21Chapter 21 Don't Brag
"It seems I underestimated the mental fortitude here."
Kakashi looked at Sasuke, who seemed a bit embarrassed, and couldn't help muttering.
"What?"
Sasuke didn't hear clearly, thinking Kakashi was mocking him for still not activating his Sharingan at his age.
"Nothing, just praising your resilience. You'd be hard-pressed to find anyone in the entire Ninja World with better psychological endurance than you!"
Kakashi shook his head slightly, then explained.
"Hmm?" Uchiha Sasuke looked at Kakashi strangely; he truly couldn't tell if the other person was genuinely praising him or mocking him.
"Well, I'm sincerely complimenting you. Most people, if they had your experience, would definitely either turn dark or completely collapse."
Kakashi reached out and patted Sasuke's shoulder, indicating that he was truly amazing!
"Hmph!" Hearing this, Uchiha Sasuke's eyes darkened. He didn't want praise that sounded like pity.
"Regarding how to use the Sharingan, I will teach you later, but it depends on your performance going forward."
Seeing this, Kakashi decided he needed to temper Sasuke's temperament a bit more.
If Sasuke knew that he had actually awakened his eyes but just didn't know how to use them yet, he would probably get cocky again.
"..." Uchiha Sasuke wanted to retort, wondering if his performance during this period wasn't good enough? But thinking about the person before him, who was already a Jonin at his age, compared to her, his current performance really lagged behind.
Damn it!
It was already impossible for him to become a Jonin at twelve, but at the very least, he had to become a Jonin before he turned thirteen... or fourteen.
That way, at least, he wouldn't be completely inferior to her.
Thinking of this, Uchiha Sasuke couldn't help but clench his fist and secretly vow in his heart!
"Um..."
Sakura, standing by the side, listened to their conversation and recalled the news of the entire clan being wiped out overnight when Sasuke was little. Such an event truly wasn't something an ordinary person could bear! Therefore, she wanted to comfort Sasuke but didn't know how to start.
After all, Sasuke was very strong-willed and wouldn't allow others to comfort him, right? Others' comfort might just be a humiliation to him.
Damn it, how did their conversation drift into such a tragic topic!
She couldn't interject at all! Nor did she dare to!
If only that blockhead Naruto were here...
"Kakashi-sensei, I bought the balloons! Hurry up and teach us how to train!"
Just as Sakura was thinking of Naruto, she happened to hear Naruto's voice coming from not far away.
Sakura turned to look at Naruto nearby, unable to help but feel grateful in her heart: Thank goodness, Naruto! You've finally been somewhat reliable for once!
"Each of the three of you take one balloon, then fill the balloon with water."
Seeing Naruto return, Kakashi took a balloon, walked to the seaside, filled the balloon with water, and instructed them to do the same.
Although Naruto and the others didn't understand, they followed suit.
"The first stage of training is to inject Chakra into the water balloon, make the water spin inside the water balloon, and only when the water balloon bursts will the first stage of training be considered complete."
Kakashi held a water balloon in his right hand, speaking as he demonstrated the process for them.
As soon as she injected Chakra into the water balloon, the water inside quickly became agitated. Immediately after, with a 'bang,' the water balloon suddenly burst.
"What the? That's so simple!"
Seeing this, Uzumaki Naruto felt it was extremely easy. If it was only this level, he would show them how quickly he could do it!
Even Sakura and Sasuke, seeing how relaxed Kakashi was, thought it looked very simple, and they all began the water balloon training.
"Ya~ Ha--"
"Hm?"
Uzumaki Naruto looked doubtfully at the water balloon in his hand; it hadn't burst? He clearly saw Kakashi-sensei burst the balloon so easily just now!
Refusing to believe it, he injected Chakra again. He saw the water balloon in his hand start to writhe again, but it showed no sign of bursting.
"Strange."
Sakura and Sasuke also noticed something was wrong at this moment. It looked simple, but actually executing it was a different story.
When Uzumaki Naruto tried for a while longer without success, he turned around and saw that Sasuke and Sakura hadn't succeeded either. The sense of urgency in his heart instantly vanished.
What? Even the so-called genius Sasuke, and Sakura who was strong in theory and Chakra control, hadn't succeeded.
It seemed the problem wasn't with him; this was genuinely difficult!
"..."
Sasuke seemed to sense something. When he looked up, he saw Naruto's smug expression, as if saying: Is this the genius? He's no different from me.
Damn it, it's just a Chakra nature transformation, how could it stump me! Sasuke gritted his teeth, lowered his head again, and tried hard.
He absolutely could not lose to that dead last Naruto!
Sakura didn't look at Naruto, just lowered her head in thought. "Making the water spin rapidly inside the ball, can that really break the water balloon? Kakashi-sensei's demonstration just now didn't seem to be about making the water spin, right?"
That feeling was like making the water inside the ball 'boil,' with the water constantly struggling to squeeze out from all angles of the water balloon?
Thinking of this, Sakura tried again according to her previous idea. "Indeed, making the water inside spin in the same direction makes it very hard to break the water balloon!"
Then what if she made the water inside spin in different, irregular directions?
When Sakura tried again according to her new thought, she found that the movement of the water balloon indeed became more intense.
"It works, but the force isn't enough to break the water balloon yet! I need to inject more Chakra while precisely controlling the Chakra to spin in different directions."
Sakura was overjoyed and tried hard again.
Kakashi, leaning against a tree trunk reading a novel nearby, looked up and noticed that Sakura seemed to have found a method.
"Stop for a moment, the three of you walk in different directions, don't gather together. Only by finding the right method on your own will the subsequent training go smoother, rather than constantly relying on others."
Seeing this, Kakashi had no choice but to stand up and interrupt their training, telling them to practice separately.
"Eh?"
Hearing this, Naruto, Sasuke, and Sakura all stopped. The three looked at each other, stunned in their hearts.
What did Kakashi-sensei mean by that?
He/She/He found the method to break the ball?
"Hmph!"
After Uchiha Sasuke realized what was happening, he felt a sense of urgency but was also extremely unconvinced. He didn't need to peek at anyone else's method! Kakashi actually suspected he couldn't break the ball through his own efforts!
Quickly, Sasuke walked off alone toward the east.
Sakura looked at Sasuke's retreating back and couldn't help but sigh. She had originally planned to tell Sasuke the method she discovered.
But now it seemed impossible.
So, she walked north.
As for the remaining Naruto, he looked at Sasuke, then at Sakura, and was momentarily unsure where to go.
"They left, so you don't need to go. Practice right here. Let me see how the person who boasted it was very simple earlier plans to complete the first stage of training."
Kakashi looked at Naruto and chuckled teasingly.
"Damn it, Kakashi-sensei, just wait and see!"
Uzumaki Naruto's old face instantly flushed red as he recalled his earlier boast.