Chapter 36: First Encounter with Uchiha Sasuke
"Whew... so comfortable!"
Naruto didn't take the incident of Hyuga Nejiattacking him to heart at all. He had a lot to do and didn't need to waste time on small interludes.
"Hmph, in this old man's view, your Medicinal Bathis completely useless!" Kurama, standing on the edge of the wooden tub, looked disgusted. "You'd be better off putting more effort into tempering your body; that's the mandatory core lesson for a Ninja's early stages!"
"What do you know, you old fox putting on airs!" Naruto was very dismissive. "Don't use your outdated experience to judge the essence of another world!"
"What essence! I see it as just you, kid, messing around blindly!" Kurama countered decisively. "If these herbs were poisonous, with your half-baked Uzumaki Physique, you probably wouldn't be able to hold on!"
This was the norm for how Naruto and Kuramainteracted, and Kurama was increasingly showing a trend toward becoming sharp-tongued, which often left Naruto at a disadvantage in their verbal sparring.
However, Naruto didn't bother to argue with Kurama today. He had prepared the Medicinal Bathfor a long time, and today he finally gathered all the herbs and successfully completed an initial Medicinal Bath lasting three sticks of incense.
The Medicinal Bath in the Eight Extremes Fist's cultivation method is divided into three stages. The initial stage is naturally mild in medicinal properties, focusing on nurturing. This is the most suitable Medicinal Bath for Naruto's age and has great benefits for the development of his body.
"Splash..."
Naruto stood up naked from the wooden tub. The originally brown Medicinal Bath liquid had turned pale; most of the medicinal power had been completely absorbed by Naruto.
"Kid! You're looking for death!"
Naruto hadn't notified Kurama when he got out of the bath, which resulted in a lot of medicinal liquid splashing all over Kurama. This instantly enraged Kurama, who disliked water.
"What are you being so fussy about!" Narutoignored Kurama's shouting, grabbed Kurama, and threw it into the wooden tub. "You haven't bathed in three days and don't even find yourself smelly. Some nerve for someone who claims to have lived for thousands of years!"
"This old man... glug glug... will definitely... glug glug... not let you off!"
...
The early morning passed amidst Naruto's Medicinal Bath and Kurama's struggle. After finishing the bath and giving Kurama a wash, Naruto got dressed, took the Ninja Tool Pouchgiven to him by the Old Butler at Hiruzen Sarutobi's residence, and headed toward the Training Ground in the Konoha Forest with Kurama.
The efficacy of the Medicinal Bath is not just to build a foundation for Naruto's body; the key is that it allows Naruto's body to possess terrifying strength while also maintaining flexibility. This is incomparable to the conventional training of ordinary Ninjas.
With the talkative old fox Kurama around, Narutowas learning more and more about the secrets of the Ninja World and gaining a deeper understanding of various Ninja methods.
Body flexibility is crucial for a Ninja; after all, the speed of forming Hand Seals is related to the flexibility of the fingers. Naruto's current practice mainly focused on palm techniques, which would inevitably cause his palms to age and stiffen prematurely.
But with the Medicinal Bath, Naruto no longer had this concern. This was much more useful than soaking hands in vinegar, allowing Naruto to practice the Eight Extremes Fist cultivation and various throwing methods for Shuriken and Kunaiwith full, unrestrained movements.
"Kurama, look at how many points my current throwing technique can get!"
Naruto threw out all the Shuriken in his hand. The three Shuriken suddenly collided halfway through their flight, then changed their trajectories one after another. After circling in a large arc, they accurately hit the back of the target.
Not only that, but the back of the target also had a bullseye printed on it. The three Shuriken that had changed their flight paths seemed to have eyes, all accurately hitting the center of the bullseye without error.
"Three points, not a bit more!" Kurama shook its single remaining tail with a look of disdain. "Your technique doesn't even count as the basics of Uchiha Style Throwing!"
"Oh, right, I forgot to remind you, the full score is one hundred!" The sharp-tongued Kurama was back online. It always took pleasure in putting Naruto down; it was one of the few entertainments in its boring daily routine...
"Who are you! Why are you stealing my throwing techniques!"
Just as Naruto was about to retort, a childish voice came through, its tone laced with arrogance.
"What a joke! I've been training at this Training Ground for a long time; how come I've never seen you?" Naruto wasn't going to indulge the newcomer's bad attitude. "Besides, you're the one sneakily watching me practice throwing techniques. Why don't you say your behavior is the act of stealing a teacher's secrets?!"
"A thief is a thief; even if you try to steal the knowledge, you can't learn the essence!" The person who accused Naruto of stealing walked out from the bushes behind him. "Being sharp-tongued won't clear you of being a thief, and a clumsy thief at that!"
After the newcomer walked up and stood in front of Naruto, Naruto finally took a close look at him. It had to be said, this guy with the foul mouth was actually quite good-looking.
A stern face paired with black hair and black eyes gave him a somewhat cold and aloof air. If he grew up a bit more, he would look exactly like a domineering CEO; this type of person was most popular with young girls.
Looking further down, he wore a well-fitting black Training Outfit properly. Although it looked similar to a standard training uniform, judging by the stitching on the fabric, this outfit was definitely handmade, fundamentally different from mass-produced ones. In that case, this guy's family background should be quite good.
The Ninja Tool Pouch strapped to his waist undoubtedly confirmed Naruto's judgment. A precious Ninja Tool Pouch made of crocodile skin was being worn openly by a child; if it wasn't a case of having more money than sense, then he was truly wealthy.
"Here!" Naruto pulled a handful of Shuriken from his Ninja Tool Pouch. "Let's see the truth through our skills. If you win, you can say whatever you want, but if you lose..."
"I won't lose!"
"Don't be so quick to deny it." Naruto shook his head. "There's always a 'what if' for everything. And besides, a bet without a prize is dull and lacks excitement!" Naruto had his eye on the Ninja Tool Pouch at the newcomer's waist. "If you lose, that Ninja Tool Pouch is mine. How about it? Do you want to bet?"
"Hmph!"
The arrogant kid with black hair and eyes didn't say much. He reached out and took the ShurikenNaruto handed over. After weighing them in his hand, he suddenly threw all the Shuriken at once!
The moment Naruto saw his throwing technique, he thought to himself that things were bad; this time he might just fail miserably in an easy task!
Sure enough, the six Shuriken collided with each other in the air and traced beautiful arcs, all accurately hitting the bullseye on the back of the target. Moreover, one of them took an even larger arc and hit the bullseye on the back of another target located further away.
"This..." Although Naruto had a premonition of the result, in the end, it still exceeded his expectations. "Hitting the bullseyes on the back of two different targets?"
"A thief is a thief; this time you should be thoroughly convinced!" The arrogant kid's nose was in the air. "From now on, this is my, Uchiha Sasuke's, Training Ground, and you, thief, don't come back!"
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