Chapter 25: First Place
Compressing Chakra into a single point!
Uchiha Sasuke stared at the tomoe on his right palm for over half an hour, completely still like a statue.
This technique is one of the ultimate forms of Chakra Shape Manipulation.
Kakashi's words and the image of her executing the Rasengan simultaneously appeared in his mind.
A rapidly spinning blue ball of Chakra.
Not only must the amount of Chakra contained within be substantial, but one must also control a large amount of Chakra to spin rapidly and irregularly, while compressing the Chakra to maintain the form of a ball.
The difficulty is far from ordinary, yet Kakashi had already condensed the Rasengan the moment he raised his hand.
No!
Suddenly, Uchiha Sasuke closed his eyes; thinking about it was useless.
His current goal was only to burst the rubber ball; he needed to complete the second stage of training.
Not to master the Rasengan in one go.
Starting over, he would slowly increase the input of Chakra.
Immediately, Uchiha Sasuke picked up another rubber ball and placed it in his right palm.
Next, he condensed Chakra, first following the training of the first stage, inputting a small amount of Chakra concentrated in his palm, and controlling them to spin irregularly.
Then, he gradually increased the input of Chakra.
When the amount of Chakra increased to a certain extent, the rubber ball suddenly developed a hole.
Just like before, the rubber ball only made a slight sound before deflating; it hadn't reached the point of explosion.
"Damn it! Gradually increasing the amount of Chakra won't work; it seems I still need to input a sufficient amount of Chakra all at once."
"But at the moment of increasing the Chakra, I also need to control them to spin rapidly and irregularly."
"Do I have to control it with both hands, like that guy Naruto?"
Uchiha Sasuke's expression was somewhat conflicted, but he quickly rejected this idea.
Just imagining it in his mind, he could see the scene of Naruto mercilessly mocking him.
Since he already knew specifically what to do, he just needed to try a few more times.
Uchiha Sasuke was confident in his learning ability; it was only the second stage, and now that he knew the method, he could definitely do it.
...Bang—
In the dark night, in the forest not far from Tazuna's house, a loud noise suddenly erupted.
"Finally succeeded!"
Uchiha Sasuke, who was sent flying several meters away by the shockwave of the explosion, had no sense of pain from his body, only the joy of success.
"Sasuke?"
Uzumaki Naruto, who was also persisting in his training that night, saw this scene, his gaze stiffened, and he unconsciously lowered his trembling hands, causing the rubber ball in his grip to roll onto the ground with a faint sound.
Seeing Sasuke struggling to get up, Uzumaki Naruto moved his feet, instinctively wanting to run over, but he immediately pulled his right foot back after taking half a step.
Because Sasuke had already stood up again.
Seeing this, Uzumaki Naruto lowered his eyes, and it finally dawned on him: Had he fallen behind Sasuke once again?
His heart was filled with unwillingness.
"Damn it! Damn it, damn it..."
His hand involuntarily tried to clench into a fist, but the next second it reflexively opened.
Hiss~
It hurt; his hands had reached a point where the slightest movement caused unstoppable pain.
Despite training day and night during this period, he was still left behind by Sasuke!
Uzumaki Naruto gritted his teeth, his eyes filled with unwillingness, disappointment, and helplessness.
"Everyone has their own strengths... You are different from them, those of us with little Chakra..."
At this moment, Kakashi's voice suddenly surfaced in Uzumaki Naruto's mind.
"Right, I'm different from Sakura and the others. My large amount of Chakra is my strength; what I'm good at is the Shadow Clone Jutsu! Didn't I complete the first stage of training relying on the Shadow Clone last time?"
Thinking of this, Uzumaki Naruto's eyes instantly lit up, because the training during this period had been too intense, and he almost forgot Kakashi-sensei's previous reminder!
It turned out her words were not just for Sakura, but also for him!
"Multiple Shadow Clone Jutsu!"
"Hiss~"
"Ow, ow—"
Immediately after casting the Shadow Clone Jutsu, Uzumaki Naruto arched his body like a boiled shrimp due to the pain.
But fortunately, the technique was completed, and the Shadow Clones had appeared.
"Kakashi-sensei has already explained the method for the second stage, so three of us working as a team, let's get to work."
All the Narutos erupted with extraordinary fighting spirit!
Uchiha Sasuke in front heard the commotion and couldn't help but turn back to look. Seeing this scene, his eyes froze for a few seconds.
This guy...
That feeling of being chased, the sense that if he relaxed even a little, he would be surpassed, was truly unpleasant.
Especially being surpassed by Naruto, that dead last, made it even more irritating.
But!
He looked down at his slightly trembling hands, which were too exhausted to condense Chakra, and ultimately decided to go back to sleep.
He had already completed the second stage anyway; what Kakashi said was right, he needed appropriate rest.
"Hmph, even if you catch up, you won't surpass me."
Uchiha Sasuke coldly turned and left. As the first person to complete the second stage mission, he could receive a reward.
At that time, he would be able to leave everyone far behind.
— —
— —
The next day.
When Kakashi, Sakura, and Sasuke arrived at the training ground.
They happened to see Uzumaki Naruto collapsed on the ground.
"Naruto!"
Sakura cried out in alarm and rushed over.
"This guy trained all night?"
Uchiha Sasuke stopped in his tracks, a hint of shock in his eyes.
"Well, don't worry, he just fainted from exhaustion."
Kakashi used the Body Flicker Technique to arrive next to Naruto and said after a brief check.
"He's really overdoing it," Sakura said with a tone of reproach.
"He was probably stimulated," Kakashi said while turning back to look at Sasuke.
"I have already completed the second stage," Uchiha Sasuke said calmly, showing no hint of the urgency in his heart. "How do I activate the Sharingan?"
"Is this the reward you want?"
Kakashi wasn't surprised by this; activating the Sharingan was the obsession of every member of the Uchiha Clan.
Uchiha Sasuke did not speak again, merely staring at Kakashi's eyes—or more accurately, staring at the position of her left eye covered by the headband.
"Follow me."
Kakashi turned and walked toward the seaside, signaling for Sasuke to follow.
"One after another..."
Sakura watched their retreating backs, then looked down at Naruto lying on the grass, her eyes full of helplessness.
Finally, she resigned herself to bending down and dragging Naruto under a tree, letting him sit with his back against the trunk.
After doing this, she began her training for the day.