The two faced each other, ready to fight!
Sakura's small face flushed with excitement as she cheered Sasuke on, "Go, Sasuke-kun!"
"Hmph!" Ino beside her refused to be outdone, shouting loudly, "Sasuke-kun, you're the best! Give Naruto a real beating!"
Naruto, hearing this, felt a dark line of irritation forming in his mind. "Let's settle this today, Sasuke!" he yelled. "I'll show you the results of my training over the past two months!"
"Hmm... I look forward to it," Sasuke replied with a cool nod.
Unsurprisingly, Naruto was quickly defeated—practically one-shotted.
Seeing Naruto lying on the ground, looking like he was questioning his entire existence, Sasuke decided to offer some consolation to prevent the boy from developing any lasting psychological trauma.
"Is that all?" Sasuke sighed, shaking his head as he turned to leave, feigning disappointment.
As expected, these two simple words carried immense cutting power and ridicule.
Naruto, who had been wallowing in existential doubt, instantly erupted in fury. He braced himself on his hands, ready to get up.
"You bastard! Don't underestimate me! I'm going to flatten you!"
Hearing this, Sasuke turned around, a faint smile curving his lips. It seemed his words of comfort had worked wonders.
Unfortunately, their spar was cut short. The relentlessly clamoring Naruto was dragged away by the exasperated Iruka.
As Sasuke moved through the crowd, he ignored the swarm of giggling girls pressing in around him.
Only when they had mostly dispersed did he suddenly turn to Sakura and say, "Sakura, I have a question to ask you."
'Huh?!'
Sakura froze, a blush creeping across her cheeks.
'Oh my god, Sasuke-kun is actually talking to me!'
'No, no, I need to calm down.'
'I have to show Sasuke-kun my ladylike side.'
Tucking a stray strand of hair behind her ear, Sakura smiled shyly and whispered, "Sasuke-kun, please ask."
Her movements were perfectly restrained and ladylike, but inside, her second personality was already—＼(≧▽≦)/
Oblivious to the girl's inner turmoil, Sasuke cut straight to the point. "I noticed your excellent Chakra control when you used the Transformation Technique and Clone Technique earlier. Is there any trick to it?"
Asking someone directly about their training secrets was quite abrupt.
'It's Sasuke, so it's okay.'
"It's not as impressive as you make it sound, Sasuke-kun," Sakura said, waving her hand dismissively, a hint of embarrassment coloring her cheeks.
"If I had to pinpoint a secret..."
Sakura paused, considering her words before continuing, "I have very little chakra. So whenever I use ninjutsu, I always try to control it and use only the necessary amount."
"Hmm," Sasuke nodded, then pressed further, "Besides school, have you ever used chakra at home?"
'How could he just ask a girl about her home life like that?!'
'Oh, it's Sasuke. Never mind then.'
"When my parents aren't home, I use chakra for chores to save time."
As she said this, a faint trace of resentment flickered across her face.
Her irresponsible, retired Chūnin father and Chūnin mother often got caught up in shopping and forgot the time, or even took extended trips out of the village, leaving Sakura to fend for herself. (In the movie Road to Ninja, Sakura complains to Naruto that her father is a "useless ninja who couldn't even become a Jōnin," implying that Haruno Kizashi was previously a ninja, specifically a Chūnin.)
Hearing this, Sasuke's mind seemed to burst open like a skylight, illuminating with sudden clarity.
He finally understood why Sakura's chakra control was so exceptional.
Everything in life is a form of training; every aspect of daily life can be a path to spiritual refinement.
Sakura had unconsciously mastered this profound philosophy. Combined with her natural aptitude, she instantly grasped Kakashi's tree-climbing technique, having already practiced related skills in her everyday life.
Sasuke nodded. "Thank you, Sakura. You really helped me out."
"Oh, it's nothing, Sasuke-kun. You're too kind," Sakura replied, a faint blush spreading across her cheeks. She added in a small voice, "Besides, we're... we're classmates, right? Helping each other is only natural, ha ha..."
Sakura giggled awkwardly, clearly embarrassed.
'Sigh, these kids these days...'
'Always obsessed with my good looks.'
Sasuke sighed inwardly. "Still, you did help me."
"Mm-hmm."
As the two talked, Ino, who had just finished her practical exam, watched them intently.
The sight made Ino tremble with rage.
Despite the scorching midday sun, she felt cold sweat break out all over her body, her hands and feet ice-cold.
'Why has Sasuke-kun never spoken to me? Why?!'
---
As evening fell, Sasuke returned to the Uchiha Clan Compound alone.
A brand-new aluminum kettle sat on the table.
According to the Uchiha-Style Fire Release Techniques manual, there were only two ways to amplify the power of Fire Release ninjutsu:
1. Increase Chakra input.
2. Enhance the nature transformation of the Fire Release.
Sasuke was currently focusing on the second method.
Just as Naruto had trained his Wind Release nature transformation by cutting leaves in the original story, Sasuke was using the kettle-heating method.
Concentrating fire-attribute Chakra in his hand, he slowly pressed it against the kettle's base. After holding it there for quite some time, a wisp of steam finally emerged from the kettle's spout.
Sasuke raised an eyebrow. As expected, the results were minimal.
Just as Naruto had struggled to cut leaves with Wind Release at first, Sasuke now found himself unable to evaporate even a kettle of water with Fire Release Chakra.
Yet a simple C-rank Wind Release technique—Great Breakthrough—could easily shatter several thick trees.
With a casual Fire Release ninjutsu, Sasuke could not only evaporate the water in the kettle but incinerate the entire kettle to ash.
Practicing Ninjutsu is easy; mastering Chakra Nature Transformation is hard.
Sasuke had been training for over a month, but his progress remained minimal.
In the original story, Naruto could create hundreds of Shadow Clones and practice Wind Release Nature Transformation for days on end.
Sasuke lacked the resources and ability to immerse himself fully in Nature Transformation training like Naruto did.
He could only devote one hour a day to this practice, as he also needed to train in Taijutsu, Genjutsu, Ninjutsu, study books, and pursue other areas of development.
'At this rate, it's going to take too long. I need to find a better way,' Sasuke thought to himself.
Although Chakra Nature Transformation training was difficult, mastering Fire Release Nature Transformation would be like building a towering skyscraper from the ground up.
Once he mastered Fire Release Nature Transformation, learning any future Fire Release Ninjutsu would become remarkably fast, and their power would be beyond comparison to his current techniques.
However, the scrolls contained no specific methods for enhancing Fire Release Nature Transformation.
They merely stated that improving it required learning more Fire Release Ninjutsu and practicing them to perfection.
Thus "boiling kettle" method, ironically, had been inspired by Naruto.