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For nearly a month, Sasuke didn't show up in class.
Just when all the girls had given up hope, Sasuke suddenly reappeared in the classroom.
This caused the girls to be overjoyed, one after another surrounding Sasuke, expressing their worries and concerns.
"These girls are really crazy, all of them." Shikamaru said, lying on his desk, watching the scene with sweat dripping from his forehead.
"Yeah." Natsuro nodded in agreement and then added, "But after what Sasuke has been through, it's impressive that he can deal with such harassment. He's both pitiful and strong..."
Shikamaru was taken aback for a moment, then began to think. When he put himself in Sasuke's shoes, he realized that, even after resting for a month, the news of his clan's annihilation would be incredibly difficult to get over.
He must be in turmoil, and to deal with all of that harassment without losing his temper and only gripping his hands tightly in front of him without snapping—it's already quite commendable.
Even if Shikamaru were in the same situation, he's unsure if he could resist telling everyone to leave immediately. Yelling at everyone would be normal.
As Shikamaru pondered, he also reviewed his thoughts, identifying flaws in his thinking and seeking to improve, hoping to think more comprehensively in the future.
"Bang!"
However, Shikamaru's train of thought was interrupted by a loud noise. Looking over, it came from Sasuke's side.
Shikamaru sighed inwardly; as expected, he couldn't hold it in any longer, huh?
Natsuro's gaze also shifted from the scroll in his hand to Sasuke, who had just slammed his hands on the desk and stood up.
Like Shikamaru, he thought Sasuke must have reached his limit.
Then, he saw...
After slamming his hands on the desk, Sasuke startled the nearby girls. Seeing Sasuke leave his seat, they dared not block his way, quickly making room.
However, this path didn't lead to the classroom door—it led to the back of the classroom.
Natsuro realized that Sasuke seemed to be heading toward him! This discovery left him puzzled. Why was Sasuke coming to him?
In no time, Sasuke stood before him, the two locking eyes.
In Sasuke's equally dark eyes, he saw confusion, as if asking what Sasuke wanted, while Sasuke's eyes were filled with a desire for destruction.
This scene made the surrounding people tense up, as it looked like a fight was about to break out. Both individuals were particularly popular in the class, and the thought of either getting hurt didn't sit well with anyone.
"Is there something you need, Sasuke?" he asked, somewhat curious about why Sasuke was approaching him now.
"Come outside with me," Sasuke said in a low voice, then turned and walked out of the classroom.
Natsuro almost blurted out, "Why should I go with you?" But after thinking it over, his curiosity about what Sasuke wanted after his clan's annihilation got the better of him, so he stood up and followed.
On the way, as they passed by Ino's seat, he noticed her worried expression. He smiled reassuringly at her, indicating that everything would be fine.
Soon, Sasuke brought him to a slightly secluded spot and stopped.
"So, Sasuke, what do you want from me?" Natsuro asked again.
"Fight me. I must defeat you!" Sasuke turned around, staring intently at him. He was determined to take revenge; every night for the past days, he'd been tormented by nightmares of that night.
Revenge, he needed to take revenge! He had to avenge his clan!
But how could he, as weak as he was, possibly take revenge? He couldn't even claim the top spot in his class! So, Sasuke set his sights on Natsuro. If he wanted revenge, he first had to defeat the top student! If he couldn't even beat him, how could he hope to exact his revenge?
Natsuro was momentarily stunned, trying to figure out why Sasuke suddenly wanted to defeat him. They had only ever talked about it in the context of exams before, so why was Sasuke now pushing for a physical confrontation?
Then, he considered Sasuke's current mental state—likely focused entirely on revenge. As the top student in the class, he might have figured it out.
Thinking along these lines, he wondered if Sasuke saw him as the first step in his quest for revenge.
"It's possible, but not now." Natsuro replied after some thought, curious about Sasuke's current level.
"Why not?" Sasuke continued to stare intently at him.
"I can't show my full strength right now. Let's meet here after school, and we can have our fight then. How about that?"He suggested after some thought.
He was currently using a shadow clone, and to allocate more chakra for training, he extracted just enough chakra to sustain the clone for studying.
If hedared to fight Sasuke here and now, his shadow clone would dispel itself after a short while.
So, the battle had to wait.
"Fine." Although he didn't fully understand, Sasuke agreed. After all, if he wanted to defeat his opponent, it had to be when his opponent was at full strength. Taking advantage of a weakened state wouldn't be fair.
After school, Natsuro told Ino to go home without him, as he had some matters to attend to. Although Ino was a bit disappointed, she agreed. He then went to the place where he and Sasuke had agreed to meet.
"Can we start now?" Sasuke asked, staring at him.
Natsuro nodded, looking at Sasuke with a bit of admiration. When the shadow clone relayed the message to him, he realized Sasuke was pretty remarkable. Even in his current state, he could control himself and agree to postpone the fight instead of attacking impulsively. Not everyone could do that in his situation.
So, Indra and Ashura...
Sasuke's eyes lit up, and he initiated the attack.
A short while later, Sasuke was drenched in sweat, his eyes filled with disbelief.
All his attacks had been effortlessly blocked by him, who didn't even need to attack back; otherwise, Sasuke would've already lost.
Natsuro watched Sasuke with interest. Although Sasuke was one of the future powerhouses, at this stage, Sasuke was still someone he could toy with. Why not take advantage of this while he still could?
As he entertained the thought, he noticed Sasuke gritting his teeth and reaching into his ninja tool pouch, causing his expression to change.
They were only first-year students, and they hadn't even been taught how to fight properly, let alone with ninja tools. While Natsuro had nothing to fear, Sasuke's decision to use ninja tools in a match that shouldn't require them—and without Iruka watching—changed the nature of their fight.
This move meant that if it were someone else, someone careless, Sasuke could seriously hurt them, and with a bit of bad luck...
In short, from this moment on, the nature of their battle had changed!
As for Sasuke, he absolutely refused to acknowledge that the gap between him and Natsuro could be this vast. He had already stopped caring about anything else; he just wanted to win. His hand had already grasped a shuriken.
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