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After Manda disappeared, Naruto's aura receded, then he turned to Sasuke and asked, "Are you alright?"
"I'm... I'm fine."
Sasuke subconsciously shook his head, then looked at Naruto with complex eyes, biting his lip as if he wanted to say something.
But in the end, he couldn't say anything.
He had wanted to show off his newly learned Ninjutsu to Naruto, and he had even considered Manda his trump card to defeat Naruto. But in the end, he was not only backfired by his own summoned beast but also saved by Naruto—that feeling made Sasuke feel incredibly ashamed.
Sasuke knew very well that Manda had truly intended to swallow him just now, and in the face of an existence like Manda, he had not a shred of courage to resist.
But Naruto had only said one word, and Manda had scurried back to Ryūchi Cave, not even daring to leave a single threat.
This disparity no longer needed words to explain.
After once again realizing the gap between himself and Naruto, Sasuke began to understand that the difference between them was like the distance between heaven and earth. Could he really catch up to Naruto?
Despair had begun to creep into Sasuke's heart.
"Sasuke, don't summon that snake again for now."
Naruto didn't know Sasuke's thoughts. Instead, he advised him,
"That snake's desires are too strong; with your current strength, you can't control it, and it's very easy to be backfired. If you want it to fight for you, you'll at least have to wait until you can protect yourself in front of it. If—"
"Shut up!"
Sasuke angrily interrupted Naruto, staring at him stubbornly and shouting, "I don't need you to lecture me! You win this time, but I'll definitely defeat you next time, just you wait!"
With that, he turned and ran away.
Naruto looked at Sasuke's retreating figure, feeling a bit bewildered. He was clearly giving Sasuke serious advice, and he even wanted to help him tame Manda, but he didn't expect to provoke Sasuke's anger.
He completely didn't know what Sasuke was angry about.
Naruto's words were sincere advice, but to Sasuke, they sounded like mockery of his overestimation of his own abilities, which caused him to break down.
However, this breakdown also shattered Sasuke's original despair, which had begun to set in after realizing the gap between him and Naruto. Even the thought of giving up on catching up to Naruto was broken, and he found the motivation to surpass Naruto again.
"Forget it."
Naruto thought for a while but couldn't figure out why Sasuke had broken down. Then he murmured to himself, "Although I haven't fully understood what's going on, I can basically confirm that Sasuke possesses some kind of power that can affect me, and that power is very likely his Chakra, or it could be my Chakra.
No, it should be that there's some unusual connection between our Chakras. Sigh, I feel like this world is getting more and more complicated."
Naruto sighed inwardly, feeling that the more things he came into contact with, the more complicated the problems he encountered became, and everything seemed to be inextricably linked to him. The more experiences he had, the more he felt that this world still hid many secrets.
On the other side, Tsunade and Orochimaru had been watching Naruto and Sasuke's movements.
When Sasuke summoned Manda, Tsunade immediately scolded Orochimaru, accusing him of not teaching the Uchiha brat the Summoning Jutsu so early, especially summoning a rebellious fellow like Manda.
Orochimaru, however, stated that he had given Sasuke several choices at the time, and learning the Summoning Jutsu was Sasuke's own choice. He was also very surprised that Sasuke could summon Manda, but he felt more relief.
After all, although Manda was a bit uncontrollable, it also represented the power of Ryūchi Cave.
However, when Manda tried to swallow Sasuke, it truly startled him. Both he and Tsunade were ready to intervene to rescue him.
But they didn't expect Naruto to be faster, and he made the arrogant Manda back down with just one word.
This made Orochimaru even more curious about Naruto's strength.
However, when Tsunade saw Orochimaru's gaze on Naruto, she immediately warned him that if he dared to do anything to Naruto, she would truly turn hostile.
Orochimaru, of course, immediately stated that he wouldn't do anything to Naruto, but only he knew what he was truly thinking inside.
Finally, Orochimaru saw Sasuke break down and leave. A hint of disappointment flashed in his eyes, and then he chased after Sasuke.
Seeing this, Tsunade also walked toward Naruto.
"Naruto, you were a bit too much just now."
When Tsunade arrived in front of Naruto, her first words were to criticize him, saying,
"That Uchiha brat was hit pretty hard by you. You should hold back next time. If you provoke him again and he becomes extreme, it will be troublesome."
People of the Uchiha Clan are very easily provoked, and once provoked, they become uncontrollable and can easily go to extremes.
What's more troublesome is that once people of the Uchiha Clan go to extremes, they gain unimaginable power.
Tsunade was worried that if Uchiha Sasuke was provoked too much by Naruto, he might lose control.
Especially at this time, the relationship between the Uchiha Clan and the Village had become delicate. If anything happened to Uchiha Sasuke now, it could very likely cause unrest throughout the Uchiha Clan.
"Hit hard?"
Naruto heard Tsunade's words and was immediately filled with questions. He had clearly done nothing just now and had even saved Sasuke. How did it turn into provoking him?
But thinking about how Sasuke had just left, it did seem a bit like he had been provoked—could it really be that he had accidentally provoked him somewhere?
Naruto thought carefully but still couldn't figure out where he had provoked Sasuke. Then he shook his head and said,
"Alright, at most, next time he challenges me, I'll deliberately lose to him."
"That's not necessary."
Tsunade heard Naruto's words but shook her head, saying, "With your current strength, losing to him would be too fake. Just let him win a little—give him the illusion that he can still catch up to you."
Even Tsunade couldn't determine how strong Naruto was now.
Tsunade was certain that if she fought Naruto seriously, she would definitely not be his opponent.
If she couldn't beat him, let alone an eight-year-old Uchiha brat.
Speaking of which, Tsunade suddenly realized that she seemed to be overly concerned about the Uchiha Clan's affairs. Oh, it was all for that bastard Jiraiya.
To make it easier for Jiraiya to become the Fifth Generation Hokage, she had also worried herself sick, feeling more tired than if she were Hokage herself.
Tsunade suddenly felt that letting Jiraiya be Hokage seemed even more tiring than doing it herself. What was she working so hard for?
"This—"
Naruto heard Tsunade's words and nodded with some difficulty, saying, "Alright, I'll try my best to do as you say next time."
For Naruto, letting Sasuke win a little, or even pretending to lose to him, was no problem.
But to "slightly" let him win, and also give him the illusion that he could catch up, the difficulty immediately increased.
At this moment, Naruto seemed to somewhat understand the feelings of Uncle Kaido when he and Yamato first went to challenge him in Yamato's world.
At that time, Uncle Kaido must have been just like him now, racking his brain on how to control his strength so that he could hurt him and Yamato, but also allow them to learn something, and not let the excessive difference in strength crush their confidence.
Thinking about it now, he and Yamato learned so much from Uncle Kaido at that time, and yet they were able to maintain their confidence. Uncle Kaido must have put in a lot of effort.
Thinking this, Naruto suddenly sighed in his heart:
Uncle Kaido is truly an amazing 'teacher'!