Chapter 412: The Destined Battle
Sasuke, who'd mistakenly taken Naruto's script, didn't have Naruto's kind of "innate" sunshine. He was "innately" born with a gloomy "fate."
A life of always being despised made his negative chakra amplification speed extremely fast. Though his age was still young, he was already considerably stronger than what someone his age should originally be.
He already had the two-tomoe Sharingan now.
This kind of outstanding talent, if it were anyone else, would definitely be the family's focus, absolutely a genius seedling.
But the stronger his abilities became, the more people would think of that similarly gifted Uchiha Itachi from back then, and the worse their impression of him would become.
This was a vicious cycle.
For Sasuke, Uchiha was no longer the family he'd always been proud of, but rather the source of his pain, the shackles binding him.
Clearly his strength had long been sufficient to graduate from the ninja academy, but because he was an Uchiha, the academy kept suppressing his application, not allowing him to graduate early.
Even after graduating, he couldn't freely take missions. He could only do simple tasks like picking up trash and catching cats with a group of same-period children.
These children were very childish, yet also extremely snobbish. On the surface they were very respectful toward him, but actually kept their distance, not intimate at all.
The ninja academy teachers said nice things, talking about cultivating rapport between companions, establishing team spirit and such words, but in Sasuke's heart he was very clear.
These people just didn't trust him, always feeling that once his strength grew, he'd definitely be like that man, betraying the family.
Yet he had no way to even refute this.
These depressed emotions had been bottled up in Sasuke's heart for a long time, unable to erupt. Now stimulated by Arato, they inexplicably exploded outward.
"It's one thing for them to look down on me, but what are you? What gives you the right to look down on me?"
"Don't think you can underestimate me just because I just graduated from the ninja academy!"
"If not for being suppressed by the Divine Nation, I could have been a jonin long ago!"
"I want to challenge you to a one-on-one duel. Do you dare?"
"A duel? You?" Arato glanced at him disdainfully, very much looking down on this kind of hothouse flower.
Just as he wanted to take this opportunity to teach him a lesson, Zabuza's figure appeared behind him, pressing a hand on his shoulder and warning:
"Don't cause trouble recklessly!"
Before Arato could answer, Zabuza bowed his head slightly toward Sasuke.
"Apologies, young master of the Uchiha house. Arato meant no offense toward you."
"We'll leave the city right now and never return."
As it turned out, him not saying this would have been better. Once he said it, Sasuke's eyes became even redder. The two tomoe trembled violently, actually showing signs of advancing further.
"Don't call me young master of the Uchiha house!"
"I'm not some young master of the Uchiha house!"
"Young masters of the Uchiha house are all priests. How could anyone become a ninja?"
"I'm now challenging you in my capacity as a ninja. I'm just asking if you dare accept!"
"Why wouldn't I dare!"
Arato didn't know what was wrong with him today. His usually magnanimous personality always became more impulsive when facing Sasuke.
Disregarding Zabuza's obstruction, he accepted Sasuke's challenge face-to-face.
"Good, we'll fight outside the city!"
After dropping this line, Sasuke immediately turned and left. Arato also quickly followed.
The agreement already made, Zabuza had no choice. He could only sigh and follow behind as well.
Those several children also followed for a few steps, but their abilities were too poor. They simply couldn't keep up with the pace of those ahead and had to stop.
The several people looked at each other, suddenly becoming afraid. After a quick discussion, they scattered in all directions to find their own teachers to report the situation.
Sasuke had the intention to display his abilities, so his pace was very fast. But though Arato hadn't been acknowledged as a jonin, he was absolutely a jonin-level expert.
Seeing Sasuke wanted to compete with him in speed, he laughed coldly, quickened his steps, and very soon surpassed Sasuke.
"Hehe, your abilities aren't much after all!"
After dropping this line, Arato immediately increased his speed several times more, rushing toward the distance like he was flying.
Sasuke gritted his teeth, also desperately squeezing out chakra, tightly following Arato's figure as he chased.
The two didn't know how far they'd run. Arato still had strength to spare, but Sasuke could barely hold on, relying entirely on willpower to persist.
After this run, the pent-up emotions in Arato's heart eased considerably. Seeing Sasuke's tenacious appearance, his heart couldn't help but soften again.
He suddenly stopped, looking at Sasuke with a smile, nodding in approval:
"You're several years younger than me, yet you can have such abilities. You can be called a genius youth."
"However, you're still young now. Your body hasn't fully developed yet. Your chakra amount still can't match mine. Even if I defeat you, it would be an inglorious victory."
"How about this instead? Let's make a new agreement. When you're a few years older, we'll compete again. How about it?"
Who knew Sasuke wouldn't accept his goodwill at all. After stopping to catch his breath for a few moments, he raised his eyebrows and shouted loudly:
"Talk about being young?"
"What does age have to do with strength?"
"Chakra isn't the only standard for winning battles. Don't think that just because your chakra is more than mine, you can definitely beat me!"
"Combat isn't such a simple matter!"
"Tch!" Arato scratched his head in annoyance. Seeing Sasuke's face full of excitement, looking like he wouldn't listen to reason, he started regretting agreeing to this match.
"Fine then. Since you insist on competing with me, I'll let you experience the ninja world!"
Saying this, Arato leaped backward, creating distance from Sasuke, assumed a combat stance, and beckoned to Sasuke with his finger.
"Come at me!"
"Good!"
Sasuke's spirits lifted. He immediately formed hand seals rapidly with both hands and blew from his mouth.
"Fire Release: Great Fireball Technique!"
Whoosh!
Scorching fire flow gushed from his mouth, rapidly expanding and rotating in midair, transforming into an orange-red large fireball over a meter in diameter.
The fierce flames burned the air, making crackling explosive sounds. Heat waves rushed forward.
At the same time, using the fire release as cover, his body lunged forward, like a black panther darting out close to the shadow of the flames.
His eyes' two tomoe rotated, locking onto Arato's movements. His hands gripped two kunai bound with steel wire, just waiting for Arato to dodge before throwing them at the opportune moment.
Who knew Arato stood in place without moving at all, just forming a simple seal.
"Water Release: Great Waterfall Technique!"
Boom! Vast water flow appeared from nothing, instantly rising from the ground, forming a deep blue water wall over ten meters wide and incomparably thick, like a miniature tsunami pushed by an invisible giant, carrying rumbling roars, grinding forward along the ground with overwhelming momentum.
Where was this a waterfall? This was clearly an entire lake lifted up.