Whoosh whoosh whoosh—
Three purple portals suddenly opened up around Sasuke, and the ninja tools he had just thrown came flying back at him.
The sudden development made Sasuke immediately cancel his Fire Release jutsu.
Because he understood one thing clearly...
If Naruto could redirect his thrown weapons, he could definitely do the same with his ninjutsu!
'Damn it!'
'How did this guy become so strong?'
Before coming here, Sasuke had held onto a sliver of hope, but seeing Naruto's mastery of this technique made despair rise within him.
Fortunately, Sasuke had only thrown about twenty shurikens and kunai. His Sharingan spun rapidly, and in that moment, his dynamic vision kicked in to its fullest extent.
To Sasuke, the trajectories of the shurikens and kunai turned into crisscrossing lines, and he could see every single point of impact.
'Got it!'
His heart leaped with joy. Sasuke rolled several times, dodging the incoming projectiles with a few agile flips and side steps. He looked as though he was dancing through a forest of thorns.
However, Naruto had a different opinion— "All flash, no substance."
Another space portal opened, once again in Sasuke's blind spot.
Just after dodging the attack, Sasuke felt a chill down his spine. Instinctively, he ducked, barely evading a side kick from Naruto.
"Not bad, you've got sharp instincts," Naruto remarked, slightly impressed that Sasuke had dodged his attack.
Although he didn't want to admit it, Sasuke's reaction time was faster than his own. Perhaps this was the enhancement granted by the Sharingan.
During their first fight, Sasuke couldn't even avoid a surprise attack from Naruto.
But Naruto only felt mild surprise.
When it came to taijutsu, he had never been one to back down. In fact, Naruto had absolute confidence in his physical skills.
Maybe his taijutsu was ordinary...
But he was definitely someone willing to outlast his opponent in a contest of endurance.
Naruto had already decided that if he ever faced a ninja he couldn't defeat, he would just trade blows, slashing at each other with kunai.
One stab for me, one stab for you...
Naruto was a thousand percent sure that in the end, he would be the one left standing.
Thud!
Sasuke swung his shoulder, delivering a strong punch aimed at Naruto's left cheek.
Though Naruto reacted slower, he still had time to block the punch.
Not only did he block it, but he also grabbed Sasuke's wrist and pulled him in closer.
Losing control of his body, Sasuke instinctively tried to knee Naruto.
Thus, their battle quickly turned into a turn-based fight.
Naruto, holding Sasuke's hand with one arm, started pummeling him with punches while Sasuke retaliated by kneeing Naruto's stomach.
After three exchanges, Naruto remained unscathed, his punches only speeding up.
If not for wanting to save Sasuke some face, Naruto would've sarcastically asked if Sasuke had skipped lunch. The kicks barely even tickled him.
By now, Sasuke's face was swelling into a bruised mess, and his mind was fuzzy. His movements slowed until they stopped completely.
In a daze, Sasuke felt like he was reliving the first time Naruto had pinned him to the ground and beaten him senseless.
This moment was exactly the same as back then.
With Naruto's final punch, Sasuke lost consciousness and crumpled to the ground.
Even in the last moments of consciousness, Sasuke couldn't understand why his powerful attacks seemed to have no effect on Naruto.
Hinata, who had witnessed the entire battle, was left wide-eyed, her mouth agape in astonishment.
Especially at Naruto's purple jutsu—at first, she had thought it was just an ordinary teleportation technique for fast travel.
But when she saw him redirect Sasuke's attacks, Hinata finally realized how terrifying this ability truly was.
And Naruto's taijutsu...
She didn't even know how to describe it, but it was undeniably strong.
During the fight, Hinata couldn't help but imagine herself in Sasuke's place.
And she quickly realized that if she were to engage Naruto in close combat, she wouldn't stand a chance. The outcome would likely be just as disastrous as Sasuke's.
However, Hinata felt that if she were the one sparring with Naruto, he'd surely go easy on her and wouldn't beat her up as badly as he did Sasuke.
Her main concern now, though, was whether Naruto had been hurt during the fight.
"Naruto-kun..."
Hinata ran over to Naruto, circling him to check for any injuries. Once she confirmed that he was unharmed, she finally relaxed.
"I'm fine," Naruto said, thumping his chest confidently.
If his and Sasuke's health bars were measured in numbers, Sasuke's attacks wouldn't even keep up with Naruto's passive regeneration.
Meanwhile, a couple of basic punches from Naruto had already drained Sasuke's entire health bar.
There was no comparison at all.
Looking at Sasuke's unconscious form on the ground, Naruto reached into his system space and pulled out a bottle of healing potion. Grabbing Sasuke's face, he forced the liquid down his throat.
Cough, cough, cough—
Sasuke suddenly started coughing violently, his body spasming like a spring-loaded toy. His facial injuries healed rapidly before Hinata's astonished eyes.
"It's... incredible!"
"Naruto-kun, I won't tell anyone!" Hinata quickly added, realizing that the potion was a rare and valuable item in the ninja world, something that could heal injuries so quickly.
Her earnest expression warmed Naruto's heart, and he reached out to ruffle her hair. Silently, he thought about how many kids he wanted in the future.
"Eep..."
Hinata blushed again, shyly tilting her head. She looked like she was about to faint.
"Wait! Don't faint on me!" Naruto panicked. There was still an unconscious Sasuke on the ground, and with the sun setting, if Hinata passed out now, she probably wouldn't wake up for a while...
If the Hyuga clan found them, wouldn't Hiashi hit him with a Rotation out of pure rage?
"I... I'm okay," Hinata murmured, biting her lip to stay awake. Her determined expression only made Naruto want to pat her on the head even more.
Sasuke, who had just regained consciousness, sat up and watched the odd interaction between the two, his face expressionless.
He touched his cheek and realized that the pain from earlier was completely gone.
His first thought upon waking was that it had all been a dream.
But seeing Naruto and Hinata standing nearby, Sasuke knew it wasn't.
How had his injuries healed?
After rolling up his sleeves and checking several times, Sasuke confirmed that there wasn't a single scratch left on his body—not even the scars from that night.
He couldn't figure it out, and after pondering for a long time, Sasuke finally broke the silence, interrupting Naruto and Hinata's conversation.
"My injuries... how did you heal them?"
Sasuke vaguely remembered being forced to drink something before waking up. Whatever it was, it tasted sweet and refreshing—better than any soda he'd had in the village.
As Sasuke glanced at the apple Naruto had given him earlier, he recalled the golden apple.
Whatever Naruto had given him this time seemed far more potent than the golden apple. It was certainly more precious.
Realizing this, Sasuke began to feel that his question had been a bit too forward.
It wasn't polite to pry into another person's secrets.
"Sorry, I spoke out of turn."
"The fight's over, I'll take Hinata home first. You head back on your own," Naruto said, glancing at the sky, which was already darkening. If he didn't get Hinata home soon, he feared the entire Hyuga clan would come after him.
And he had no confidence that the Third Hokage would take his side in that situation.
Naruto opened up a space portal and was about to pull Hinata through when Sasuke called out to him.
"Wait..."
"Can I train with you?"
There was a hint of pleading in Sasuke's voice.
"I'll do anything... as long as I can get stronger!"
﹌﹌﹌﹌﹌
Support the Translation! 🌐✨
20 Advanced Chapters are currently available in Patreon, make sure to visit and support our team.
patreon.com/Immortal_author
https://ko-fi.com/immortalauthor
https://discord.gg/KscfBegBPT