Naruto half-crouched on the ground, panting, his hands already aching.
After practicing for several hours, he still couldn't make the ball in his hands explode.
"Damn it!" Naruto gritted his teeth, his face full of resentment, "It didn't feel so difficult in the dream!"
He took a deep breath, placed the ball in the palm of his left hand again, and covered it tightly with his right hand.
The newly born chakra in his body gathered in his palm with his thoughts. Naruto tried hard to recall the key points he learned last night, trying to make the chakra rotate at high speed like a whirlpool.
One second, two seconds... a faint wave of chakra could be felt in the palm of my hand, and a slight dent and shake appeared on the surface of the rubber ball.
But soon, the chakra dissipated uncontrollably.
The ball bounced back to its original shape with a snap and bounced in Naruto's hand, with no sign of exploding.
Naruto sat down on the ground in frustration, his hands were so numb that he could hardly lift them.
He panted, looking at the still intact ball in his hand, and couldn't help muttering: "What's going on... Controlling chakra in reality is really much more difficult than in a dream!"
He recalled the scene in his dream, and it seemed that he had completed the first stage of training easily. But now he was practicing the second stage, and he had worked hard for a long time but made no progress.
On the side, Haruno Sakura and Uchiha Sasuke had already stopped what they were doing and were staring at Naruto's embarrassment.
Sakura looked at the frustrated Naruto and couldn't help laughing: "Pfft...Naruto, don't waste your energy."
When Naruto heard Sakura's laughter, his face turned red and he shouted unconvincedly: "I am practicing a super powerful secret technique! When I learn it... Sakura-chan will know how powerful it is."
Sakura curled her lips in disdain: "Tsk, what super powerful secret technique, isn't it something you learned in a dream? Wake up, Naruto, dreams are just dreams, don't take them seriously."
Naruto got anxious and said with a red face: "In the dream... the person who taught me ninjutsu, he is, but..."
He suddenly stopped talking halfway through his speech and changed the subject: "Anyway, I will definitely learn it!"
Just as Naruto finished speaking, a lazy voice came from a distance: "Yo~~Everyone, sorry, sorry, I kept you waiting."
Everyone looked up and saw Kakashi walking towards them unsteadily in the midday sunlight with his hands in his trouser pockets.
The iconic forehead protector was worn askew, covering his left eye. Half of his face was buried under the black mask, and the exposed right eye was smiling into a crescent shape.
"Sorry everyone, I ran into some trouble on the way, so I'm late."
Haruno Sakura was immediately furious.
"Do you know what time it is?!"
She pointed her finger at the dazzling sun in the sky. "It's okay to be late every time, but this time you're late until noon! What a joke—"
"Yeah, yeah!" Naruto jumped up and agreed, "We've been waiting so long that we're almost starving!"
Kakashi scratched the back of his head and laughed nonchalantly, "Ahahaha, sorry, sorry. I can't help it... On the way here, I got lost in the path of life and wasted a lot of time."
As soon as these words came out, Naruto and Sakura were both stunned: "Huh??"
Lost on the road of life?
The two looked at each other, and for a moment they even forgot to continue being angry.
Sasuke snorted, turned his head away and said in a low voice: "You are trying to fool us with this kind of nonsense again."
Seeing the little guys' faces full of "I don't believe it", Kakashi laughed dryly and waved his hand quickly, saying: "Anyway, I'll treat you at noon today! You can eat whatever you want."
Naruto's eyes lit up when he heard that, and all his resentment disappeared. He raised his hands and cheered, "Great! Then I want to eat Ichiraku Ramen! Lots and lots of chashu ramen!"
After he finished speaking, he was so excited that he seemed to have strength all over his body. He ran towards the village as if he was afraid that Kakashi would change his mind. "Let's go! I'm going to order a few more bowls this time!"
Sakura wanted to complain about Kakashi again, but Naruto heard that he was in trouble and disappeared in a flash.
She held her forehead and sighed, "This idiot, there's really nothing I can do about him..."
Kakashi watched Naruto's receding back with a smile on his face, and didn't seem to mind his disciples' complaints about him.
But after Naruto's figure disappeared around the corner of the forest path, the smile on his face gradually faded.
Kakashi slowly turned around and faced Sasuke and Sakura who stayed behind. His lazy expression had disappeared without a trace, replaced by an unprecedented solemnity and seriousness.
Kakashi spoke in a low voice, his only exposed right eye looking directly at the two students, "Let me ask you something - have you ever told anyone about your dream last night?"
Sasuke and Sakura were both stunned.
Kakashi's sudden serious attitude caught them off guard.
The two looked at each other, and saw a bit of surprise and uneasiness in each other's eyes.
"No." Sasuke was the first to shake his head and said firmly, "I usually live alone and have no one to talk to."
Sakura also nodded quickly: "Me too! My parents are both civilians, I...I don't know how to say it even if I want to, and didn't Kakashi teacher tell us not to spread the story? How dare I say it."
Kakashi was visibly relieved when he heard the two confirm that the news had not leaked out.
He nodded and lowered his voice: "Very good. Remember, you must continue to keep it a secret and never mention this matter to anyone, especially the specific content of what happened in the dream."
Although she didn't understand, it was just a dream, why did it become like an S-level secret.
Sasuke didn't say anything, but the expression on his face had become obviously serious.
Looking at the two students in front of him, who were either nervous or thoughtful, Kakashi nodded: "I can't tell you too many details, I can only tell you that it is definitely not an ordinary dream. Anyway, this matter is not allowed to be spread outside, do you understand?"
"Yes!" Sasuke and Sakura looked at each other and saw confusion and curiosity in each other's eyes, but they nodded in agreement.
This was the first time they had heard Kakashi speak in such a serious tone since they had followed him. It was obvious that the seriousness of the matter was beyond their imagination.
Kakashi saw that the two understood and smiled again.
He raised his hand and rubbed the tops of the two little ones' heads, returning to his usual casual demeanor, "Let's go, don't let Naruto order all the barbecued pork in the store."
After saying that, he turned around and took a step, walking leisurely in the direction Naruto left.
Sakura was still a little confused, but when she heard Kakashi's complaints, she couldn't help but shake her head with a smile and quickly followed.
Sasuke was half a beat slow to take his first step.
After he took a few steps, he couldn't help but look back at the empty training ground, Kakashi's words still echoing in his mind.
"If the contents of the dream are all false, then it's okay to tell others... Since Kakashi-sensei wants to silence us, then it means..."
This means that the outrageous scenes in the dream may not be Naruto's personal fantasy, but there is a real hidden story!
Sasuke's fists unconsciously clenched in his pockets.
"Sasuke? What are you daydreaming about? Let's go!"
Sakura called out from the front.
Sasuke looked up and saw Sakura standing not far away waving at him, while Kakashi and Naruto had disappeared.
Sasuke collected his thoughts, temporarily suppressed all his questions, and quickly caught up with him.