Chapter 95: Naruto's Ideological Crisis
"Splash!" A muddy Water Dragon surged into the sky!
"Boom!" The muddy Water Dragon suddenly fell from the clouds into the jungle.
"Now's the chance!" Naruto roared, swinging his arms as he swiftly and continuously threw the Shuriken and Kunai he was carrying.
"You're going to lose!" Uchiha Sasuke, refusing to be outdone, used the same technique and throwing speed as Naruto, rapidly depleting his limited supply.
"Thud, thud, thud, thud!" The Shuriken and Kunaikept piercing through the trash kicked up by the Water Dragon. Before they could fall back into the water, he used the kinetic energy of the Shurikenand Kunai to pin the trash onto the bank.
A moment later, besides the ninja sword strapped to their waists, all of Naruto and Uchiha Sasuke's ammunition was exhausted, and the winner would be revealed in the next moment.
"Uh... Naruto wins!" Sakura Haruno came running back from afar, holding her nose, and immediately announced the news of Uchiha Sasuke's defeat.
"That's impossible!" Uchiha Sasuke immediately denied the result. "We had the exact same number of Shuriken and Kunai. At the very worst, it should be a draw. How could I lose!"
Uchiha Sasuke was very confident in himself; not a single Shuriken or Kunai he threw had missed. In that case, the final result should have been a draw.
"But..." Sakura Haruno also admitted that Narutowas excellent, but her heart was set on Uchiha Sasuke. Although there were signs of unrequited love, her bias was clear.
Although Sakura Haruno didn't want to announce the result, after hesitating for a while, she still stated the reason that dealt a heavy blow to Uchiha Sasuke.
"The Shuriken and Kunai that Naruto threw were basically hitting two targets at once, and some were even hitting three or four! Because of that, Naruto cleared out three times as much trash as you did, Sasuke!"
"How did you do that?!" Uchiha Sasuke couldn't believe it. He had activated his Sharingan while throwing. He really hadn't expected that even with such a cheat... he would still lose to Naruto in the end!
"Because I also have the Sharingan, and it's a Sharingan that's about to evolve into the Eternal Mangekyo Sharingan!" Naruto naturally knew what Uchiha Sasuke was thinking. After revealing the answer in his mind, he looked calmly at Uchiha Sasuke. "Go fulfill the bet!"
"This... I... Hmph!" Uchiha Sasuke stammered for a long time, but he couldn't bring himself to back out of the deal to his Face. With a cold snort, Uchiha Sasuke held his nose and went to the riverbank to pick up the Shuriken and Kunai pinned to the various trash...
"Again!" A while later, Uchiha Sasuke, his pant legs covered in dirt, handed the separated and filthy Shuriken and Kunai to Naruto. "This time, I will absolutely not lose again!"
"You just never learn." Naruto was a bit speechless. He didn't understand what kept Uchiha Sasuke so full of confidence time and time again despite suffering so many blows, only to be slapped in the Face over and over...
"Come on, come on. Maybe you'll get used to losing eventually."
Seeing that Naruto had agreed, Uchiha Sasuketurned his head to look at Sakura Haruno, who was acting like a lovesick fan on the sidelines, signaling her to cast another Water Dragon Bullet Technique.
"Uh... I'm out of Chakra..." Sakura Haruno came back to her senses and smiled awkwardly. Afterward, under Uchiha Sasuke's "death stare," she sat cross-legged on the spot to refine her Chakra.
"Are you finished?" Kakashi Hatake looked at the three of them, who looked like mud monkeys, and waved his hand in front of his nose with some disgust. Even so, his gaze didn't move from the contents of his little book, not even for a fraction of a second.
"Change your clothes, and wash up while you're at it. After handing in the mission, today's training ends here..."
"Huh?!" Sakura Haruno looked incredulous. "This counts as training?! Kakashi-sensei hasn't done anything at all!"
"You are too excellent and young, and your teacher is old... I have nothing left to teach you regarding D-rank missions..."
"Damn it, that line again!"
"Ah... I have a premonition that an old lady is about to cross the street. I have to go help her!" Kakashi Hatake slipped away quickly, and his excuse was also very strong. As the Body Flicker Techniquewas cast by Kakashi Hatake, he disappeared in front of the three of them in the blink of an eye.
"Getting stuck with a teacher like this is our blessing," Naruto said, full of complaints. "At the very least, we have freedom, and our future life should be very peaceful!"
"Buried in the dirt, then sprouting?" Uchiha Sasukemade a rare sarcastic remark, then walked away without looking back. The things he was hiding in his heart were definitely no fewer than Naruto's.
"Hey! Handing in the mission is up to you, Sakura!" Seeing Uchiha Sasuke leave first, Naruto also planned to head home. "Practice the Water Dragon Bullet Technique well. Once you're proficient in a while, I'll teach you how to simplify it!"
Sakura Haruno was still full of resentment over Naruto's first sentence, but upon hearing the latter part, she immediately beamed. She waved at Naruto and walked in the opposite direction of the two.
"Little Nine-Tails, I can't wait anymore!" As soon as Naruto returned home and activated the SealFormation he had meticulously set up, he immediately seemed like a different person. His Face visibly darkened, and he yanked off the Little Nine-Tails, which had transformed into a ninja tool pouch and was attached to his body, and held it up in front of him.
"The changes in my body are becoming more and more obvious, but my subconscious is interfering with me more and more severely!"
Usually, no matter what Naruto did, it was as if there were two different subconscious minds in his brain—one telling him to go east, and the other telling him to go west.
Naruto was very confused. What he was doing now felt like a split personality; he clearly didn't want to do it, but after doing it, he felt it was only natural, as if he were born to do it that way.
"This... I... can't help you!" After a moment of panic, Little Nine-Tails quickly calmed down, and the expression on its beast Face became solemn. "I advise you not to do anything reckless. You currently cannot resist the abnormality within your body at all."
"I am who I am!" The Shuriken-patterned markings in Naruto's eyes rapidly took shape. "I only follow my own thoughts. Anyone or anything that attempts to interfere with me must be stopped!"
"Then don't ask me; just make up your own mind." After saying that, Little Nine-Tails seemed to become mute. It allowed Naruto to grab the soft flesh on its neck without resisting, and the two just remained in a stalemate.
"Forget it..." Naruto tossed Little Nine-Tails aside. "Since you have secrets you can't tell, I won't force you. Let it be..."
Naruto had always felt that his relationship with Little Nine-Tails was very good; after all, they prospered together and suffered together. It wouldn't be an exaggeration to say they were two lives in one.
But now... better not to say anything!
"Only when I activate the Mangekyo Sharingan do my thoughts temporarily return to how they were before. Is the change in my beliefs because of the Sharingan, or because my body is about to evolve into a Sage Body?"
Naruto thought of two possibilities, but behind these two possibilities, it seemed as if a fog was shrouding everything. Even if Naruto wanted to continue investigating, it would take a long time.
"But I can't wait!"
With the deepening of his own mental changes, Naruto understood that if he dragged it out any longer, only one result awaited him: he would still be him, but in the end, he would no longer be himself...
Although it was a bit convoluted, the fact was just that. If his thoughts had changed, then the Narutoof the future would not be the Naruto of the present...