This Naruto Is a Player!

Dismissing the Shadow Clones.

Poof!

After a puff of smoke, all the clones vanished. The world instantly became quiet, and all four of them felt a sense of relief. Clones from elemental release jutsu were manageable; they were obedient. But these Shadow Clones were a complete free-for-all, each with its own distinct personality. "Looks like I can't use them anymore," Naruto summarized, turning around and scratching his head awkwardly. "My clone jutsu seems to have a bit of a problem."

Kakashi, Sakura, Sasuke: -_-||

Seeing that clones wouldn't work, Naruto decided to handle it himself. He took the lead, grabbing a large net bag and running quickly to start picking up trash. He hadn't even begun when he heard Sakura's surprised gasp from behind.

"Naruto, how did you do that?" Sakura pointed, astonished, at Naruto, who was standing on the water's surface, picking up trash.

Sasuke looked over at the sound, equally surprised. Kakashi glanced over, showing no surprise, as if he had already expected it.

Naruto looked at himself; nothing seemed different. "What about me?"

"Naruto, how are you standing on the water?" Sakura asked in amazement.

Naruto lifted his foot, then jumped a few times consecutively, replying, "It's simple, just channel chakra to the soles of your feet, and you can walk on water."

That simple?

Sasuke, disbelieving, gave it a try.

Splash!

Whether it was from overexertion or overconfidence, the river was deep, and he instantly fell in, completely submerged.

"Sasuke!" Sakura cried out anxiously.

Naruto watched this whole sequence of events, dumbfounded. This Sasuke seemed a little too overconfident. Naruto can do it, so can I?

Sasuke, you need to realize your role now. You're no longer the protagonist; you've been relegated to the second male lead. Do you think you're a protagonist like me, Naruto? Just jump onto the water? This water is too deep; you can't handle it.

After muttering a few complaints, releasing 12 years of pent-up misunderstanding and resentment, Naruto ran over and pulled him out. This kid, even after yesterday's and this morning's setbacks, still hadn't given up, always wanting to compete with him.

After being pulled out, Sasuke seemed to lose all his strength, letting Naruto handle him. A strong low-pressure aura brewed around him.

Dreams shattered.jpg

The gap was widening!

A distraught Sasuke let his mind go blank, and images flickered before his eyes: attending class at the academy, sleepless and alone at home, training diligently by himself, Naruto running past him playing pranks, and that man's final gaze.

He had been the Dead Last at the academy. Why? Why was the gap widening? If this continued, forget revenge—he couldn't even beat Naruto, the Dead Last!

He thought of that man's eyes, of that night, of the scene he saw when he returned home. Suddenly, he looked up, his grim gaze locked on Naruto. It seemed to be a refusal to admit defeat, with suppressed hatred. Naruto saw that Sasuke wanted to duel him. The kind where only one could survive. He was unwilling to accept it; he wanted revenge; he desperately craved power. This was Naruto's interpretation of that look.

His entire family and clan annihilated, and the perpetrator was his most beloved older brother. Such a thing sounded simple, but it was a mountain on one's own shoulders. Previously, seeing Sasuke not descend into extremism, Naruto thought, As expected of the protagonist, he's just different, acting as if nothing happened. But now, he saw that this hatred had long since corroded Sasuke's heart, leaving it riddled with holes, just waiting for a moment to explode.

Could this pursuit of power and revenge be why he chose to leave Konoha? But why leave Konoha? Would anyone be a better teacher than Kakashi, who became a Jonin at 12? This person must have come from outside the village, tempting Sasuke to defect. What was their purpose?

After a moment's thought, Naruto snapped back to reality. Although he understood Sasuke, Naruto wasn't a pushover when faced with Sasuke's challenging gaze. "What? You wanna fight me, Sasuke? Wait, I'll satisfy you tonight."

Remembering their three-person agreement for the evening, when Naruto would tell them his secret to getting stronger, Sasuke withdrew his gaze, hope reigniting in his eyes. As long as he knew Naruto's secret to getting stronger, with his own efforts and sweat, he would definitely surpass Naruto! Not only that, if a Dead Last could grow to this extent in a short time, then for him, Sasuke, his growth would be even greater. He could finally see a chance for revenge!

At this moment, light returned to Sasuke's world.

"Hmph~" The kid snorted, then, under Sakura's concerned gaze, he got up and continued picking up trash. This time, even picking up trash was filled with motivation for him.

Sasuke and Sakura both hadn't learned to walk on water, so all the trash on the water's surface was left for Naruto to handle alone. However, looking at the sheer amount of trash, Naruto felt a bit desperate. With so much garbage, if he picked it up alone, when would it ever end? He needed to find a shortcut.

He glanced at Kakashi, who was leisurely reading a small book. Sharp-eyed Naruto saw the title: Make-Out Paradise? That title definitely didn't sound like a proper book; it was probably some sort of erotic novel. Kakashi-sensei had been exposed.

"Kakashi-sensei," Naruto called out weakly, "Is there any ninja art that can make this trash fly into the net bag by itself?"

"There's no such jutsu. Just keep picking it up diligently," Kakashi replied dismissively, his eyes still fixed on his "dirty book."

"Really? I don't believe it."

Seeing Kakashi wasn't biting, Naruto's eyes rolled, and he asked again, "Kakashi-sensei, is there a ninja art that can control the flow of water?"

An impatient Kakashi finally closed his book. Although they had only interacted for two days, Kakashi knew that if he didn't teach Naruto a jutsu now, Naruto probably wouldn't rest.

"This is a Water Style jutsu created by the Second Hokage. I'll demonstrate it for you." Kakashi jumped down, leaping onto the river's surface.

"Water Style: Water Colliding Wave!"

Under Kakashi-sensei's control, the river water instantly became agitated. The water around him rapidly spun. Suddenly, the spiraling river water shot skyward, surging and rotating with immense energy towards the nearby cliff face. The cliff, eroded by wind and battered by water for years, already incredibly hard, still had fragments broken off by the impact. If this water hit a person, wouldn't they be covered in bruises?

Cough, cough.

After a few quick remarks, Naruto closed his eyes, seemingly recalling, and also learning.

"Excellent, Kakashi-sensei, I've learned it, but such a powerful move isn't quite suitable."

"Oh?" Kakashi sounded somewhat indifferent. What if even a genius learned something just by looking at it? He should still diligently pick up trash. Whether it was about mentality or experience, this was all training for them. What ninja didn't go through this stage?

"Watch me!" Naruto yelled, leaping onto the river's surface. "Sasuke, Sakura, quickly grab the nets and get ready! Here I come!"

"Huh?" Although they didn't know why, as teammates, they dutifully complied.

As the Dragon hand sign was formed, all the water around him—no, all the water molecules—came into his awareness. 404 Chakra Control! This was a height never before reached by the entire ninja world, no, the entire world, or even the entire plane. All water molecules vied to respond to Naruto's control.

"Water Style: Garbage Collection Jutsu!"

Several streams of water, as thick as buckets, continuously surged from the river's surface, carrying large amounts of trash. After rising from the water, they shot straight towards the nets. After being sent into the nets, these water streams didn't splash or flow erratically when they landed. They didn't even splash a single drop of water on Sasuke and Sakura, defying gravity. They all obediently continued to flow back into the river, ready for the next cycle.

Upon receiving Naruto's control, the river water ceased its chaotic flow and instead orderly pushed the trash to gather around Naruto. Kakashi was dumbfounded by Naruto's advanced chakra control and powerful water-nature chakra shape manipulation. It wasn't even surprise, but sheer astonishment.

'Is this...? You've got to be kidding me?'

Is this level of control achievable by a human?

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