Naruto came down from the Hokage Rock and walked toward Sasuke’s direction.
Sasuke was standing on the side of the road, looking around, appearing a bit bored.
“Sasuke!”
Naruto called out and quickened his pace.
Sasuke turned his head, and upon seeing Naruto, his expression shifted from blank to happy, but he quickly suppressed it, replacing it with an indifferent look.
Sasuke stuffed his hands into his pockets and said in a feigned cold tone, “What a coincidence, running into you here.
I was just passing by.”
Naruto smiled, not exposing the lie, and said directly, “Well, my home is nearby, so it’s easy to see me here.
Do you want to go play together?”
“Yeah.” Sasuke nodded, not saying much else.
The two walked side by side on the street, not knowing what to say for a moment.
Naruto thought for a moment and spoke first, “What do you usually do?”
“Training.” Sasuke said bluntly, “I want to become an outstanding Ninja, join the Uchiha Police Force when I grow up, and then I’ll be able to catch up to my brother’s pace.”
“Is your brother that amazing?”
Sasuke’s eyes lit up instantly, “Of course!
My brother graduated from the Ninja Academy at seven and was a Chunin at ten.
He’s a true genius!”
Naruto nodded thoughtfully.
A genius, huh…
That person named Uchiha Itachi didn’t seem much older than himself.
“What about you?” Sasuke turned his head, “What do you usually do?”
“School.”
Sasuke was stunned for a moment, “School?
You go to the Ninja Academy?”
“Yeah.” Naruto said, “Although I’m a bit younger than my classmates, I’ve already been attending for a year.”
A trace of envy flashed in Sasuke’s eyes.
He also wanted to go to the Ninja Academy, but his father said he was still too young and had to wait until next year to enroll.
“Then do you know any Ninjutsu?” Sasuke asked, his tone carrying a bit of probing, “What does the school teach?”
Naruto thought about it and felt this wasn’t a secret.
“The Three Basic Techniques.” He said, “Transformation Technique, Substitution Technique, and Clone Technique.
They are all simple E-rank Ninjutsu.”
Sasuke was a bit surprised, “You know all of them?”
“Yeah, I know them all.”
Sasuke was silent for a while, a fighting spirit ignited in his eyes.
He then raised his head and looked at Naruto seriously, “Then can we spar?
My brother is usually very busy, and I can only train alone.
My progress is too slow…”
Naruto looked at Sasuke’s serious expression and hesitated a bit.
His mental age was already fifteen, and both his magic and control over Chakra were much stronger than before.
Fighting a little kid…
“What, are you afraid?” Sasuke’s tone carried a bit of provocation.
In the Mental Space, Kurama yawned, “This Uchiha brat is quite arrogant, fitting my stereotype of their clan.”
Naruto sighed in his heart and nodded, “Alright, but let’s stop at the appropriate point.”
…
The two left the street and walked toward the training ground.
Sasuke walked in front, taking large steps as if afraid Naruto would go back on his word.
Naruto followed behind, holding his staff, calculating how to control his strength.
He couldn’t hit too hard, but he couldn’t go too easy either.
“This is it.”
Sasuke stopped and pointed to an open space in front.
The training ground was vast, surrounded by a dense forest.
Not far from here, the outlines of buildings in the Uchiha Compound could be vaguely seen.
“Yeah, I practice here whenever I’m alone.” Sasuke walked to the center of the clearing, turned around, and assumed a fighting stance, “Come on.”
Naruto walked over and stood opposite him.
The two stared at each other.
Sasuke’s gaze was very serious, his mind constantly recalling the situation when training with his brother earlier.
His body leaned slightly forward, ready to attack at any time.
Sasuke made the first move, rushing out suddenly.
Since he didn’t know any Ninjutsu, he could only use Taijutsu.
In the blink of an eye, the distance between them closed.
Sasuke’s fist struck directly toward Naruto’s face.
The speed was fast, and the angle was very straight.
But to Naruto, it was too slow.
He stepped to the side, the fist grazing past his clothes.
Sasuke didn’t stop, his other hand swinging over.
Naruto stepped back again, dodging easily.
Sasuke threw several punches in a row.
Every move was dodged.
Naruto observed while dodging.
Although Sasuke’s movements were much stronger than his classmates in his memory, ultimately, he was just a five-year-old child.
His fists lacked power, and his center of gravity was unstable when kicking.
But one could vaguely see that he trained regularly and had a certain method to it.
It was just that he was too young, and the training wasn’t quite up to par yet.
After confirming Sasuke’s basic strength, Naruto asked curiously, “Doesn’t your Uchiha Clan have the Sharingan?
Why don’t you use it?”
The corner of Sasuke’s mouth twitched, his tone a bit depressed, “I will awaken it one day.”
He paused and then said, “What about you?
Can you only dodge?”
Naruto sighed softly.
Sasuke rushed over again, this time with a flying kick, jumping up and kicking toward Naruto’s chest with his right foot.
The movement was large, and the opening was also large.
Naruto saw the timing, tilted his body slightly, and dodged the kick.
Then, he extended the staff in his hand and tapped lightly on Sasuke’s back.
He didn’t use too much force.
But Sasuke’s body had already lost its balance.
“Oof!”
He lunged forward two steps, his legs went weak, and he fell directly to the ground.
Sasuke lay on the ground, stunned for several seconds.
He didn’t even see how Naruto did it.
He only felt a tap on his back, and then he fell.
Naruto put away the staff and reached out his other hand, “Are you okay?”
Sasuke didn’t take it, propping himself up from the ground to get up.
He brushed the dust off his body, his face turning bright red.
As a member of the Uchiha Clan, being defeated so easily by a peer.
He couldn’t accept it.
Sasuke sat on the ground, panting heavily, head lowered, not speaking.
Naruto walked over and sat down next to him.
“You fought well.”
“You’re making fun of me.” Sasuke said sullenly.
“No.” Naruto said, “You haven’t even started school yet, being able to fight like this is already quite impressive.”
Although the gap between the two was too large, for a five-year-old child, Sasuke was indeed quite good.
Of course, more importantly, Naruto hadn’t even used magic or Ninjutsu.
He hadn’t even really used much strength.
Sasuke raised his head and glanced at him.
“Are you really about the same age as me?”
“Really.” Naruto nodded.
Sasuke stared at him for a long while, finally huffed, and looked away.
“You’re strong.” His voice was very small, but he said it very seriously.
Naruto smiled, “You will become strong in the future too.”
The two sat by the training ground, neither speaking.
The wind blew, rolling up the broken leaves on the ground.
Naruto leaned against a tree, suddenly remembering something, and asked curiously, “Speaking of which, what did you mean when you said you would awaken the Sharingan one day?
Is the Sharingan different from the Byakugan?”
In Naruto’s view, the Byakugan of the Hyuga Clan seemed to be awakened from birth.
Sasuke was stunned for a moment, then shook his head, “I don’t know.”
He thought for a while, organizing his words, “Even within the Uchiha Clan, only a few can activate the Sharingan.
I’m not too sure about the specifics of how to awaken it.”
Speaking of this, Sasuke’s tone became proud again, “But I know the Sharingan has three stages, from one-tomoe to three-tomoe.
The higher the stage of awakening, the stronger the strength.”
He turned his head to look at Naruto, his eyes full of admiration.
“My brother’s first awakening was two-tomoe.
He’s a true genius!”
Naruto nodded thoughtfully.
He didn’t pursue the matter of the Mangekyo.
If Sasuke and Kurama were right, the Mangekyo was a rare eye, and Sasuke surely didn’t know much about it currently.
But…
Besides Sasuke, it was very difficult for Naruto to come into contact with other informed members of the Uchiha.
Go directly to find Sasuke’s brother, Uchiha Itachi?
Too risky, and Naruto could also tell that Itachi at that time didn’t like him, probably inseparable from the fact that he was the ‘Nine-Tailed’.
Go find Sasuke’s father, the captain of the Uchiha Police Force?
That was even more impossible.
For a moment, Naruto felt a bit distressed.
Sasuke didn’t know Naruto’s inner thoughts, but he had already treated this peer as his only friend at the moment.
He remembered what his father said last night, hesitated for a long time before speaking.
“I told my parents about knowing you last night.”
He paused, his speaking speed suddenly speeding up, “Father said that actually, there’s no need to care about what the Third Hokage says, because my father is the captain of the Police Force, and my brother is a genius among geniuses, so…”
“No need to worry about safety issues.”
By the end, his voice got smaller and smaller, and he started stammering again.
Naruto was stunned at first.
Is Sasuke indirectly inviting him to his home as a guest?
However, he didn’t care about the Third Hokage’s words from “two years ago”.
Anyway, that old man hid everything from him and kept sending people to monitor him.
Visiting the Uchiha Clan was exactly what he had in mind.
Seeing Naruto not speaking, Sasuke thought he was wary of the Third Hokage’s words, and said a bit disappointedly, “If you don’t want to…”
Naruto came back to his senses from his thoughts and smiled, “I’ve heard that the Uchiha Clan is full of geniuses; of course I want to go and take a look.”
He paused and said, “I was just considering, do I need to bring a gift when visiting your house?”
Grandpa Heiter taught him that when visiting a good friend’s home, one cannot go empty-handed.
It is best to bring something the other person likes.
Sasuke was stunned for a moment, then immediately shook his head, “Of course not, we are friends.”
He looked up at the sky; the sun was about to set.
“It’s almost evening anyway, why not today?”
Naruto stood up, “Alright, let’s go.”