Sasuke and Naruto sat on the rest bench in the ninja school playground.
Sasuke passed over a can of iced coffee.
Naruto took a sip, and instantly his facial features twisted together, bitter to the point of sticking out his tongue.
He originally wanted to spit it out directly, but catching a glimpse of Sasuke's unconcerned look out of the corner of his eye, he had no choice but to force himself to act calm, and swallowed the coffee in his mouth.
"You said your dream is to become Hokage?" Sasuke asked.
Hearing this question, Naruto suddenly became energetic.
"That's right, I'll definitely become the Hokage recognized by everyone!"
Sasuke slightly nodded.
Naruto saw the appearance of him seriously listening, and instead felt a little unaccustomed.
When others heard his dream, peers would usually mock or sneer, while adults generally ignored or brushed it off.
But Naruto could tell that Sasuke was truly thinking it over, and acknowledged his dream.
"What's wrong?"
Sasuke saw Naruto's expression didn't look right.
Naruto squinted his eyes, tilted his head, mulled it over for a while, then honestly said, "I thought you'd laugh at me."
"Why would I laugh at you."
Naruto lowered his head, "In the past, whenever I said this dream, there would be people who mocked me as overestimating myself, thinking I was just indulging in delusions."
Thin mist curled and lingered, faintly obscuring the line of sight.
"I once asked Brother Ryosuke this question."
Sasuke said, "Hanging a dream that's too far away on your lips, is that a delusion? Should I wait until I'm well prepared before setting out? Or recklessly head out right away, stepping onto the journey?"
Naruto thought for a while and said, "It should be to first prepare everything thoroughly, then set out, right?"
"For most people, it is indeed so."
Sasuke said, "You must wait until you've saved enough money before confessing; wait until you're strong enough before challenging… This kind of logic seems correct, yet it's an obstacle blocking the path forward.
"Under this kind of logic, the 'I' is an object that can be separated, an independent existence that can first become perfect in some corner. After I finish preparing, then from the standpoint of a superior, go and change the world."
Naruto was a bit dazed. He didn't fully understand, yet it felt like he understood a little, so he asked, "That's not right?"
"Of course it's not right."
Sasuke placed his hand on his chest, "Reality is not a game, not a story."
"We are people living in this world. The perfection we hope for, and the perfection the world accepts, will inevitably carry diffrences in the process of solitary self-nurture."
"If one, with an arrogant stance, nurtures oneself, and waits until it is achieved before trying to forcibly impose the 'I''s ideals onto the world, in the end it will all become a tangled mess. Because..."
"All knowledge without practice is false."
The first time Sasuke saw Terumi Mei, she was still just a scout, got pounded by Ryosuke with two punches until her eyes were swollen, and she even spoke in a flighty way.
Even when she stepped onto the position of Mizukage, she still hadn't been prepared.
But she was indeed becoming better.
Sasuke looked at Naruto, lightly clinked cans with him, "It's not only people who are already prepared that have the qualification to declare their dreams."
"You are walking on the road of practicing your dream. Including coming to Kirigakure, that itself is a step on your path to Hokage."
"For someone like you, what reason would I have to laugh at you?"
"So." Sasuke stretched out his fist, smiled and said, "Hello, future Hokage."
Naruto gazed at the hand Sasuke extended over, only feeling that the tangled rope in his heart had found one end. With a strong shake, whoosh, it unraveled more than half, loose and flowing, filling up his heart.
Unparalleled relief, yet also unparalleled fulfillment.
Naruto lightly bumped fists with him, sincerely exclaimed, "You… are amazing."
Sasuke waved his hand and said, "These are all things Brother Ryosuke told me. He told me this is called…"
"Unity of knowledge and action."
Naruto memorized this phrase, pondered for a moment, then asked, "Sasuke, what is your dream?"
"My dream, huh…"
Sasuke leaned back against the bench, looking at the misty sky.
"When I had just left the village, my dream was to kill a certain person, but now..."
He stopped.
Didn't know how to describe it.
At that moment, the sound of two footsteps came, one from the left and one from the right.
The person coming from the left, was a girl with pink hair.
The person coming from the right, was the same.
Sakura twirled her finger around her hair, "Sasuke-kun, do you still remember me?"
Sasuke slightly nodded.
"Yes!"
A little figure leaped up inside Sakura's heart, pumping its fist hard. She continued pretending to look soft and delicate, wanting to strike up conversation with Sasuke.
An orange was handed over.
Rei smiled and said, "Hello, want one?"
Sakura froze for half a second, then noticed Rei also had the same pink hair as her.
'A girl of the same type as me?'
A surge of strong crisis awareness suddenly welled up in Sakura's heart.
Not far away, Yamanaka Ino finished smoothing out her light blonde long hair, clipped on a cute hairpin, and was just about to move, when a hand suddenly pulled her back.
"What are you doing?"
Ino shook off Shikamaru's hand.
Shikamaru helplessly sighed, "It's not your circle, you can't fit in."
"Didn't Sakura just fit in?"
"Did she really fit in?"
Shikamaru lowered his voice, "Though it's not good to talk about other people's backgrounds behind their backs, haven't you noticed, Sasuke, Naruto, Rei… they're all orphans?"
"Similar childhood experiences shape similar ways of thinking. With the mindset of you or Sakura, you can't really fit in, and besides…"
Shikamaru recalled the words drifting over on the wind.
Sasuke hadn't even bothered to lower his voice on purpose. Dreams, goals, unity of knowledge and action… These kinds of ideas were completely beyond peers of their age.
Shikamaru also thought of what he had seen and heard in Kirigakure recently.
The village being rebuilt.
Sasuke, Kohaku and others practicing Ripple.
'I really want to have a face-to-face talk with Ryosuke.'
Shikamaru thought, glancing over to see Ino rolling her eyes.
The Ino–Shika–Cho were from old clans. Since childhood, they grew up together, so their words and actions naturally didn't carry too many scruples.
Ino grabbed a handful of Shikamaru's spiky hair, saying, "Talking about childhood experiences, like you're not a kid yourself. You even cut your hair, and you're still a tiny bit shorter than me."
"Stop!"
Shikamaru slapped away Ino's hand.
Ino ignored him, pulled out a little mirror, practicing a sweet smile at her reflection.
Snap!
The mirror shut.
———
Samui opened the locker.
The dressing mirror inside reflected her naked body.
She had just finished combat training with her master, Killer B, and taken a shower.
Samui looked at herself in the mirror, the corners of her lips slowly rising, the apples of her cheeks slightly tensed, imitating someone else's manner, showing neat rows of eight teeth.
A few seconds later, she had to admit, "It's simply like when going to collect a debt, running into patrolling ninja, showing a threatening fake smile like a gangster."
Samui had already been back in Kumogakure for some time. During this period, aside from daily training, she had been constantly trying to apply what she had learned and seen in Kirigakure into Kumogakure.
The more she applied, the more shocked she felt.
Although it was still only on a small-scale trial, the changes…
They were real and substantial.
"If only Ryosuke could see these changes, see the smiles on people's faces, he should be very happy."
Samui changed clothes and walked out.
Killer B was waiting outside, holding a notebook and pen, going "yo yo, hey hey," while jotting down rap inspiration.
Only, today his condition didn't seem very good, sneezing constantly.
"Caught a cold?" Samui asked.
Killer B rubbed his nose, "No, don't you smell it? The whole village has been reeking of snake stench all day today."
"Snake?"
Two figures swept in from afar.
"Lady Samui, Lord Killer B."
The two ninjas who rushed over kneeled on one knee, "Lord Fourth Raikage requests you to attend an emergency meeting."
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