Chapter 180: A Way to Communicate
"Satsuki..."
Naruto's call made Satsuki's body, which had been facing away from him, stiffen slightly. She instinctively wanted to open her mouth to respond, or say something to break this heart-pounding silence...
But all those "confession" methods she'd rehearsed in her mind—passionate ones, tsundere ones, even threatening ones—flashed through one by one, yet none gave her the courage to speak them aloud! They were all too embarrassing!
In the end, facing Naruto's call, all Satsuki could do was close her eyes even more forcefully, burying her face that was already red enough to drip blood even deeper, completely losing the ability to organize language and think normally from extreme shame.
Naruto watched Satsuki acting like an ostrich. As expected... if he directly said something like "I know your feelings" right now, this girl would definitely faint on the spot, right?
The current Satsuki had been completely dominated by the surging emotions with nowhere to place them, temporarily becoming a complete "love-brained" person.
Naruto felt that what he needed to do now wasn't to take advantage and confess, but find a way to turn this nearly overcooked, malfunctioning Satsuki back into that awkward but at least normally communicative Satsuki who could train and fight together—the relatively "normal" one.
"Satsuki..." Naruto called out again. Satsuki still stood rooted in place like a tree, completely motionless.
Naruto looked at her back, then with a clear and serious tone, threw out a completely unexpected suggestion:
"Let's have a match right now."
"...Eh?"
This sentence instantly penetrated Satsuki's consciousness that had been wrapped in layers of shame. She froze, instinctively opening her eyes, some teardrops from forcibly suppressing laughter earlier still clinging to her eyelashes.
She looked toward Naruto, completely unable to understand why the topic would suddenly jump to sparring? In this kind of atmosphere... was now the time to fight?
Seeing Satsuki finally react, Naruto continued explaining: "Because your condition has been a bit off lately, right?" He pointed out a detail he'd observed. "Recently, every time you spar with me, you barely even use ninjutsu. Just circling with taijutsu and shuriken—that's not like you."
This was the honest truth, and Naruto felt somewhat helpless about it. Was it because her affection level had been raised too high? He'd even deliberately suppressed his strength to just slightly above Satsuki's level, giving her enough pressure and room for improvement.
But Satsuki acted as if afraid she might accidentally "hurt" him, her attacks becoming restrained, completely losing that sharp, precise, aggressive style she used to have.
How could Satsuki not know this herself? Naruto's strength, not counting that terrifying Tailed Beast Chakra Mode, was definitely stronger than hers in normal state. She didn't need to "hold back" in practical sparring.
But... for some reason, every time her attack was about to land on Naruto, her body would produce an instinctive resistance and hesitation, as if a voice in her subconscious was screaming to stop her, afraid she might really hurt him, injure him. This inexplicable protective urge made her unable to display her true strength in sparring.
Naruto's sudden sparring proposal was like a bucket of cold water, instantly waking part of her love-addled thoughts.
"What's wrong? The future of the Uchiha, the former genius, now afraid of battle? Are you scared?" Naruto used the simplest, even somewhat clichéd provocation method.
"What?! I'm not scared!" Sure enough, just this simple taunt immediately made the inwardly proud Satsuki take the bait.
Though successfully provoked, Satsuki still felt this wasn't the time for fighting, her mind full of all those chaotic things from before.
The two stood facing each other in the training ground's center, assuming combat stances, but Naruto could see Satsuki's still somewhat unfocused eyes and distracted state, knowing she hadn't fully entered combat mode yet.
Naruto felt he had to first ignite this girl's innate battle-hungry bloodline.
"Tch."
Naruto shook his head, his tone carrying obvious disappointment and further provocation: "This timid appearance really isn't like you at all, Satsuki. If others knew that the future of the mighty Uchiha clan had such a soft, weak personality, many people's impressions would probably shatter, right?"
"Weak?"
Hearing Naruto actually use this word to describe her, Satsuki immediately felt a strong surge of displeasure and anger.
"Don't worry."
Naruto assumed a standard taijutsu opening stance. "I won't run from any problem! But right now... let's first pull our way of getting along back onto normal tracks!"
The next moment—
Satsuki only felt her vision blur! Naruto's figure vanished from his original position like a phantom, advancing before her at extreme speed!
Bang!
A powerful straight punch came directly at her! Satsuki crossed both arms and barely managed to block the punch! The strong force made her arms slightly numb, her feet even sliding back half a step.
"That's more like it!" Feeling the long-missed solid blocking sensation from his fist, Naruto's face showed a satisfied and encouraging smile.
One strike blocked, Naruto didn't pause, his offense unfolding like a violent storm! A side kick swept toward her lower body, an elbow strike closing in on her ribs.
Satsuki's fighting spirit was completely ignited, her Sharingan quietly activating, precisely capturing the trajectory of Naruto's every movement. She no longer hesitated, no longer held back, her body retaliating with equally fierce taijutsu!
She sidestepped the sweeping leg, one hand already formed into a fist driving toward his abdomen! Naruto quickly contracted his stomach, wrapping his palm around her fist, using the momentum to pull, trying to break her balance. But Satsuki reacted extremely fast, borrowing the force to spin, a roundhouse kick heading toward Naruto's head!
Bang! Smack! Thud!
On the training ground, two figures crossed, collided, separated at high speed, then tangled together again. The dull sounds of fists and feet meeting, movements so fast they dazzled the eyes.
For a time, the two fought evenly matched, presenting an intense stalemate.
Finally, after an intense exchange, Satsuki seized an opening and landed a side kick solidly on Naruto's arm, temporarily forcing him back several meters.
Satsuki breathed slightly, assuming a defensive stance, watching Naruto closely, waiting for his next move. Anticipating what action he might take.
However, Naruto still noticed—though Satsuki's kick just now seemed fierce, at the moment of contact, her force had unconsciously restrained itself. She was still afraid, afraid she might truly hurt him.
Naruto sighed inwardly. He didn't need Satsuki to so carefully "protect" him like this. Satsuki had never been a canary that needed to be kept in a cage.
He would do everything to protect Satsuki, but this absolutely didn't mean Satsuki couldn't function without him or had to restrain her own edge. Quite the opposite—he hoped more than anyone that Satsuki could become stronger, could fully bloom her brilliance.
He had to increase the intensity and make her completely let loose!
Naruto made up his mind, forming hand seals as chakra surged forth.
"Multi Shadow Clone Jutsu!"
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