Konoha Notes.

Chapter 337 Interval

Chapter 337 Interval

With his Sharingan activated, a chilling aura filled his brain. Sasuke braced himself against the ground and stood up.

The whole world flooded into his senses in a completely different way.

The different expressions on the faces of those dozens of blond-haired boys, the differences in their hand gestures... all this information entered his brain.

Sasuke subconsciously closed his eyes for a moment, then opened them again.

He saw it clearly.

"continue."

Naruto's cheers abruptly stopped. "Huh?" "What?" "Are we still fighting?"

Questions arose one after another from the mouths of the different clones.

Some of the clones that were still jumping around excitedly were pulled to a stop by their counterparts, and all eyes turned to the black-haired boy who had stood up again in the center of the arena.

"The battle continues," Sasuke repeated. "I can give you time to create distance."

"Huh? What are you talking about, Sasuke!"

"Didn't it just end? I won."

"That's right! Brother Shuji has already made the decision!"

"Can't you accept defeat, Sasuke?!"

More voices of agreement arose, and the shadow clones began to chatter amongst themselves.

Those closest to Sasuke saw his eyes.

"Sasuke, your eyes..."

Sasuke turned his gaze over: "You're scared? You loser."

"What did you say?!"

Dozens of voices, filled with almost perfectly synchronized anger, exploded out.

"This is my victory! I've won!"

"You're the one who lost! You're the loser, Sasuke!"

"That's right!"

"You're the worst performer!"

The angry shouts nearly overturned the entire training ground.

"Then," Sasuke sensed Naruto's emotions, "another battle is fine, right?"

The shadow clones looked at each other in bewilderment.

After a brief silence, a voice shouted, "Fight then! Who's afraid of who!"

"that is!"

Naruto, who was at the forefront, was looking at Sasuke's expression and was about to make up his mind when Gaara reappeared between the two of them.

This time, sand flew up all around him.

"Stop," Gaara said. "This is Shuji's order."

"But, but, this belongs to that idiot Sasuke..."

"Release Jutsu, Naruto." Shuuji's voice came, and the shadow clones looked at each other.

Then the dozens of shadow clones disappeared.

"Awakening the Sharingan isn't necessarily a bad thing, but being overwhelmed by the newfound power after expending so much energy and chakra isn't exactly a good thing." Shuji didn't shy away from mentioning Gaara and Naruto. "Naruto's chances of becoming Hokage are greater than yours, and that's not because of his power."

His gaze swept over Naruto, who was blinking blankly to the side, before returning to Sasuke's face.

"As for the Uchiha themselves, if you didn't selectively ignore some parts of what they were saying when you were eavesdropping, you should still remember it."

The parts that were ignored...

The red in Sasuke's eyes faded.

Branch... Hinata...?

That's all for today.

"Let's go back, Sasuke."

"Tomorrow will be the same time. As for taking a leave of absence, if you still intend to do so, my conditions remain unchanged."

Sasuke stood there, silent for a few seconds.

The exhilarating coldness brought by the newly awakened power of the eyes has long since faded, replaced by a deeper weariness, and a sense of emptiness and coldness left behind after being examined and judged from a higher level.

He silently walked to the tree, picked up his small bag, slung it over his shoulder, and left.

As for Naruto, he looked at Sasuke's back, scratching his head, feeling like he had done something wrong, yet also feeling like he hadn't.

But then she remembered what Shuuji had said to Sasuke, and couldn't help but chuckle: "Does Shuuji really think I'm better? More capable of becoming Hokage than Sasuke?"

"That's how it is for now."

"Hehehe."

Shuji said, "Alright, that's the end of the interlude. Now we should continue with the original task. Naruto, use Shadow Clones to assist Gaara in his training. And then, I have an experiment that I would like your help with."

Perfect timing! Naruto has been using Shadow Clones too much, which makes it easy for Kurama's chakra to leak out. Let's solve the chakra collection problem today as well.

"Leave it all to me!" Naruto thumped his chest, his voice booming. "Whether it's Gaara's training or experiments, bring it on!"

-

An hour later.

Naruto was sent home by Shuji looking dejected.

After using the Multiple Shadow Clone Technique multiple times, some of the Nine-Tails' chakra did leak out, which was immediately collected by Shuji.

After having his chakra drained, even Naruto couldn't withstand it and fell asleep while he was still talking.

Holding Naruto in his arms, Shuuji turned to Gaara: "I'll take Naruto back. Do you want to go back first?"

"I'll go with you."

Shuji nodded.

The two took Naruto back to his apartment.

After settling him in bed and covering him with a blanket, Shuji intended to leave immediately, but before going out, he spotted his refrigerator.

So I opened it to take a look, and unsurprisingly found some milk. After checking the date, I found that it was close to its expiration date.

Thinking that Naruto had cooperated with him today and helped him out, Shuji took out the milk that was about to expire and went to a nearby shop to buy some new milk.

I tidied up the room a bit more and took the trash with me.

Gaara followed quietly throughout, until Shuji finished dealing with the situation.

After the two left Naruto's house, he said, "Will one of them become Hokage?"

"It's highly likely, but it's hard to say which generation."

Gaara looked at the moon and asked, "Do you also aspire for me to become Hokage?"

"No."

Gaara remained silent and followed Shuji a few more steps.

"Was your previous stated purpose merely to obtain Shukaku's chakra?" the Sand Village boy asked. "Just now, Shukaku said you took Naruto's chakra."

"Only a part."

"Is it because I'm from Sunagakure that I can't become Hokage?"

"Because you need to go back, Gaara."

"...Really? I need to go back..."

The most beautiful dream Gaara ever had was being held by his mother and having someone play with him.

But his dream was shattered the day Yashamaru tried to take him away with the explosive tags.

After arriving in Konoha, it seemed that his dreams had come true.

Now it seems that it's only temporary.

"If you don't go back, Sunagakure will fight Konoha to the death, and the current situation will no longer exist."

"Because I am a weapon of Sunagakure?"

Shuji said, "It's not just about weapons, because you need to become the Kazekage, both for Sunagakure and for Konoha."

Kazekage... is he someone like the father he refers to...?

"Do I have to become the Kazekage?"

"If you don't plan to do so, please let me know in advance so I can make other preparations."

"...Will we no longer be comrades? What if I become the Kazekage?"

No, it won't.

"I understand, I will become the Wind Shadow."

(End of this chapter)