Sasuke's Thoughts!

"Rasengan!"

In the Training Ground within the woods, Naruto held a rotating sphere of energy in his palm. With a dull thud, he slammed the energy sphere into a thick tree. Instantly, cracks spiderwebbed across the trunk, and with a loud bang, the tree toppled over.

Although it was still early morning, Naruto had already been training alone for quite some time.

Not long after, Sasuke's figure appeared beside Naruto.

Perhaps because he had stayed up late the previous night, Sasuke, who usually arrived early, had reached the Training Ground exactly on time for the first time.

"Sasuke, you've got to start your training early!"

Seeing Sasuke arrive only now, Naruto wiped away his sweat, stopped his training, and said with a grin.

"Has Kakashi-sensei or Sakura arrived yet?"

Sasuke nodded with a smile and asked.

"Kakashi-sensei and Sakura both came early today, but Kakashi-sensei was called away by a masked ninja, so he told us to arrange our own schedule!"

"Sakura wanted to wait for you, but after seeing you hadn't shown up for a long time, she went to the hospital!"

Hearing Sasuke's question, Naruto explained slowly.

"Kakashi-sensei was called away?"

Sasuke frowned and muttered to himself, his mind beginning to speculate.

Could it be that Kakashi-sensei was also going to participate in the mission to hunt down the Uchiha Clan? Given Kakashi-sensei's strength, the Third Hokage would certainly send him on such a mission.

"Don't worry about them, let's just train by ourselves!"

Seeing Sasuke fall silent and lost in thought, Naruto shouted a reminder.

Looking at Naruto, a smile suddenly tugged at the corners of Sasuke's mouth, and he laughed aloud: "Naruto, didn't you want to challenge me before? Since we have time today, let's spar!"

Early this morning, Sasuke was set to leave with the Uchiha Clan. Before departing, he wanted to help Naruto fulfill this wish so he wouldn't miss the chance later.

"Sasuke, bring it on! Let me see the gap between us."

The reason Naruto trained so hard day and night was to gain recognition from others. Naturally, defeating Sasuke was a goal he had set for himself, so he clenched his fists excitedly and laughed.

Sasuke smiled, tapped his toes against the ground, and flashed forward, appearing in a clearing. He looked up at Naruto with burning eyes.

"Sasuke, let's start!!"

"Multi Shadow Clone Technique!"

Facing Sasuke, Naruto held nothing back and immediately summoned over a dozen shadow clones. He then commanded them to charge at Sasuke.

"Great Fireball Technique!"

Seeing only shadow clones rushing toward him, Sasuke quickly formed hand seals and puffed out his cheeks, exhaling a scorching fireball.

"Ah~"

Accompanied by a dozen cries, Naruto's shadow clones vanished into white mist the moment they touched Sasuke's fireball.

"Boom!"

After obliterating the charging clones, the fireball completed its task by exploding against the ground, scattering into countless flames and kicking up a cloud of smoke.

Seeing the smoke obscuring his vision, Sasuke prepared to use the cover to launch a counterattack.

Just as the thought crossed his mind, Sasuke's expression shifted, and Naruto's figure suddenly appeared beside him.

"Sasuke, you're too careless!"

The moment he appeared, Naruto laughed loudly and swung his clenched fist toward Sasuke's chest.

"How is this possible?"

Caught off guard by Naruto's speed, Sasuke could only take the punch in shock.

"Bang!"

But before Naruto could revel in his success, the Sasuke he had sent flying suddenly transformed into a log.

"Damn it, Sasuke actually used the Substitution Technique!"

Staring at the log lying on the ground, Naruto shouted in frustration.

"Heh... Naruto, didn't I tell you before? When a ninja fights, you need to stay calm!"

Just as Naruto was fuming, a light chuckle came from behind him. Naruto's pupils suddenly constricted as he saw Sasuke holding a Kunai against his back.

"Heh, of course I remember!"

The sudden laughter made Sasuke gasp in shock, as the sound had come from behind the smoke.

Before Sasuke could react, the Naruto in front of him turned into a puff of white mist and vanished; it turned out that this Naruto was also a shadow clone.

"Sasuke, I'm not that blockheaded Naruto anymore!"

At this moment, the smoke obscuring their vision cleared, and Naruto was seen with the help of a shadow clone, condensing a rotating sphere of energy in his right palm.

Looking at the extremely confident smile on Naruto's face, Sasuke took a deep breath of the slightly warm air and shouted, "Naruto, let's settle this in one move!"

As his voice faded, Sasuke quickly formed hand seals. With a screeching sound of wind being torn apart, a dazzling bolt of lightning rapidly emerged on his right hand.

"Whoosh!"

Seeing Sasuke prepare to use Chidori, Naruto, who had already gathered his Rasengan, dashed forward rapidly. The Rasengan spun in his palm, emitting a whistling sound as it tore through the air.

"Sasuke, watch out!"

As he drew near, Naruto shouted a warning before thrusting the Rasengan toward Sasuke.

"Hoo..."

Sasuke looked up, watching the Rasengan rapidly enlarge within his pupils. He exhaled softly, his expression remaining calm and composed, before raising his lightning-clad right hand to collide heavily with the Rasengan!

"Boom!"

As the two powerful energies clashed, the evenly matched forces immediately formed two arc-shaped energy shields in front of Sasuke and Naruto.

However, as the energy was consumed, the lightning on Sasuke's hand grew increasingly dim. Although the opposing Rasengan was also weakening, it clearly held the upper hand.

"Ah!"

Seeing the stalemate between the Rasengan and the lightning, Naruto let out a shout and exerted more force through his arm. The fading Rasengan pierced through the barrier of lightning and finally struck Sasuke.

Although the power of the Rasengan had diminished, the fierce thrust still sent Sasuke flying backward like a kite with a broken string, until he landed heavily on the ground.

"I actually won..."

When such a dreamlike outcome unfolded before him, Naruto found it hard to believe.

"Sasuke..."

Although bumps and bruises were inevitable in a spar, Naruto still felt deeply concerned upon seeing Sasuke stand up with a pale face, so he hurried over.

"Naruto, congratulations on your win!"

Rubbing his aching chest, Sasuke smiled at the approaching Naruto.

Sasuke felt not a shred of disappointment regarding the loss, for this was the outcome he had planned all along.

The Chidori Sasuke had just gathered possessed only two-thirds of its usual power; he had done this specifically to allow Naruto to defeat him with the Rasengan.

Sasuke had intentionally lost to Naruto for one reason only: to bolster Naruto's confidence before his departure, encouraging him to continue striving toward his goal of becoming Hokage.

(Thank you all for your support! I will add an extra chapter as promised once the weekly recommendation votes exceed 500!)