only a lot for her.
"Is your chakra running low?"
Cangwu's voice came from behind Sakura.
Sakura's face lit up with joy, and she hurriedly replied, "Yes, Teacher Cangwu... I feel like I don't have much chakra."
"Naruto can still make so many shadow clones... Sasuke is still training hard, too... I need to rest for a while."
At that, Cangwu nodded. "You should be able to finish this training today."
"Tomorrow, I'll have you work on the second exercise."
"However, once you finish, I won't teach you a new ninjutsu right away."
Disappointment showed on Sakura's face.
"Don't worry. I can take you to find a teacher who can put you through special training and increase your chakra reserves."
"Really?!" Sakura asked excitedly.
"Of course." Cangwu thought it over, then nodded.
I'm doing this for your own good. Don't blame me, Cangwu silently added.
"Then keep training."
With that, Cangwu went back to lie down.
He looked like he was lying down, but in reality, he was secretly training his Glint-Glint Fruit abilities.
Not long after Cangwu left,
Naruto awkwardly made his way over to Sakura.
He had just boasted, after all, and thinking about what he needed to do made him feel embarrassed.
Sakura looked a little surprised. Was that idiot Naruto blushing?
The corners of her mouth lifted slightly. She had already guessed why he had come.
"What's up, Naruto?"
Looking at Sakura's cute face, Naruto turned his head away slightly. This was so embarrassing.
He'd never casually make such a big boast again!
"It's... it's, um..."
Watching Naruto stammer, Sakura laughed to herself, but put on an impatient look. "If you have something to say, just say it."
Naruto finally said, "I wanted to ask how you control your chakra so well."
At that, Sakura thought to herself, I knew it.
Then, out of the corner of her eye, she noticed Sasuke had suddenly stopped training and was sitting on the ground, acting as if he didn't care what was happening.
"Oh, that~"
"It's simple."
Hm?!
It's simple?!
Damn it... just you wait—
Suddenly, Sasuke's ears twitched. Why had they gone quiet?
Unable to resist, he looked over.
He saw Naruto apparently learning something from Sakura, then walking over with confident strides.
"Sasuke-kun, would you like to hear my advice?"
Sakura's voice rang out.
Sasuke resisted the urge to punch Naruto, whose expression was practically begging to be hit.
With his hands in his pockets, he walked to the tree.
"I don't need it, and I'm not interested," he said dismissively.
Sakura wasn't surprised by that answer.
She looked at Naruto, who was full of energy again, and wondered whether her advice would help him improve.
"Watch closely, Sasuke. I'll make you give up on catching up to me in no time!"
"Multiple Shadow Clone Technique!"
Bang, bang, bang—!!!
Sasuke watched Naruto make dozens of shadow clones again, and the corner of his eye twitched.
He took a deep breath. "Hmph. You just have more chakra, that's all."
"A dead-last is still a dead-last."
Naruto ignored him.
Together with his shadow clones, he ran beneath the tree and started discussing things.
They began training as they talked.
"Hey, hey, hey! You're using too much chakra!"
Bang—
"Eh! Why did you suddenly increase the chakra output?!"
Bang—
"Hmm... Why did my chakra suddenly decrease...? This is so hard to control~!"
Bang—
One shadow clone after another burst apart as they fell from the tree.
But the spots where they had left kunai were visibly getting higher.
Naruto's footing on the trunk was also growing steadier.
Like a toddler learning to walk, he made his way along the tree trunk one step at a time.
Sasuke was stunned.
The speed of Naruto's progress made him feel dejected.
But he also noticed something.
"Does this guy... have endless chakra?"
"So that's what shadow clones are for..."
Sasuke watched Naruto's real body. Every time a shadow clone burst, Naruto would gather the clones that hadn't received the memories yet and explain the notes to them.
"It's the memories, right?"
"I didn't know shadow clones could do that... Teacher Cangwu really is amazing."
"Is this what he meant before by teaching according to each student's abilities?"
Sasuke rubbed his chin, lost in thought.
Suddenly, Sasuke noticed someone watching him.
He looked up and saw that the pink-haired girl had climbed back onto the thick branch at some point.
Her feet were firmly stuck to the tree trunk.
After a moment of eye contact, Sasuke looked away.
Sakura sat on the thick branch, a little disappointed.
"Never mind... I'll focus on training... I don't want to be a burden~!"
Sakura encouraged herself.
She shifted her gaze and realized that she could see Cangwu from this spot.
So she gritted her teeth and climbed a little higher, until she could make out Cangwu's face.
"Teacher Cangwu... is he training?"
"He doesn't look like he's sleeping... He's so handsome~"
"Ah~!"
Distracted, Sakura lost control of her chakra and fell straight down.
Elsewhere,
Naruto was arguing with his shadow clones.
"Hey, dead-last."
Hm?!
Naruto and his shadow clones all turned around at once.
Sasuke had his hands in his pockets and his head turned away as he stammered,
"Um... did that annoying girl... tell you any tricks?"
At that,
Naruto and his shadow clones all wore different expressions.
But they all had one thing in common: they were incredibly exaggerated.
Seeing this,
Sasuke regretted asking.
Sure enough,
the next moment,
dozens of Narutos burst out laughing at once.
"Damn it!"
"Idiot dead-last!"
Before you continue