Chapter 44:
'Sasuke, don't mess up later, or we might have to start killing people!'
After dinner, Naruto and Sasuke rested for a while, then stood facing each other in the training ground, glaring.
'I know. I definitely won't make a mistake!'
Sasuke slowly raised both hands. He had secretly practiced the hand seals many times — he absolutely could not fail here.
They didn't have much time. He could only hope that Naruto would keep his word and not drop the ball midway.
'Then I'm starting. Just control yourself.'
Naruto slowly raised his hands. His eyes suddenly closed, and when they opened again, a powerful genjutsu had already covered the entire training ground.
"Shadow Clone Technique!"
"Shadow Clone Technique!"
The exact same hand seals were formed face-to-face. Under the cover of the genjutsu, Sasuke copied Naruto's movements.
A thin line of chakra connected the two of them. As the seals continued, Naruto had to maintain the steady transfer of chakra to Sasuke while also forming the seals himself.
The Shadow Clone Technique was not something academy students who hadn't even graduated yet should be able to use, but Naruto's current chakra reserves were more than sufficient.
Once the seals were completed, identical copies of the two boys appeared between them. Before the clones could even stabilize, Naruto's shadow clone had already dragged Sasuke's clone into the soul space.
'Naruto… thank you…'
Sasuke let out a powerless sigh in his mind.
He was truly grateful to Naruto — grateful that he had stayed by his side all this time, and even more grateful for all the effort Naruto had put in for their growth.
Although he had never touched these techniques before, giving away his own chakra while still controlling the precise amount so that the Shadow Clone Technique could be completed just now…
That level of control…
Everything Naruto had said about "effort" before — Sasuke could now confirm it was real.
'Don't thank me yet. We still have to have a proper fight later. The genjutsu won't hold much longer…'
While warning Sasuke about the next step, Naruto had already thrown a punch, striking Sasuke hard in the stomach.
"You bastard Sasuke! I definitely won't lose!"
With an angry roar — the same line Naruto shouted every time they sparred — the genjutsu quietly dissipated.
If not for the pile of secret Uchiha training manuals and detailed explanations of various genjutsu techniques, Naruto wouldn't have been able to use genjutsu even with the Sharingan.
"Cough… Idiot, don't even dream about it!"
Sasuke got up and immediately counterattacked. Their spars were always like this. In the genjutsu earlier, Naruto had been the one getting beaten first.
Now that Naruto had finally landed a punch, he was about to be counter-killed again…
The few Anbu who routinely watched from the trees were quietly placing bets on whether Naruto could pull off another counterattack.
"What a stubborn idiot…"
On one tree, a lone Anbu quietly removed his mask. His fingers pinched the edge of the mask, but in the end he didn't reveal the Sharingan.
He thought he had sensed traces of genjutsu just now, but those two brats definitely couldn't use genjutsu. That left only one possible person.
But thinking of that person, he ultimately hesitated and decided not to investigate further.
Everyone had it hard. If he had simply come back to take one look at his little brother, that was understandable.
As long as he wasn't trying to control Naruto, he would pretend he had seen nothing…
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