Being a rogue ninja is worse than being Hokage.

If he gains power now but stops growing, he will not be able to defeat Itachi Uchiha.

Naruto watched Sasuke's reaction; it seemed his persuasion had worked.

The cursed seal on Sasuke's body dissipated and returned to the three tomoe marks on his shoulders and neck.

Chapter 43 Unnoticed Feelings

Sasuke, having released the cursed seal, suddenly stumbled.

He sat on the ground, looking exhausted, panting heavily.

"I'm fine, I just overused my chakra."

Sensing Naruto's gaze, Sasuke responded.

Sasuke, who was originally unconscious, was in the most dangerous condition among the three members of Team 7.

But Sasuke has only lost some chakra.

The injuries he had sustained earlier had also completely healed under the influence of the cursed seal.

On the contrary, it was Naruto...

Sasuke looked at Naruto's belly, which was already flushed red.

Naruto had a deep gash in his abdomen, which stained his coat completely with blood.

"Hurry up and stop the bleeding, Naruto, you'll really die if you keep losing blood."

Anyone could tell at a glance that Naruto's injuries were serious.

Even though he's so badly injured himself, he still has the energy to care about others...

"I...I'll bandage it..."

Sakura rushed over.

The crisis is over, and the adrenaline that kept the body excited has subsided.

The pain from her back hitting the tree trunk finally began to stimulate Sakura's nerves, albeit belatedly.

Sakura just gritted her teeth and silently endured the physical discomfort.

She took out medical bandages from her ninja tool bag and came to Naruto's side.

"No need, I can treat my wounds myself with my shadow clones."

Naruto refused Sakura's help.

"But……"

Sakura wanted to say something more, but in the end she remained silent.

"I can't take it anymore! This is a matter of life and death, why are you two still dawdling like that!"

Ino, who had originally planned to leave quietly to give Team 7 some private space, quickly approached Naruto and Sakura, unable to bear their behavior any longer.

Choji and Shikamaru had no choice but to go along with Ino's wishes and wait quietly on the side.

"Don't waste your already limited chakra given your current injuries! Be careful not to cause problems when allocating chakra to your shadow clones."

Ino reached out and slapped away Naruto's hand, which was about to form the Shadow Clone Seal.

Ino did this out of good intentions, and there was nothing wrong with it.

In the case of insufficient chakra, unless one is a Jonin with extremely precise control over their own chakra.

It's best to avoid using ninjutsu like Shadow Clone Technique, which distributes your chakra evenly.

Who can guarantee that after giving away half of the already limited chakra, there won't be a chakra shortage, which would worsen the original body's injuries?

Naruto stared at Ino expressionlessly as Ino suddenly slapped his hand hard.

If he had shown this kind of expression before, Ino wouldn't have been able to stand up for herself and would have just slunk away with her tail between her legs, letting Naruto do whatever he wanted.

But this time, Ino glared back at Naruto fiercely.

"Take off your clothes quickly, let us see your wounds!"

Before Ino could finish speaking, she had already started attacking Naruto.

"Wait...! Ino, stop! Don't act like a thug!"

Ino's unexpected and extreme behavior startled Naruto.

Naruto almost forgot his disguise and was about to push Ino away forcefully.

Fortunately, Naruto realized that he was now a "seriously injured patient" with severe blood loss.

They shouldn't have had much strength to resist.

Naruto quickly released his force when his hands touched Ino, turning into a weak and powerless push.

After protesting for a while, he realized that he couldn't stop Ino from forcibly taking off his clothes unless he tore down his pretense of "serious injury".

Naruto accepted his fate.

"This wound..."

Ino untied Naruto's blood-stained clothes.

Ino stared at the wound for a moment, then her eyes quickly cleared.

On Naruto's exposed abdomen, a wound larger than anyone had anticipated appeared before their eyes.

The wound only looks scary; Naruto had already healed the deeper parts of it.

It was just that he had lost too much blood earlier, and Naruto had deliberately not fully healed his wounds, leaving an obvious external injury as a cover.

It was hard to tell that Naruto's wounds had almost completely healed.

This is a backup plan that Naruto prepared for the situation where he "cannot use shadow clones to bandage his wounds and conceal his true injuries."

Ino gasped when she saw Naruto's wound.

Sakura didn't say anything, but silently prepared to bandage Naruto.

Sakura tried several times to tear open the bandage, but failed each time.

Ino looked at Sakura, who appeared calm and composed on the surface, but was actually in a state of utter turmoil.

She reached out and took the bandage from Sakura's hand.

"I'll do it..."

Compared to Sakura's difficult entanglement with the medical bandages.

The bandage was easily torn open in Ino's hands.

Ino handed the disassembled bandage back to Sakura, rummaging through her ninja tool bag: "I'll clean up the bloodstains around Naruto's wound. Sakura, you cut the medical bandage to the right length to cover the wound."

"I'll take care of the cleaning myself..."

Naruto snatched the antiseptic cleaning solution from Ino's hand, which she had just taken out of her ninja tool bag.

This time, Ino did not object.

As long as Naruto doesn't use Shadow Clones when his chakra is severely depleted.

Simply cleaning a wound is something anyone can do.

Ino didn't want someone from another class to be overly "attentive" to Naruto.

She focused her attention on Sakura, who was right next to Naruto but seemed unusually quiet.

Sakura kept her head down and didn't cut the bandages as Ino had instructed.

Sakura just stared blankly at the medical bandage tightly held in her hand.

"Sakura?"

Sakura's condition seemed unusual, and Ino, feeling worried, went over and softly called Sakura's name.

Perhaps it was because it heard Ino's worried and concerned tone;

Or perhaps Sakura's emotional threshold had finally reached its limit, causing all the emotions swirling within her to burst forth...

After Ino's call.

Sakura, who had held back her tears for so long, finally let them flow down her face.

Crystalline tears dripped onto the bandage, soaking it.

The girl's soft sobs startled Ino, who was her friend, and also attracted the attention of Sasuke and Naruto, who were also teammates in Team 7.

Sensing her companion's concern, Sakura looked up again and tearfully voiced her thoughts.

"Naruto, Sasuke... I will definitely, I will become stronger quickly... I won't just be someone you protect anymore, I won't just be a burden to Team 7 anymore..."

"So...so could you give me a little more time? Just a little bit will do. Although I'm incredibly weak and useless right now...I will try my best, I will try my best to catch up with you!"

Sakura, who has been slowly following behind Naruto and Sasuke all the way to the present in Team 7, knows very well that both of them are firmly walking on their chosen paths to the future.

Sasuke and Naruto walked ahead with such steady steps, filled with unwavering determination.

She herself always felt uncertain about everything.

Sakura glanced at Sasuke, who was looking at her, but then, as if possessed, her gaze fixed on Naruto in front of her.

She learned from Kakashi-sensei that the survival exercise was the real graduation exam. Unable to bear the consequences of failing the exam, she became fearful and considered quitting.

At that time, she was the one who didn't consider Sasuke and Naruto's feelings first.

Naruto, however, was able to keenly sense her emotions, comfort her, and soothe her anxiety.

During the survival exercise, Kakashi-sensei forbade Sasuke from eating.

It was Sasuke, whom she kept saying she liked.

However, she chose to obey Kakashi-sensei's orders.

It was Naruto's act of sharing food that made her realize that comrades are more important than orders.

The demon brothers from the Land of Waves ambushed her, and it was Naruto who saved her...

And in the Forest of Death, Naruto and Sasuke fought so hard for Team 7, and were injured in the process...