Sasuke was especially thick-skinned today, insisting on staying at Naruto's place and refusing to leave no matter how hard they tried to shoo him away.
In the end, the three of them had to share a bed.
After connecting to the Naruto-brand server, the two of them entered the "Sage Realm" to train, while Naruto himself chose to bond with Kurama.
It was time for the nightly Kurama petting session.
Naruto felt that, perhaps because Kurama had become a complete entity, the fox's fur seemed even softer, and he felt a little meatier, as if he had gotten a little bigger.
In short, he felt even better to the touch.
The night passed without incident.
The next day, at eight in the morning, Naruto disconnected right on time, kicking the other two out of his body.
"Ah~~~"
As soon as they disconnected, Sasuke let out a cry of ecstasy. He sat up, clutching his head, and groaned in pain.
He had been studying for the entire night!
Sasuke felt dizzy and lightheaded, as if his brain had been completely drained!
It ached, his head ached, it hurt so much!
"Sasuke-kun~"
Sakura, who was on Naruto's other side, looked at him with concern. She quickly got up and went over to check on him.
"It's nothing serious," Naruto said, knowing the reason with a single look. He comforted her, "Dizziness is normal. You'll be fine after a little rest."
Teacher Leopard's knowledge transfer was no joke. Sasuke's brain had been brutally stuffed with three years' worth of high school knowledge last night.
Given Sasuke's foundation, it was perfectly normal for him to feel dizzy from the sheer volume of information.
"Sasuke, take a break and don't do any more thinking for a while. Focus on training your ninjutsu and taijutsu. Otherwise, the consequences…" Naruto said mysteriously, letting out a profound sigh.
The consequences weren't simple; they were a persistent brain-ache.
Sasuke was clearly intimidated, thinking there might be something more serious.
He clutched his head, enduring the pain. His voice was hoarse as he said, "Understood."
Okay, this time he wouldn't try to be a show-off anymore.
"It's already this late…"
After a brief moment of relief, Sasuke remembered something. He looked up at the bright sunlight outside the window, struggled to get up, and was about to head out.
"I'm going to be late!"
"Sasuke-kun!"
Seeing Sasuke's strained appearance, Sakura tried to stop him with concern.
Unfortunately, Sakura's advice was completely useless.
Sasuke left anyway, as obstinate as ever.
"Naruto…"
Seeing that Sasuke hadn't paid any attention to her, Sakura turned back dejectedly. Her messy pink hair from the early morning was strewn across her forehead, making her look quite pitiful.
"Sasuke is…"
Sakura then briefly described Sasuke's strange behavior.
She could clearly feel that Sasuke always had a sense of urgency, as if he was running out of time, but it wasn't visible on the outside.
"Naruto-kun, will Sasuke be alright?" Sakura's eyes were red as she asked Naruto worriedly.
She was very concerned about Sasuke. This kind of thing happened before, but it had gotten especially severe recently.
It was already in its late stages…
For the past few days, Sasuke had been putting immense pressure on himself, training and studying like crazy, with almost no time to rest. She was very, very worried.
If this continued…
Naruto was, of course, aware of what Sakura was saying.
In fact, some of that pressure was deliberately created by him, Naruto Uzumaki.
Don't ask why he did it; the answer was simply to stimulate Sasuke's Sharingan.
As for whether all this pressure would break Sasuke?
Tsk tsk. Naruto thought that Sakura still didn't understand Sasuke well enough!
To Sasuke, all these things were just… all in a day's work.
Naruto wanted to tell Sakura one thing.
Don't worry about Sasuke. This little bit of pressure is nothing for the Legendary Stress-Resistant King—Sasuke.
Who was Sasuke?
The sole survivor of the famous Uchiha clan!
As everyone knows, the Uchiha clan was a legendary clan.
Based on Naruto's own experience, this clan was a well-known family of psychotics in the ninja world. The more they were stimulated, the stronger they became!
In short: the deeper the psychosis, the crazier they get, and the stronger their Kekkei Genkai becomes!
And what about Sasuke?
The Night of the Clan Annihilation, the death of his entire family, his older brother killing his father and mother… all of this combined, and he only awakened a single tomoe at the age of seven or eight.
Only!
This guy's SAN points were absurdly high.
His stress resistance was beyond the heavens!
Thinking of this, Naruto glanced at Sakura.
"He'll be fine. Sasuke is very strong!"
After comforting her gently, Naruto lay back down, ready to go back to sleep.
His work hours started at nine!
Ten was fine, too!
He was the great big boss now, he shouldn't be so hard on himself!
"Instead of worrying about him, you should worry more about yourself!"
This nonsensical remark left Sakura with a question mark over her head.
She wanted to ask more questions, but the snoring that followed from Naruto made her give up.
Sakura sighed, looked at Naruto, and turned to leave.
Bang!
The door closed, and Naruto opened his eyes again, deep in thought.
Sasuke's pressure was indeed considerable.
If the boy had just chosen to give up and lie flat, he wouldn't have any pressure at all.
But who told him that he, Sasuke, had to compete with himself?
However…
"It's time to give him a little carrot."
In the Battle Arena, Naruto knew full well how strong Sasuke would be in the future.
To put it simply, as long as the two old ancestors didn't show up, he would be one thing to the ninja world—invincible!
Therefore, Naruto had no doubts about Sasuke's future…
Or rather, about Sasuke's potential.
If he could use this guy well…
No, it should be called pulling him to his own side. He would be a considerable help.
"Let me see, where did Sasuke go?"
Closing his eyes, Naruto sensed for a moment and found that the boy was heading straight for the shopping district. The familiar chakra... yes, it was Teacher Kakashi.
Wait a minute.
Naruto paused.
Who were those two unfamiliar chakras next to Teacher Kakashi?
One of them had a considerable level of chakra. The amount was about one-twentieth of his, almost on par with the One-Tailed Shukaku!
Naruto felt that he hadn't heard of a person like this.
An existence like this shouldn't be an unknown nobody in the ninja world.
How did he appear in the village so silently?
And,
Why was this guy's chakra radiating a hint of malevolence?
He didn't seem like a good person!
"Interesting~"
All traces of sleepiness left Naruto's face. A smile appeared at the corner of his mouth.
Swoosh!
With a flash of golden light, Naruto vanished from the room.
After traveling all night, the two of them arrived in the Hidden Leaf Village in the morning.
Looking at the towering city walls in the distance, Kisame followed Itachi straight into the village through a side gate.
Then, Itachi, who was ahead of him, must have missed the food from his hometown. He didn't even take a good look at the Hidden Leaf Village and just kept his head down, walking until they stopped at a dumpling shop.
"Let's eat this."
Without a word, Itachi found an empty seat and sat down.
Kisame wasn't a picky person, so he also sat down.
He was indeed hungry after the long journey.
Food, to him, was just for filling his stomach.
He had planned to go to the main street to grab a bite, but since Itachi seemed to really like this place, Kisame was curious to taste what kind of food Itachi had been missing.
After a while, the dumplings arrived.
The taste was indeed good!
But after only a few bites, Kisame felt a gaze, subtle and persistent, fixed on them.
Kisame found an opportunity and looked out of the corner of his eye.
The person had white hair, and his left eye was covered by a headband.
Kisame recognized this person.
He was recorded in the Hidden Mist's ANBU notebooks.
Copy Ninja—Kakashi Hatake!
It was him?
Kisame was experienced. His small eyes showed no change in expression, and his movements were as usual.
Well, it was normal to run into him in the Hidden Leaf Village!
He was in the Hidden Leaf Village, and he still ran into him…
After a moment of thought, Kisame silently touched Samehada behind his back.
Just as his hand touched Samehada, he noticed a look from Itachi.
"Don't move!"
Kisame understood what Itachi's eyes were saying.
He thought Itachi had misunderstood…
Making a move in a big ninja village like this, especially in the village's shopping district?
He wouldn't do something so foolish, even if he were an idiot.
However, he still nodded and pretended as if nothing had happened, continuing to eat his dumplings with a calm expression.
"Yo, Kakashi-sensei? Long time no see!"
Kisame heard a light and cheerful voice from behind him.
Even without seeing the person, just hearing the voice, a picture of a bright, sunny-faced boy flashed in Kisame's mind.
"Naruto? You…"
Naruto?
Kisame immediately realized that this was the jinchuriki they were looking for!
"Wait, Kakashi-sensei…"
He heard the voice interrupt Kakashi Hatake, and then, the area around him fell silent.
All sounds disappeared.
Tap!
The next moment, Kisame felt a tap on his shoulder.
Then, the voice sounded again.
This time, it was right next to his ear.
"Yo~ You look familiar, my friend~"
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