The moment Naruto saw Sasuke initiate his Lightning Release acceleration, he changed his landing point, striking first despite moving second.
The two figures crossed in mid-air, and two gusts of wind from their fists exploded simultaneously.
Naruto's fist brushed past the edge of Sasuke's fist and struck him squarely in the right shoulder. The force was precisely controlled at the critical threshold to break his balance without damaging any bones.
Sasuke flipped twice in the air and crashed onto the white sand of the courtyard, rolling in a disheveled manner before coming to a stop.
"Impossible..."
Sasuke climbed up, his sleeves and hair covered in coarse grains.
His Three-Tomoe Sharingan could clearly see every single one of Naruto's movements, yet his body utterly failed to keep up with the speed of his eyes' feedback.
Sasuke gritted his teeth, his hands forming hand signs rapidly in front of him.
Chidori!
A sound like the chirping of a thousand birds resounded throughout the Uchiha compound.
Sasuke poured all of his Chakra into his legs. Stimulated by the Lightning Chakra, his speed reached a new limit, and he transformed into a streak of lightning, thrusting straight at Naruto.
With this strike, Sasuke left absolutely no energy for defense. All his Chakra was compressed into speed and penetrating power, determined to hit Naruto at least once.
Naruto stood in place. The moment Sasuke drew near, he tilted his body slightly, and the lightning of Chidori brushed past his collar, missing its mark.
Sasuke's Sharingan clearly saw that Naruto's sidestep was less than a palm's width. He also saw clearly that the instant he thrust the Chidori, Naruto had predicted its trajectory and used the smallest possible movement to evade the strike.
'Damn it!'
Just as Sasuke was shocked by how Naruto had such fast reflexes, Naruto's right hand clamped onto his wrist that was holding the Chidori, his index and middle fingers pressing on the wrist joint, giving it a squeeze.
"Ahhh!"
Sasuke felt a sharp pain in his right hand, and the Chakra in his entire right arm was instantly cut off. The Chidori extinguished immediately, a few lingering arcs of electricity flickering before vanishing.
"Damn it... Why is the gap so large!"
Sasuke curled up on the ground, his Sharingan having already receded back into normal black pupils, his entire face pale.
Although he had anticipated the gap between himself and Naruto, when he was truly defeated by Naruto, the sense of powerlessness that welled up in his heart shattered his pride to pieces.
He recalled the Land of Waves mission. At that time, Naruto was still standing behind him, and he had even blocked Haku's senbon for him.
But after returning from the Land of Waves, everything changed. Naruto's personality changed, his strength changed, and even the way he spoke changed.
Then Sasuke thought of that man, the one who, under the moonlit night, stepped over the corpses of his parents.
That expressionless face said, "Foolish little brother, hate me."
In an instant, overwhelming hatred and unwillingness engulfed Sasuke.
He hated himself for being weak and unable to change anything, hated that despite working harder than anyone else, he still couldn't keep up with Naruto's pace, and hated that before he could even reach that man's back, he had already been left far behind by someone else.
Just as Sasuke was doubting himself, a hand patted his shoulder.
He lifted his head from the vortex of hatred and unwillingness, and stared blankly at Naruto, who was squatting in front of him.
Naruto withdrew his hand and gestured for Sasuke to sit on the stone steps nearby.
Sasuke was confused, but he still propped himself up off the ground and sat on the stone steps with Naruto.
He turned his head to look at Naruto and found that he was looking up at the night sky. Sasuke followed Naruto's gaze upward.
The weather tonight was very good. Although the moonlight was bright, it did not obscure the stars filling the sky.
Naruto raised his hand to point at the starry sky above and asked a question that baffled Sasuke. "Sasuke, are the stars in the sky beautiful?"
Sasuke's voice was hoarse, his brows furrowed tightly. "Naruto, what are you trying to say?"
Naruto withdrew his gaze and quickly formed several hand seals.
In Sasuke's view, a layer of translucent Chakra barrier rose up around them, separating the two from the outside world.
"What is this?" Sasuke asked.
"A Sensory Suppression Barrier." Naruto answered.
"A Sensory Suppression Barrier? When did you learn barriers?" Sasuke was confused.
Naruto waved his hand, saying in a calm tone, "Alright Sasuke, that's not important. What is important is what I am about to say next."
Sasuke steadied himself and looked at Naruto.
Even a Sensory Suppression Barrier had been used, it seemed what Naruto was saying was very important.
"Sasuke, have you ever thought that in the vast Universe, every one of these stars represents a place countless times larger than the Ninja World we are in?"
"And the Ninja World we are in is not even visible among those stars. There are countless such stars in the Universe that cannot be seen. So, in front of the entire Universe, our Ninja World is like a speck of dust."
"And the two of us are sitting on this speck of dust right now, discussing the gap in strength between you and me."
Naruto turned his head, meeting Sasuke's confused and vaguely uneasy eyes. "So, in front of such a large Universe, how insignificant do you think your hatred is?"