ตอน 33: Psychic?

"..." Thinking for a moment, Sasuke replied "Yeah, I saw it."

Rubbing his chin, Naruto shook his head after a few seconds "Honestly, I don't know. But if you're trying to ask if I used Ninjutsu or something similar, no, I didn't. I didn't use any chakra at all."

"..." Staring at Naruto's face for a long time, finally Sasuke nodded "I want a rematch."

"We never competed" Rolling his eyes, Naruto groaned from the pain as he stood up and continued "And I wouldn't want to fight in such a serious way with you again."

"Why?"

"Because I consider you as the brother I never had, and I don't entirely like kicking my brother's ass" Smiling towards Sasuke, Naruto stretched his aching body and sighed "I'll go out for a walk for a while, I feel like I'll die of boredom here"

"..." Nodding in a daze, Sasuke followed Naruto's back and stared at the door he walked out of, staying that way for a long time.

Walking down the stairs slowly, Naruto thought with interest 'Imaginary fist... Genjutsu? I have something like the Sharingan? How come I put in a genjutsu on someone with the Sharingan?'

Walking into the living room and seeing no one, Naruto walked out of the house and looked around, then walked into the shade of the house and sat down with his feet dangling over the sea water.

Closing his eyes, Naruto re-entered his seal and ran to Kurama, as he instantly opened his eyes and spoke first.

"I know, I heard it."

"Do you think it's genjutsu?"

"It seems most likely, but it's rare that you can do it to someone with that kid's cursed eyes... even more so without even him knowing what it is."

"Sigh I don't understand anything."

"I have a theory."

"Really!?" Excitedly, Naruto asked "What is it?"

"Psychic Power"

"Psychic?" Frowning slightly, Naruto quickly analyzed the situation and muttered "It could be... I feel emotions, great sensitivity, see through objects, and cause someone's illusion without even expending chakra"

"When you awakened those eyes, did you feel anything in particular?"

"Felt something..." Remembering the fight, Naruto was silent for a moment and opened his eyes a little wider "My head hurt a lot, like never before!"

"The theory gains more logic, since, if it was a power only from your eye, the pain should be in your cornea and not in your brain" Nodding, Kurama continued "Honestly this is something new even for me, but powers that can be considered psychic are numerous... reading minds, moving objects with your mind, feeling emotions and such"

"Yes... that may be."

"The important thing here, is for you to find out if that's all or if there's more, and then see the limitations, negative effects and if it can be improved"

"Understood" Nodding, Naruto stood up and stretched his body "I'm sorry to bother you about everything Kurama."

"I'm still interested in this, so never mind"

"See you later" Stepping out of the seal, Naruto inhaled deeply and smiled as he felt the salty sea breeze, then muttered "Come to think of it...I've been in this place for about three months now, but I've never eaten anything from the sea besides fish...I want seafood...I'll ask Tsunami or Tazuna"

Crossing his fingers, Naruto filled everything with clones and nodded towards them, causing the vast majority to run into the forest while six stayed and started doing the daily chores of the place.

Chopping wood, pulling brush, and well, the usual.

Staring at the sea for a long time, Naruto sighed and closed his eyes 'I feel so at peace... I'd like to defect today if it were possible Sigh it's almost over'

"It's a privileged view"

"Yes, it is" Having felt it for a while now, Naruto turned his gaze to Kakashi and continued "I've never seen the sea before, it's really beautiful"

"Mn" Nodding, Kakashi was silent for a moment and continued "Against Sasuke, you didn't give it your all, did you?"

"Physically, I did" Shaking his head, Naruto continued "Neither of us used chakra."

"I know about your chakra control, you could have boosted your speed twice as much by bringing chakra to your legs using the base of the blinking body technique"

"I don't know that technique"

"You don't know it?" Raising his eyebrows in surprise, Kakashi asked "How come you don't know one of the vital techniques of a ninja and one of the simplest?"

"I was never well received in the village library."

"..." Shaking his head while sighing, Kakashi asked "If you had used chakra, how much stronger do you think you would have been?"

"If we're talking about brute strength with my chakra... I'd say two or three times as much."

"That's enough."

"Enough for what?" with hesitation, Naruto asked.

"I have to leave a day before you since I have another mission to finish and it's on my way" Looking at Naruto, Kakashi continued "I need them to return to the village alone"

"Go back alone?" Raising his eyebrows, Naruto asked "Are you sure that's a good idea?"

"With the first door open they should already have enough strength to protect themselves without any problems, but you can open two or three, no?"

With quivering eyebrows, Naruto turned his gaze to the sea and asked "What makes you believe that?"

"Although Sasuke is faster, your endurance and strength is superior, as you have a much more solid base" Turning his gaze towards the sea, Kakashi continued "What the inner gates ask for, is not speed, but a base like yours. Sasuke has trouble holding the first gate for that reason and he could hardly open the second, even if he tried... but for you, there would be no major difficulties, no?"

"If I'm honest with you, I don't know" Shaking his head, Naruto continued "I have a vague feeling that I shouldn't have any problems at the second gate and if I try hard for an extreme situation, I might be able to open even the third one"

"Then why didn't you use them?"

"What's the need to go all out against a friend?"

"I understand" Getting up, Kakashi stretched his body and continued "Then I won't disturb your moment of peace anymore, I just wanted to corroborate if you'd be okay without me"

"Don't worry, between Sasuke and I, unless a high-level Jonin or someone higher up shows up, we shouldn't have any problems... even if that happens, who knows, maybe we can make it out alive"

"That shouldn't be the case, but it's nice to know" Turning around, Kakashi left with a calm step.

"Kakashi-sensei."

"Yes?" Stopping his step, Kakashi turned his gaze to Naruto and asked.

"Sakura really has a great talent in handling her chakra" Turning his gaze towards Kakashi, Naruto continued "Although she doesn't have great legacies in her genes like Sasuke and me, I think it's a waste not to take advantage of her talent"

"And do you have any ideas?"

"It's up to her what to decide, but... I think being a doctor is perfect for her"

"I'll keep that in mind" Nodding, Kakashi turned and continued on his way.

Looking at Kakashi's back, Naruto thought 'Someone who doesn't know him and doesn't know his history, would believe that he really is very carefree and cheerful... but who would think how much sadness that back carries.'

***

"Let's see..." Holding a kunai in his hand, Naruto easily encircled it like a layer of chakra and muttered "Add my element and imagine splitting it in two and making it rub against each other."

"..." Frowning slightly, Naruto placed his free hand on the blade and formed a visible layer of wind, then began to mold it around the kunai and ignore the small cuts that began to appear on his hands.

'Asuma used chakra blades to transform his chakra into his element, but that's nothing more than a crutch for a lack of control' With a bead of sweat running down his forehead, Naruto finally managed to add a fickle colorless layer around the blue chakra and quickly threw the Kunai towards the tree, observing how at first it went through it, but unfortunately it didn't manage to finish its work and remained embedded inside it.

"Handling the wind isn't easy... almost a month into this and I still haven't accomplished anything significant" Scratching his neck in frustration, Naruto inhaled deeply and filled his lungs with air, to gather his chakra around his throat and mouth and expel it forcefully.

Throwing a fierce blast of air at the same tree where he threw the kunai, Naruto sighed seeing that it only caused superficial cuts and shook his head "I guess I got confident because of my quick chakra control... the elements aren't as simple as I expected."

"Naruto" Coming from the forest, Sasuke looked at the tree damage and continued "Kakashi-sensei is leaving, he wants to say goodbye."

'Already tomorrow we go back to the village... I'd really love to stay here forever' With a heavy sigh, Naruto nodded "Let's go."

"How's it going with your element?"

"I can already generate wind with some ease, but I can't manage to shape it... managing chakra is easy, but managing chakra, transforming it and then controlling the element... it's still a lot even for me"

"And if you use seals?" Walking next to Naruto, Sasuke continued "You just have to form seals and the form will make itself."

"Using seals is nothing but a hindrance to true strength" Shaking his head, Naruto continued "You don't really learn anything and the more complex the technique becomes, the more seals you'll have to use, something that in the middle of a fight can end up being useless and cost you your life"

"But it's better than nothing"

"I'd rather have a solid nothing than a flimsy whole" Forming a gust of wind in his hand, Naruto continued "And although it's difficult, I already have great progress... I think in another month or two I'd already have the level needed to use it for combat"

"Your clones really are cheaters" Shaking his head knowing easily that without the clones it would take Naruto years, Sasuke sighed.

Rolling his eyes, Naruto snorted "Says the one with the most cheating eyes in existence...by the way, before I punched that ugly face of yours, I saw that you had a second tomoe"

"Woke up while we were fighting."

"You're training him?"

"I got a little familiar" Nodding, Sasuke continued "I could now kick your ass without breaking a sweat"

"How much did your skills increase?"

"Better reflexes, better chakra perception, I can now copy techniques of a more advanced level and well, overall it's an improvement in everything."

"Maybe if you can kick my ass" Laughing, Naruto continued "But it's funny that you woke him up fighting me, do you hate me that much?"

"You know the terms?" frowning slightly, Sasuke asked.

"I know more than you think."

"..." Staring at Naruto for a moment, Sasuke shook his head and replied "It's not that I hate you...I just got frustrated."

"Shouldn't I have been the one frustrated?"

"I beat you to a pulp and you didn't fall, you hit me once and I almost fainted" Lowering his gaze, Sasuke continued "I felt really frustrated and angry at myself...I really wanted to win"

"And yet I still hit you in the face."

"I saw your punch coming perfectly, but hopefully I had the strength to stay on my feet, let alone dodge" Shaking his head while smiling slightly, Sasuke continued "Another fight?