novelhk Page 8
Page 8
Madara ignored it and looked through the sealed space at Naruto outside.
"...a troublesome little brat."
His voice was so soft, almost inaudible.
Outside the window, the moonlight still gently enveloped Konoha.
Chapter 9 Uchiha Sasuke
Spring goes and autumn comes; a year has passed in the blink of an eye.
On this day, chalk dust floated in the sunlight in the classrooms of the Konoha Ninja Academy.
Teacher Iruka stood on the podium, holding an almost blank test paper in his hand, the veins on his forehead throbbing.
"Naruto Uzumaki!"
His roar made the windowpanes rattle, "This is the sixth time you've gotten a zero on your theory exam this semester!"
"Hahaha!"
The classroom erupted in laughter.
Sakura covered her mouth and chuckled, Ino pointed at Naruto without any politeness, and even the usually shy Hinata couldn't help but blush.
Sasuke merely snorted coldly, continuing to flip through the ninjutsu scroll in his hand without even raising his head.
"What does it matter!" Naruto casually picked at his ear. "Anyway, I got first place in practical combat! I even beat up all the upperclassmen last week!"
"Even the best practical training is useless!"
Iruka slammed his fist on the table in anger. "The most important thing for a ninja is to combine theory with practice! From today onwards, you'll sit with Sasuke and let him teach you properly!"
"What?!"
Naruto jumped up abruptly, pointing at the black-haired boy in the front row, "I don't want to sit with that arrogant Sasuke!"
Sasuke then raised his head, his dark eyes coldly sweeping over him: "I'll return that to you verbatim, you loser."
Their gazes met in mid-air, and you could almost hear the crackling of sparks.
Seeing the two of them like this, Nine-Tails yawned lazily: "Here we go again. These two brats are giving me a headache."
Madara lay on Kurama's head with his hands behind his head, watching Sasuke through Naruto's eyes.
For some reason, that arrogant brat reminded him of some distant memories.
"Hmph." He snorted softly, his tone carrying an indescribable complex emotion.
Soon after, Naruto dragged his chair over to Sasuke and deliberately slammed it against the table and chair, making a loud banging noise.
Sasuke didn't even lift an eyelid, but simply moved his things to the other side without making a sound.
"Hey, move over there a bit!" Naruto nudged Sasuke with his elbow.
"Touch me again and I'll break your hand." Sasuke's voice was as cold as ice.
"Come on! Who's afraid of who!"
Iruka coughed loudly: "Naruto! Turn to page 35 of your textbook. Today we'll learn about chakra usage."
The next half hour was a disaster.
Whenever Iruka asked a question, Sasuke could answer fluently, while Naruto would either scratch his head or give a nonsensical answer.
What's even more infuriating is that every time he answered incorrectly, Sasuke would let out a contemptuous sneer.
"Chakra is divided into five natures, idiot."
While Iruka turned to write on the blackboard, Sasuke lowered his voice and mocked, "You don't even know this? What kind of ninja are you?"
Naruto's face flushed red: "Don't look down on me! I... I just..."
"Is your mind just filled with ramen?" Sasuke smirked, a smile that made him look even more irritating.
Just as Naruto was about to pounce, Madara's voice suddenly rang in his mind: "Naruto, he's right. Chakra is indeed divided into five basic properties: fire, wind, lightning, earth, and water."
"Dad?!" Naruto almost cried out in surprise, then asked, on the verge of tears, "Why are you taking his side?"
“It’s not about helping him,” Ban’s voice carried its usual arrogance, “it’s just that I can’t stand seeing my son not even know this basic knowledge.”
During the afternoon's practical training session, Iruka announced a surprising pairing: "Today we'll be practicing two-on-two battles! Naruto and Sasuke will be in one team, against Shikamaru and Kiba!"
"Are you kidding me!"
Naruto was the first to jump up and protest, "I don't want to be in a group with that arrogant Sasuke!"
Sasuke replied coldly, "I'm enough on my own; I don't need anyone to hold me back."
Iruka grinned slyly. "This is an order. If you refuse to cooperate, you'll all have to clean toilets for a month."
The two of them immediately deflated.
"ready, go!"
As soon as Iruka's whistle fell, Naruto rushed out with a "whoosh," his fist aimed straight at Shikamaru's face.
Shikamaru sighed, lazily dodging to the side: "What a nuisance..."
At the same time, Sasuke moved too—but instead of charging at the enemy, he kicked Naruto in the back: "Get out of my way, you loser!"
Naruto stumbled and missed, almost getting a mouthful of mud.
He turned his head angrily: "You arrogant Sasuke! What are you doing?!"
Sasuke sneered, "You're getting in my way."
Kiba seized the opportunity to launch a surprise attack, and Akamaru leaped from his shoulder: "Beast Mimicry Ninjutsu: Beastman Clone!"
Two "fangs" lunged at Naruto from the left and right, their sharp claws aimed straight for his throat.
Naruto jumped back in a panic, but bumped into Sasuke's back.
The two lost their balance at the same time and rolled around in a mess.
The next attack, Tooth-to-Tooth, struck both of them directly, sending them flying backward amidst the smoke and dust of the explosion.
"Idiot! Watch where you're going!" Sasuke roared.
"You were the one who suddenly stopped!" Naruto grinned.
The students watching burst into laughter.
Sakura covered her face: "These two idiots..."
Meanwhile, inside the sealed space, the Nine-Tails laughed so hard it rolled around: "Hahaha! This is the 'genius Uchiha' you were talking about? He can't even dodge a mere pup!"
Ban's temples bulged with veins: "...Shut up."
At that moment, on the playground, taking advantage of Naruto and Sasuke's infighting, Shikamaru quickly formed hand seals: "Shadow Imitation Technique!"
The dark shadows spread rapidly along the ground, about to wrap around Naruto's ankles.
"Art fire escape ho fireball!"
Sasuke suddenly turned around and unleashed a burst of flames, forcing Shikamaru to interrupt his technique and jump back.
"Hmph, he's not entirely useless." Sasuke glanced at Naruto.
"Who asked you to save me!" Naruto jumped up, forming hand seals. "Watch this! Fire Release..."
"Tooth tooth!"
However, before Naruto could use his ninjutsu, two whirlwind-like black shadows suddenly attacked!
Not only did it interrupt Naruto's spellcasting, but it also sent Naruto flying with the shockwave.
Sasuke tried to intercept with shuriken, but Shikamaru anticipated it: "Your actions are too easy to see through."
Three shuriken were planted at Sasuke's landing spot, forcing him to change direction abruptly—which resulted in him running right into Naruto.
The two men collided forehead to forehead, fell to the ground seeing stars.
"Ouch... Is your head made of iron?!" Naruto groaned, clutching his forehead.
Sasuke gritted his teeth: "You idiot, you're the one who wasn't watching where you were going..."
On the sidelines, Iruka facepalmed: "This is simply the worst teamwork in history..."
Seeing this one-sided battle, Ya was brimming with confidence. He was certain that he could defeat these two geniuses!
They then joined forces with Akamaru to launch another attack: "Fang Tong Fang!"
A massive whirlwind blade hurtled towards them, while Shikamaru's shadow simultaneously blocked their escape route.
Seeing that there was no way to avoid it—
"Sasuke!" Naruto suddenly shouted.
"Don't order me around!" Sasuke said with disdain, but his body moved instinctively.
Naruto suddenly crouched down, and Sasuke stepped on his shoulders to leap into the air, unleashing a torrent of shuriken!
"What?!" Shikamaru hurriedly manipulated his shadow to defend, but then Naruto suddenly formed hand seals: "Wind Release: Great Breakthrough!"
The shuriken spun rapidly in the gale, its trajectory becoming completely unpredictable!
The tooth's "tooth-through-tooth" technique was directly shattered, and Shikamaru had no choice but to abandon his shadow technique to evade it.
"Fire Release: Phoenix Immortal Fire Technique!"
Sasuke changed his technique in mid-air, and dozens of small fireballs spread with the wind, turning the entire training ground into a net of fire!
Looking at the situation around him, Shikamaru broke out in a cold sweat. "They... they actually cooperated like this?!"
At the last moment, Naruto suddenly rushed to Sasuke's feet, clasped his hands together, and shouted, "Come up!"
Without hesitation, Sasuke stepped on his hand, using the momentum to leap high into the air—
"Art fire escape ho fireball!"
"Wind Release: Gale Wind Palm!"
Wind and fire intertwined to form a roaring blaze, like a crimson dragon charging towards Shikamaru and his companion.
With no way to dodge, Shikamaru could only watch helplessly as the fire dragon flew towards him, a wry smile on his face: "What a nuisance!"