[Uchiha Training Ground]
While receiving treatment from Rengoku, Sasuke kept his eyes closed, enduring the brush moving over his neck, painting back and forth.
Looking closely, there were already five turtles drawn across Sasuke's forehead and both sides of his face.
There were three more drawn on his neck.
Some of the turtles were neatly drawn, some were abstract, and the colors were all different.
There was no helping it. Sasuke had lost every single one of these matches.
When Sasuke fought Gaara, Gaara simply stayed in the air like he was flying a kite. Sasuke used every method he had, but couldn't bring Gaara down, and had no choice but to admit defeat.
Then he fought Naruto. Although Sasuke had the upper hand at the beginning, once Naruto used the Nine-Tails cloak, Sasuke was completely defeated.
Next was a mixed tag team of Karin and Shion. After Karin entered Sage Mode, Sasuke fell behind in both ninjutsu and taijutsu, and even his genjutsu became completely ineffective.
Not to mention Shion suppressing him from the side with barrier techniques. Sasuke was utterly miserable.
But there was nothing he could do. He could only add another turtle to his body.
By the time Rengoku returned after handling Neji's matter, Sasuke had already lost so much he was numb to it.
But this was unavoidable. Rengoku had said from the start that this was an unfair match.
At this moment, Sasuke's right arm had already been broken by Karin's heavy punch, and his ribs were cracked as well.
Rengoku was currently treating him.
After syncing his awareness, Rengoku said to Sasuke, "Sasuke, want to keep going?"
"If you do, I'll have Haku and Hinata go together."
Sasuke was covered in cold sweat from the pain. He first glanced at Hinata, then at Haku.
Hinata looked eager to try, while Haku watched him with a gentle smile.
Sasuke shook his head and said somewhat dejectedly, "I've reached my limit."
His injuries could be healed, but his stamina and chakra couldn't recover so quickly.
These high-intensity fights had already drained his physical strength severely.
Although Sasuke had fought quite a bit over the years, he had never lost this badly before.
Even though he had the Sharingan, the others weren't weak either. Most of them could use Sage Mode.
He could handle Hinata alone, but if it was Hinata and Haku together, he wasn't confident.
After all, Haku not only knew Sage Mode but also had Ice Release.
"Shishou! I want to use the imprinting method to learn senjutsu," Sasuke said seriously.
Rengoku replied in a cold tone, "The imprinting method carries a risk of death. Aren't you going to wait for Orochimaru to improve it a bit more?"
Sasuke touched the ridiculous turtles on his face, his expression turning fierce.
"If I avoid every danger, how am I supposed to grow?"
"I definitely won't die! I'm going to become strong!"
Seeing Sasuke so full of fighting spirit, Rengoku nodded, secretly amused.
"Since you're willing to take this risk, I won't stop you. Rest well for now. Tomorrow I'll take you to see Orochimaru."
Sasuke nodded, looking exhausted.
"Alright, everyone else, disperse."
After fighting Sasuke, Naruto and the others had gone on to spar with each other, each gaining something from it.
Now that they were dismissed, Shion waved repeatedly at Karin. Beside her stood Karin and Hinata, all the girls wearing expressions full of gossip as they stared at Karin.
Karin snuck a glance at Rengoku. Rengoku reached out and rubbed her hair.
"Go on. I have other matters to handle."
Karin's face flushed slightly as she walked toward the group of girls.
At that moment, Yakumo came over to Rengoku and reported in a low voice, "Lord Rengoku, Sasuke's soul strength is very high. It's basically reached its limit."
"And when Sasuke loses fights and gets turtles drawn on him, his soul is the most active."
Before the matches began, Rengoku had already asked Yakumo to use Ido to monitor Sasuke's soul condition.
He had experimented before. To awaken the Mangekyo Sharingan, the first requirement was that the soul's strength had to reach a certain threshold.
Otherwise, even with forced stimulation, the Mangekyo Sharingan couldn't be awakened.
Drawing turtles on Sasuke's face was also a test to see which situations stimulated him the most.
Rengoku nodded, indicating he understood.
Yakumo quickly ran off to join the group of girls and started gossiping with them.
It had to be said, Sasuke was a complete masochist.
Under normal circumstances, when he was calm and under no pressure, his rate of improvement was practically at a crawl, almost imperceptible.
However, once he was insulted or provoked, everything changed. He was like a rocket being ignited, and his strength would grow at a speed visible to the naked eye.
Sasuke was already very strong, but unfortunately Naruto was the Nine-Tails jinchuriki, Gaara could fly, and Kimimaro had the Shikotsumyaku.
As for slightly weaker opponents, Rengoku would deliberately send two of them together to increase the difficulty.
Of course, among all of this, those who could use Sage Mode had a clear advantage.
Because once they entered Sage Mode, their physical attributes, including strength, speed, and endurance, were greatly enhanced across the board, forming an overwhelming pressure against Sasuke.
So it was only natural that Sasuke couldn't win against these strong opponents.
Although Indra's chakra had disappeared, Sasuke still had his natural talent.
Now that Sasuke's soul strength had reached the required level, it seemed it was time to start preparing to awaken his Mangekyo Sharingan.
But since there was no war at the moment, it would be better to try letting Sasuke learn senjutsu first.
———
After buying both items, Neji brought Tenten to a nearby restaurant.
It was still some time before the dinner rush, so there weren't many people yet.
Neji ordered herring soba for himself, as well as eel rice and sushi.
He also ordered several side dishes and desserts for Tenten.
Along the way, Tenten had mostly adjusted her mood.
She smiled and said, "You just rested for a day and already got another suitable mission?"
Neji had always been hardworking. Usually, after finishing one mission, he would either train or quickly pick up the next one.
But coming to see Tenten the very next day like this was a first.
Neji gave a vague smile, "That's not the case. I haven't taken any mission."
Tenten asked, a bit puzzled, "Then why did you suddenly come to find me?"
Neji looked at Tenten steadily, "There are some things I want to tell you."
Whether in appearance or temperament, Neji was outstanding. Being stared at like this, Tenten's heartbeat suddenly sped up.
'Is Neji going to confess to me? This is so sudden. What should I do? I'm not ready yet!'
While her thoughts raced, she stammered, "Th-then… what is it?"
Neji shifted his gaze back to the food in front of him, "Eat first. I'll tell you after we finish."
"Oh… o-okay."
Tenten's thoughts ran wild, while Neji seemed preoccupied. The atmosphere felt somewhat strange.
But after all, they had known each other for years, and they quickly finished the meal.
After paying the bill, Neji led Tenten toward the training ground in Konoha.
That was the place where they used to train together often.
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