Sasuke: I Trained So Hard for This Day!

Just then, a familiar cry rang out. "Ah, Naruto?"

Naruto jolted and hurriedly looked toward the sound.

The moment he did, he froze. "Sakura? And Kakashi-sensei, why are you here?"

Not far ahead, Kakashi and Sakura stood beside a row of seats, staring at him in shock.

Sakura was wearing pajamas. Like Naruto, she had clearly been brought here in the middle of her sleep.

"How is Naruto here...?" Sakura's green eyes widened in disbelief.

Kakashi wore an expression of surprise unlike anything he had shown before. As though piecing something together, he said, "Naruto is here this time, so then..."

Naruto was even more confused.

"What is this place? Why is it different from my usual dreams...?"

[ Ding! Emotional fluctuations from Naruto Uzumaki detected! Emotion Points +200! ]

"Wait!"

Kakashi quickly calmed down and suddenly realized a major problem.

"If Naruto has appeared here, then tonight's dream protagonist must be..."

He abruptly turned to look at the massive pitch-black screen.

Sakura also caught on and hurriedly followed her teacher's gaze.

Sure enough, the empty screen suddenly lit up in the next instant!

On the screen, a black-haired boy lay quietly on the ground. The surroundings were hazy and indistinct, but it appeared to be some kind of training ground.

The moment the image appeared, Kakashi and Sakura both sucked in a breath. "S-Sasuke?!"

[ Ding! Emotional fluctuations from Kakashi Hatake detected! Emotion Points +200! ]

[ Ding! Emotional fluctuations from Sakura Haruno detected! Emotion Points +200! ]

It really had changed to someone else!

The one appearing in the dream tonight was actually Sasuke Uchiha.

"W-What's going on?!" Naruto stared at Sasuke's figure on the screen, shocked and doubtful. "What kind of place is this?"

Kakashi quickly raised a hand. "Calm down, Naruto. This time, you aren't the one dreaming—more precisely, Sasuke is the one dreaming."

He took a deep breath and explained at a rapid pace. "For the past few days, Sakura, Sasuke, and I have come to this mysterious space every night to watch your dreams. We still haven't figured out the exact reason behind this strange place. In short, we fell asleep normally and came here just now. We thought we would see your dream as usual, but instead, you yourself appeared in the audience seats. So I'm guessing that this dream space is no longer centered around you tonight. It has switched to Sasuke."

"Eh, what?"

Naruto was dumbfounded, unable to process so much information all at once.

"You saw all my dreams from the past few days?"

Kakashi nodded with a wry smile. "That's right."

"Huh?!"

Naruto instantly went blank.

So Kakashi-sensei, Sakura, and Sasuke had all watched everything?

No wonder Sakura and Sasuke had been acting strangely around him these past two days. They had known what his dreams were about all along!

[ Ding! Emotional fluctuations from Naruto Uzumaki detected! Emotion Points +200! ]

Naruto's face flushed bright red, his embarrassment and indignation plain to see. "T-That's so embarrassing! You saw... all of those dreams?"

Scenes from his dreams rapidly flashed through his mind.

Acting like a good little kid in front of his parents, basking in glory at the Ninja Academy, and... and with Hinata...

No, no, he absolutely could not think about it!

Naruto wanted nothing more than to crawl into a hole. He crouched down with his hands clutching his head.

"Ahhh! You secretly watched my dreams behind my back! That's too much!"

[ Ding! Emotional fluctuations from Naruto Uzumaki detected! Emotion Points +200! ]

"Enough, enough, stop screaming!" Seeing his face turn red with shame, Sakura felt a little embarrassed too. After all, secretly watching someone else's dreams was indeed rather improper.

But then again, Naruto had been too dense to notice for so many days.

She simply put on a stern face and snapped, "And you're blaming us? You were the one too stupid to realize it until now!"

"Ugh..."

Naruto was speechless, his ears turning bright red as well.

It really was not Sakura and the others' fault, but he still felt so embarrassed!

Kakashi coughed lightly and smoothed things over. "All right, this isn't the time to dwell on that. Since you're here, Naruto, let's watch Sasuke's dream together."

The three of them quickly held their breaths and stared intently at the massive screen glowing faintly.

On the screen, Sasuke, who had been lying on the ground with his eyes closed, slowly opened them.

Blinding sunlight shone across his face. Sasuke Uchiha narrowed his eyes slightly and sat up in a daze.

He looked around and found himself in a vast training ground.

The training ground was level, with several intact wooden targets standing around it. Neatly arranged weapon racks sat in one corner, while the faint scent of grass and trees filled the air.

At its four corners stood blue flags bearing the Uchiha fan crest.

"This is..."

Sasuke was stunned for a moment. This seemed to be the training ground within the Uchiha Clan District.

But unlike the abandoned, damaged training ground in the clan district in reality, the facilities here were perfectly preserved. The ground was clean and flat, and the equipment was far more complete.

There was not the slightest trace of time's passage.

A sense of foreboding suddenly surged through Sasuke's heart.

He sprang to his feet and scanned his surroundings warily.

Sasuke immediately realized that he was facing something unusual.

He remembered clearly that he had just been practicing wall climbing in the clan district, and then...

"Damn it!"

Sasuke cursed under his breath, already realizing what had happened.

In the end, he had been unable to withstand his exhaustion and fallen asleep. This strange training ground he was in was most likely that damned dream.

But strangely, this dream was different from the previous ones.

He was not in that theater watching Naruto dream. Instead, it was as if he himself was inside the dream!

At that thought, Sasuke's expression darkened further.

"Wake up!"

He growled, quickly biting through the tip of his tongue in an attempt to use pain to break free from the dream.

Yet even as sharp pain struck him, he remained standing there, fully conscious, unable to escape the dream.

Sure enough, this was not an ordinary dream, but some kind of realistic illusion that could even simulate pain.

Just as Sasuke's thoughts were in turmoil, a familiar voice suddenly came from behind him.

"It's almost noon. I have to go. The police force has a lot to do this afternoon."

The voice spoke with apology.

Sasuke suddenly stiffened, as though struck by lightning.

That voice... was incomparably familiar to him, yet incomparably distant.

"N-No way..."

His pupils contracted sharply, his mind buzzing as he almost dared not turn around.

Then, a warm hand gently rested on Sasuke's shoulder.

Boom!

In an instant, a tightly suppressed string deep within Sasuke's heart snapped.

His fists clenched tightly, his nails digging deep into his palms. His body trembled slightly with extreme fury.

Even after so many years, he would never mistake it!

Even if he turned to ashes, Sasuke would remember him!

[ Ding! Emotional fluctuations from Sasuke Uchiha detected! Emotion Points +4000! ]

Hatred erupted in his chest like a volcano. Sasuke's eyes nearly reddened as he turned around, only for someone to lightly tap his forehead.

"Sorry, Sasuke! Maybe next time!"

He violently slapped that hand away and leaped back several meters.

"How dare you! How dare you do that to me again!"

Sasuke roared, veins bulging on his forehead as his Sharingan flashed open. His crimson eyes locked onto the person before him.

It was a tall young man with long black hair drifting in the wind. That face was one Sasuke remembered with unbearable familiarity and hatred.

Itachi Uchiha!

"Die!" Sasuke roared as he formed hand seals. His chest expanded, and he suddenly spat out a stream of scorching flames. "Fire Release: Great Fireball Technique!"

Boom!

A massive fireball roared toward Itachi's face, twisting the air along its path as rolling heat waves surged outward!

Faced with his younger brother's fierce sneak attack, Itachi did not panic.

He merely shifted slightly to the side, effortlessly letting the fireball streak past his body and crash into the open ground in the distance.

"Sasuke? Stop!" Itachi frowned, somewhat surprised that Sasuke had suddenly attacked him.

But Sasuke could not hear a word he said.

When the first attack missed, he instantly drew several shuriken. With a flick of his wrist, the coldly gleaming blades shot toward Itachi in a fan-shaped spread!

Clang! Clang! Clang!

Itachi's figure flashed, and he calmly evaded the hidden weapons once more. The shuriken all embedded themselves in the wooden posts behind him.