"Hey, looking like this, you don't seem ready for a fight. Did you stay up all night training?"
Tsunade arrived at the training field and saw Naruto looking exhausted—his skin dark, his face lifeless, and deep dark circles under his eyes. She couldn't help but laugh.
"Pfft~~"
Hearing Tsunade's comment, Izumi and Shizune finally noticed something was off with Naruto.
The two of them couldn't help but laugh as well.
"Ahem!!"
"This kid was just a little nervous last night."
Jiraiya coughed, trying to cover for Naruto. In truth, Naruto had trained until late at night, and after overusing his chakra and mental energy, he ended up completely drained today.
"I was not!!"
Hearing their laughter, Naruto's face turned red as he loudly defended himself. He also shot a glare at Jiraiya.
Can you not talk? If you don't know what to say, just keep quiet!
Since when was I too nervous to sleep?
"Oh! So you were too nervous to sleep? I didn't think you had moments like this, kid."
Tsunade patted Naruto's head in amusement.
"When you're messing around all the time, I don't see you getting nervous. But now, suddenly, you're nervous? That's rare."
"I..."
Naruto's face turned bright red with frustration, just about to argue back.
But before he could, Jiraiya chuckled along with them.
At that moment, Naruto completely lost it.
What the heck? It's bad enough that everyone else is laughing, but why are you laughing too, Jiraiya Grandpa?!
And just now, were you trying to explain for me?
That was straight-up slander!
Is Naruto going to be so mad that he just runs off and hides somewhere?
Yan stood by, watching the commotion with a faint smile.
But knowing Naruto's personality, that doesn't seem likely.
Aside from when Sakura beats him up or rejects him, Naruto never really runs off to hide.
Other times… yeah, his resilience is pretty strong.
"I..."
Naruto was so frustrated he was about to cry.
Why is everyone laughing at me?!
I wasn't nervous! I swear I wasn't nervous!!
His face was as red as a monkey's butt, and he wanted nothing more than to dig a hole and crawl into it.
Luckily, Sasuke and Orochimaru's arrival saved him from this embarrassing situation.
Compared to Naruto, who looked flustered, Sasuke was as cool and expressionless as ever. His outfit was also way more stylish than Naruto's.
After all, Jiraiya's sense of fashion was… well, it was what it was. No matter how much he tried, he couldn't compete with Uchiha Mikoto when it came to picking clothes for Naruto.
As soon as Sasuke arrived, the atmosphere shifted.
Naruto's attention immediately locked onto Sasuke. Sasuke gave him a brief glance before turning his head away.
"Damn it!!"
Is he looking down on me?!
Right from the start, the tension was already in the air.
The difference was that Sasuke didn't care at all—it was just Naruto getting worked up.
"Why does Naruto always wear the same outfits? Doesn't he buy new clothes?"
Yan curiously nudged Jiraiya.
Jiraiya was momentarily stunned. Was this really the time to care about fashion?
That said, Sasuke's outfit did look much better than Naruto's.
No doubt about it, the kid was really good-looking. Add in his stylish clothes, and it was no wonder so many girls at school liked him.
Naruto...
Jiraiya scratched his head and laughed.
"When I took Naruto shopping for clothes, he really liked this style, so I bought a few more."
"How many is 'a few more'?"
"Uh… about a whole closet's worth."
"….."
Seriously?
No wonder other kids switched up their outfits, while Naruto always looked the same. It made him seem kind of out of touch.
Jiraiya definitely had to take most of the blame for this one.
"Looks like everyone came early, and Naruto seems full of energy too."
Orochimaru glanced between Sasuke and Naruto before walking over to Yan and Jiraiya with a smile. He had no plans to get involved in the upcoming match.
"To be exact, he just got energetic!"
When they first arrived, Naruto had been out of it.
But the moment he saw Sasuke, he suddenly became full of energy.
If Sasuke weren't a boy and Naruto didn't have a crush on a girl...
Tsunade might have even started to suspect that Naruto had certain "thoughts" about Sasuke.
Otherwise, why was he staring at him all the time?
It's not like Sasuke ever took his food or anything.
"Haha, well then, let's get this match started."
Orochimaru had no intention of stepping forward, and Yan, Tsunade, and the others were just here to watch.
They couldn't expect the two kids to handle everything on their own, right?
With no other choice, Jiraiya sighed and stepped up.
"Alright, let's get this over with. The sooner we finish, the sooner we can leave. I'm exhausted, and it's all your fault!!!"
Tsunade let out a huge yawn and shot Jiraiya a sharp glare.
Jiraiya shrank back, quickly taking two steps away.
"Let's start and get this done quickly. It's just a simple summoning contest, like a kids' game."
Yan waved his hand and told the two of them,
"You'll each perform the summoning jutsu twice. Your scores will be based on how well you control the jutsu and the strength of the creatures you summon. Sound good?"
No need to overcomplicate things—it was just a little match between kids.
Sasuke slowly nodded. He had no problem with these rules.
"I... I don't have a problem either."
Naruto, however, was feeling a bit uneasy.
His summoning jutsu wasn't exactly the best.
This was his biggest weakness. No matter how much he practiced, he still struggled.
Since there was no way to compare their Ninjutsu skills, they could only compete using their Summoned Beasts.
Naruto could only hope the big toads were in a good mood today and would respond to his summoning.
He silently prayed for himself.
Idiot!
Naruto was nervous. Sasuke couldn't help but sum it up with two words in his mind.
Then, without any expression, he calmly bit his finger and started forming hand seals.
If it weren't for Yan and Orochimaru agreeing to this, Sasuke wouldn't have bothered with such a pointless competition.
Instead of wasting time on this, he would rather train to improve his strength.
*Boom!!!*
With a cloud of smoke, Aoda appeared beside Sasuke.
"Lord Sasuke."
Unlike the rebellious Manda, Aoda was obedient and coiled up quietly beside him.
"Amazing..."
Seeing Sasuke summon a strong-looking and well-behaved snake so smoothly, Naruto swallowed nervously.
At this moment, he was truly anxious.
He was terrified that he might summon a tiny toad or, even worse, a tadpole.
That would be beyond embarrassing.
"*Ahem!* Naruto, go ahead."
---------------------------------------
You can read 10 chapters ahead on patre on
patr eon.com/JYouyi