Seeing the bulging ninja tool pouch at Sasuke's waist and Sasuke's resolute gaze, Naruto knew that today Sasuke would definitely bring out full strength to fight him.
"What? Finally willing to look me in the eye? Even brought your ninja tools in advance?" Warm smiles blossomed on Naruto's face, smiles very much like Minato Namikaze.
"Hmph, whatever I've lost, I'll take back with my own hands." Hearing this, Sasuke turned his head away and said with a pout.
"Mhm, well said, take back what you've lost yourself." Naruto also praised Sasuke for having such realization at such a young age.
"Naruto, today I won't hold back, watch out!"
Before the voice even faded, Sasuke flicked both hands, and instantly ten shuriken spun rapidly, shooting fiercely toward Naruto.
While the shuriken were still spinning in the air, Sasuke's body had already turned into a phantom, following closely behind the shuriken, while a kunai emanating dark light had already appeared in her right hand, ready for action.
The first step of ninja combat: open by throwing shuriken as a feint, and the next step is either closing in rapidly or seizing the opportunity to perform hand seals and launch ninjutsu, except Naruto didn't expect Sasuke's sequence of actions to be so smooth.
Throwing the shuriken, holding the kunai, and charging with the body turned into a phantom took less than two seconds.
Seeing this, Naruto didn't dare to be careless either, violently toeing the ground to rapidly retreat his body, likewise flicking his hands to launch ten shuriken to intercept the shuriken Sasuke fired.
"Clang, clang, clang..."
Crisp sounds of metal clashing rang out one after another, and at the same time a kunai appeared in Naruto's hand as well, the smoothness of his movements far surpassing Sasuke's.
The scene unfolding before her eyes truly shocked Sasuke, who had already closed in on Naruto.
"How is that possible?"
Amidst secret shock in her heart, Sasuke's gaze grew even sharper, never expecting that the dropout she had always looked down upon would actually possess such strong strength.
"Is this your true strength?"
Learning that Naruto possessed reaction and strike speeds no inferior to her own, Sasuke also stopped holding back, and the kunai that had long been ready instantly turned into a dark beam, piercing straight for Naruto's chest.
Facing this sharp offensive from Sasuke, even though Naruto had already acquired the Genin Taijutsu Insights and Intermediate Throwing Techniques, he was still startled.
"As expected of the Uchiha's new-generation genius."
"Clang!"
Facing the piercing kunai, Naruto's upward parry instantly neutralized Sasuke's charged strike.
"Hmph, you're not bad either!"
Sasuke gave a light huff, rapidly closing in as the black kunai in her hand flashed with cold light, instantly transforming into trails of phantoms and immediately unleashing a sharp, swift, and fierce offensive against Naruto.
As for Naruto, facing Sasuke's all-out effort, he was indeed somewhat flustered at first. After all, the combat insights were directly instilled rather than cultivated through his own training, and mastering them thoroughly took time.
However, as time ticked by second by second, Naruto also grew increasingly adept, acting naturally and moving with ease.
This time during their duel, the combat entered white-hot intensity right from the start.
Sasuke possessed the blessing of the One-Tomoe Sharingan, and her foundational taijutsu was also more solid than Naruto's, so for the initial period she genuinely pressed the attack against Naruto.
Yet as time pushed onward, as Naruto gradually grew familiar with Sasuke's combat rhythm and striking moves, he grew increasingly confident.
"Clang, clang, clang..."
Compact and dense sounds of weapons clashing rose and fell in succession.
"Darn!"
The two figures in mid-air finally collided with full force, each pulling apart their distance.
Sasuke stowed her kunai like lightning while still in the air, pressing her palms together and performing rapid hand seals with a flurry of swishes.
"Oh no!"
At this moment both of them were airborne, and Naruto hadn't expected Sasuke to launch a ninjutsu at a time like this; her timing was handled with absolute perfection.
Watching Sasuke puff out her cheeks, Naruto also instantly split off a wisp of chakra to attach to a nearby tree.
"Fire Release: Great Fireball Technique!"
Whoosh, whoosh, whoosh...
Instantly a massive fireball spewed from Sasuke's mouth.
The fireball was huge, rolling through the air to crush directly toward Naruto.
Because Sasuke launched the ninjutsu at the exact right moment, Naruto had no leverage in the air right now; unless he also launched a ninjutsu to counter and neutralize it, he could only withstand it with his physical body.
In an instant Naruto was engulfed by the great fireball, and screams immediately rang out.
Sasuke had thrown herself heart and soul into the combat and momentarily forgot to hold back. Landing steadily, she only reacted after the fact as she listened to Naruto's screams, and her heart skipped a beat.
Yet before she could rush over, the fireball vanished, instantly revealing Naruto covered in skin burns all over.
"Ugh..."
"Naruto..."
Sasuke felt some regret for landing such a heavy blow; if she had suppressed the size of the great fireball just now, perhaps Naruto wouldn't have been burned so severely.
"Naruto, you lost."
The moment her words fell, with a sudden bang.
The Naruto who had been severely burned instantly transformed into a puff of smoke and vanished, while a section of firewood blackened by flames clattered to the ground.
"What... the Substitution Technique?"
Witnessing this scene, Sasuke said in instinctive shock, "Not good!"
Realizing that her great fireball had only struck Naruto's substitute, Sasuke immediately knew trouble had arrived.
Just as she moved to flash away from the spot, before her body could even shift, she felt a chill at her neck as a sharp kunai was already pressed against her throat.
The breath of death was so close; Sasuke widened her eyes and turned her head mechanically, catching sight of Naruto looking at her with a sunny smile.
"Sasuke, you lost."
"The Substitution Technique... you actually used the Substitution Technique in actual combat at a critical juncture like this?" Sasuke said, looking at Naruto in shock.
Naruto withdrew the kunai and smiled, "You weren't bad yourself, managing to force me to use the Substitution Technique."
Hearing these words from Naruto, Sasuke followed closely behind unwillingly and hurriedly, saying, "I refuse to accept this, again. This time I won't lose to you."
Naruto turned around, raised his hand, and tapped Sasuke's forehead not too lightly nor too heavily as he smiled, "Next time, Sasuke. Forgive me."
This scene, this action, these words...
Reaching her ears, Sasuke stayed rooted to the spot, staring blankly at Naruto's warm smile.
For a moment a blush actually crept up her cheeks.
"Hmph, next time I definitely won't lose to you!" Seemingly touching upon a soft spot within her heart, Sasuke puffed out her cheeks and turned her head away.
Seeing the trace of a blush on Sasuke's face, Naruto knew why.
This time he had defeated her head-on, and this young miss clearly acknowledged the matter of playing his school girlfriend for three months.
Thinking of this, Naruto also smiled and pulled Sasuke's small hand, and while Sasuke instinctively struggled a bit, she immediately quieted down.
"Although it's a fake girlfriend... still, practicing it a bit in reality is necessary, otherwise it's very easy to slip up."
With her hand held so intimately by Naruto, Sasuke's cheeks were crimson, her heart racing like a startled deer as she didn't know what to do.
"Practice what... we're only in a fake relationship... you."
Seeing Sasuke so nervous, Naruto smiled and said, "Relax, I'm not that kind of person. Since I've already proven I have the qualification to help you improve your strength, then during these three months at school you're my girlfriend, and outside of school you're my errand runner for three months, no problem right?"
Hearing this, Sasuke was clearly somewhat unconvinced.
"Then how do you plan to improve my strength during that period?"
At the crucial moment, Sasuke also pressed down the shyness on her face and looked at Naruto to ask.
"Mhm... that's hard for me to say. How much strength you can improve during the period entirely depends on your performance over this time."
"Hmph, as long as you can make me stronger, I'll listen to whatever you say."
"It's a deal, let's high-five on it as a pledge." Naruto smiled and raised his right hand.
"Slap, slap, slap!"
With three consecutive high-fives, the two of them could be considered to have officially reached a cooperative relationship.
"What do I need to do next?" Sasuke asked.
"No rush, you go pick up dry firewood first, later I'll have a new secret recipe for you to taste." With a confident expression, Naruto spoke before going to pick up the shuriken scattered on the ground.
"Oh."
Through the second all-out battle, the strength Naruto displayed had already gained Sasuke's approval, and at the moment she also gave an affirmative response, heading off to gather firewood according to Naruto's request.
After picking up his own shuriken, Naruto walked straight toward the riverbank.
Immediately he restrained his presence, a pair of sharp eyes concentrating fully on the movement of the water surface.
Soon three dark shadows appeared within his field of vision, turning out to be three plump carp.
"Right now!"
Swish...
Under Naruto's full-strength throw, three shuriken instantly transformed into three black beams shooting into the water.
Before the ripples in the water could vanish, Naruto leaped into the water, and when he came back up three large, plump fish had already appeared in his hand.
This scene left Sasuke staring in a daze.
Her shuriken-throwing technique only targeted stationary items, while Naruto could not only target moving objects, he even hit three out of three.
"What are you staring at? Hurry up and gather firewood to make a fire, I need to process the fish."
"Oh, oh."
Seeing the plump, large carp, Sasuke couldn't help swallowing her saliva either.
At noon she had angrily burned up the silver taels given by the Third, causing her to nurture angry feelings all afternoon without eating a single bite. Now upon seeing the fresh ingredients in Naruto's hands, she couldn't help drooling and having her stomach rumble ceaselessly.
Meanwhile.
[Ding, consume 6 negative emotion points to exchange for 500 grams of refined salt, salt, MSG, chicken bouillon, black pepper, cumin chili powder, and steamed fish soy sauce?]
"Yes."
[Ding, exchange successful, all exchanged items have been issued to the system inventory, please check.]
The prompt sound fell.
Naruto's vision entered the system inventory, and sure enough all kinds of seasonings were complete in every detail.
"Tsk... with these seasonings, let alone roasted fish, even roasted slippers would taste good."
PS------
Keep up the gifts, maximize updates, begging for support.
Before you continue