In the audience.
"Yes! Let's gooo! That was awesome!"
Real-world Naruto had jumped up from his seat, cheering loudly. He was practically bouncing with excitement.
The way his dream self had counterattacked clean, sharp, and completely on point was just too satisfying.
Especially watching Sasuke get driven back in such a messy panic... it filled Naruto with overwhelming pride.
"Take that, you smug bastard! The me in the dream isn't someone you can just laugh at! Haha!"
[Ding! Uzumaki Naruto's emotional fluctuation detected! Emotional value +200!]
Sakura glanced at the boy beside her, clearly embarrassed by how animated he was acting. She frowned.
"Hey, Naruto… you're way too into this."
But deep down, she had to admit...
What she was seeing on screen was really surprising.
Sasuke Uchiha Sasuke was actually being pushed back.
She looked closely.
Sasuke's hand was trembling slightly where he gripped his kunai. The last flurry of defense had clearly drained him.
Meanwhile, Naruto stood not far away calm and composed. His face even looked a little… apologetic, like he was worried about hurting Sasuke too much.
That contrast was unbelievable.
"…Is this really Naruto?"
Sakura murmured under her breath.
The Naruto in her memories the one who always ranked at the bottom of the class, the one who charged headfirst into everything had never made Sasuke look like this.
But it was real. She could see it.
Kakashi remained quiet, though a glimmer passed through his eye as he stared at the battle on screen.
Shuriken Shadow Clone Technique…
He thought back to what he'd seen.
So this is Naruto… if he'd grown up under Minato-sensei's guidance.
Not a loudmouth dropout.
But a focused, well-trained ninja with real ability.
In the dream.
Sasuke forced himself to steady his breathing. He stared across the clearing at Naruto who still looked unruffled, which only irritated him more.
Damn it!
Outside the dream, that dobe was probably watching and laughing at him right now.
Just imagining Naruto enjoying his moment made Sasuke's blood boil.
I'm not losing like this.
Not without a fight.
Naruto had proven he wasn't weak.
But Sasuke wasn't planning to let it end like this.
"…You're not bad, Naruto."
His voice was low, serious, the fire in his eyes reignited.
"But I won't be careless again."
Even before the last word finished leaving his mouth, his eyes widened red, with tomoe swirling.
Sharingan activated.
In a flash, Sasuke formed hand seals at blazing speed.
He inhaled sharply, and a surge of hot chakra gathered in his lungs.
Then he roared:
"Fire Style: Great Fireball Technique!"
A huge flame burst from his mouth, expanding rapidly into a blazing inferno hurtling toward Naruto like a comet.
The scorching flames erupted with a roar, painting the forest clearing in a blazing red glow. Heat waves rolled through the air as Sasuke's massive fireball surged toward Naruto like a burning meteor.
Faced with the incoming blaze, Naruto's expression sharpened.
He didn't retreat.
Instead, he planted his feet firmly and quickly formed hand seals. The chakra inside his body shifted rapidly its nature changing.
"Wind Style: Great Breakthrough!"
Naruto puffed out his cheeks and blew out a violent gust of wind.
A sharp, howling windstorm met the fireball head-on.
Wind fed flame. Flame rode wind.
In an instant, the fire grew even fiercer. The heat intensified.
"Oh no !" Sasuke's eyes widened, his pupils constricting.
He had expected Naruto to dodge.
He hadn't anticipated that Naruto would counter with Wind Style, the elemental opposite that usually empowers fire rather than neutralizes it.
It should've been a bad matchup.
But Naruto's chakra control was precise deliberate.
The fierce wind Naruto unleashed didn't just blow randomly. It twisted into several focused vortexes slicing through the fireball, disrupting it from within.
Boom!
A muffled explosion rang out as the flames detonated midair.
The great fireball disintegrated into a storm of glowing embers, flickering and dying as they floated down like orange snow.
Sasuke's fire jutsu broken.
His expression shifted instantly.
But before he could process what had just happened, a blur shot out from the cloud of smoke.
Naruto.
Sasuke moved on instinct, drawing a kunai and raising it to block
Clang!
The weapon struck flesh but instead of resistance, the target burst into smoke.
A shadow clone!
"Too late!"
A sudden gust blew from behind.
Sasuke's body tensed. He twisted around in alarm
Another figure charged at him this time the real Naruto, his foot already swinging upward.
Thud!
Sasuke took the full force of the kick to his midsection.
"Ugh !"
He was sent flying.
He slammed into a thick tree trunk with a sickening crack, then dropped to the ground in a swirl of dust.
He groaned, sprawled across the dirt.
His arms were numb. Pain pulsed down his side. His throat tightened with the taste of iron.
He nearly coughed up blood.
Sasuke tried to push himself up.
But he had no strength left.
His breathing was ragged. The speed of that last attack he hadn't even seen the moment when Naruto had created the shadow clone, much less how he slipped around to his blind spot.
He had already… lost.
"…I… I lost?"
His eyes widened in disbelief as he watched Naruto running toward him, concern written across his face.
In just a few short minutes…
He hadn't just lost.
He had been overwhelmed beaten back from start to finish with barely a chance to fight back.
The sheer one-sidedness of it left Sasuke's mind blank.
He never imagined…
That he would lose to Naruto.
And lose so completely.
[Ding! Uchiha Sasuke's emotional fluctuation detected! Emotional value +800!]
"Sasuke-kun, are you okay?!"
Naruto had already rushed to his side.
He leaned forward, reaching out a hand to help Sasuke up. His face was filled with worry and guilt.
"I'm sorry! I got caught up in the fight… I didn't mean to go that hard. Are you hurt anywhere?"
Sasuke looked at Naruto's outstretched hand but didn't take it.
He was still sitting on the ground, dazed, chest rising and falling as he tried to steady his breath.
"I… actually couldn't beat Naruto?"
The words escaped him in a quiet mutter.
His heart was in chaos. Nothing made sense.
A wave of frustration and disbelief crashed over him, leaving him drowning in confusion.
Everything he thought he understood about strength about himself was flipped upside down.
He had always believed it was natural, even inevitable, that he was stronger than Naruto.
Now, that assumption was shattered.
His expression twisted in disbelief. His face was pale, his mind spinning with emotion.
It was a long time before he could even begin to recover.
Seeing Sasuke so shaken, Naruto grew even more anxious.
He crouched closer, voice thick with concern. "Sasuke, how are you feeling? Did I really hurt you? I'm sorry I didn't mean to use that much strength..."
There was no arrogance in his tone.
Only sincere guilt.
He didn't seem to care about the outcome of the match at all just whether Sasuke had gotten hurt.
Finally, Sasuke clenched his fists.
With effort, he stood up on unsteady legs and waved Naruto off. "I… I'm fine."
His tone was stiff, trying to sound tough but the complex look in his eyes told a different story.
He was still shaken.
From not just the defeat… but everything it meant.
Not far away, Sakura ran over, panic in her eyes.
"Sasuke! Are you okay?"
But when she reached out to steady him, Sasuke silently brushed her hand aside.
He said nothing.
He just stared at Naruto, unable to find the right words.
Seeing this, Naruto respectfully lowered his hand, but still looked uneasy.
"That's good… I'm glad you're not hurt. By the way, Sasuke-kun…"
He hesitated, looking genuinely confused.
"You activated your Sharingan during the fight. But… you didn't use any genjutsu. I've been guarding against it the whole time."
"…Genjutsu?"
Sasuke blinked, caught off guard by the question. His mind was still fuzzy.
"…What genjutsu?"
He asked instinctively, clearly still processing everything.
In the audience.
Silence.
No one spoke for several seconds.
Everyone had just witnessed the intense, high-level clash between Naruto and Sasuke and they were left stunned.
It was far beyond what anyone had expected.
Then one by one exclamations and murmurs of disbelief began to ripple through the room.
Naruto sat still, staring at the darkened screen, lost in a daze.
It took him several long seconds to even blink.
His throat bobbed slightly as he swallowed.
"…Am I… really that strong?"
He whispered the words like a secret only he could hear.
The display of power he'd just witnessed the version of himself in the dream world completely upended everything he thought he knew about himself.
Wind Style, the Shuriken Shadow Clone Technique, precise taijutsu, seamless coordination with clones…
In the dream, he had mastered it all.
And Sasuke Uchiha Sasuke had been utterly crushed.
That reversal… that strength… it left Naruto deeply shaken. His heart was pounding, his thoughts spinning.
[Ding! Uzumaki Naruto's emotional fluctuation detected! Emotional value +300!]
"…This is incredible…"
Sakura finally found her voice.
Even now, the images of that battle still replayed in her mind the skillful counters, the unshakable calm, the overwhelming offense.
She blinked, struggling to reconcile it all.
"Was that really Naruto? He… he was controlling the entire fight."
She turned to look at the real Naruto, who was still frozen, wide-eyed and speechless.
Kakashi, meanwhile, let out a quiet breath.
His gaze lingered on Naruto still seated, still stunned.
In Kakashi's lone visible eye was a rare glint of admiration… and pride.
Unbelievable…
In that dream, Naruto wasn't just using moves that belonged to Minato-sensei. Even his rhythm… the way he fought… it reminded me of Jiraiya-sama.
The fighting spirit of Minato.
The unpredictability of Jiraiya.
Combined with Naruto's own heart.
With a version of Naruto like that…
It's not unfair at all that Sasuke lost.