Naruto Takes a Master 6K

Not long after Sakura left, Naruto, like a headless fly, learned Xiu's whereabouts from Izumi, who just happened to be "passing by."

Very soon, a fiery little blond whirlwind charged into the Hot Spring Inn.

Looking at Naruto, who was panting from running too fast, Xiu said flatly, "You're late. Sasuke and Sakura already passed the test. Kid, you really couldn't even catch shit while it was still warm."

"What?!"

Naruto dropped to his knees with a thud and hammered the tatami. "How is that possible? Sakura is one thing, but how could a stuck-up guy like Sasuke pass?"

"His mother knew my adoptive mother, and Sakura is at least a girl, so naturally their test conditions were more lenient. But you—why did you only come now?" Xiu asked with a puzzled look.

Naruto flew into a rage and pointed at Uchiha Shu. "Isn't it because of you?! You ran off after saying that yesterday. How was I supposed to know where to find you?"

Xiu tilted his head. "Sasuke and Sakura both knew. Didn't they tell you?"

"How could they? Sakura clearly told me she didn't know either."

Naruto clearly did not want to accept the reality that Sakura had deceived him. He jumped around in anger. "Anyway, this isn't fair!"

"Fair?" Xiu shook his head with a laugh. "You're a ninja. Don't you even have the most basic intelligence-gathering skills? If you didn't know where I lived, couldn't you have gone to the Uchiha compound and asked?"

"? Right—"

Naruto froze. Why had he instinctively overlooked that?

Maybe it was because the way the Uchiha looked at him always made his skin crawl—

Thinking of that, Naruto looked a little uncomfortable. Wouldn't that make it seem like he was afraid?

So he flared up again. "Anyway—this time I