Sasuke's words were a bit grating.
Although he wasn't being weird and sarcastic, they were very uncomfortable to hear.
Jokichi frowned slightly, then smoothed it out, as if he hadn't heard anything.
Sakura stood there, somewhat embarrassed.
She liked Sasuke very much, but his words were clearly belittling them.
If it were just her, she wouldn't think much of it.
Because she was naturally inferior to Sasuke, whether in terms of strength or talent.
But Sasuke's words included the entirety of Team 7.
Especially Jokichi; back in the academy, he completely crushed Sasuke in all aspects.
And Sasuke saying such things at this time felt like a deliberate provocation...
On one side were her teammates, on the other was the person she liked.
For a moment, Sakura was somewhat at a loss.
However, Jokichi's personality was easygoing and he didn't want to cause trouble, and Sakura didn't say anything due to various concerns, but Naruto was a simpleton.
Upon hearing Sasuke's seemingly provocative words, he immediately questioned in displeasure, "Who are you saying has a talent gap with you?"
Sasuke glanced at Naruto, ignored him, and turned his gaze to Jokichi.
His earlier words were indeed a provocation.
But the provocation wasn't directed at Sakura and Naruto, it was aimed at Jokichi.
Back then, in the Ninja Academy, Jokichi had constantly suppressed him.
He was very unconvinced and kept training hard, wanting to surpass Jokichi to prove to the world that what Itachi could do (being number one in the academy), he could also do, and even do better.
However, no matter how hard he trained, the gap between them not only didn't narrow, it actually grew larger.
After that grade assessment three years ago, the academy suggested early graduation to Sasuke.
He thought of Jokichi at that time.
If he, the second in the grade, could receive the academy's suggestion for early graduation, then the number one, Jokichi, must have received it too!
If the other party graduated early while he continued to attend the academy, the gap between them would be pulled even wider.
After all, the things taught by the academy were no longer helpful to them at that time.
Only by training in the mission life of a ninja and wandering between life and death could one achieve greater progress.
Thus, Sasuke accepted the academy's suggestion and graduated early.
However, when he took the graduation exam with the previous batch of students, he didn't see Jokichi.
That guy didn't graduate early as he had expected.
Why?
Sasuke was astounded upon receiving this news.
The academy clearly couldn't teach them anything anymore; he didn't understand why Jokichi hadn't graduated early.
Was he afraid of death?
Afraid of the dangerous life after becoming a ninja?
Thinking it over and over, Sasuke could only come up with this answer.
Instantly, Sasuke, who had originally regarded Jokichi as his biggest rival, felt disdain toward him.
A guy who was even afraid of danger, no matter how good his talent or how high his grades in school were, would most likely die on a mission once he became a true ninja.
A person without resolve cannot become a ninja.
However, no matter how much disdain Sasuke felt toward Jokichi, it couldn't change the fact that Jokichi was the number one in the Ninja Academy.
And he, Uchiha Sasuke, the son of the Uchiha clan head and the younger brother of the genius Itachi, was only second place, constantly suppressed by someone.
But it just so happened that he had graduated early, forever losing the chance to prove he was stronger than him, and he hadn't achieved early graduation as the grade's number one like Itachi had.
He would also be misunderstood by others as graduating early because he didn't dare to compete with Jokichi.
How could he forgive such a thing!
If the other party were a person with profound resolve, a true genius.
Even if he lost, Sasuke would certainly feel unconvinced, but he would only think about working hard to catch up.
But as it turned out, it was a guy who was even afraid of a ninja's life.
Being suppressed by such a guy was simply a disgrace.
Although Sasuke didn't go out of his way to the Ninja Academy to cause trouble for Jokichi, he had always held a grudge over this matter.
At this moment, encountering him by chance, he couldn't help but speak words of provocation.
He hoped Jokichi would be unable to hold back and attack him; then he could strike back legitimately, proving to the world that temporary strength is nothing, and only the one who continues to be strong is a true genius.
He, Uchiha Sasuke, was absolutely no worse than Sakakura Jokichi.
Unfortunately, Jokichi turned a blind eye to his provocation, just as he used to in school.
If it were in the past, Sasuke would consider this behavior of Jokichi's as magnanimity, but now, he only felt Jokichi was cowardly and afraid of trouble, just like when he didn't dare to graduate early back then.
"Hey, what do you mean, you bastard Sasuke?"
Seeing Sasuke completely ignore him, Naruto was truly furious.
He rushed up the riverbank in a few vigorous strides, stood in front of Sasuke, and glared at him fiercely, "What exactly do you mean? Are you looking down on me?"
The distance between the two was very close, and they could feel each other's breathing.
Sasuke looked at the furious Naruto, frowned slightly, then smoothed it out and deliberately provoked, "Why should an eternal dead-last be respected by anyone?"
"What did you say?"
"I have learned a very important thing during my life as a ninja, and that is, the weaker a guy is, the more they like to clamor."
"You bastard!"
Naruto was overwhelmed with rage, and instinctively threw a punch straight at Sasuke's face.
Sasuke snorted coldly with contempt, tilted his body slightly, stuck out his lower leg for a light trip, causing Naruto to lose his balance and stumble past him.
And without even turning his head, he simply reached out his left hand and gave a light push on the basket on Naruto's back.
Naruto, who had already lost his balance, instantly failed to stand firm and fell from the edge into the river.
Sasuke looked provocatively at Jokichi again.
And Jokichi's brows furrowed.
Although he didn't want to cause trouble, it didn't mean he was afraid of it. If he didn't respond to such provocation from Sasuke, it would only invite more trouble in the future.
Because people get bullied if they are too nice.
But, just as he was about to ask Sasuke what exactly he meant, Naruto popped his head out of the river.
He wasn't injured, but he was soaking wet, and all the trash in the basket had spilled out.
"You bastard, do you think you're the only one who got stronger?"
Naruto formed hand seals with both hands.
"Shadow Clone Jutsu."
Poof, poof, poof...
Accompanied by puffs of smoke rising, a total of eight Narutos clamored and charged toward Sasuke.
Eight, and they aren't illusions, but real bodies?
Sakura covered her mouth in surprise.
And Sasuke recognized at a glance that this was the Shadow Clone Jutsu, so he was slightly astonished.
The Shadow Clone Jutsu, that was a jutsu even among Jonin only a portion of people could learn.
He didn't expect the guy who had always been the dead-last in school to have learned such a high-level jutsu.
You've grown too, Naruto.
Sasuke felt a bit of emotion, but that was it.
From the disorganized attack routes of Naruto's shadow clones, it could be seen that his progress was entirely not worth mentioning compared to his own progress.
The gap between us will grow larger and larger in the future.
The corners of Sasuke's mouth curled up slightly, and with his hands in his pockets, he slowly walked toward Naruto's shadow clones.
Dodging, counterattacking...
Sasuke's dodging movements were minimal, tilting left and leaning right, narrowly avoiding Naruto's attacks every time.
His attacks were also very simple, throwing punches and kicking, the range of motion wasn't large, but he hit Naruto every time. One punch destroyed one Naruto, and one kick eliminated another Naruto.
The whole set of movements flowed like water, as if he were taking a leisurely stroll through a crowd.