The entire training ground fell deathly silent.
Everyone was stunned by the battle that had ended in the blink of an eye, as well as Tejima Shinichi's display of absolute strength.
Yet amid that silence, Second Pillar's eyes suddenly blazed with excitement, and he could not help letting out a low cry.
"Yes! That's exactly how it feels!"
This unusual reaction immediately caught Haruno Sakura's attention.
Looking at the excitement—and even a hint of vindictive satisfaction—on Sasuke's face, she could not understand it at all.
"Sasuke? You... what's wrong? Why do you look like you're... happy?" Sakura asked in confusion.
When Uzumaki Naruto saw Sasuke like this, he froze for a moment. Then, as if he had recalled something extremely amusing, he snorted with laughter, a mischievous grin spreading across his face.
"Hehehe..."
He nudged Sakura with his elbow and lowered his voice, barely holding back his laughter as he said:
"Hehe, Sakura, let me tell you, it's because Sasuke used to..."
"Naruto!!!"
Second Pillar abruptly realized what was happening. His face instantly flushed bright red, and in a panic and rage, he lunged forward and clamped a hand tightly over Naruto's mouth, refusing to let him finish.
It was not that Second Pillar could not accept defeat.
During his six years at the Ninja Academy, he had already lost to Shinichi countless times.
He simply felt that being defeated by Shinichi in that manner... repeatedly smashed into the ground like a sandbag... was far too humiliating!
"Mmph! Mmph!"
Naruto struggled, but Sasuke covered his mouth even tighter, glaring at him fiercely with a look that plainly said, If you dare say it, you're dead.
Watching Naruto suddenly wrestle with the unusually behaved Sasuke, Haruno Sakura was utterly baffled, question marks practically hanging over her head.
"What... happened?"
In