Sakura went to help Sasuke, but he pushed her away very roughly.
Sasuke knew Sakura meant well, and that his anger now was completely unreasonable, but he was truly furious.
If he didn't vent this anger, he would explode on the spot.
Just a little more! Ten seconds at most, maybe even less than ten seconds, and the spiritual energy that had surged due to his body suffocating would reach its peak. At that time, his formal activation of the Sharingan would be a natural progression.
The Uchiha Clan had no concept of the Mangekyo Sharingan or the Rinnegan that came after it. There were too few samples; they didn't know who to analyze. Unlike the common One-Tomoe to Three-Tomoe Sharingan, of which there were many samples, records of clan members formally awakening their Sharingan from nothing were countless.
This person awakened their Sharingan during battle, that clan member awakened their Sharingan at home upon hearing news of a relative's death.
Through a large number of samples, the Uchiha Clan analyzed the commonalities and had already summarized some of the key techniques for awakening the Sharingan.
Ordinary clan members didn't know this knowledge. To maintain the strong position of the main branch of the family, the head of the clan knew it.
As the clan head's son, what precautions should be taken at the stage of awakening the Sharingan, what changes would occur, and how should they be handled? Sasuke knew all this information by heart from a young age.
After being trapped by the Water Prison Technique, Sasuke discovered that for every bit his body weakened, his spiritual energy would surge by a large amount. He didn't have a deep grudge against Ino; he still needed his useful body to get revenge. Admitting defeat once at school was not unacceptable, but to awaken his Sharingan, he was truly fighting with his life.
Unfortunately, Sakura's actions made him retreat at the most critical moment. His body regained vitality, and his spiritual energy rapidly decreased. Now, let alone awakening his Sharingan, he struggled even to stand up.
He knew he couldn't blame Sakura; she meant well, but a huge sense of loss was inevitable.
Sasuke couldn't stand up, and Ino was also exhausted.
She waved to Hinata, who was not far away.
"Me?" Hinata looked to her left, no one; she looked to her right, still no one. Was she calling herself?
Ino waved again, meaning 'you, don't look at anyone else.' Hinata quickly jogged over.
"Oh, help me, I can barely stand," Ino was half a head taller than Hinata. At this moment, she put her arm around Hinata's shoulder, leaning most of her weight on her.
"Ino... Are you okay?" Hinata asked softly.
Ino pointed to the surrounding battlefield, covered in explosions, flames, water, and various Shuriken, Kunai, and senbon: "Does this look like I'm okay?"
Hinata quickly lowered her head, stammering, not knowing how to respond.
Ino tried to adjust her breathing. Her Chakra was less than one-fifth of its normal state. After Hinata helped her, she squeezed some more Chakra from her cells, concentrating it in her eyes, and carefully observed Sasuke's current state with her perception ability.
Strange! The Indra Chakra she had sensed before, and the part of her Chakra she had discarded, had all disappeared now. Not a trace could be seen.
Did Sasuke absorb this part of the Chakra? Or did some unknown mutation occur?
She bit Hinata's ear and whispered, "While you're checking my injuries, see if there's anything abnormal about Sasuke's Chakra. I suspect his Sharingan has awakened."
"Ah?" Hinata looked at her blankly. They were all classmates, was there a need to be so secretive? If it awakened, it awakened. Was it something serious?
"Hurry!" Ino urged her.
"Oh, oh..."
Hinata faced Ino and formed hand signs in the sequence of Goat - Tiger - Boar - Rabbit - Rat - Dog. It was clear that this young girl was very nervous forming hand signs in front of everyone, but this set of procedures was exceptionally skilled, having become muscle memory. There were no mistakes in forming the hand signs, Chakra quickly gathered in her eyes, spiritual energy rapidly climbed, her eyeballs turned white, and blood vessels around her eyes bulged out.
"Byakugan!"
She used her Byakugan to observe Ino's Chakra pathways. She looked once, then a second time, then a third time.
Ino pursed her lips, meaning, 'Why are you looking at me? I told you to look at Sasuke over there!'
"Don't turn your head!"
"Isn't your family known for 360-degree vision?"
"What are you feeling guilty about? Hurry, just one glance is enough."
Under Ino's repeated urging, Hinata's face turned red. Like a thief, she shrunk her neck and cautiously "looked" at Sasuke with her Byakugan.
"Ino, ah..."
"What?"
"It seems Sasuke-kun's Chakra... it seems his Chakra is fine. What you said, that, that, how does the Sharingan's awakening manifest in the pathways? Are there any characteristics?"
"..." Ino fell silent. How would she know how the Sharingan specifically manifested in the Chakra pathways!
"Is there any abnormal Chakra?"
"What kind of Chakra is called abnormal Chakra?"
"Forget it... Release your Byakugan, and help me to rest under that tree over there for a while."
"Oh, oh!"
Hinata helped Ino to rest under a nearby tree. Shikamaru and Kiba came over to show concern, and Choji even took out his potato chips to offer her.
Sasuke didn't get this treatment. He sat in the mud, head down, his face extremely grim. Only Naruto stood beside him.
"You can't even accept one failure? I look down on you," Naruto stood ramrod straight, his fists clenched.
Sasuke immediately perked up. He raised his head, his eyes fierce: "Dead Last, what are you saying? Do you want to have a match with me too? Good, come on!"
The atmosphere between the two was extremely tense. Sasuke shakily stood up, seemingly intending to fight Naruto again despite his serious injuries.
At the critical moment, Sakura's intelligence was, for once, online. She pulled Iruka over.
Iruka first scolded Naruto, who seemed to be trying to encourage Sasuke but was actually infuriating him.
Iruka surveyed the battlefield, sighing inwardly.
It was clear that both Ino and Sasuke's combat experience was very green and rigid; they made many mistakes during the battle. However, their application of Ninjutsu, Taijutsu, and ninja tools made even him, a Chunin who had been on the battlefield, feel ashamed. The final Water Prison Technique was particularly impressive; if he were in Sasuke's position, he wouldn't have been able to break free either.
He cleared his throat.
"Ahem, ah... Well, Ino's Ninjutsu was well-used, and Sasuke's response was also very impressive. Everyone should learn from them..." By rights, at this point, he should have had them form the "Reconciliation Seal," but Iruka saw Sasuke's pale face and twitching limbs, and Ino sitting cross-legged under the tree, unmoving. What kind of seal could they form now? He might as well just announce the end of class.
"Class dismissed! Everyone disperse, disperse! Naruto, clean this area up! Everyone go back to school!"
"Huh? Ah?!" Naruto pointed at himself, then looked at the area that had been burned and flooded, his face completely bewildered. They had fought a big battle, why should he clean it up? What did this have to do with him?