Sakura gazed at Naruto's back and smiled. She felt pleased, thinking she had gotten him into trouble.
Not long after, they finished grilling the fish. As usual, it was just grilled fish, but it tasted far better after intense training.
"How is it? Tasty?" Naruto asked Sakura.
Sakura turned and gave a short nod. "Yeah, it's pretty good," she praised.
This time, the fish wasn't bland since Naruto had brought a small amount of seasoning.
"That's a relief then," Naruto replied casually. He smiled and continued enjoying his meal.
On the other side, Tenten, who had been watching them, grew irritated. "Hmph, so it's true he likes both of us? That bastard... I've always felt something was off, but... if that's really the case, doesn't that mean he likes me too?" A blush appeared on her cheeks. She felt embarrassed by her own thoughts.
Meanwhile, Lee remained silent. He was still upset with Naruto and stared at him sharply.
Naruto noticed and responded with a mocking smile.
Guy also fell silent. "Wow, seems like something happened without me knowing... the beauty of youth..." he murmured enthusiastically while observing their behavior.
Not long after—
Smack!
"Alright, get up! It's time to resume training!" Guy's voice boomed.
They quickly stood up and faced Guy seriously.
Sakura also stood up. Even though her body was exhausted from the hellish simulation earlier, her spirit hadn't burned out.
Guy smiled, pleased with their enthusiasm.
"Haha, this is the spirit of youth," he said loudly enough for everyone to hear.
"Alright, now I'll train your speed..." Guy paused briefly. "Starting with you, Naruto." He pointed at him.
Naruto nodded and slowly walked forward, but not before whispering quietly to Tenten, "Please cheer for me..."
Tenten heard him and frowned. "No way!" she replied shortly, then shoved Naruto roughly.
She was annoyed by Naruto's behavior. No matter how many times she thought about it, she just couldn't accept it.
Naruto took his position, standing several meters in front of Guy.
"Are you ready?" asked Guy.
Naruto nodded. "Yeah, I'm ready!"
He understood the training rules. All he had to do was dodge all of Guy's attacks.
Woosh!
Guy dashed forward with a straight kick aimed at Naruto's head.
But Naruto didn't stand still. He leapt backward.
Guy vanished from sight. Naruto felt a chill down his spine. He immediately flipped forward and narrowly avoided Guy's punch.
Guy laughed, clearly enjoying the fight. "Naruto, try dodging this one!"
Whoosh!
Guy charged again, even faster this time, launching a swift punch at Naruto's head.
Naruto dodged, but Guy didn't stop. He spun his body fully and followed with a spinning kick.
Naruto's eyes widened. The move reminded him of taekwondo. But reacting quickly, he rolled to the side.
Then, he jumped upward to avoid the next blow.
The ground cracked from Guy's punch. Naruto swallowed hard. "Damn... if that had hit, it would've hurt."
Still, he stayed focused.
Guy stared at him.
Whoosh—
He vanished again.
"There!" Naruto focused his eyes, and sure enough, Guy was already in front of him.
Guy clenched his fist, aiming for Naruto's chin.
But Naruto managed to dodge again, leaping backward at the last second.
The fight continued for nearly forty minutes. Guy still looked full of energy, while Naruto was starting to tire—his clothes were dirty, his hair messy, and sweat poured down his face.
Now, Guy launched a final punch.
Thud!
Naruto failed to dodge, but he blocked the punch.
He held it with both hands, and it hurt terribly.
Guy blinked and calmed down.
"Alright, that's enough. Naruto, I think you've come a long way. Your reflexes and intuition in evading attacks are very good."
Guy took a deep breath. "You've done well," he praised sincerely.
It may have sounded like an ordinary compliment, but Naruto was deeply touched.
He nodded. "Yes, Guy-san... thank you for everything—"
Smack!!
"Hahaha, what are you talking about?" Guy slapped Naruto's back hard.
"We're still training! This isn't some farewell!" he shouted excitedly.
He kept patting Naruto's shoulder until the boy nearly vomited.
"Is he trying to kill me?" Naruto groaned internally.
...
Next was Lee's turn. Unfortunately, he only lasted half an hour. His movements were agile, but his intuition was lacking. Eventually, a punch from Guy sent him flying into a tree.
Naruto approached. "Hey, are you okay?"
Lee nodded and sat up. "Yeah, I'm fine..."
But he began to look at Naruto with irritation. "Damn it... why did I lose to you?"
"Lost?" Naruto thought for a moment, then clapped his hands once. "Ah, right. You lost in terms of time."
He began teasing Lee, which made him angrier.
But Naruto didn't care. Honestly, he wasn't that bothered.
Until eventually, Guy called Sakura, and Naruto's attention shifted.
He watched as Sakura stepped forward and stood before Guy.
"From what I see, you're already exhausted," Guy said softly.
Sakura nodded. "Yes, I'm quite tired," she admitted honestly.
"In that case, we'll skip ahead and go straight to sparring. Tenten!" Guy called. "Give her some weapons."
"Alright." Tenten threw a scroll. As it landed, she opened it with her fingers, breaking the seal.
Several shuriken, kunai, short daggers, and other weapons appeared neatly lined up.
Sakura understood. She crouched, chose, then picked up a few shuriken and kunai.
"Maybe this'll do," she muttered.
She took her stance, as did Guy. In a matter of seconds, they dashed toward each other.
Woosh!
Guy attacked with a straight kick. Sakura ducked low, bending her knees, and passed beneath him.
Swish!
Several shuriken flew. Guy dodged and deflected some.
Seeing an opening, Sakura didn't hesitate. She attacked from Guy's blind spot—his back—with a punch.
Unfortunately, Guy blocked it.
Thud!
A powerful kick hit Sakura, sending her flying.
Shhh...
Sakura spun in the air and landed on her feet, stopping the momentum.
Dust scattered.
Whoosh...
A kunai flew toward Guy's head, but he dodged it.
Sakura appeared from the side and delivered a punch. It connected, but had no effect on Guy.
She jumped back, keeping her distance.
Guy narrowed his eyes. "This girl... she's fast. And she fights with her mind. But most importantly—there's no fear in her expression. This is interesting!"
Guy's blood boiled. He made a decision.
Sakura, thinking it was over, let her guard down—
Guy disappeared.
Buzz buzz buzz...
Sakura heard movement from multiple directions but saw nothing.
She panicked. Her eyes darted around, her mind a mess, breath growing shallow.
For the first time, she felt a strange sense of terror.
Until she felt something behind her.
Shhk...
She spun around and drove both kunai in her hands forward.
Sure enough, Guy had attacked from behind. The kunai struck his arm, causing a wound.
Sakura dropped the kunai and collapsed to the ground. Her breathing hitched, feeling like death was inches away.
Guy looked at the cut on his arm. But he smiled with satisfaction.
"I've finally found another talent..." he muttered.
He glanced at Sakura, then burst into laughter.
"Hahaha! You did well, young lady!" he said cheerfully.
Naruto rushed to help Sakura up.
He extended his hand. Sakura looked at his face and took it.
The moment passed quickly, but for some reason, Tenten felt uneasy. Her chest grew hot. She was irritated.
"So it's true... Naruto likes us both. Huh... what a selfish guy," she muttered internally.
Training resumed. This time, Naruto and Lee sparred directly with Guy.
Despite his injured arm, Guy didn't lose any of his strength.
Seeing this, Naruto was reminded of the time when Guy fought with everything he had, ending up paralyzed.
Even so, in the end, they lost badly. Fighting Guy with pure physical combat was already hard enough—even with chakra, defeating him was no easy feat.
The Green Beast of Konoha. A title well deserved, Naruto thought.
Time passed. Evening arrived.
Sakura left first, leaving the rest of them to walk back to the village together.
Eventually, they parted ways one by one, leaving only Naruto and Tenten.
They walked together in silence until they reached a bend in the road.
"Um..." Tenten began.
"Hmm? What is it?" Naruto asked gently.
Tenten paused. Her lips trembled, hesitating.
"Uhh... Naruto!" she called.
"Yeah?"
Tenten stepped closer and held Naruto's hand.
"Are you busy tomorrow?" she asked very softly.
"No. I just have a workout session. Other than that, I'm free," Naruto answered honestly.
His answer brought relief to Tenten. The change didn't escape Naruto's notice.
He looked at her seriously. "So, why do you ask?" he said.
Tenten looked back. Her eyes were bright. Her lips began to pout slightly.
That look made Naruto want to laugh, but he didn't want to ruin the moment.
Naruto gently squeezed her hand, trying to encourage her.
"So... would you go out with me? I mean, I just want to do some shopping and—"
"A date, huh?" Naruto smiled, starting to let go of her hand.
His words made Tenten freeze.
"No!" she denied quickly. "That's not what I meant!"
But Naruto didn't seem to care. He turned and began walking away.
"I'm free from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. We can spend the whole day together." He waved his hand.
Tenten stared at his back and shouted, "No, Naruto! That's not what I meant!"
"Yeah yeah, I get it. Just a date, right?" Naruto replied indifferently.
As she watched his figure grow smaller, Tenten slumped. She let out a heavy sigh.
"Maybe he misunderstood..." she muttered hopelessly.
But deep down, she wasn't sure herself. Did she just want to hang out... or was she actually asking him out?
Tenten chose to ignore it and went straight home, waiting for tomorrow.
As for Naruto? Of course, he planned to study the jutsu stored within Minato's memories.
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This chapter should be split into 2 parts but I'm too lazy to edit it.
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