"Hey, dead last!"
Just then, a calm voice reached his ears. Naruto's somewhat aggrieved expression instantly changed. Like shifting storm clouds in the rainy season, it immediately turned into a deeply displeased look.
Looking up, he saw that the annoying Sasuke had somehow appeared five meters in front of him, staring at him curiously.
"Tell me, were you crying just now?"
Sasuke spoke calmly, then put on an expression of sudden realization.
"Don't tell me you cried because I taught you a lesson today and you felt wronged?"
He had needed to look up some information in the school library today, so he had not hurried back to the Uchiha Clan Compound. When he left the school, he happened to see this scene.
"Idiot, I wasn't crying!" Naruto's face flushed red before he angrily said, "Don't flatter yourself. I was just feeling unwell today. Next time, I'll definitely beat you, you conceited bastard!"
"Heh, I like that look of yours—when you can't beat me, can't do anything about me, and still stubbornly refuse to admit it. Hmm... it's really too amusing... Hahaha..."
"Bastard!"
Watching Sasuke laugh with a smug look on his face, Naruto clenched his fists. He wanted to rush forward and beat this guy up a hundred times as he shouted:
"Listen up! Before, I just hadn't been training seriously. Once I start training for real, I'll definitely leave you far behind. Just wait and see, hmph!"
"Is that so?" Sasuke nodded slightly and calmly looked into his eyes. "If that's the case, then I'm looking forward to it. Don't go back on your word when the time comes, Uzumaki Naruto."
"Hmph!" Naruto stood up and loudly declared, "What I say, I do. That's the ninja way of Uzumaki Naruto. Don't underestimate me."
The corner of Sasuke's mouth rose slightly as he casually asked, "Have you had dinner?"
"Dinner?"
Naruto froze, unable to figure out what this arrogant guy was up to again.
"What does whether I've had dinner have to do with you?"
Naruto turned his head and asked with an unhappy expression.
"If you haven't, then considering you got beaten up by me today and now look so pitiful, I'll treat you to a meal."
Sasuke sighed and spoke with a helpless expression.
"Damn it! Who needs your pity?"
Naruto's face turned crimson as he angrily snapped.
"Fine, then."
Sasuke nodded. He did not try to persuade him further and simply turned to leave.
Naruto was instantly dumbfounded. Seeing Sasuke walk farther and farther away, he hurriedly chased after him.
"Sasuke, wait for me!"
Sasuke gave him an amused glance and teased, "Didn't you say you didn't need it?"
"Hmph!" Naruto pursed his lips and huffed, "Since you sincerely invited me, Lord Uzumaki Naruto will generously overlook your offense and reluctantly accept."
"But let's make this clear first: if what you treat me to tastes terrible, I won't eat it!"
Sasuke did not get angry at Naruto's unfriendly tone. He merely chuckled, seemingly casually glancing up at the sky over Konoha.
This feeling of possibly being watched at any time is really unpleasant...
Drawing back his gaze, Sasuke's eyes became deep and unreadable.
"Smells amazing!"
Inside the Uchiha Clan Compound, Naruto ate ravenously as though he had been starving for days, shoveling food into his mouth so quickly that Sasuke was secretly alarmed.
This guy could really eat!
Though Sasuke's body was still small, he was at an age of rapid growth. Combined with the various high-intensity physical training he did every day, his appetite had been steadily increasing recently.
Even so, his appetite was only barely on par with the guy in front of him.
This guy spent all day sleeping and dozing off without doing any physical training. Where did such a huge appetite come from?
Was this the physique of the Uzumaki Clan?
No wonder he ended up with Hyuga Hinata later on. Foodies were always drawn to each other.
Sasuke mocked him inwardly. Then he saw Naruto, who had been eating like a starving ghost, finally stop. After putting down his bowl and chopsticks, Naruto said with satisfaction, "Sasuke, I never expected your cooking to be this good. Aside from Ichiraku Ramen, this is the best food I've ever eaten."
Naruto's favorite food was Ichiraku Ramen. Besides Uncle Teuchi's superb cooking, the more important reason was that Teuchi was one of the few people in the village who had not rejected Naruto because of the Demon Fox rumors. He was also the first person to give Naruto free food.
Ichiraku Ramen held a special and extremely important meaning for Naruto.
If the Fourth Hokage and his wife, who had entrusted their child to others before dying, knew what Naruto had gone through these years, how would they have felt?
The Fourth Hokage returned through Impure World Reincarnation and saw with his own eyes that his eight-year-old son lived in a doghouse and drank expired milk. With one command, a hundred thousand retired ninja rushed in!
When a shop owner who looked down on Naruto refused to sell him anything, a red-haired woman pushed open the door. The owner was so frightened that he froze on the spot, bowed, and shouted, "My lord!"
Uh.
In any case, they would definitely have been heartbroken.
"Your house is huge, but, Sasuke..." Naruto looked around for a while before suddenly asking, "Why is it so empty here? I haven't seen a single person since we came in."
Sasuke fell silent for a moment before calmly saying, "They're dead."
"Huh!?" Naruto's pupils shrank sharply, and his face filled with disbelief.
"How is that possible...?"
Naruto now understood what that feeling in his heart had meant. He also understood why Sasuke's personality had suddenly changed.
"Um, Sasuke, I..."
Naruto opened his mouth and cautiously glanced at Sasuke. He wanted to comfort him, but Sasuke interrupted before he could finish.
"Naruto, I heard you want to become someone acknowledged by others?"
Naruto froze. Sensitive as he was, he sensed that Sasuke did not seem to want to discuss his family. After hesitating, he nodded and seriously said, "Yes! That's why I want to become Hokage and gain everyone's acknowledgment!"
"You have the cause and effect backward, Naruto." Sasuke said calmly, "You don't gain everyone's acknowledgment because you become Hokage. You become Hokage because you gain everyone's acknowledgment."
Naruto fell silent for a while, scratching his head in distress. He bitterly said, "But I don't know how to gain everyone's acknowledgment."
He often faced the world with a carefree, grinning expression, but he could keenly sense the indifference and disgust in the villagers' eyes whenever they looked at him.
"If only I could be a heaven talent like you, Sasuke. The teachers like you, the students like you, and Sakura likes you too."
Naruto spoke with some envy.
"There are two kinds of heaven talents." Sasuke glanced at him and calmly said, "One is a natural heaven talent, and the other is a hardworking heaven talent."
Naruto's eyes lit up, as though he had understood something. He quickly asked excitedly, "Sasuke, are you saying you're a natural heaven talent, while I can become a hardworking heaven talent?"
"No, don't misunderstand. You're just an idiot."
Sasuke struck him down without mercy.
"As for me? I'm the third kind—a heaven talent who is both naturally gifted and hardworking!"
"Uh..."
Naruto lowered his head dejectedly. He felt that this Sasuke was far more annoying than before. This guy could always crush him with the calmest possible tone.
Yet what Sasuke said seemed to be true, which made Naruto feel even more discouraged.
However, his discouragement lasted only a moment. With Naruto's refusal to admit defeat, he quickly pulled himself together.
After silently watching Naruto's emotions gradually recover and even seeing fighting spirit emerge in him, Sasuke said, "So, if an idiot like you wants to catch up to me, you'll have to put in ten, a hundred, or even a thousand times more effort. Otherwise, you should give up early."
Rather than discouraging the recovered Naruto, Sasuke's words ignited his fighting spirit. His eyes gleamed as he shouted:
"Hmph! There's no such word as giving up in Lord Uzumaki Naruto's ninja way! One day, I'll knock you flat on the ground and make you beg me for mercy. Just wait, Sasuke!"
Faced with Naruto's bold declaration, Sasuke merely closed his eyes quietly. Only after a moment did he open them again and calmly say, "In that case, I'll teach you a ninjutsu."
Naruto froze. "Teach me a ninjutsu?"
"That's right!" Feeling the lingering sense of scrutiny that had hung over him ever since he and Naruto entered the Uchiha Clan Compound, Sasuke's gaze gradually became deep and unreadable, and the corner of his mouth curved upward.
"The name of this ninjutsu is..."
"Shadow Clone Technique!"
Before you continue