105: Chapter 105 Current Situation! Struggling to SurviveSakura, her face flushed with anger, rushed to one of Naruto's shadow clones who was nearby and had narrowly escaped the attack, grabbed him by the collar, and roared furiously:
"Naruto!Look what you've done!There's a limit to getting carried away with your emotions!Are you helping or causing trouble?"
Naruto himself clutched his head, sharing the last memories from the shadow clones who had been "crushed to death"—the pain of the heavy stone slab pressing down on him and the fear of his vision going black—making him grimace and his head buzz.
Looking at the messy construction site and the angry, disappointed eyes of his fellow workers, as well as Sakura's reprimand, Naruto's high spirits instantly cooled, leaving only immense embarrassment and guilt.
"I'm.I'm sorry.I really didn't mean to."
Naruto lowered his head, his voice filled with annoyance and apology, his golden hair seemingly drooping down.
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Meanwhile, deep in the forest.
Bang!
With a muffled thud and the sound of tree bark cracking, Sasuke once again crashed heavily to the ground from mid-air.
"hateful--!"
Sasuke slammed his fist into the ground, sending dirt flying and his knuckles turning bright red instantly.
Humiliation, resentment, and a sense of powerlessness that he himself was unwilling to admit gnawed at his heart like venomous snakes.
He was panting, his gaze drifting to a spot not far away.
Kakashi-sensei was still leisurely leaning against a large tree trunk, holding his ever-present copy of "Icha Icha Paradise" in one hand, reading with great interest, as if he hadn't noticed his repeated failures at all.
This composure seemed particularly jarring amidst Sasuke's current torment.
Finally, after countless failures, the fortress of pride in my heart cracked open.
Sasuke took a deep breath, and with an almost tragic determination, slowly stood up, dragging his tired body step by step to Kakashi.
"That.that."
Sasuke's voice was dry and hoarse, and he spoke with extreme awkwardness.
Kakashi finally looked up from the book, raised his eyelids, and looked at his stubborn disciple, his tone flat and indifferent: "What is it?"
In his heart, however, he thought with a sigh: 'Finally.willing to bow down?More stubborn than I imagined, the pride of the Uchiha clan.'
Sasuke's cheeks flushed slightly, and he instinctively wanted to turn his head away to avoid Kakashi's gaze.
"Teacher, what's the secret to climbing trees?"
He spoke those words as if he had used all his strength, his face flushed with humiliation.
Kakashi, seeing Sasuke's expression, understood.He slowly closed his copy of "Icha Icha Paradise," drawing out his words, "Well."
Sasuke's heart leaped into his throat, his eyes filled with anticipation.Kakashi was finally going to offer guidance!
However, Kakashi's next words were like a bucket of ice water poured over his head:
"—I won't tell you."
"Varied...?"
The color drained from Sasuke's face instantly, leaving only shock and uncontrollable rage!He felt like he'd been tricked!
I finally swallowed my pride and asked for advice, and this is the answer I got?
Seeing the rage surging in Sasuke's eyes, Kakashi remained calm, as if stating a perfectly simple fact:
"Sakura.she must have shared the secrets with you before, right?Why didn't you accept it then?"
His words were like a needle, precisely piercing Sasuke's heart, striking at the pride and rejection he least wanted to face.
Kakashi ignored Sasuke's murderous glare and continued calmly, "If you want to know."
"Just go ask Sakura yourself.Helping and learning from each other is part of the ninja way."
He paused, as if remembering something, and added, his tone carrying a hint of helplessness and teasing: "Oh, right."
Don't ask Naruto.That kid.probably doesn't even know how he did it.
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As evening fell, the setting sun cast a dim, yet utterly unwarm, halo over the streets of the town of Wave Country.
The air was filled with the salty smell of the sea breeze and an indescribable atmosphere of despair and numbness.
Naruto, with a blade of grass he'd casually plucked and a hand behind his head, followed behind Tazuna and Sakura, looking rather bored.
"Uncle Tazuna, where are we going?"
"Go buy some ingredients for dinner."
Tazuna's voice was low and visibly tired."It was Tsunami who specifically instructed me to do this."
Sakura walked silently, her gaze sweeping over both sides of the street.
The scene before her eyes made her heart sink little by little, as if it were being pressed down by a cold stone.
A ragged, emaciated middle-aged man leaned against the wall with a worn-out wooden board in front of him.The board was scrawled with the words "Willing to do any job" in charcoal pencil.His eyes were vacant, as if his soul had been ripped out.
Not far away, a boy who looked to be only ten or so years old was clutching a sausage he had just stolen, running like a frightened rabbit.Behind him, an angry shop owner chased after him, yelling, "Damn thief!Stop!"
In a shady corner of the street, several emaciated children, barely clothed, sat motionless like lifeless puppets, their eyes devoid of any childlike radiance, only a chilling numbness.
'What.what's wrong with this town?'
A heavy sense of sorrow and helplessness welled up in Sakura's heart, as if she were in a huge, slowly festering wound.
"This is it."
Dazner stopped in front of a shop that looked fairly intact, and the owner called out weakly, "Welcome."
The three entered the so-called vegetable shop.A few kinds of vegetables were sparsely arranged on the shelf, their leaves withered and yellow, their fruits shriveled, exuding an aura of malnutrition and death.
A faint smell of mildew and dust filled the air.
"It seems.there's nothing there?"
Sakura's face turned even uglier, and her voice was filled with disbelief.
This is less of a shop and more of a display case of scarce resources.
Just then, a middle-aged man with a furtive look and shifty eyes noticed Sakura carrying a small package.
A greedy glint flashed in his eyes as he looked at the package.Taking advantage of the moment when Tazuna was talking to the boss and Sakura's attention was drawn to the wilted vegetables on the shelf, he slyly reached out and silently reached for the package behind Sakura!
Just as that dirty hand was about to touch the package!
"Hello!"
A strong, powerful hand, like an iron clamp, suddenly grabbed the attacker's wrist!
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