Naruto's expression was calm, as if nothing had happened, and he silently pulled up his pants, then turned and left.
There was no eye contact, no verbal communication.
Everything was so natural.
It didn't look like someone had done it on purpose.
But Sasuke seemed to hear the echo of "whoever is smaller is more embarrassed," and he stood rooted to the spot, his cool face showing a kind of shock, a kind of inferiority, and a complex dimness.
He considered himself to have never been absolutely weaker than anyone in any aspect, but now, a strong sense of defeat rose in his heart.
"No... why... why is it so big..."
Little Sasuke, big impact.
"Is that the normal... size!?
"Am I too small?"
"It's okay, I'm still young, and I'm growing."
"Uzumaki Naruto is just a dead last, you don't need to compare everything with him."
"Sasuke, you must remember, what exactly is your goal?"
"No time to care about these trivial matters, get stronger, what you need is to become stronger!"
As if psychologically hinted, Sasuke slowly opened his eyes, and a blood-red Sharingan appeared.
The black single tomoe slowly rotated...
Sasuke's still childish face became cold and Shen once again.
At the restroom entrance.
Sakura Haruno was also carrying her bento bags with both hands, seemingly waiting for someone, sometimes craning her neck, sometimes standing on tiptoes, and from time to time, imagining "romantic" love scenes in her mind.
"Sa... Sasuke, you're out?"
Seeing someone come out, Sakura Haruno adopted a ladylike posture, six parts elegant, three parts shy, one part coy.
But when she saw who it was, she looked even more disappointed and surprised, her eyes wide open.
"Wh-why is it you, Naruto!?
"Where's Sasuke?"
Naruto completely ignored Sakura Haruno, walking past her calmly, as if she were just an invisible presence.
"I'm asking you a question..."
Sakura Haruno reached out to grab Naruto's jacket, but her fingers only caught a afterimage, and Naruto had already appeared four or five meters away.
"What... what just happened?"
Sakura Haruno looked down at her hand that had grabbed nothing but air, and couldn't help but freeze, feeling a little confused.
"Shunpo?"
"No way, Naruto is a dead last, how could he cultivate Shunpo to such a powerful extent!"
"Hmm, hmm, I must have been mistaken."
Sakura Haruno nodded, convincing herself.
She then subconsciously looked up, searching for Naruto's figure, and seeing him disappear around the corner of the corridor, she whispered with a hint of confusion: "Is it my imagination?"
"How come Naruto seems to have grown a bit taller, and that childish face seems... to have become much handsomer..."
"But he still can't compare to Sasuke~"
Sakura Haruno slapped her face to wake herself up, and finally saw Sasuke walking out of the restroom with his head slightly lowered, she quickly went forward and asked eagerly: "Sasuke, have you eaten?"
"Do you want to eat together?"
Sakura Haruno was smiling as she lifted her bento, but Sasuke turned his head, and his scarlet single tomoe Sharingan glared at her.
At this moment, his blood-gem-like eyes seemed to surge with hatred and coldness like a sea of blood.
"Don't bother me!"
Sasuke coldly and heartlessly threw out a sentence, then left again, leaving only a completely chilled and frightened Sakura Haruno standing in place.
...
Rooftop of the teaching building.
Hyuga Hinata, who was waiting for Naruto, sat on the stone steps, her bento on her knees, and looked up at Naruto.
She shifted her bottom slightly, patted the stone steps with her small hand, her face flushed, her voice gentle and timid, as faint as a mosquito's buzz: "Sit... sit next to me... let's eat together..."
Naruto was not coy or polite either, he sat down generously next to Hinata, very close.
However, Hinata was dressed very conservatively, with both an outer jacket and an inner layer, so he couldn't feel her skin.
"Hinata, aren't you hot?"
Naruto curiously observed Hinata and suddenly asked.
It was already early summer.
The temperature in Konoha Village was naturally rising day by day, but Hinata's clothes seemed to have not changed much; she wore a two-piece set in spring, and still a two-piece set in summer.
"No... not hot..."
Hinata felt Naruto's gaze and lowered her head shyly.
She subconsciously pulled at her jacket zipper.
Naruto immediately understood that Hinata was probably shy, even a little distressed, about her development far surpassing that of her peers.
While Sakura Haruno was still "lying flat," Hinata might have already "C"-ed up.
"Let's eat."
Naruto smiled slightly, changing the subject.
To make lunchtime less dull, Naruto wove his experiences into stories to tell her, occasionally even telling a few jokes.
As the eldest daughter of the Hyuga clan, Hinata had received strict etiquette education since childhood, among which not speaking while eating or sleeping was basic.
So she ate in small bites while listening silently.
When she heard something exciting, she would even cast an admiring glance at Naruto.
Post-meal exercise time.
Naruto trained Hinata as usual.
From Hinata's attacks, he could clearly feel Hinata's progress.
"Good footwork, it's become more flexible and varied."
"Hmm, the Gentle Fist is faster now, and the Gentle Fist moves are more fluid, but you also need to know how to adapt."
"Very good, just like that, keep going, keep going."
With Naruto's current strength, facing Hinata's attacks, he became even more at ease.
It wasn't that Hinata was slow to improve, but that Naruto himself was growing too fast.
Let alone Hinata, even Sasuke had been left several blocks behind long ago.
However, so as not to dampen Hinata's enthusiasm, Naruto would occasionally deliberately leave an opening for Hinata to practice her feel.
With his physique, which had been tempered by Dragon Blood, even being hit by the Gentle Fist was nothing.
After all...
The Dragon Blood had refined all his flesh, fascia, internal organs, and bones, inside and out.
"Naruto, you make a move too!"
"How can there be a fight without counterattacking?"
Hinata tapped her toe, retreated, her small face filled with a serious expression.
Since the day "post-meal exercise" began, Naruto had rarely made a move.
Even when he did, he only used his finger as a fist, pointing out Hinata's weaknesses.
Over time, Hinata became somewhat unwilling.
She wanted to see how strong her role model, the boy she secretly liked, truly was!
"Are you sure?"
"Yes!"
Hinata nodded her small head, her legs spread one in front of the other, her hands raised, clearly assuming the starting stance of a Gentle Fist move.
Naruto did not use Stealth Technique, so Hinata's Byakugan could see the Chakra flowing within him.
"I'm going to make a move, defend with all your might."
"This one might hurt a bit."
Before he finished speaking, the bright blue Chakra flow within Naruto's body suddenly accelerated.
He's going to make a move!
Hinata realized this, quickly channeled Chakra, gathered it in her palm, igniting a bright blue aura, then pushed her palm fiercely, forming a Chakra shockwave.
It was the Byakugan's ability to predict the enemy.
"Boom"
An air cannon, barely visible to the naked eye, blasted towards Naruto.
Gentle Fist: Palm Pressure!