"Naruto."
Haruno Sakura looked desperate to say something to Naruto.
"Sakura."
Naruto stood across from her beneath the streetlight.
His thoughts were entirely occupied with the Summoning Scroll and the Konoha Dragon God.
The Summoning Scroll could store a large number of ninja tools and other items.
Naruto figured it was at least like a portable, extra-large backpack.
The Konoha Dragon God was a Taijutsu technique that generated destructive power through rapid spinning.
It looked ordinary enough.
But combined with Lightning Release Chakra Mode and the Rasengan, it could practically take someone out in one move.
The Leaf Body Flicker Technique could also be combined with the tornado created by spinning, allowing him to take someone down instantly right from the start.
If he could form a hand seal with his foot while using the Konoha Dragon God in midair,
he could even fire off a Great Flame Bullet!
Perfect.
Naruto grinned with satisfaction at the thought.
Then he shoved his hands into his pockets and headed home.
So absorbed in thinking about how to learn the techniques, he completely ignored Sakura, who was standing across from him.
He walked right past her, face-to-face.
"Hey! Naruto!"
Sakura had thought that if she showed up, Naruto would be thrilled to see her.
He would ask why she was there, then shyly rub the back of his head with one hand.
She hadn't expected him to greet her and then act as if she didn't matter at all.
"Sakura? Why are you still here?"
Naruto turned to look at Sakura, who was still standing beneath the streetlight.
"Naruto, aren't you curious why I'm here?"
Sakura looked a little surprised.
Why was Naruto acting so strange today?
"Nope."
Naruto shook his head.
Wasn't making ninja tools for summoning far more worthy of a passionate young man's sweat?
"I... I wanted to ask if you'd heard anything about Sasuke lately."
"Kakashi-sensei and Sasuke haven't sent any news in a long time. And Sasuke's injuries might not have healed yet."
Sakura's eyes were full of love for Sasuke.
"I don't know."
"Sasuke's stronger than you. You don't need to worry about him."
Naruto didn't even take his hands out of his pockets.
He felt nothing for Sakura.
He turned and walked away.
"You're being completely awful today, Naruto!"
Sakura flew into a rage.
She was usually the one who had the upper hand with Naruto.
She'd only come to ask Naruto, who was training too, because she was worried about Sasuke.
Instead, she'd been given the cold shoulder.
"You'd better throw your tantrum here. Otherwise, what comes next will be even worse."
Naruto kept walking into the darkness.
"Damn you! You're so rude! How dare you say I'm throwing a tantrum!"
Sakura charged forward and threw a punch at Naruto.
She was used to acting haughty around him, and that punch would have left a huge lump.
"What a nuisance."
Naruto formed hand seals.
In an instant, his blond hair grew down past his knees.
Each strand was as hard and sharp as a steel needle.
"Ninja Art: Wild Lion Mane: Needle Jizo Cloak Technique!"
His hair protected Naruto's back like armor.
If he wanted, he could wrap his entire body in it, or launch his steel-needle hair as an attack!
As expected of a secret Ninja Art taught by Jiraiya!
"Ow!"
Sakura's fist struck Naruto's hair, immediately cutting her delicate skin.
She stepped back in shock, staring at Naruto in disbelief.
How could the Naruto who never fought back have dared to hurt her today?
This was mutiny!
"Naruto! You hit me! Naruto!"
Sakura already had a shuriken in her hand.
"For every action, there's an equal and opposite reaction!"
Naruto turned around.
His gaze was colder and more disgusted than anything Sakura had ever seen.
"If you insist on attacking me, and think I should just let you bully me, then you'll find out what it's really like when I hit back!"
"Whatever happened in the past, I'm telling you this now."
"Haruno Sakura, I don't like you."
Naruto looked at Sakura, who seemed dazed.
Then he turned and went home.
"What are you talking about, you jerk!"
Sakura had never suffered such humiliation.
But when she rushed forward again, a hand blocked her way.
Shadow Clone Technique!
Naruto's Shadow Clone, concealed in the darkness, easily grabbed Sakura's wrist.
"I, Haruno Sakura, don't need you to like me! Jerk!"
Sakura trembled with anger.
Naruto had always been like a mouse in front of a cat whenever he saw her.
How had he become a completely different person after just ten days?
As she attacked Naruto's Shadow Clone with her shuriken,
a look of boredom flashed through the clone's eyes.
As casually as if carrying out a mission, he threw Sakura over his shoulder and slammed her to the ground!
"Uzumaki Naruto! I hate you!"
Sakura was furious.
She was absolutely livid!
Since when did Naruto get to act all cool and self-important in front of her, attacking her without holding back?
But when Sakura got back to her feet, there wasn't another soul on the road.
Naruto's cold gaze came back to her.
And that overwhelming presence she'd never seen before!
It made her feel she couldn't get close to him, no matter how hard she tried.
Was it an illusion?
Or was this the real Naruto?
Just like when Naruto had defeated Haku—he made people feel fear and tremble.
Sasuke's image appeared in Sakura's mind.
Even he had never made her feel as cold all over as Naruto's indifference did.
Old Apartment.
Naruto entered the Sealing Space to train.
[Ping!]
[The host's tolerance for his teammate Haruno Sakura has fallen to zero, and he no longer has any affection for her. Signs of further Blackening are evident.]
[The system recommends that the host make amends with Haruno Sakura and restore your bond.]
"Get lost!"
"The entire Ninja World is waiting for me to set things right, and you want me to waste training time sucking up to someone else?"
[Being kind to others is an important foundation for getting by in the Ninja World. If the host continues down this path, he will lose all support.]
[Don't forget what happened to Madara Uchiha when he left the village as a rogue ninja all alone. The Ninja World runs on human relationships, too.]
The system earnestly tried to reason with him.
Naruto knew it was, after all, the Turn Back to the Shore System.
"If I'd listened to Dance-chan, the wars in the Ninja World would have ended long ago. You've got no sense of the bigger picture. Why are you acting like a system when your values are so twisted?"
"If you can't say anything useful, get lost!"
[The host continues to Blacken. Achievement unlocked: Heart of a Loner.]
[A penalty of 100 Punishment Points has been imposed. The system hopes you'll mend your ways soon!]
"If you're giving me something, then get lost! Stupid system!"
Naruto had no patience for the system's holier-than-thou attitude.
After finishing his Konoha Dragon God Taijutsu training in the Sealing Space,
he tried making ninja tools for summoning. But after making one scroll, he realized he barely had any ninja tools to use!
Not everyone was rich like Tenten!
"At least this makes things more convenient."
Naruto put away the scroll he used for summoning.
Then he sat in the Sealing Space and started drawing.
[Haha!]
[The host insists on falling into depravity. This draw has earned him Shadow Clone Shuriken Jutsu.]
[The path of slaughter is one from which there is no return.]
"Woohoo!"
Naruto paid no attention to the system's nonsense.
"Who doesn't know the ninja's path is full of danger, with no turning back? Then why didn't you send me to a world where I could farm and enjoy my retirement from the start?"
"You let me live in this blood-soaked Ninja World, then tell me to lay down my weapons? What a hypocritical system!"
Naruto suddenly felt that even the few shuriken he had could be tossed around as extravagantly as Tenten did.
The system fell silent again, speechless.
Sealing Space.
The Nine-Tails had no idea what Naruto had been muttering to himself all this time.
That is, until he saw Naruto throw out hundreds, even thousands, of shuriken with one hand.
Something was getting more and more off!
The Nine-Tails had been secretly watching Naruto train and thought the kid was getting strong at an alarming rate.
Combat ninjutsu, Clone Technique, Body Flicker Technique, Fire Release, Earth Release, Taijutsu, defensive Ninja Arts, Summoning Technique—he could do it all.
Naruto had made more progress in these ten days than he had in the entire decade before!
Oh no!
The Nine-Tails wondered if the kid had suddenly awakened Minato Namikaze's talent.
Hopefully he wouldn't awaken the Uzumaki Clan's Sealing Techniques as well.
Otherwise, Konoha might end up with a Yellow Flash who was also a Nine-Tails Jinchuriki!
"Nine-Tails."
"You're spying on me!"
Naruto's face pressed against the bars, startling even the Nine-Tails.
Hmph!
The Nine-Tails swished all nine tails and turned away.
"Can't admit it, huh?"
"Fine. I'll come back when I've trained into a Muscle Demon."
Lightning flickered all over Naruto as he trained in Lightning Release Chakra Mode, and every so often he spun up a few Rasengan to test them out.
The Nine-Tails felt more and more uneasy.
It thought, Naruto's getting stronger so fast. Is he trying to kill himself?
Still, it was a good sign that he'd finally stopped obsessing over Haruno Sakura!
[The host's return from the Prodigal Son Turns Back path has moved the Nine-Tails. Its favorability has increased by another 20%.]