Crack. Thud. Smack.
In the blink of an eye, the two had exchanged thousands of blows, using fists, elbows, joints, heads—every organ in their bodies became a weapon.
The epic battle immediately attracted the attention of hunters passing through the area.
"Look, isn't that the small one?"
Someone exclaimed!
"That's right, it's him. Judging by his performance, he's already broken through to the extreme realm. Amazing. He has the bearing of a future legend."
An elderly hunter stroked his chin beard thoughtfully.
"The bearing of a legend!"
Everyone was shocked!
"And the one fighting him—the tall one. He looks like a child's face, but he's that tall?" Some wondered what kind of being could match the small warrior blow for blow. "What race is he?"
"A divine beast cub!"
The old man revealed his assessment.
"A divine beast cub?!"
The younger hunters turned to stare at the elder, waiting for explanation.
The old man coughed lightly. "Let's continue hunting. There's still food waiting back in the village. I'll explain as we walk."
Five hours later, Naruto's tremendous strength proved insufficient against Shi Hao. The small warrior landed several clean punches to his face.
If Shi Hao hadn't stopped in time, Naruto would have ended up with a thoroughly swollen face—or worse, bleeding and permanently scarred.
"Naruto, it seems I'm stronger." Shi Hao looked quite proud.
"You're incredible..." Naruto felt embarrassed. This was the first time since beginning his friendship journey that anyone had actually beaten him. Even though his opponent was a legendary warrior in training, getting defeated still stung.
However, this would only make him work harder. He'd strive to reach Shi Hao's level—or even surpass him.
After the battle, Naruto's energy consumption was staggering. His stomach began growling.
"Naruto, let's go! I'll take you to raid the big bird's nest." Shi Hao was equally hungry, his eyes gleaming with anticipation.
They proceeded to raid a beast's lair. Each emerged carrying a giant egg the size of a washbasin—only to be discovered by the nest's owner.
In the end, Naruto and Shi Hao subdued the massive bird together.
At dusk, watching the fire-colored clouds, the two sat by the river eating roasted bird and roasted giant eggs.
Both had amazing appetites. The ten-meter-tall bird and two enormous eggs were completely consumed by the pair—not even bones remained.
After eating, Naruto felt his strength had increased by a significant margin.
The energy contained in these mystical beasts was truly astonishing.
After the meal, Naruto said his farewells.
Back at the farm behind the mountain, Naruto felt the trip had been worthwhile. It had shown him the gap between himself and truly legendary warriors.
[Naruto, do you understand the gap between yourself and those legendary fighters now?] the System asked in his mind.
"I do. I'll work even harder." Naruto clenched his fists with renewed determination.
At that moment, Sasuke was packing supplies for tomorrow's outing. Hearing footsteps outside, he emerged and saw Naruto's face—bruised and purple—and couldn't hold back his laughter.
"HAHAHA... Naruto, what happened to your face?! You got beaten, didn't you?"
Looking at Sasuke's boisterous laughter, Naruto touched his cheek. It did hurt, actually.
Naruto asked Sasuke very calmly: "Is it funny?"
"Funny? HAHAHA... of course it's funny—"
Thwack. Crack. Thump.
"Ow! Stop hitting! Stop hitting me!"
For several moments, Sasuke's screams echoed from the courtyard gate. "Don't hit my face! I'm going on an outing tomorrow! How can I meet Sakura and Ino looking like this?!"
Naruto didn't care about that.
Three minutes later, Sasuke sat on the ground with a bruised and swollen face, watching Naruto walk back into the house. Why is my mouth so fast? Even if I'm happy inside, I shouldn't show it!
Sasuke deeply regretted his choices.
Naruto returned to the house. Nine-Tails, wearing a black vest, lay sprawled on the couch with a cookbook in hand. Seeing Naruto enter, the fox's eyes immediately changed.
"HAHAHA... Naruto, brat, so you have days like this too!"
Nine-Tails set down the book, pointed one forepaw at Naruto's face, and laughed uproariously with the other paw pressed to his belly.
"Heh." Naruto felt Nine-Tails had too much free time. "Nine-Tails, I'm hungry. Go make me a roasted whole lamb."
"HAHAHA... Okay, just wait until I finish laughing... HAHAHA..."
A vein throbbed on Naruto's forehead.
Isn't it just getting beaten once? Naruto had never seen Nine-Tails laugh this happily when he'd made friends with Sasuke, Shikamaru, Choji, and the others through similar methods.
"Nine-Tails, hurry up. I'm hungry." Naruto's tone grew firm.
"Fine, fine, haha..." Nine-Tails stood and left the house, heading to select a sheep that had recently suffered heatstroke for roasting.
Naruto returned to the living room and was about to sit when he noticed a bag on the side table. He picked it up and found lace dresses inside.
Then he remembered—Hinata had given these at the Summer Festival two years ago, saying they were for Nine-Tails to wear.
Looking at the bag of clothes, Naruto fell into deep thought.
At that moment, Sasuke limped into the room. Naruto's eyes lit up. "Sasuke, come here. I need to discuss something with you."
After a few minutes, both wore expressions of barely suppressed mischief.
Nine-Tails was outside holding a bleating sheep when he heard Naruto and Sasuke's laughter from inside the room.
Carrying the sheep to the lounge doorway, he asked suspiciously, "Naruto, Sasuke, what are you laughing about?"
"It's nothing." Naruto waved dismissively, looking at Nine-Tails with peculiar intensity.
"Really nothing, hahaha..." Sasuke waved as well, unable to suppress the smile on his face.
"Hmph. Stinky brats..." Nine-Tails snorted coldly, lifted the sheep, and left.
Though he desperately wanted to know what the two brats were discussing, he was a majestic tailed beast. Beg them to share?
How embarrassing would that be?!
After Nine-Tails departed, Naruto and Sasuke looked at each other, then both covered their stomachs and laughed.
Early the next morning, Sasuke dressed as usual—that was just how he was. Going on an outing with two girls didn't inspire him to dress better.
After Sasuke rose, Naruto got up as well.
The two exchanged knowing glances and crept toward the spare room. As expected, Nine-Tails had woken early and was trying on outfits one by one.
"Ugh, that's so ugly. Nine-Tails' fashion sense is terrible." Sasuke glanced at the fox, then lowered his voice to Naruto.
"Don't be like that, Sasuke. Nine-Tails has been imprisoned for so long—how would he know human aesthetics?" Naruto pretended to be sympathetic but couldn't help grinning.
Nine-Tails, who was trying on clothes, heard every word these stinky brats said. Dare to say my aesthetic sense is bad? Too hateful!
Human brats don't know anything!
Nine-Tails pretended not to hear and continued trying on outfits.
"Hey, that previous one looked better. This current one is even uglier."
"The one before was also ugly... Don't say too much, though. If Nine-Tails hears us calling his clothes ugly, he'll explode."
The two looked at each other, chuckled quietly, then headed to wash up.
With no one watching, Nine-Tails stopped trying on clothes. He looked at himself in the mirror and asked uncertainly, "Could my aesthetic sense really be that bad?"
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