Sasuke's Indifference

"Oh? Do you think you can beat me just by multiplying yourself?" Kizaru asked Naruto with a doubtful tone, as if he were talking to himself rather than Naruto.

"It's more than enough to defeat you!" Naruto was annoyed by Kizaru's tone, which sounded mocking to him.

He rushed at Kizaru once again, but this time he wasn't alone. A bunch of Naruto clones came rushing towards Kizaru to attack him.

Kizaru took one of his hands out of his pocket, making Naruto alert. After all, this was the guy who had defeated him single-handedly with just his feet.

But Naruto was taken aback when Kizaru simply used his pinky finger to pick his ear, seeming completely uninterested.

"Ah! Take this!" Naruto didn't care anymore, and one of the Naruto clones attacked Kizaru in the face, aiming to wipe that hateful expression off his opponent.

However, Kizaru easily evaded the attack and kicked the clone, causing it to turn into white smoke and disappear.

Another Naruto clone came flying towards Kizaru from behind the dissipating clone.

Yet, Kizaru easily countered the attack, and more Naruto clones rushed in to attack. However, all of their attacks were useless, and most of them turned into white smoke and vanished.

The real Naruto, who was pretending to attack alongside the clones, observed the situation with an expression of disbelief.

Naruto's clones kept disappearing one by one without making any progress against Kizaru, and Naruto hadn't landed a single punch or kick on him.

Although Kizaru was sweating quite a bit, it wasn't from Naruto's attacks. It was the sweat from his earlier training and his experimentation with a new technique that combined chakra and a Devil Fruit power. It had exhausted him greatly, and he had been on his way home when he encountered this group of famous individuals.

As the battle between Naruto and Kizaru continued, it became clear who was winning and who wasn't.

Naruto was also sweating and catching his breath.

All of his clones dissipated, and Naruto looked at Kizaru with vigilance.

Seeing this, Sasuke stepped forward, catching Naruto's attention.

"You idiot, you forgot about your team and recklessly fought alone again," Sasuke snorted at Naruto, not missing the chance to show his contempt. His tone carried a disdainful undertone.

"Don't call me an idiot, jerk!" Naruto pointed at Sasuke in frustration, angered by his words.

"Hmph!" Sasuke ignored him and turned his gaze towards Kizaru, his eyes filled with determination.

"He's right, Naruto. You shouldn't go solo like that, especially when you're at a disadvantage," Kakashi reminded Naruto, who was still frustrated with Sasuke and himself.

"Tsk." Naruto turned his head to the side. Deep down, he agreed with Kakashi, but he hated the fact that he had embarrassed himself in front of everyone, especially Sakura, his crush.

After pushing aside his thoughts, Naruto looked towards Sasuke and decided to swallow his pride and initiate cooperation. "Sasuke! This guy isn't ordinary! We need to join forces as a team!"

Naruto looked at Sasuke expectantly, while Kakashi was greatly satisfied with this development. It seemed they were beginning to understand.

"Hmph! I don't care, just don't get in my way!" Sasuke coldly stated before rushing towards Kizaru at high speed.

Meanwhile, Kakashi, who had been happy just moments ago, froze for a moment before shaking his head and thinking, "No worries... They will soon understand."

Naruto's face also froze. As he was about to curse at Sasuke, he realized that he had already rushed ahead. With no other choice, Naruto followed suit.

...

Kizaru looked at everything happening cluelessly. Hearing the conversation among these people, he realized they simply misunderstood him. But he knew that Kakashi didn't share the same view. Why wasn't this lazy guy stopping his disciples?

As for Kizaru, he didn't really care. He was just going along with it to assess his current strength and see how far he surpassed the likes of Naruto and Sasuke.

Sasuke rushed forward and threw a punch towards Kizaru, who easily evaded it. Sasuke wasn't too surprised, as he had expected it.

With his other hand holding a kunai, Sasuke swung it towards Kizaru's face.

Kizaru remained calm and sidestepped the attack.

Sasuke then planted his hand on the ground to support himself as he launched a powerful kick towards Kizaru.

Kizaru stepped back, and the kick didn't even come close to reaching him. This sequence of Sasuke's attacks continued as Naruto joined in, but Kizaru effortlessly dodged all their moves, as if he had eyes in the back of his head.

After Sasuke and Naruto jumped back to create some distance between themselves and Kizaru, they looked at him with astonishment.

"How is that possible? How did he effortlessly avoid all our attacks?" Sasuke gritted his teeth as he stared at Kizaru with unwillingness.

Naruto, gasping for breath, also felt shocked. From the beginning until now, they hadn't landed a single hit.

"Who is this guy!?" Naruto finally realized that he had underestimated the other party. He had thought that with Sasuke's help, they would be able to defeat him, but they weren't even close.

"No way... Even Sasuke couldn't land a single attack!?" Sakura watched everything unfold with an expression of disbelief.

"It seems we still underestimated this guy after all..." Kakashi, who was observing the battle, was just as astonished as the others.

After all, Kakashi had initially believed that the other party was just slightly above Naruto's level. With Sasuke joining in, he had hoped it would pose some trouble for the other party, but it seemed that the other party didn't even consider it troublesome, judging by his expression.

If it weren't for the sweat rolling down the other party's forehead, indicating some exhaustion, it would have seemed like the other party was just an average civilian with slightly above-average power compared to a ninja Genin.

Kakashi couldn't shake the feeling of familiarity with the other party, but he couldn't quite place it. It was as if the memory was lingering at the back of his mind.

...

Frustrated, Sasuke finally performed a series of hand signs and, with a shout, his chest expanded as he inhaled air and released it in front of Kizaru, "Fire Style: Fireball Jutsu!"

The large fireball quickly approached Kizaru.

Kakashi and the others watched with seriousness. Kakashi hoped that the other party wouldn't be too severely injured. Even an experienced Genin would find Sasuke's attack troublesome, let alone someone who wasn't a ninja. However, Kizaru seemed too arrogant to dodge.

"Sasuke! What are you doing!? Are you trying to kill him!?" Naruto shouted angrily at Sasuke, his eyes narrowed.

Sasuke, still blowing the fireball, looked ahead with a cold expression.

After fully releasing the fireball, Sasuke stopped blowing and stared at the still-burning area in front of him.

As the fire and smoke dissipated, no figure could be seen.

Naruto, who witnessed it all, fell on his backside with fear in his eyes. He looked at Sasuke with a mix of anger and fear, shouting in a frightened tone, "Sas-Sasuke! You killed him! You obliterated him completely!"

Kakashi and the others looked on with disbelief.

"It can't be... Sasuke-kun killed someone..." Sakura trembled, her eyes filled with fear.

Tazuna, being an ordinary person, felt a chill run down his spine. He had believed that Kizaru was one of the corrupt individual's men who had come to take his life. He wasn't sure whether to feel relieved or saddened by the fact that someone died because of him.

Kakashi, equally dumbfounded, had initially thought that the other party's confidence would allow him to dodge in time, considering his predictive and reaction abilities. But now, he sensed that something was off, although he couldn't quite pinpoint it.