I just returned to Konoha and found that my entire clan was gone.

"No, Sasuke is going to win..." Shikamaru made a judgment immediately. Although he didn't know what Sasuke was going to do, judging from Sasuke's calm expression, Sasuke still had trump cards to play, while Naruto had almost exhausted all his options.

Naruto's numerous clones swarmed forward, but Sasuke defeated one clone after another. Even with Naruto's vast chakra reserves, he couldn't possibly take on many clones; most of them were reduced to smoke before they could even withstand a single blow from Sasuke.

However, the area of ​​the venue was only so big. While Sasuke was eliminating the clones, he was already surrounded by Naruto. Several clones, close to the ground, worked together to kick Sasuke into the air.

Naruto's rapid-fire attack

Naruto used the taijutsu he had imitated Sasuke during the Chunin Exams, and this time he was even more skilled and the transitions were smoother. Several of Naruto's clones were already waiting in mid-air, constantly punching and kicking Sasuke.

The last figure appeared above Sasuke. The one who delivered the final blow must be the real Sasuke. With the clone interfering, Naruto kicked Sasuke.

Sasuke had anticipated this. He regained his composure after initially appearing flustered, grabbed Naruto's calf with one hand, and a surge of electricity instantly coursed through his body.

Lightning Release: Thousand Birds Stream

Sasuke hasn't fully developed this technique yet; he's only distributed the electricity from Chidori to his upper body. In Sasuke's vision, this technique not only needs to cover the entire body but also needs to be more extensive. However, it's enough to deal with Naruto for now.

The chirping of Chidori echoed throughout the entire arena, and everyone's eyes were drawn to Sasuke in mid-air.

Chidori, no, it's a ninjutsu that was redeveloped based on Chidori... This is also the first time Kakashi has seen Chidori Stream. At this moment, he has lifted his headband, revealing his Sharingan.

Naruto, who had been captured, screamed as he was shocked by the electric current. The other clones around him turned into smoke, and the two of them fell directly onto the ground. Sasuke regained his footing and looked at Naruto lying on the ground with a blank expression.

Naruto, who had just been struggling on the ground, had turned into a cloud of smoke. Sasuke had sensed something was wrong when he grabbed Naruto; the Nine-Tails chakra on that Naruto was too weak, and it was definitely not the real Naruto.

At that moment, Naruto finally appeared behind Sasuke, and a ball of blue and red chakra appeared in his right hand, which was a Rasengan mixed with the Nine-Tails' chakra.

Kakashi straightened up nervously, Jiraiya also stopped smiling, and all the Jonin on the field showed serious expressions. If this hit Sasuke, he would be bedridden for at least a month.

"Sasuke..." Ino was about to shout for Sasuke to be careful, but Sasuke's actions were even faster than her words. His Sharingan left a trace of red light in the air, and their eyes met just as the two were about to make contact. Naruto stopped as if he had pressed the pause button, and the Nine-Tails chakra on his body slowly disappeared.

Genjutsu, Sharingan

A bolt of lightning flashed from Sasuke's hand, and a ninja sword without a guard appeared in his grasp. Amidst the tense expressions of everyone, Sasuke placed the back of the sword against Naruto's neck.

When Naruto woke up from the genjutsu, he felt a chill on his neck. Looking down, he saw Sasuke's ninja sword. No matter how thick-skinned he was, he couldn't bring himself to hit it.

"Well, that was fantastic!" Kakashi stepped forward, clapping his hands twice with a smile. "Both of them have made good progress."

Sasuke sheathed his ninja sword, closed his eyes, and when he opened them again, they were back to their original black color. He left Naruto's side without looking back.

Naruto never expected to lose like this. Sasuke was unharmed except for some wrinkles in his clothes. The gap between the two had widened again. What was the point of his training with Jiraiya? He lowered his head so that no one could see his expression.

Sasuke, who had been walking forward, suddenly stopped, turned around and looked at Naruto, saying, "If you don't want to be left behind by me, you'd better work hard!"

"Tch! You win this time! I'll definitely beat you next time!" Naruto raised his head again after hearing Sasuke's voice, and shouted loudly, then turned back into his original form.

"Heh..." Sasuke chuckled softly when he saw Naruto's expression, then turned and walked to Ye Lan's side.

"His performance was alright." Ye Lan was actually a little disappointed in Naruto. His mastery of the Nine-Tails' power was too low. Had Jiraiya not yet trained this kid in the Nine-Tails' power? He glanced discreetly at the person who called himself the Toad Sage.

Jiraiya seemed to sense something, patted Naruto's head, then turned to look at Ye Lan, giving him a silly smile. In some ways, he and Naruto were very similar.

Jiraiya was also somewhat shocked by Sasuke's strength. These two survivors of the Uchiha clan were both incredibly powerful, and geniuses among geniuses. Being around people like them was incredibly stressful; even though Naruto trained so hard, the gap between them hadn't narrowed.

I originally planned to slowly brush up on Naruto's basic knowledge before teaching him how to use the Nine-Tails' power, but now it seems I need to speed things up, at least to give Naruto some hope and prevent him from being defeated by a single genjutsu again.

Sasuke, unimpressed by Ye Lan's praise, said, "There's nothing to say about dealing with those losers."

"As expected, Sasuke is the best!" Ino also stepped forward to congratulate him. She knew it! How could Sasuke possibly lose? The way he drew his ninja sword at the end was so cool!

Hearing Sasuke's words, Ye Lan couldn't help but laugh. Sasuke had clearly been quite considerate of Naruto's feelings just now. If Sasuke hadn't said that last sentence, Naruto would probably have been depressed for a long time.

Chapter 79 Indra

Watching the corpse in front of him gradually lose its ability to move, Ye Lan clicked his tongue in dissatisfaction. He had already determined that the Impure World Reincarnation technique given by Orochimaru was incomplete and could not achieve the same effect as his own.

More than two months have passed since the last mission to the Land of Water. The village's missions are almost finished, and the Jonin have started to have some free time. Whenever he has time, Ye Lan will sneak out of the village to study the Impure World Reincarnation technique, but he has never succeeded. He has done everything exactly as described in the scroll, but the things that are resurrected are completely useless.

"What a shameless snake." Ye Lan walked out of the underground laboratory. A few snowflakes had begun to fall from the sky outside, and the nearby villages were already decorated with lanterns and colorful decorations.

"The New Year is almost here..." Ye Lan suddenly remembered that this world also celebrates the New Year, and Konoha is already starting to get lively. Ye Lan had been living near the Uchiha clan's territory and only just realized it now.

As he strolled through the streets of Konoha again, everyone's face was filled with joy. Ye Lan greeted each person who had spoken to him with a friendly smile. With nothing else to do, he walked to the training ground he used to frequent.

As soon as he arrived at the training ground, he spotted Sasuke, who was sitting on the ground meditating. Qi Sha was standing beside him, and when he saw Ye Lan arrive, he only glanced at him before focusing on Sasuke's condition.

It was already the cold winter, yet large beads of sweat frequently appeared on Sasuke's forehead, and a wisp of white steam constantly rose from his head. Ye Lan had already discerned that Sasuke was practicing his mastery of natural energy.

A faint blue eyeshadow suddenly appeared at the corner of Ye Lan's eyes. After a long period of training, he no longer needed to concentrate for a long time to enter this state. However, the disadvantage of entering the state so quickly was that the duration was far shorter.

Ye Lan didn't need to fight at this moment; he just wanted to better observe Sasuke's condition. He saw that Sasuke was constantly absorbing natural energy that was invisible to the naked eye, and it seemed that Sasuke was using a lot of effort to control it.

As more and more natural energy entered Sasuke's body, it began to become chaotic, surging within him. Sasuke could no longer control the natural energy within him, and bird-like feathers began to appear on his face.

Before Ye Lan could step forward, Qi Sha raised his wings and slapped them towards Sasuke's head, instantly dispersing the chaotic natural energy within Sasuke's body.

Sasuke collapsed to the ground, panting heavily, looking somewhat bewildered. His initial training had gone smoothly, so why did he always fail at the final step? It felt like his chakra and natural energy were about to clash.

"Sasuke." Ye Lan walked up to Sasuke, placed his hand on his shoulder, and injected his natural energy into Sasuke's body to observe.

He had just noticed that when Sasuke's chakra merged with natural energy, it seemed to develop its own consciousness and began to repel the natural energy. Sasuke would never intentionally do such an abnormal repulsion; it could only mean that there was a problem with the chakra within him.

When Ye Lan's natural energy came into contact with Sasuke's chakra, Sasuke's chakra, as if sensing a beast invading its territory, began to drive Ye Lan away.

However, Ye Lan's control over natural energy was far superior to Sasuke's. He told Sasuke, "Empty your mind."

Sasuke also realized that something seemed to be wrong with his body, so he began to empty his mind, and his chakra seemed to enter a dormant state, allowing Ye Lan to invade.

This is... Deep within Sasuke's body, Ye Lan discovered a unique chakra, very similar to Sasuke's chakra, yet with some differences. That chakra was perfectly integrated with Sasuke's chakra, and ordinary people would not have been able to detect it if they didn't have the ability to perceive natural energy.

Ye Lan was also somewhat curious. This was the first time he had seen chakra exist in this way, and he had never heard of anyone having such a method. Moreover, that wisp of chakra seemed to have no malice towards Sasuke; its presence seemed to allow Sasuke to use his own chakra more skillfully.

Ye Lan realized something when she thought of Sasuke's talent for developing ninjutsu. Indra, the ancestor of the Uchiha clan, is said to have inherited the power and spiritual energy of the Sage of Six Paths' chakra and is also the origin of the Sharingan of the Uchiha clan.

This is a legendary event, but Ye Lan, who has already seen the Rinnegan, is reconsidering whether this is a real historical event.

Another point is why Indra chose Sasuke, a situation not found in Yelan, who is also an Uchiha.

Ye Lan withdrew her hand, and Sasuke, seeing Ye Lan's thoughtful expression, asked, "Is my control not strong enough?"

Sasuke has made great progress in controlling natural energy, but the chakra that seems to be Indra's will affect him. The only way to solve this problem is to start with the chakra within his body.

Ye Lan stretched out his hand again, which was mixed with some chakra and natural energy, and then said, "Lift up your clothes a little."

Sasuke was puzzled but didn't ask any further questions. He knew that Ye Lan must have found a solution. He unbuttoned his coat, revealing the skin on his shoulders.

Ye Lan then placed her hand on Sasuke's bare shoulder, and a mark formed by chakra and natural energy appeared on Sasuke's shoulder. The pattern of that mark was exactly the shape of Ye Lan's cross-shaped kaleidoscope.

"This is a curse seal that combines my natural energy and chakra. It doesn't have much effect, but it can guide you to better integrate with natural energy. You can give it a try."

Ye Lan initially considered using sealing techniques to seal that unknown chakra, but then worried that it might affect Sasuke's growth. After all, it was hard to tell whether that thing was good or bad, so she came up with this method. Although she would need to practice many times to fully control natural energy, it was much easier than before.

Upon hearing this, Sasuke put his clothes back on, sat cross-legged, and began to absorb the natural energy from nature. This time it seemed much easier than last time. The curse mark on his shoulder began to emit a blue light, helping Sasuke stabilize the natural energy. Shichisatsu also watched Sasuke curiously from the side.

Unexpectedly, Ye Lan's method allowed Sasuke to make such rapid progress. Qi Sha looked at Sasuke and saw that faint blue eyeshadow had begun to appear at the corners of his eyes. Just when it was about to be completely integrated, the energy in Sasuke's body began to become chaotic again, and the cursed seal could not be stabilized.

Seeing that something was wrong, Qi Sha knocked him to the ground with another wing.

"I feel like I'm almost there..." Sasuke wasn't discouraged. This time, his performance was much better than before. Before, he couldn't see any hope at all, but now he believed that after a few more practice sessions, he would be able to control natural energy.

"Yes, the effect is much better." Ye Lan was also quite satisfied with Sasuke's performance. Speaking of which, the inspiration for this cursed seal came from Orochimaru's Heavenly Curse Seal on Anko.

"Sasuke! Brother Yelan!" A girl's voice came from the entrance of the training ground. Yelan and Sasuke looked over and saw Sakura, whom they hadn't seen for a while.

"You guys are really hardworking, and it's almost Chinese New Year."

Sakura quickly walked forward. Her master, Tsunade, had given her a day off. She was wondering who it was when she passed by on her way home, but she didn't expect the two of them to still be training.

"I've had some free time lately, so I'll make the most of it." Ye Lan had a good impression of Xiao Ying, after all, she had taught her for a while. "I'll definitely be busy after the New Year."

Sasuke greeted Sakura when he saw her. Although he didn't say it, he valued the members of Team 7 very much.

"Let's rest and have a meal together?" Sakura waved to Qi Sha again. At first, she was a little surprised to learn that Sasuke had signed a summoning beast like Ye Lan, but she wasn't surprised when she thought about their backgrounds. Besides, she herself had also signed a slug.

Sasuke actually wanted to continue training, since he was only one step away from success. At that moment, Shichisatsu opened his mouth.

"Take a break, Sasuke. For you humans, the New Year must be a very important holiday."

Without waiting for Sasuke's opinion, he immediately canceled the summoning jutsu.

Now Sasuke can't even train anymore. Without the Seven Killers' supervision, recklessly training would be tantamount to courting death.

"Let's go, we can't let your teammate's kindness go to waste," Ye Lan teased, and Xiao Ying blushed upon hearing this.

Seeing this, Sasuke stopped refusing. He remembered that he had spent the New Year alone before, and now this situation didn't seem so bad. He walked up to Sakura, smiled, and said, "Where should we eat? You decide."

Chapter 80 New Year

Finally, the group arrived at Konoha's most famous barbecue restaurant. As for who would pay, it was naturally Ye Lan, a Jonin, who couldn't possibly let his two juniors foot the bill.

"Sasuke," Sakura said, taking out a small bottle and handing it to him, "This is a special medicine I developed. I was worried you might encounter danger while you're in the Anbu, so..."

Seeing Sakura's embarrassed expression, Sasuke didn't refuse and accepted the medicine directly. Regardless of its effectiveness, he couldn't let his teammate's good intentions go to waste. Sasuke wasn't stupid; he knew Sakura liked him. However, like Ye Lan, he couldn't let personal feelings hold him back.

"Thank you, Sakura."

Seeing Sasuke accept it decisively, Sakura's face lit up with joy. She had no right to interfere in the affairs of the Anbu, and the time she spent with Sasuke was gradually decreasing. If she could help Sasuke in any way, that would be the best thing.

"Oh dear, you guys had a get-together and didn't invite me," Kakashi said, appearing next to Sakura and leaning down. "You weren't doing this on purpose, were you...?"

Sakura shuddered at Kakashi's voice, waved her hand, and said, "Kakashi-sensei, I just happened to run into Sasuke and the others."

"We bumped into each other and had dinner together, but you didn't invite me..." Kakashi's voice was somewhat resentful, "I am your teacher, after all."

Sakura couldn't possibly keep up with Kakashi's behavior. Ye Lan couldn't help but find Kakashi's expression amusing. Was this still the same cold-blooded Kakashi from before? He had become so concerned about his students.

"Kakashi, don't talk about Sakura when you're with Guy." Ye Lan had already seen Guy and his students coming over from not far away. Kakashi was also coming into the house with them, but he noticed Sakura first and came over to greet her.

Upon seeing Ye Lan's gaze, Kai even gave Ye Lan a thumbs up, and Xiao Li and the others also gathered around.

"Sakura!" Lee had publicly announced his feelings for Sakura before, and he was the first to greet her.

"So Kakashi-sensei was already having dinner with other people, and now he's blaming me," Sakura retorted, having finally understood what was going on.

"Well, Kai just wanted to talk to me about something, it wasn't just a casual meal," Kakashi retorted.

"Why don't we all go together?" Since they were all acquaintances, Kai offered his suggestion directly.

"Okay, let's all do it together." Hearing Kai's suggestion, Sakura and Sasuke both looked at Ye Lan, who smiled and agreed.

Seeing how well they got along, and how obedient Sasuke and Sakura were to Ye Lan, Kakashi couldn't help but feel a little jealous. Was he the Jonin leading Team 7 or was Ye Lan the one in charge? He really regretted letting Ye Lan take care of Team 7 in the first place.

While Kakashi was thinking, Asuma and Kurenai entered the barbecue restaurant with their respective students. The observant Ino immediately spotted Ye Lan and the others.