By the bridge railing, Sakura was clinging to Sasuke in full fangirl mode, chattering nonstop—asking whether he slept well, what he wanted to eat, stuff like that.
Sasuke was as cold and indifferent as ever, hands in his pockets, staring into the distance, not giving her so much as a glance.
Naruto: "…"
Damn it!
It's always like this!
Why does Sakura keep circling around that annoying Sasuke?!
I'm clearly… better than him!
And I'm about to learn a super powerful jutsu, too!
A sour wave of jealousy rose in Naruto's chest.
He clicked his tongue, grumbled, didn't even bother saying hi, and marched to the other end of the bridge.
He pulled out his rubber ball, took a deep breath, and started training his "ball-making."
Naruto placed the ball in his left palm and covered it with his right hand, trying hard to recall his "father's" instruction from the dream.
He focused, gathering chakra and trying to spin it at high speed in his palm.
"Haa!!"
He bared his teeth and strained with everything he had.
But shaping and rotating chakra was far harder than he'd imagined.
The chakra in his palm would gather for a second, then collapse. The rotation never stabilized.
The rubber ball only deformed slightly from chaotic chakra airflow, wobbling but nowhere close to bursting like it was supposed to.
"Damn it! What's going on?! It didn't feel this hard in the dream!" Naruto was sweating buckets, but he didn't dare relax.
He gritted his teeth and tried again and again without stopping.
His bizarre struggle naturally caught the other two's attention.
Sakura had been pestering Sasuke, but Naruto's ridiculous "fighting the air with a rubber ball" face quickly drew her eyes.
Sasuke also tilted his head slightly, glancing at the ball warping in Naruto's hand and the faint but genuine chakra fluctuations in his palm. A trace of interest flickered deep in his black eyes.
So he's really practicing that thing from the dream? Sasuke thought.
The dream had been absurd, but the blue ball the Fourth displayed at the end had ridiculous power—it had snapped a thick tree with ease…
Sasuke remembered that last scene, and curiosity surfaced.
If this dead-last loser can really learn that jutsu from a dream… then…
A thought rose in Sasuke's heart.
To defeat that man, to take revenge, he needed to grow stronger at any cost.
He couldn't afford to miss a single opportunity to gain power.
With that decision, Sasuke moved closer, pretending to be casual. He glanced at the ball in Naruto's hand and asked in a flat voice that still had a hint of stiffness he couldn't hide:
"Hey, loser. What the hell are you doing?"
Sasuke tried to act uninterested, but his burning gaze exposed how badly he wanted to know.
Naruto flinched at the sudden question. His chakra scattered instantly.
He whipped his head around and saw Sasuke staring hard at the ball. Alarm bells went off in his head.
What's wrong with Sasuke today? Why's he so close?! Why's he staring at my ball?! Don't tell me… he wants to steal it?!
The moment that idea formed, Naruto panicked.
This was the ultimate move "Dad" taught him personally in the dream!
His secret weapon to beat Sasuke, win Sakura, and become Hokage!
How could he let Sasuke steal it?!
"Hmph!"
Naruto twisted sharply and hid the ball behind his back, turning his whole body away, posture screaming "No peeking!"
Trying to steal my Dad-taught ultimate move? Not a chance! Not even through a window crack! Once I learn it, I'll beat you flat in front of Sakura and prove who's really the strongest in Team Seven!
Fuming, Naruto practiced even harder, face red, forcing chakra into the ball again.
Sasuke: "…"
Watching Naruto act like he was guarding state secrets, Sasuke's temple vein twitched.
Just then Sakura wandered over too.
She stared at the poor rubber ball being tortured half to death and asked with curious concern, "Naruto, what new jutsu are you practicing? It looks like you're really struggling."
Hearing Sakura's voice, Naruto's defensive alarm evaporated instantly, replaced by smug pride.
He turned around at once, holding the ball up like treasure in front of her, chest puffed out.
"Hehe! Yup! This is a super-duper-amazing jutsu! When I master it, you'll totally look at me differently!"
Sasuke rolled his eyes so hard he nearly saw his ancestors.
Sakura blinked, honestly getting curious. "Oh? Really? Then… what's it called? Sounds pretty awesome."
"N-name?" Naruto froze, scratching his messier-than-usual blond hair as he tried to remember what "Dad" called it in the dream…
It was kind of long, kind of tongue-twisting…
He strained for ages, finally grabbing a vague, blurry impression.
"Uh… I think… it's called… something like… 'popsicle halo… two white-hair whorl ball'?"
Sakura: "…"
Sasuke: "…"
Both of them gave him the exact same "are you dumb?" look.
Sakura facepalmed. "Naruto, you absolute moron. What kind of jutsu would have some long weird name like that? You're daydreaming again, aren't you?"
Sasuke's head ached. He completely gave up on the idea of getting anything useful out of Naruto.
I actually believed this dead-last loser might learn something from a dream. I'm an idiot, Sasuke cursed internally.
"It does exist!" Naruto jumped in place, furious at being doubted.
"Yesterday in the dream my dad—no, the guy who taught me—said it like that! I just… uh… don't remember clearly…"
Sakura and Sasuke exchanged a look, then both started complaining about Kakashi being late again.
"Kakashi-sensei is seriously the worst! He's late again!"
"Hmph. Every time."
-------
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