The Might of a Single Punch

Naruto and Sasuke crouched in the thick grass and carefully peeked at Lu Yu, afraid he'd notice them. They quickly ducked back down.

Naruto narrowed his eyes and stroked his chin, looking deep in thought.

"Hey, Sasuke, what do you think Lu Yu's doing, lying on that lounge chair? Could he be training?"

Sasuke thought back to what Lu Yu had been doing and replied uncertainly,

"Looks like he's fishing. Doesn't seem like training."

"Then why's the bobber moving, but Lu Yu's just ignoring it?"

Lu Yu, crouching beside Naruto, stroked his chin too and said with a serious expression,

"Maybe he fell asleep and didn't notice?"

At Naruto's words, Lu Yu shook his head.

"No way. His senses are sharp. There's no way he wouldn't—huh?? Lu Yu!!! Wh-when did you get over here?"

On the other side, Sasuke stared at the suddenly appeared Lu Yu in shock. He hadn't noticed how Lu Yu had gotten there, either.

Naruto and Sasuke clearly remembered that just a moment ago, Lu Yu had been lying on a lounge chair dozens of meters away. How had he suddenly appeared beside them?

Naruto and Sasuke stood up in unspoken agreement and glanced uneasily toward the lounge chair. Sure enough, Lu Yu was no longer there.

Seeing their shocked expressions, Lu Yu smiled unconcernedly.

"What, you two are skipping class now, too? If Iruka-sensei catches you, you'll probably get another beating."

Naruto looked at Lu Yu awkwardly and hurried to explain.

"Lu Yu, you're so strong. Can you teach us? To be honest, Sasuke and I were just curious how you got so powerful, so we came over to take a look."

Sasuke clearly hadn't recovered from his shock. He watched Lu Yu uneasily and nodded without thinking.

Lu Yu stood up, clasped his hands behind his back, and said solemnly,

"No, no. I only teach my underlings how to get stronger. But you two..."

Naruto's eyes lit up. He was willing to do anything to get stronger, but he wasn't sure how strong Lu Yu really was.

Sasuke replied bluntly,

"Lu Yu, I admit you're strong, but forget about making me your underling. You're nowhere near as strong as my brother, Uchiha Itachi."

Lu Yu shook his head with an amused smile, then looked at the two of them seriously.

"So you're saying that if I show you strength that surpasses Uchiha Itachi's, you'll become my underlings?"

At that, they glanced at each other, then nodded firmly.

"Fine. Naruto, I'll spar with Sasuke. You can watch from the side, all right?"

"No problem."

Naruto knew how strong he was, and he agreed with Lu Yu's plan.

Especially when he saw the lazy look vanish from Lu Yu's face, replaced by a seriousness he'd never seen before. In an instant, Naruto was filled with anticipation.

In the field, Sasuke and Lu Yu stood ten meters apart, watching each other with solemn expressions.

Before they'd faced off, Sasuke hadn't noticed it. But now that he stood opposite Lu Yu, his expression changed.

To Sasuke, Lu Yu seemed to be standing there casually, with openings all over his body—and yet somehow, he had no openings at all. Sasuke had no idea how to attack, and the feeling was unbearable.

"Heh. What? I give you a different feeling from Itachi, don't I?"

Sasuke's gaze turned cold. He replied in a low voice,

"Hmph. You can't compare to Itachi. Take this!"

Naruto watched excitedly as Sasuke charged at Lu Yu at high speed, imagining the epic battle that was about to unfold.

But just as Sasuke's whip kick was about to hit Lu Yu, Lu Yu vanished in a strange blur.

Naruto clearly saw Lu Yu appear behind Sasuke in an instant. Without thinking, he shouted,

"Sasuke, behind you!"

"What?"

Sasuke was startled. He immediately turned around...

But the moment he did, all he could see was a fist rapidly growing larger in his vision. A mortal threat unlike anything he'd ever felt shot through his entire body.

Whoosh...

In the end, Lu Yu's fist stopped steadily right in front of Sasuke's face.

The wind from the punch blew Sasuke's hair back for a full five seconds before it slowly settled.

Lu Yu lightly tapped Sasuke on the forehead and said with a laugh,

"All right, little Sasuke. Get to work."

With that, Sasuke stared blankly as Lu Yu walked toward the lounge chair.

Naruto stared at the spot behind Sasuke in utter horror. He was so frightened that he plopped down on the ground, his eyes filled with disbelief.

After a long moment, Sasuke came back to his senses. Seeing Naruto's expression, he curiously followed his gaze and looked behind him...

"Th-this... this... this can't be..."

Sasuke stared, utterly stunned, at a section of the mountain in the distance that had strangely disappeared.

Had that section of the mountain vanished because of the terrifying force left behind by Lu Yu's punch?

If so, just how strong was Lu Yu?

Naruto and Sasuke instinctively looked at each other, confirming their suspicions. They couldn't help swallowing hard.

That guy was so strong he didn't even seem human. He was clearly a monster...

The two watched as Lu Yu settled back onto his lounge chair, crossed his legs, and put on his Sun Magic Glasses.

The huge parasol blocked out every ray of the scorching sun. A gentle breeze brushed Lu Yu's face. He couldn't have looked more comfortable.

Wait, was something wrong?

They both furrowed their brows, then suddenly looked alarmed...

The sun?

The two stared up at the sky in shock. The next moment, they both collapsed to the ground with a thump.

The sky had been covered in dark clouds just moments ago, as if it were about to rain. How had it suddenly turned clear and cloudless? Could it be...?

At that moment, the way they looked at Lu Yu changed completely...