Sasuke Uchiha was, in many ways, the village's little brother.
Currently, he was being mentored by nearly all of Konoha's most powerful ninja. Minato Namikaze and Kakashi Hatake were one thing, but occasionally, Orochimaru would lick his lips and join in, teaching him a few ninjutsu. Even Senju Tobirama would appear, his red eyes glaring as he observed Sasuke's practice of the Flying Thunder God Technique. This kind of special treatment was enough to make anyone intensely envious.
On the training grounds, flashes of golden light flickered as Sasuke's body darted rapidly between two distant wooden targets. Even when Kakashi activated his Sharingan, he couldn't track Sasuke's movements clearly. He could only catch glimpses of his figure constantly teleporting with the Flying Thunder God Technique, his perception unable to keep up.
Minato Namikaze couldn't help but praise him. "Sasuke's Flying Thunder God is getting more and more skilled! At this rate, he'll at least be able to hold his own against Naruto. Speed is Naruto's weak point, after all!"
Although the "Yellow Flash" said this, anyone who actually disregarded Naruto Uzumaki's speed was a true idiot. When Naruto entered his red-haired Sage Mode, both his movement and attack speed were astonishingly fast.
Even Sasuke, who had mastered his Mangekyo's space-time ninjutsu and the Flying Thunder God, couldn't be sure how he would handle Naruto's attacks if he left an opening. If the two were limited to a taijutsu battle, Sasuke wasn't confident he could defeat Naruto in his red-haired Sage Mode.
Once Naruto activated Kurama Mode, his taijutsu became unpredictable. Giant chakra arms could emerge from any part of his body and smash a person into the ground with a single punch, making it impossible to get back up.
The problem was, if it came to a ninjutsu battle, Sasuke's confidence was even lower. He had developed a series of powerful Lightning Release ninjutsu, but his friend now just used Tailed Beast Bombs and Great Spiral Wheel whenever he fought.
Jinchuriki were a bit unreasonable.
But Sasuke wasn't without his own methods.
After his student finished training, Kakashi put away his little book and asked softly, "Sasuke, are you confident?"
"Of course!"
Sasuke felt a bit flustered internally—the Naruto he knew had seemingly never been defeated—but his face showed immense confidence. He coolly sheathed his ninja sword and said in a deep voice, "That guy Naruto thinks my power is inferior to Itachi's. This time, I'll show him clearly that I've become stronger than him. After I defeat Naruto, I'll go kill that guy Itachi!"
"Sigh..."
Minato let out a faint sigh. As an elder to the Uchiha brothers, he didn't want to see them kill each other. Kakashi hadn't told him everything about Itachi yet, and neither he nor Naruto wanted Minato to reveal anything. Itachi had said he had his own plans.
As for what those plans were... Naruto didn't know, and Itachi probably didn't either. After all, with his illness cured and his younger brother having obtained the Eternal Mangekyo Sharingan, the original plan was completely ruined. Itachi still hadn't figured out what to do. In any case, he had no regrets left if he were to die.
However, to keep his promise to Naruto and continue living, Itachi had recently set a small goal for himself: he wanted to see his nephew or niece born. This goal could at least keep him going. As for Sasuke, he could only take it one step at a time.
Inside Konoha Village, all the Kage-level experts knew that Sasuke Uchiha wanted to challenge Naruto Uzumaki. If he defeated Naruto, the young Hokage would acknowledge his power and allow him to leave the village to seek revenge on Itachi.
Tsunade immediately started a betting pool.
Only this time, because of Senju Tobirama's presence, Tsunade couldn't place bets herself and could only act as the bookmaker. Bets on Naruto to win had a 1-to-10 payout, while bets on Sasuke had a 5-to-1 payout.
If it weren't for the fact that the blonde female ninja had a high status and powerful backing, Sasuke would have really liked to activate his Susanoo and smash her betting stall.
Was he that bad?
If it were just that, it would be one thing. What made Sasuke even angrier was that after learning about the bet, many Konoha ninjas bet on Naruto to win—including Kakashi, who had been teaching him all along.
Was he really that bad? Was the might of his Perfect Susanoo not intimidating?
Of course, it wasn't.
Everyone knew the result of the great battle between Hashirama Senju and Madara Uchiha. Hashirama used Wood Style and Sage Art, while Madara used a Perfect Susanoo and the complete Nine-Tails. The final result... every ninja in the world knew it.
The current Naruto Uzumaki possessed a Wood Style that the First Hokage himself had acknowledged as stronger than his own at its peak, a Sage Art stronger than his own peak, and half of the Nine-Tails' chakra. On the other side was Sasuke, who, besides a Perfect Susanoo, only had the Flying Thunder God Technique.
Even Might Guy could do that math.
Besides Sasuke himself, only one other person believed he could win: Orochimaru, who had always been fixated on him. Perhaps to support his old friend the bookmaker, or perhaps to win over Sasuke, Orochimaru placed a large sum of money on Sasuke to win. This made the somewhat lonely Sasuke's opinion of Orochimaru improve considerably.
After taking a large bet from Orochimaru, Tsunade looked at Naruto seriously and said, "Brat, you aren't going to lose, are you? If you lose, I'll have to pay out a huge amount of money!"
"Granny Tsunade, don't worry!" Naruto smiled confidently. "Even if his Flying Thunder God is very skilled, I have a way to counter it."
"That's good." Tsunade breathed a sigh of relief and patted the young Hokage's shoulder, looking as if her livelihood for the rest of her life depended on him.
After a moment, her brow furrowed slightly. "How much is the regular budget for the Scientific Research Department? How does that guy Orochimaru have so much money? Could he be..."
"...That's his own money," Naruto said, giving Tsunade a strange look. Among the three Sannin, Orochimaru probably had the most money. He always had mysterious ways of gathering funds.
Scientific experiments were a money-burning business. To conduct his lavish experiments, Orochimaru naturally needed vast financial support. His foresight in this area was far beyond others; whenever he saw new technologies emerging, he never missed an opportunity to invest.
"His own money?" Tsunade bit her lip, her eyes suddenly lighting up. "I remember that guy Orochimaru owed me a lot of money before he defected, right?"
"...It should be you who owes him a lot of money, Granny Tsunade!"
"It's all the same, all the same!" Tsunade waved her hand and left the Hokage's office. "Anyway, he lent me so much money before. It doesn't matter if he lends me some more now!"
"..."
Naruto helplessly facepalmed, opened the office window, and said in a low voice, "Alright, Granny Tsunade is gone. You can come in."
"Caw."
A black crow flew in and landed on his shoulder. The young Hokage placed a hand on it and infused it with his chakra. The crow's body instantly twisted, gradually transforming into a flickering, translucent human figure.
It was Uchiha Itachi's crow clone.
Itachi's distorted figure floated in the air as he said softly, "Lord Fifth, I'm sorry to disturb you, but I have important intelligence to report."
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Bonus:
Sasuke: Why did everyone bet on Naruto?
Kakashi: I know you're strong, but Naruto is stronger.
Orochimaru: Sasuke-kun, don't be sad. I will be with you.
Sasuke: Why do you think Naruto is stronger than me! Isn't my Susanoo cool?
Kakashi: ...Maybe it's because you sound so confident, which makes me feel really uncertain.
Sasuke: ???
Orochimaru: Sasuke-kun, don't be sad. I will be with you.
Sasuke: I think I've gotten stronger. Can't I be a little confident?
Kakashi: Although you keep getting stronger, you also keep getting put back in your place...
Sasuke: ...
Orochimaru: Sasuke-kun, don't be sad. I will be with you.
Sasuke: Get lost!