Night shrouded the Third Training Ground.

Naruto used two fingers of his right hand to support his body as he did push-ups, his left arm locked behind his back.

After half a day of deadly special training, his muscles were twitching uncontrollably.

Might Guy stood inverted on one hand nearby, calling out the numbers with full breath.

"Two thousand nine hundred and ninety-eight!"

"Two thousand nine hundred and ninety-nine!"

"Three thousand!"

"Great job, Naruto! Today's youth training ends here!"

Hearing this, Naruto rolled his eyes and collapsed flat on the ground, limbs splayed, every single inch of his flesh aching.

He stared blankly at the night sky, panting heavily.

If he kept training like this, could he really live long enough to become Hokage?

Meanwhile, inside Naruto's Sealing Space.

Deep within the water prison, a pair of crimson beast pupils opened unhappily.

What the hell is this stupid brat going crazy for?

Nine-Tails was also speechless.

It could clearly feel that the Jinchūriki's body was on the verge of frantic overdrawing.

If he kept tossing about so unrestrictedly, this broken body would drop dead at any moment.

"Damned brat... This old man doesn't want to be buried with an idiot like you!"

Nine-Tails irritably slapped the surface of the water.

To prevent itself from being forced into slumber due to the Jinchūriki's sudden death, it could only unwillingly leak out a bit of Chakra.

In the outside world, wisps of faint red light spread from Naruto's abdomen across his entire body.

The muscle fibers torn apart by the high-pressure exercise began to reorganize and repair little by little.

Guy watched from the side, secretly startled.

What that kid Kazama said was really true; this terrifying recovery ability was born specifically for the Eight Inner Gates.

He walked up to Naruto, gave a thumbs up, and grinned widely.

"Listen well, Naruto! Go back tonight, take a hot bath, and get a good night's sleep, letting your muscles fully absorb the sweat of youth!"

"Tomorrow's plan: Gather promptly at five in the morning! First run fifty laps around Konoha to warm up, then continue Taijutsu special training! Dare to be late and you're done for, burn, youth!"

Without caring whether Naruto on the ground could still breathe, Guy burst into loud laughter, his figure flickering to stir up a gust of wind as he disappeared into the night in a few leaps.

Confirming that Guy's presence had faded away, Sasuke, hiding behind a tree, walked out with a stiff face.

He stopped a few steps away, staring at the exhausted Naruto on the ground without making a sound for a long time.

"Sasuke? What are you doing here in the middle of the night, coming to join This Great One's training squad too?" Naruto glanced at him feebly.

Sasuke's lips moved, holding back for a long time before squeezing out a sentence: "You... can you still perform Hand Seals right now?"

Naruto rolled his eyes: "Ha? Did you make a special trip just to ask this? This Great One is struggling even to move a finger right now."

"Fingers can't move..."

Sasuke's gaze drifted aside, his voice dropping extremely low: "Then... if it's just explaining, you shouldn't need your hands, right?"

"Explaining?"

Naruto laboriously propped up half his body, his face full of suspicion: "Hey hey, Uchiha genius, you wouldn't happen to be asking me for Ninjutsu advice, would you? Is something wrong with your brain?"

"Shut up, dead last!"

Sasuke subconsciously raised his volume, then lowered it guiltily: "It's Kazama... He said this is the prerequisite for getting stronger. As long as I can get stronger, even that kind of filthy move, I..."

With the words on the tip of his tongue, he couldn't spit out that damn term no matter what.

Naruto impatiently picked his ear: "Huh? Are you muttering and chanting scriptures? If nothing's up, This Great One is going home to take a bath!"

Seeing Naruto trying to crawl up, that man's cold visage suddenly flashed across Sasuke's mind.

For the sake of revenge, what is a little bit of pride!

"Wait! Naruto! Teach me... your Harem Technique!" Sasuke closed his eyes and shouted it out in a reckless, desperate manner.

Naruto opened his mouth wide, staring blankly at the person in front of him.

He froze for a full several seconds.

"Pfft!"

"Hahaha hahahaha!"

Naruto did a carp kipp-up to sit up, pointing at Sasuke and laughing so hard he rocked back and forth, and finally simply started rolling around in the muddy ground, pounding the earth with both hands.

"Hahahaha! An Uchiha genius is actually begging me in the middle of the night to teach him the Harem Technique!"

"Bastard! Don't shout it out!"

Sasuke's head was about to explode; he lunged forward, grabbed Naruto by the neck, and forcefully shoved him into the mud pit.

"Ptui ptui ptui! Damn tsundere, what kind of madness are you having? Clearly you lowered your pride to beg me yourself, and now you're getting angry out of shame?"

Naruto was not to be outdone, counter-locking Sasuke's waist with a reverse hold.

The two Genin rolled around together in the muddy ground like that, pulling hair, tearing clothes, throwing wild punches with no technique or logic to speak of.

After brawling for a few minutes, the two of them, already overdrawn, completely ran out of strength and could only collapse side by side on the ground, panting heavily.

Naruto wiped the mud off his face and glanced sideways.

"Seriously, what kind of spell did Uncle Kazama cast on you to make you throw away even that stinky face of yours?"

Sasuke stared at the night sky, gritting his back teeth as he spoke: "He said this is the stepping stone for becoming a disciple."

"Fine, seeing as you're asking for guidance so sincerely, This Great One will show some mercy and give you a few pointers."

Naruto sat cross-legged, raised a single finger, assumed a teacher's posture, and began imparting experience.

"Listen well, this first step: when performing Hand Seals, you must treat yourself in your mind as the most charming woman in the entire Shinobi World!"

"Step two, Chakra control must be delicate, especially regarding body curves!" Naruto exaggeratedly gestured a large gourd shape in front of his chest with both hands.

Sasuke's face turned livid.

He took a deep breath and performed Hand Seals according to Naruto's gesture, forcing his mind to think of those unbearable-to-look-at images.

"Poof!"

A puff of white smoke burst open.

As the smoke cleared, a girl with black twin tails stood in place, her body covered only by a few wisps of thin clouds.

The girl had completely the face of a female version of Sasuke, except her brow was tightly furrowed and her gaze was extremely fierce.

Seeing this, Naruto clutched his stomach and laughed out loud.

"Hahaha, no way, no way! Your face is too stinky!"

"Who the hell wants to look at an angry woman! You need to be shy, soft, understand!"

"Shut up!"

Sasuke in the girl state roared in exasperation.

He changed his hand seals again, forcibly pulling his facial muscles.

The white smoke cleared once more.

This time the twin-tailed girl managed to squeeze out a stiff smile.

Naruto crossed his arms and shook his head repeatedly.

"Chakra control is too crude, and the parts that should stick out aren't obvious enough! Do it over!"

Sasuke was so angry that the corners of his eyes twitched, and his hand instinctively went to touch the Kunai on his leg.

"Don't get hot-headed," Naruto spread his hands with a cheap expression, "This is the stepping stone you begged to learn. If you don't want to learn, get lost right now."

Sasuke forcefully suppressed the urge to hack someone to death, performing Hand Seals over and over again.

"Poof!"

"The voice is too hard, make it tender and nasal, do it over!"

"Poof!"

"Why are you standing your legs so straight? They need to be together, pigeon-toed, do it over!"

"Poof!"

"The area of the thighs exposed isn't enough; blocking them so tightly with clouds, who are you trying to fool!"

For the entire night, white smoke continuously rose from the Third Training Ground.

Until his Chakra was about to hit rock bottom, Sasuke barely scraped through Naruto's perverted and harsh standards.

...

The next day at eight in the morning.

At the Konoha gates.

Kazama was biting on a meat bun, leisurely strolling over from afar.

Sakura had been waiting there early on, and seeing this, she hurriedly waved to say hello.

Kazama tilted his head and caught sight of the young man behind Sakura at a glance.

Sasuke leaned against a wooden pillar, his neatly groomed hair at this moment messy and stained with grass clippings, with two prominent dark circles hanging under his eyes.

"Yo."

Kazama walked up, looked him up and down: "Looking at this exhausted state, you put in plenty of hard work with Naruto last night. Not bad, not bad, congratulations on taking the first step of your revenge."

Sasuke let out a cold snort and turned his head away, not wanting to say a single extra word to this bastard right now.

"Teacher Kazama..."

Sakura uneasily stepped forward: "Where on earth are we going to find the peerless master you mentioned? Are we really going to squat outside the women's bathhouse?"