Uchiha Sasuke lay spread-eagled in the shallow crater he had made, his chest heaving violently, his black eyes filled with an unyielding weariness and a deeper sense of confusion.
Not enough, still not enough.
This level of training couldn't even touch the shadow of that man.
A shadow silently enveloped him.
Sasuke didn't move, nor did he turn his head to look. He could smell the man's perpetually cold aura.
"Busy man," Sasuke's lips curved into a self-mocking arc, his voice hoarse, "have you finally found time to inspect your'soon-to-be-scrapped weapon'?"
Naruto stood beside him, looking down at him, his face devoid of any expression. He ignored Sasuke's sarcasm and simply said in his usual calm tone:
"Uchiha Itachi just visited Konoha."
In an instant, all of Sasuke's fatigue and soreness seemed to drain away. He sprang up from the ground like a spring pushed to its limit. His scarlet Sharingan appeared in his eye sockets, locking onto Naruto's impassive face.
"What did you say?" His voice was distorted by agitation, every word squeezed out from between his teeth, "He came? When! Why didn't you tell me!"
Violent killing intent and Chakra uncontrollably leaked from his body, stirring up dust and fallen leaves on the ground.
Naruto remained unfazed, allowing the wave of energy to impact him. He looked at Sasuke with an expression as if he were looking at an idiot and retorted, "To notify you to go die?"
Before Sasuke could retort, he coldly delivered his assessment: "In your current state, with your inability to control the Cursed Seal, and that impatient, chaotic mindset of yours, rushing for quick success. How many seconds do you think you'd survive in front of him? Three seconds? Or five seconds?"
"I..." Sasuke's rage was like a bucket of ice water poured over his head, instantly freezing. He wanted to argue, but found that every word Naruto said was true.
"Your current hatred is just a meaningless, leaking steam, serving no purpose other than making yourself increasingly pathetic," Naruto concluded.
Just before Sasuke's anger, replaced by humiliation and unwillingness, was about to erupt again, Naruto took out a palm-sized miniature scroll from his embrace and casually tossed it onto the ground.
The scroll automatically unfurled, and with a faint flicker of Chakra light, a clear holographic image was projected onto the open space between the two.
Sasuke's pupils suddenly constricted, and his breathing stopped.
The image's perspective was extremely high, as if looking down from the clouds. In the picture, there was a street in Konoha that he was all too familiar with. And in the center of the street, the man etched deep in his mind, Uchiha Itachi, stood with Kisame Hoshigaki.
The image was silent, but Sasuke's Sharingan could clearly capture every detail. He saw Kakashi, Asuma, and Kurenai Yuhi, three people, as if facing a formidable enemy. He saw Itachi's iconic straw hat and black cloak with red clouds.
Then, the most incomprehensible scene for him occurred.
Without any warning, no hand signs, no Ninjutsu fluctuations.
A spray of blood suddenly erupted from Itachi's left shoulder.
That powerful, insurmountable man in his memory, his figure visibly stumbled. He clutched his shoulder, blood gushing from between his fingers, and his perpetually cold face showed a rare moment of discomfiture and embarrassment.
Kisame was injured even earlier; a charred hole, emitting smoke, suddenly appeared on his massive Samehada. Then his arm, also pierced by an invisible force, was a bloody mess.
Finally, the two retreated in extreme disarray, covered by a torrent of Water Release.
The image ended, the scroll automatically rolled up, and the light dissipated.
The training ground fell into dead silence again, with only Sasuke's heavy breathing remaining.
He stared intently at the scroll on the ground, his body trembling uncontrollably.
He raised his head, the madness in his Sharingan fading, replaced by an unprecedented longing. He pointed at the scroll on the ground, his voice trembling with excitement, using an almost pleading tone for the first time.
"What is that... How was it done? Is it a new Ninjutsu?"
"It's not Ninjutsu," Naruto picked up the scroll, put it back into his embrace, and corrected, "That's just a weapon, called a 'Long-Range Laser Rifle.' Its range exceeds three kilometers, and it can silently eliminate targets. But it needs to be used in conjunction with the Hyuga Clan's Byakugan for ultra-long-range targeting and trajectory correction."
Naruto looked at Sasuke and added, "You're not suitable for it."
The light in Sasuke's eyes instantly dimmed, like embers about to burn out.
Just as his heart was filled with immense disappointment and despair, Naruto changed the subject.
"However, your Sharingan is naturally suited for another type of weapon."
Sasuke suddenly looked up.
"A weapon that can maximize your dynamic vision and reaction speed. A weapon that can allow you to unleash a destructive'storm' at close to medium range." Naruto's voice carried a captivating power, "Once the basic model of the 'Bolter' is developed, you will be the first to test it."
"Bolter?" Sasuke murmured, repeating the unfamiliar term.
"A personal weapon that can continuously fire miniature explosive rounds," Naruto began to explain the concept to him, "Each round is enough to instantly tear an adult into pieces. It doesn't require complex hand signs, nor does it require a massive amount of Chakra. It only requires one thing."
Naruto extended a finger and pointed it at Sasuke's chest.
"The resolve to pull the trigger."
He looked at Sasuke's Sharingan, which had lit up again with excitement and longing, and continued, "Hatred is a very inefficient and unstable fuel; it will burn you out. But if it is purified, compressed, and transformed into an unwavering resolve every time you pull the trigger... then it can become your most powerful driving force."
Sasuke's breathing quickened.
He replayed Itachi's disheveled appearance when he was hit over and over in his mind, and then imagined himself holding that weapon called a "Bolter," blasting that man into pieces.
An unprecedented, twisted hope began to grow wildly in his heart.
He looked at Naruto in front of him, this former Loser, who now seemed like an unfathomable enigma. The power, knowledge, and methods he displayed had long exceeded Sasuke's comprehension.
Follow him, use him, and then... surpass him.
This was the only way.
Sasuke took a deep breath, suppressing the tumultuous emotions in his heart. He slowly bowed his arrogant head towards Naruto.
"What should I do?"
Naruto looked at him, and finally, there was a flicker of emotion in his eyes, almost "satisfaction," like a craftsman looking at a rough jade.
"First, control your Cursed Seal. Adapt to it as a part of your body, rather than resisting it. Then," Naruto took out another scroll from his pocket and threw it to Sasuke, "train non-stop for me."
Sasuke unrolled the scroll, and its contents made him gasp.
It was a brand new, almost inhuman training plan.
Item 1: Extreme Evasion Training with Weights. While wearing specialized weighted gear totaling two hundred kilograms, dodge senbon coated with paralyzing poison, fired irregularly from all directions. Training objective: Push muscle memory to its limit, allowing the body to react before thinking.
Item 2: High-Noise Environment Reaction Training. In an environment where simulated battlefield explosions, screams, and other noises are continuously played in the ears, complete corresponding high-speed hand signs based on different colored light spots that flash instantly. Training objective: Strip away all emotional interference, maintain absolute concentration in the most chaotic environment.
Item 3: Cursed Seal Resistance Shooting Training. Actively activate the Cursed Seal, and during the stage when the Cursed Seal corrodes the body and causes immense pain, continuously throw specialized, twenty-kilogram kunai at moving targets a hundred meters away, requiring an accuracy rate of no less than ninety percent. Training objective: Adapt to maintaining weapon stability amidst extreme pain, simulating the powerful recoil of the "Bolter."
After each training item, evaluation standards and punishment measures were coldly marked in a chilling font.
Sasuke's knuckles turned white from gripping the scroll so tightly.
This plan, like torment, like torture, yet it was a familiar recipe, a familiar taste.
But he didn't back down; instead, he felt a morbid excitement.
Only this kind of training, capable of driving a person insane, could match his equally insane hatred.
"Starting today," Naruto turned and walked away, leaving only a cold command, "until I acknowledge you, in your world, there shall be nothing but training."
Sasuke watched Naruto's retreating back without speaking. He silently picked up the heavy weighted gear Naruto had thrown on the ground and put it on without hesitation.
The two hundred kilograms of weight pressed down, causing his body, which had just recovered a little, to suddenly sink, almost making him fall to his knees.
He gritted his teeth, straightened his body again, and followed Naruto towards his exclusive training ground.
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