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"Yay!!!"
Naruto jumped for joy, but Kazuki promptly poured cold water on his celebration:
"Don't celebrate too soon. Your punishment is over, but all these felled trees need to have their branches trimmed, be cut into logs, and then transported back to camp."
"You don't honestly think it's all finished, do you?"
You little rascal. You like to act tough, so now you get to deal with the consequences.
"....."
There's still that much left to do?
Naruto was dumbfounded. He slowly turned his stiff neck to look at Kazuki, silently pleading for Kazuki to tell him it wasn't true.
It's all over.
Unfortunately, Kazuki very seriously informed Naruto that it wasn't over yet, young man. You still need to put in the work.
Fortunately, punishing Naruto wasn't about tormenting him.
For the remaining tasks, Naruto could have dinner first and then work hard along with the others.
If all the subsequent work was left to Naruto alone, who knew how long it would take to complete.
"My god, did Naruto do all this?"
"Has Naruto gotten this strong?"
The members of the newly formed squads were either classmates or students from the same grade—people who saw each other constantly.
Even if they weren't close, they knew of each other.
When the various squads arrived at the section of forest where Naruto had been "chopping," they were instantly stunned.
From an aerial view, a long, brown strip now ran through the forest—the result of Gamabunta's anger-fueled swing.
'Everyone's praising me?'
Naruto, who had been listless moments before, suddenly perked up, offering an embarrassed smile.
"Actually, it's nothing much. I've just gotten a little bit stronger..."
'It was really you?'
Sasuke didn't speak. He examined the trees that had been neatly severed at the base—clearly cut by a sharp weapon in a single stroke.
It didn't look like Naruto's handiwork at all.
"Naruto, this was done by a toad from Mount Myōboku, wasn't it?"
Since joining Team Jiraiya, Sakura hadn't improved her strength much, but her knowledge had grown considerably.
It wasn't that Jiraiya would favor someone like Kakashi did; it was just that Sakura... he didn't quite know how to teach her.
Her ninjutsu talent was average; her taijutsu felt somewhat lackluster.
Fortunately, there were medical ninja at the camp, so Sakura could learn medical ninjutsu from them.
"No way!!!"
Having his cover blown by Sakura and being subjected to Sasuke's skeptical glance, Naruto exploded.
Unwilling to point out that Sakura was dragging the team down, he instead directed his anger at Sasuke:
"You bastard! What's with that look!"
Sasuke couldn't be bothered to engage and simply ignored him.
But the more Sasuke acted this way, the angrier Naruto became. What's so great about you?!
The two were like magnets that attracted and repelled each other, always ending up together due to various unexpected reasons.
They could fly into a rage over an unintentional glance or an ordinary comment.
Then they'd start clashing.
Naruto was usually the instigator, while Sasuke was the reactor.
"Naruto, what are you doing? Why are you saying such rude things to Sasuke?"
Seeing the boy she liked being yelled at, Sakura immediately stepped in front of Sasuke, hands on her hips, scolding Naruto.
"I..."
Something seemed to break inside Naruto. He stood dazed for several seconds, then... charged forward and threw a punch at Sasuke.
Sasuke, seemingly not expecting Naruto to actually throw a punch, instinctively turned his head, dodging the fist but getting a face full of muddy water.
"Idiot!!!"
Reacting, Sasuke punched Naruto in the stomach.
"Oof!!!"
"Naruto!"
"Sasuke!!!"
The scene instantly descended into chaos. Several students screamed.
Watching Naruto and Sasuke grapple with each other, the group was at a loss, unsure what to do.
'I knew this would happen.'
Whenever Naruto, Sasuke, and Sakura were in the same place, Naruto and Sasuke always ended up fighting.
And over eighty percent of the time, it was because of Sakura.
On a large tree branch, Kazuki sat perched, looking down at the tangled, evenly matched brawl between Naruto and Sasuke below.
"Tsk~ How brutal."
Naruto took another punch.
Compared to the original timeline, both Naruto and Sasuke had received more training earlier and were much stronger than they were at this point originally.
The problem was, Jiraiya was always running around and hadn't spent much time actually teaching Naruto.
Coupled with the fact that Naruto is a late bloomer, his current strength couldn't match Sasuke's.
Another important point: never underestimate Orochimaru's abilities.
While the disciples he taught might not seem comparable to Jiraiya's, Orochimaru's actual teaching ability wasn't inferior to Jiraiya's.
The difference lay in his luck not being as good.
"Sir, should we not intervene?"
Itachi slowly turned his head.
Shisui was watching with great interest, but Itachi, as an older brother, felt letting this continue unchecked wasn't good.
It could have a negative impact on both Naruto and Sasuke.
"No need. After all, we're not their squad leaders. It's not our place to step in yet."
Kazuki smiled and glanced toward the camp.
Mizunami from Team Jiraiya had already slipped away moments ago. No need to guess; he'd gone back to camp to get someone.
The squad leaders would arrive soon enough.
Shisui gave Itachi a reassuring look.
Itachi was speechless.
Of course he knew fighting among kids was normal; he'd gone through it himself.
He just felt the two boys doing this right in front of Kazuki was a bit disrespectful, not that he was trying to defend Sasuke.
Itachi might be a doting older brother, but he wouldn't side with Sasuke on everything.
"Stop fighting!!!"
Sakura and Karin were both shouting anxiously, their expressions frantic. Only Ino stood to the side, not rushing forward to intervene like the others.
This puzzled Shikamaru. What's up with Ino?
She's usually very tense whenever it involves Sasuke. Why is she acting like a different person today?
Kazuki wasn't in a hurry. A bit of New Year's chaos wasn't a bad thing.
He wasn't anxious, but others certainly were.
Especially the Jonin who had brought Team Jiraiya to the camp in Jiraiya's place—he was practically on the verge of developing a stomach ulcer.
'I knew this wasn't a good assignment!'
"Stop it! What are you two doing?!"
Soon, the squad leaders arrived. Many ninja from the camp also came along, everyone fearing the fight might escalate and draw in other students.
As it was, Sakura and Karin were already starting to come to blows.
Sometimes girls fighting could look even more terrifying than boys.
"Hmph!"
With the teacher's arrival, Sasuke grabbed Naruto's arm and executed a shoulder throw, flinging him away.
Naruto, agile as a monkey, twisted in mid-air and landed on a tree branch, glaring fiercely up at Sasuke.