Except for Sakura, no one else present thought Naruto would suddenly and intensely stand up for Sasuke.
Uchiha Fugaku looked at the thin Naruto before him.
Though the boy’s appearance closely resembled that respectable Fourth Hokage, his personality was more like his straightforward mother.
In the Nine-Tails Rampage years ago, the fact that the enemy controlling the Nine-Tailed possessed the Sharingan caused the Uchiha Clan to be stripped from Konoha’s center of power.
Normally, as the Uchiha Clan leader, Uchiha Fugaku would likely never have had the chance to contact Naruto.
If the radical pro-war faction within the clan knew the Nine-Tails Jinchuriki was currently deep within the Uchiha territory, they would probably think it was the perfect opportunity to sound the horn of rebellion against Konoha, demanding Uchiha Fugaku immediately bring the Nine-Tailed under Uchiha control.
But Uchiha Fugaku also knew very well that if the Uchiha Clan truly turned against Konoha, there would absolutely be no good end.
That was why he sent Itachi to the Hokages ANBU, hoping his clever eldest son, who possessed the will of fire, could seek new hope outside the Uchiha Clan and become a bridge for Konoha and Uchiha to coexist peacefully.
As the clan leader, what he could personally do was truly limited.
He couldn’t actively reveal his desire for peace; he even had to play the leader of the Uchiha’s deliberate coup d’état, taking the responsibility of the mastermind upon himself without hesitation—otherwise, the radicals in the clan might bypass him and strike at Konoha on their own.
Therefore, Uchiha Fugaku placed his hopes on Itachi.
Training his eldest son, who was only eleven, into a double agent—everything Itachi was doing now proceeded exactly as Uchiha Fugaku had hoped.
In contrast, there was indeed a massive objective gap between his youngest son and his eldest son.
“You don’t understand Itachi, so what do you know about him?”
Perhaps because of the strong shadow of an old friend shown by Naruto, Uchiha Fugaku chose to endure Naruto’s rudeness toward him.
Uchiha Fugaku’s gaze shifted between Naruto and Sakura.
Unlike Itachi, they were still just naive students studying at the Ninja Academy after all.
Many pains they had yet to experience, many choices they still did not understand.
This Ninja World… no, just the Ninja Village of Konoha, was already full of surging undercurrents; every day was never as peaceful as it appeared on the surface. This chapter was copied from g.com without permission.
As a father, he defended his child, defended Itachi.
This was qualified behavior, reasonable behavior.
But Uchiha Fugaku habitually ignored the fact that he actually had two sons.
Itachi deserved his defense—Sasuke, likewise, had that qualification and should enjoy such treatment.
His rational counter-question did not soothe the blunt Naruto; instead, it made Naruto even angrier.
Because Uchiha Fugaku’s current behavior further proved to Naruto that he truly treated Itachi and Sasuke differently in every aspect of life.
“Of course I don’t know what kind of guy that Itachi is, I only just heard his name for the first time! But I don’t understand Itachi, yet what do you understand about Sasuke!?”
Naruto responded to a counter-question with a counter-question.
The logic in his words couldn’t be said to be non-existent, only completely nonsensical.
After Naruto took over the relay baton of the confrontation with Uchiha Fugaku, Sakura actually stayed out of it like it was none of her business, quietly holding her barley tea and taking a small sip.
This was the feeling—this was the Naruto-speak that could be called authentic Talk-no-Jutsu.
Sure enough, this guy could talk down anyone in the original work and always succeed.
Besides the sincerity in his words without any falsehood, the Ashura Chakra must have given him some sort of affinity-boosting buff!
Sakura glanced at Sasuke.
The rhetoric she used to talk to Uchiha Fugaku earlier and Naruto’s words were essentially the same, but how stubborn had this awkward kid been just now?
He wouldn’t even look at her for the longest time, but now he was staring wide-eyed at Naruto, who was standing up for him.
“Tsk…”
Sakura clicked her tongue in dissatisfaction, with an expression that said “my efforts were in vain after all,” “looks like I didn’t come at the right time,” and “you two are a match made in heaven.”
But this was the effect Sakura wanted.
At least after this incident, these two guys, who were always awkward whenever they faced each other, should finally start to open up to one another…
“Is your understanding of Sasuke already that deep?”
Uchiha Fugaku found Naruto’s question somewhat laughable.
It had only been a month since the Ninja Academy started.
Could Naruto understand Sasuke better than his own father in just one month?
“I don’t know if my understanding of Sasuke has reached a deep level, but my understanding of Sasuke is definitely much more than yours!”
“Sasuke is a genius in school that everyone finds hard to catch up to! To maintain that glory, he can’t slack off for a single day, and every day he has to grow more than the day before!”
Sasuke was the one Naruto chased, the opponent Naruto wanted to defeat, and the rival whose recognition Naruto wanted to earn.
Sasuke’s hard work and dedication were all seen by Naruto.
So Naruto wanted to surpass him even more, admired him more, and longed to stand by his side as equals.
“Perhaps because Itachi also achieved this in the past, everything Sasuke does has become taken for granted, but this comparison is simply unfair!”
“Because someone else could do it, one should be able to do it too! But while others were given recognition after doing it, when one does the same thing, they can’t be acknowledged…”
Naruto trembled all over; perhaps he was grieving for Sasuke, or perhaps he thought of his own experiences all along.
“This way of doing things is wrong!”
He didn’t agree, absolutely not!
“Iruka-sensei said that no one’s hard work and dedication can be trampled upon or ignored at will—whether a genius or a dead last, everyone’s growth is achieved by taking solid steps!”
Although he made Iruka-sensei angry every day, when he learned a Ninjutsu, when his grades improved slightly, or even when everyone laughed at him for viewing Sasuke as his rival and goal…
Iruka-sensei would smile and say to him, “Good job, Naruto.”
Such a simple sentence, yet not everyone could say it.
Uchiha Fugaku was such a person.
As long as it was something Itachi did, no matter how trivial, he would proudly cheer to Itachi countless times, “As expected of my son.”
But facing Sasuke, he was so stingy that he never gave Sasuke any praise or recognition!