I Succeeded!

However, after sixty moves, Uzumaki Naruto rushed toward Sasuke, dodging a Great Fireball mid-stride before landing a swift punch directly onto Sasuke's face.

Sasuke saw stars after the impact, his body swaying unsteadily, and by the time he regained his senses, a Kunai was already pressed against his neck.

"The winner, Uzumaki Naruto!"

The girls in the class immediately erupted into wails.

"Ah! How could this happen? Sasuke is clearly so outstanding, how could he possibly lose!"

Several quick-witted girls ran to Sasuke's side, hoping to take the opportunity to comfort him and improve their relationship.

Unfortunately, Sasuke felt no gratitude at all; he only found them annoying.

Shaking them off, Sasuke looked at Naruto and asked in a low voice, "Why has your strength improved so quickly?"

After a week of hard training, the gap between them had not narrowed; instead, it had widened.

How could Sasuke accept this?

Naruto pondered, "Probably... maybe... perhaps... I'm a genius."

Who isn't a genius?

Sasuke himself was a genius, though he hated it when others used the word "genius" to dismiss his hard work.

But Sasuke knew very well that he was indeed a genius.

Aside from being unable to match that man, he had no equal among his peers, and he had always been the most outstanding student in school.

Until...

The little blond kid stopped skipping class and fought him.

Only then did he realize that he didn't seem that strong, and there were people better than him.

"You are a genius, and I am a genius too. Perhaps I can't beat you in talent, but I will work harder than you and eventually defeat you..."

If he couldn't even defeat the little blond kid, what right did he have to stand before that man...

And kill him!!!

Sasuke made up his mind, set a new training plan, and further compressed his sleep time.

He slept for three hours every night, caught up on sleep during class, and spent the rest of his time in frantic training.

A week later, during combat training, Sasuke fought Naruto for over forty moves before failing.

He immediately launched an even more intense training plan, sleeping only two hours a night.

Another week passed, and in combat training, Sasuke fought Naruto for over thirty moves before failing.

The gap had grown even larger.

Another week passed, and in combat training, Sasuke fought Naruto for over twenty moves before being defeated.

Sasuke finally couldn't hold it together anymore.

This is freaking impossible to fight!!!

He had sacrificed a massive amount of sleep to train, to the point of near-collapse, only to get these results...

Sasuke felt it was unacceptable; he suspected the guy on the other side was cheating.

Later that afternoon, after school, Sasuke secretly followed Naruto to the forest.

He saw Naruto running while carrying a giant log, his footsteps landing on the ground, the water's surface, and tree trunks alike.

After running, he punched the trees, blow after blow, making the giant trees ring out with loud thuds.

"So that's how he trains... I've learned something."

At dusk, Naruto packed his things and headed home.

Sasuke followed him all the way, watching Naruto close his door before stepping out from behind a utility pole, whispering to himself, "I will not lose to you..."

He turned to head home, determined to go without sleep or rest tonight.

"This kid... why does he keep following the Nine-Tails Jinchuriki? What is he trying to do?"

Watching Sasuke's retreating back, an Anbu hidden in the shadows was puzzled.

If it weren't for the fact that Sasuke was just a child, harmless and cute, the Anbu would have already apprehended him.

Another Anbu asked, "Captain, should we report this to Lord Hokage? After all, no matter how young he is... he is still an Uchiha."

The captain pondered, "Wait for now. If he continues to follow the Nine-Tails Jinchuriki tomorrow, we will report it to Lord Hokage."

Whether to arrest him or leave him be, Lord Hokage would have to give them a clear directive.

The next day, Sasuke came to school with his palms wrapped in bandages.

"Sasuke, how did you get hurt? Come here and let me see..."

"Get lost!"

Shaking off the annoying flies, Sasuke walked to his seat, looked at his palm which had swollen to twice its size, and fell silent for a moment before turning to look at Uzumaki Naruto.

Uzumaki Naruto was lying listlessly on his desk, his two palms fair and tender, showing not a single trace of injury.

Sasuke pondered, Judging from our previous bouts, his physique is clearly stronger than mine, but even so, there should be a limit. The fact that there isn't a single scratch on his hands is definitely suspicious. It's either a secret medicine or a secret technique, but given his family situation, he couldn't possibly have secret medicine, and as for a secret technique...

By all logic, Uzumaki Naruto shouldn't have one either, but considering his own failure at tree climbing and water walking last night, Sasuke concluded that Uzumaki Naruto most likely possessed a secret training technique.

Sasuke didn't care where he got it, but he was wondering whether he should continue to spy on him.

Sasuke felt somewhat hesitant.

Training was a very private matter, and secret techniques were even more sensitive, concerning one's very life and livelihood.

Spying on Uzumaki Naruto's training was already bad enough; if he were to continue and spy on his secret technique...

Morally, he couldn't allow it.

One day later.

"The winner, Uzumaki Naruto!"

Defeated in fifteen moves, Sasuke decided to abandon his morals.

"As long as I can kill that man, I am willing to pay any price!"

Even my life, let alone mere morals...

They aren't worth mentioning at all.

In the afternoon, Uzumaki Naruto skipped class.

Seeing this, Sasuke followed without hesitation, tracking Uzumaki Naruto into the forest.

This time, he watched more carefully and soon grasped the trick, gaining a great deal.

"So that's how you release Chakra... and you have to hold this posture..."

Sasuke suddenly realized, and he swung his fist toward a nearby tree, but stopped just before his knuckles made contact.

His hand hadn't finished swelling yet, and he was too close to Uzumaki Naruto; making a scene would easily alert him.

I need to find another place to practice something else.

Thinking this, Sasuke quietly left and went to the other side of the forest to practice tree climbing.

Thud!

Thud!

Thud!

After falling an unknown number of times, Sasuke finally succeeded.

He walked up and down the tree as if it were flat ground.

A look of smug satisfaction couldn't help but appear on his face, but it quickly faded.

"I'm still a long way off compared to that guy..."

Without wasting time to rest, Sasuke went to a nearby river to practice water walking.

Water walking was different from tree climbing.

Tree climbing required gathering Chakra at the soles of the feet, acting like a suction cup to firmly adhere one's body to the tree.

But water walking required gathering Chakra at the soles of the feet and then releasing it gently to increase the pressure on the water's surface, thereby allowing one to walk across the water as if flying.

The training methods for the two were exactly opposite, yet they shared the same underlying principle.

With the successful experience of tree climbing, after failing a few times, Sasuke gradually got on the right track with water walking.

Step by step, Sasuke cautiously walked to the middle of the river.

"I did it! I did it!!!"