"Satsuki..."
Naruto's call made Satsuki, who had her back to him, stiffen slightly. She instinctively wanted to respond, or say something to break the heart-pounding silence… But all the various 'confession' methods she had rehearsed earlier—passionate, tsundere, even threatening—flashed through her mind, yet none of them gave her the courage to speak them aloud! They were all too embarrassing!
In the end, all Satsuki could do in response to Naruto's call was close her eyes even tighter, bury her cheeks, which were already flushed crimson, even deeper, and completely lose the ability to form words and think normally due to extreme embarrassment.
Naruto looked at Satsuki's ostrich-like behavior and thought,'Sure enough… if I were to directly say something like "I know how you feel" right now, she would definitely faint, wouldn't she?'
The current Satsuki was completely dominated by the surging, unplaceable emotions in her heart, temporarily turning her into a complete 'love-struck fool.'
Naruto felt that the first thing to do now was not to confess, but to find a way to turn the almost-overcooked, dysfunctional Satsuki in front of him back into the 'relatively normal' Satsuki who, though awkward, could at least communicate normally and train and fight together.
"Satsuki…" Naruto called out again. Satsuki still stood rooted to the spot like a tree, unmoving.
Naruto looked at her back, then, in a clear and serious tone, threw out a suggestion that completely caught Satsuki off guard.
"Let's have a fight now."
"...Eh?"
These words instantly pierced through Satsuki's consciousness, which was enveloped in layers of embarrassment. She suddenly froze, instinctively opening her eyes, her eyelashes still damp with tears from trying to suppress her laughter earlier.
She looked at Naruto, completely bewildered as to why the topic had suddenly jumped to combat. Was this the time for a fight, given the current atmosphere?
Naruto, seeing that Satsuki finally reacted, continued to explain, "Because something's been off with you lately, hasn't it?" He pointed out a detail he had observed, "Lately, every time you spar with me, you don't even use Ninjutsu much. You just rely on Taijutsu and shuriken. That's not like you."
This was the honest truth, and Naruto felt somewhat helpless about it. Was it because the affection level had risen too high? He had even deliberately suppressed his own strength to be only slightly stronger than Satsuki, giving her enough pressure and room for improvement.
But Satsuki seemed to be afraid of accidentally 'hurting' him, her attacks becoming constrained, completely losing her usual sharp, precise, and aggressive style.
How could Satsuki herself not understand? Naruto's strength, even without his terrifying Tailed Beast Chakra Mode, was definitely stronger than hers in his normal state, and there was no need for her to 'hold back' in actual combat training.
But… for some reason, every time her attack was about to land on Naruto, her body would instinctively resist and hesitate, as if a voice in her subconscious was screaming to stop her, fearing that she would really hurt him or injure him. This inexplicable protective instinct made it impossible for her to unleash her true strength in their training.
Naruto's sudden suggestion of a fight was like a splash of cold water, instantly waking up parts of her love-struck mind.
"What's wrong? The future of the Uchiha, the former genius, is now afraid of battle? Are you scared?" Naruto used the simplest, even somewhat old-fashioned, taunt.
"What?! I'm not scared!" Sure enough, just such a simple provocation immediately hooked the proud Satsuki.
—
Although successfully provoked, Satsuki still felt that now was not the time for a fight, her mind still filled with all those messy thoughts from before.
The two stood in the center of the training ground, taking their combat stances, but Naruto, seeing Satsuki's still somewhat unfocused eyes and distracted state, knew that she hadn't fully gotten into the zone yet.
Naruto felt that he first needed to ignite the innate warlike bloodline in her bones.
"Tsk,"
Naruto shook his head, his tone showing clear disappointment and further provocation, "This hesitant, timid behavior really isn't like you at all, Satsuki. If others knew that the future of the esteemed Uchiha Clan had such a soft, weak personality, I'm afraid many people's impressions would be shattered, wouldn't they?"
"Weak?"
When Satsuki heard Naruto use that word to describe her, a strong surge of displeasure and anger immediately welled up in her heart.
"Don't worry."
Naruto adopted a standard Taijutsu starting stance, "I won't run away from any problem! But for now… let's first bring our way of interacting back to normal!"
The next moment—
Satsuki only felt a blur before her eyes! Naruto's figure instantly vanished from his spot like a ghost, rushing towards her at an incredibly fast speed!
"Bang!"
A powerful, heavy straight punch slammed directly in front of Satsuki! Satsuki barely managed to block the punch by crossing her arms! The strong force made her arms tingle slightly, and her feet even slid back half a step.
"That's more like it!" Naruto felt the long-awaited solid block on his fist, a joyful and encouraging smile spreading across his face.
With one attack blocked, Naruto didn't stop, launching his offensive like a sudden storm! A side kick swept towards her lower body, an elbow strike closing in on her ribs.
And Satsuki's fighting spirit was completely ignited, her Sharingan quietly activated, precisely capturing the trajectory of Naruto's every move. She no longer hesitated, no longer flinched, her body retaliating with equally sharp Taijutsu!
She dodged the sweeping kick by turning her body, one hand already forming a fist and striking directly at his abdomen! Naruto quickly pulled in his stomach, cupped her fist with his palm, and used the momentum to pull, trying to disrupt her balance. But Satsuki reacted extremely quickly, using the force to spin around, and a roundhouse kick flew towards Naruto's head!
Bang! Thwack! Thud!
On the training ground, two figures rapidly crisscrossed, collided, separated, and then entangled again. Fists and feet met with dull thuds, their movements so fast they were dazzling.
For a time, the two were locked in an intense, evenly matched struggle.
Finally, after a fierce exchange, Satsuki seized an opening, landing a side kick hard on Naruto's arm, temporarily knocking him back several meters.
Satsuki panted slightly, adopting a defensive stance, staring intently at Naruto, waiting for his next move. Anticipating his possible actions.
However, Naruto still noticed—sure enough, Satsuki's kick just now, though seemingly sharp, had its force unconsciously reined in at the moment of contact; she was still afraid, afraid of truly hurting him.
Naruto sighed inwardly. He didn't need Satsuki to 'protect' him so cautiously. Satsuki was never a canary that needed to be kept in a cage and coddled.
He would do his best to protect Satsuki, but this by no means implied that Satsuki couldn't manage without him, or that she had to dull her sharpness. On the contrary, he wished more than anyone that Satsuki could become stronger, could fully unleash her brilliance.
He had to increase the intensity to make her completely let loose!
Naruto made up his mind, forming hand signs, and Chakra surged out.
"Multiple Shadow Clone Jutsu!"
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