That evening, Naruto untied the ropes on his body and ended the weight training with Kurama-sensei.
Unfortunately, the grove didn't look any better than before.
Because he was dragging a load of six or seven hundred pounds behind him, Naruto had only managed to take one step the entire afternoon, not to mention cleaning up while dragging the weight.
Looking at the chaotic mess around him, Naruto realized he'd have to spend some time tonight tidying up properly.
'It's a pity that I haven't learned the Multiple Shadow Clone Technique yet, otherwise, it would only take minutes to clean things here.'
After resting for a few minutes, Naruto tossed out a portal and returned to the classroom.
At this time, Hinata was the only one left in the class. When she saw Naruto arrive, she perked up, looking a bit excited.
"N-Naruto-kun..."
Before she could finish her greeting, Naruto grabbed her hand and pulled her straight through the portal.
Then, she felt a blur before her eyes, and the scene before her changed from the classroom to the outdoors.
Seeing the broken trees, scattered stones, and all kinds of debris, Hinata looked at Naruto with admiration.
Everything around them spoke volumes about how hard he trained day in and day out.
"Naruto-kun, you work so hard…"
"I... I'm going to work hard at training too!"
Hinata finally managed to muster enough courage to say a full sentence all at once.
She wanted to keep up with Naruto, to grow stronger with him!
But then, she suddenly realized that her hand was still held by Naruto, and just like that, she turned into a steamy blushing mess again.
Fortunately, her tolerance had improved a lot. In the past, there was a high probability that she would faint directly.
Seeing the flustered look on Hinata's face, Naruto quickly let go of her hand.
Hearing her compliment, he scratched his head with an awkward grin.
"Hahaha... Actually it's not a big deal…"
He was indeed training hard, but he had almost taken down half the village in the process.
Just as Naruto was about to say something else, he noticed a familiar figure walking towards them.
Just by looking at the Uchiha Clan's signature spiky-haired head, Naruto knew that it was Sasuke.
He was holding a paper bag, and his expression seemed more normal than the vacant look he had before.
Hinata glanced at Sasuke, then back at Naruto beside her, and for some reason, she felt a little disappointed.
'I thought it was going to be just the two of us...'
Sasuke slowly walked up to Naruto, looking conflicted.
He then stuffed the paper bag into Naruto's arms without caring whether Naruto agreed or not.
"For you."
Glancing down at the contents of the bag, Naruto saw that they were apples.
'Was he… giving me a thank-you gift?'
"I couldn't find a golden apple in the village."
After giving it to Naruto, Sasuke added, as he was afraid that Naruto would look down on the apples he gave him.
When he ate the golden apple, he clearly felt that his mental state and injuries had recovered a lot, so he understood just how valuable it was.
Naruto grinned when he heard what Sasuke said, then he casually wiped an apple clean and handed it to Hinata, and tossed another to Sasuke.
Finally, he picked up an apple for himself and started eating.
Sasuke didn't stand on ceremony, and he just picked up the apple and started to eat it.
To be honest, this was Naruto's first time receiving a gift. Even though they were just plain old apples that could not compare to the items from his system, he still felt happy inside.
However, as he chewed, he noticed that Sasuke had that 'I want to say something but I don't know how' look.
'Can't his face hide anything?'
"You came to find me… is there something on your mind?"
Maybe because he was eating Sasuke's apples, Naruto's tone was not as aggressive as when he met Sasuke before.
Adding to the fact that he had beaten the crap out of Sasuke before... and now they were just sitting here together… he couldn't help feeling a bit awkward.
"Uzumaki Naruto, let's fight again."
"Huh?"
Naruto was stunned, totally not understanding why Sasuke said that.
'Even if you awaken your Sharingan, you still won't be able to beat me.'
'So are you here to get another beatdown?'
Even Hinata was looking at Naruto curiously now.
Because from the way Sasuke said it, it was obvious they'd fought before.
Hinata was incredibly curious just how strong Naruto really was.
"Are you serious?"
Naruto found that Sasuke was looking at him sincerely, and the arrogance he had when they first met was no longer there.
'It seems that the Uchiha Genocide really changed him…'
Naruto thought Sasuke had it rough. But as someone who came from a peaceful life in a past world, he couldn't fully understand just how much pain Sasuke had gone through.
Even after arriving in this world Naruto had barely gotten a glimpse of his parents before they passed away.
To say he had emotional attachment to them would be a stretch...
"Yes!"
"I want to see the difference between us."
"Alright."
Naruto quickly finished his apple, then brushed the dirt off his pants, and got up.
The two communicated briefly and to the point, and just in a few words, the two of them were already walking to the open field, facing each other.
Ever since the night of his clan genocide, Sasuke has calmed down and accepted the fact that he is weak, so that he can find his own shortcomings and make up for them.
And among his peers, he considered Naruto the strongest.
Well… also, Naruto was pretty much the only person he knew.
The two looked at each other, then simultaneously performed the Seal of Confrontation.
The moment their gazes met, Sasuke had already activated his Sharingan.
Naruto saw the single tomoe in one eye, and two tomoe in the other, and for a moment, he didn't know how to complain.
'So after all that trauma, you only awakened one more tomoe… and it's still just in your right eye?
'Wait!'
'I can't look at him in the eyes!'
After realizing that he couldn't look into the Sharingan directly, Naruto immediately turned his head away. Feeling that it was not safe enough, he even took out sunglasses from the system and put them on.
"Big Fox! Help me track his movements."
Kurama in the sealed space raised his eyelids and ignored him.
But Naruto knew that he agreed.
With sunglasses on, it was impossible for Sasuke to tell if Naruto's eyes were open or closed.
Naruto's plan was simple. He would rely on Kurama's voice to guide him in the fight, then once he got behind Sasuke, he would open his eyes and go for the kill.
When he saw Naruto wearing sunglasses, Sasuke was stunned for three seconds.
Because he found that his Sharingan's Genjutsu had no effect at all.
Sasuke stared at Naruto with his Sharingan and used Genjutsu five times in a row, but Naruto just stood there like nothing was happening. It didn't look like he was under a Genjutsu at all.
'Why is this happening?'
'Can sunglasses block Genjutsu?'
Sasuke suddenly felt like the world was a little too absurd.
Realizing that his Genjutsu had no effect, Sasuke immediately switched tactics. He waved his hands and threw out several shurikens and kunai at Naruto.
The Genjutsu is just the first step, and the projectiles are also used to probe Naruto's responses.
As soon as his Ninja Pouch was emptied, Sasuke started forming hand seals.
Naruto, who was not far away, twitched his ears slightly. He could already hear the sound of weapons slicing through the air. He didn't need Kurama's reminder to know that Sasuke had thrown projectiles to attack him.
This time...
He was not going to take out the iron gate and try to block it like he did before.
Instead, Naruto tossed out three portals in front of him. Purple light cocoon appeared and instantly wrapped around his body. The projectiles Sasuke had thrown then disappeared into the portals without a trace.
That purple glow reflected off Sasuke and Hinata's faces under the evening sun, leaving both of them wide-eyed in shock.
"A-amazing…"
Hinata covered her mouth and kept exclaiming softly.
She hadn't expected Naruto's ability could be used like that.
Meanwhile, Sasuke was shocked and his pupils dilated, as he instantly realized that something was wrong.