38. I will always return

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At the end of class, the students rushed out and headed straight to Naruto and Sasuke.

"Big brother, big brother, perform! Perform!"

"Ninjutsu! Ninjutsu!"

Naruto signalled to Sasuke. Reluctantly, Sasuke walked to the middle of the field and performed a Uchiha-style martial arts routine.

With flashy moves that looked almost like hip-hop, it was no wonder that "Dance King" Madara Uchiha always talked about dancing with others.

The children were captivated by Sasuke, especially the little girls who cheered and screamed, with Sakura leading the way.

Naruto facepalmed. "Since when did you join in, Sakura? The fan culture is already corrupting Konoha's minors."

After Sasuke's street-style demonstration, several of his afterimages suddenly appeared on the field, making the children gasp in awe.

Then, the afterimages vanished, and Sasuke reappeared next to Naruto.

Though his mastery of the Body Flicker Technique, passed down from Shisui, wasn't perfect, Sasuke's performance was enough to impress the kids.

With his hands in his pockets, Sasuke nodded at Naruto, signalling that it was his turn.

Naruto generously formed a hand seal and shouted, "Multiple Shadow Clone Jutsu!" creating 18 clones.

The clones immediately got into character, somersaulting and doing stunts.

They gathered together and shouted in unison, "Naruto Uzumaki clone no 1-18, reporting sir!"

Naruto, with a tick mark on his forehead, said, "Be serious! It's a performance!"

The clones suddenly acted as if they realized something, then shouted, "Welcome to the Uzumaki Naruto Acrobatic Troupe!"

One particularly clever clone stepped forward, bowed to the audience, and then pulled out a gong from nowhere. He struck it with a loud "Duang" and announced:

"Watch closely, folks! After this, there's no such show. As long as the audience wants to see it, we can do anything! Those with money, pay up! Those without, just cheer us on!"

Then he turned around and waved, "Brothers, start the show!"

The children clapped out of courtesy, while Sasuke tugged at Naruto's sleeve and asked, "What exactly are you planning?"

Naruto responded irritably, "I don't know! Don't ask me."

Sasuke and Sakura: ???

"Your clones... and you don't know what they're planning?"

The clones had already started their performance, doing 20 backflips in a row—a basic feat.

They could flip from one end of the playground to the other without breaking a sweat.

The physical capabilities in this world are so ridiculous, they could attempt any acrobatic trick from Naruto's previous life.

Somersaults, tightrope walking, human ladders, and wall runs were all part of the fun.

Especially with a risky act like tightrope walking, the clones enjoyed themselves, walking steadily because they knew if they slipped and fell, they'd disperse.

As for the steel wire, ninja kits provided all the necessary tools.

The Uzumaki Acrobatic Troupe continued to entertain, with the children cheering and applauding non-stop.

Finally, 15 of the clones stacked themselves into an Arhat formation, the scene resembling a pyramid.

One clone ran up to Sakura, curled into a ball, and asked, "Pink hair, do you want to play bowling?"

Sakura glanced at Naruto.

Naruto's expression was complicated as he said, "Just throw him at the wall over there. The more clones you knock down, the better."

Sakura's eyes narrowed, and her face twisted into a grin. "You asked for it!" She picked up the clone.

The clone lamented, "Please remember me in the original body. I am Uzumaki Naruto No. 001, the one-time-use clone!"

Naruto's frustration hit its peak. "You're the one who hit the gong earlier, too!"

No. 001 grinned. "I'm going in! Hurry up!"

Sakura's anger gauge was maxed out. "Pink hair, huh? And you dare call me pink hair!"

"Shannaro!"

With a mighty shout, Sakura hurled No. 001 right into the centre of the human wall.

The 16 clones vanished amidst laughter and cheers.

Meanwhile, the Nine-Tails watched the scene with interest from within the sealed space. "This kid has some skills. Why doesn't he perform like this for me? Ever since the Sage passed away, I've been nothing but an orphan... a thousand-year-old orphan."

Sasuke was stunned. It wasn't Naruto's chaotic antics that shocked him—he was used to that by now.

What surprised him was the realization that Sakura's strength might surpass both his and Naruto's.

The children first applauded and cheered, but when they looked at Sakura, they suddenly fell silent.

"Good thing we didn't cause trouble during class earlier, or Sakura-sensei would have killed us," they thought.

Naruto turned to the two surviving clones who hadn't participated in the Human Wall and asked, "So, how do you two want to go?"

One clone responded, "Cool... let's go out in style!"

Before Naruto could say anything, the other clone quickly formed a seal. "Water Release: Water Dragon Jutsu!"

A massive water dragon surged from beneath the bragging clone, spiralling upward with him on its head.

"Ahh oh oh oh oh oh~"

The screams echoed—whether from fear or excitement, it was unclear. The water dragon soared into the air, and the clone called out, "Sasuke! Fireworks!"

Sasuke was confused. He glanced at Naruto, who sighed and said, "Fine, do the Phoenix Flower Jutsu."

"Using my ninjutsu as fireworks?" Sasuke was annoyed, but seeing how the water dragon had turned into an acrobatic display, he decided to play along.

"Fire Release: Phoenix Flower Jutsu!"

A string of basketball-sized fireballs shot out of Sasuke's mouth, flying towards the clone in the air.

The clone jumped down, weaving between the fireballs, and shouted at Sasuke, "You jump, I jump!"

Naruto growled through clenched teeth, "Finish him!"

Sasuke complied, unleashing a massive fireball that engulfed the clone in the air, making him disappear spectacularly.

However, just as the last clone on the ground dissolved into water, Naruto's eye twitched, and he overheard the clone's final thought:

"Sasuke, you bastard, I will always return."

…

After a fun-filled morning, Team 7 had lunch with the children.

Then came the last part of the mission—getting the children to take a nap. The director and her son were expected to return in the afternoon.

However, no one had experience with this task. Even though Kakashi had taken care of Naruto as a child, he never had to coax him to sleep.

In the end, the children demanded a story before they would go to bed.

Hearing this, Naruto, who had a knack for stories, perked up. "This, I can handle! The thousand-year-old fox at home listens to stories every day."

So Naruto began, "The story starts 20 years ago. The Marine finally captured and killed the King of Pirates: Gol D. Roger! What they didn't expect was Roger's final attack, with a smile on his face and near his last moments, he said: "You want my treasure? You can have it! I left everything I gathered together in one place! Now you just have to find it!"

Halfway through the story, the children were already fast asleep, not even remembering the name of the protagonist...

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