Chapter 30: Water Style: Scavenging Jutsu
Disengage shadow clones.
Bang~
After a puff of smoke, all the clones vanished.
The world instantly fell silent, and the four of them felt a wave of relief wash over them.
Physical clones created by various escape techniques were somewhat manageable—they obeyed commands.
But these shadow clones were completely unpredictable, each with wildly different personalities. It seemed they couldn't be used anymore. Summarizing this, Naruto turned around and scratched his head awkwardly, “My clone technique seems to have some issues.”
Kakashi, Sakura, Sasuke: -_-||
Seeing the clones fail, Naruto had no choice but to take matters into his own hands.
Leading by example, he grabbed a large net and dashed forward, beginning to pick up the trash.
Before he could start, Sakura cried out in surprise from behind.
“Naruto, how are you doing that?”
Sakura pointed at Naruto, who was standing on the surface of the water, collecting garbage.
Sasuke turned to look upon hearing the voice, equally shocked.
Kakashi glanced over, his eyes showing no surprise, as if he had anticipated this.
Naruto looked down at himself, noticing nothing unusual.
“What’s wrong with me?”
“How are you standing on the water?” Sakura asked in astonishment.
Naruto lifted his foot and hopped a few times, replying, “It’s simple—if you channel chakra to the soles of your feet, you can walk on water.”
That simple?
Sasuke, unwilling to believe it, gave it a try.
Splash~
Whether from overexertion or overconfidence, the river was deep, and he immediately fell in, disappearing beneath the surface.
“Sasuke!” Sakura shouted anxiously.
Naruto watched the whole scene dumbfounded.
This Sasuke seemed a bit too confident.
If Naruto can do it, so can I?
Sasuke, it's time to face reality—you’re no longer the protagonist, but the second male lead.
You think you can be the main character like me, Naruto?
Just step onto the water?
The water’s too deep, you can’t handle it.
After a quick jab to release twelve years’ worth of misunderstandings and grudges, Naruto ran to pull him out.
Even after the blows he took yesterday and this morning, this kid still refused to give up, always trying to compete with him.
Once pulled up, Sasuke seemed to lose all strength, letting Naruto handle him. A heavy, oppressive aura brewed around him.
Lost dreams.jpg
The gap keeps widening!
Sasuke, struck down, zoned out, images flashing before his eyes.
Sitting in the classroom at school, lonely and sleepless at home, training hard on his own, Naruto running past him playing pranks, and the last gaze of that man.
He was clearly at the bottom of the class back then.
Why?
Why is the gap growing larger?
At this rate, forget revenge, he couldn’t even beat a bottom-dweller like Naruto!
Thinking of that man’s gaze, that night, the scene he saw upon returning home.
Suddenly, he lifted his head, his eyes darkening as they locked onto Naruto.
It was a look of unwillingness, mixed with suppressed hatred—Naruto could tell Sasuke wanted to challenge him.
A duel where only one could survive.
He was unwilling to accept defeat, desperate for revenge, hungry for strength.
This was Naruto’s understanding of that look.
His entire family wiped out, the murderer being his beloved older brother.
Such a thing sounds simple in words, but when it happens to you, it becomes a mountain.
Previously, seeing Sasuke didn’t fall to extremes, Naruto thought he was truly the protagonist—so different, seemingly carefree.
But now, it was clear this hatred had already corroded Sasuke’s heart, full of wounds, waiting for an explosion.
This Sasuke, driven by thirst for power and revenge—could that be why he chose to leave the Hidden Leaf?
But why leave the Hidden Leaf?
Isn’t Kakashi, who became a Jonin at twelve, the perfect choice for a teacher?
This person must have come from outside the village, tempting Sasuke to defect—what’s their goal?
After a brief moment of thought, Naruto snapped back to reality.
Though he understood Sasuke, faced with Sasuke’s challenging gaze, Naruto wasn’t one to back down.
“What? Want to fight me, Sasuke? Just wait—tonight, I’ll satisfy you.”
Remembering the trio’s agreement for the evening, Naruto would reveal the secret to his newfound strength. Sasuke withdrew his gaze, hope rekindling in his eyes.
Once he learned Naruto’s secret, with his effort and sweat, Sasuke would surely surpass him!
Not only that, having grown from bottom-dweller to this level in such a short time, Sasuke’s growth would only accelerate.
At last, he could see a chance for revenge!
In this moment, light returned to Sasuke’s world.
“Hmph~”
Naruto snorted coldly and, under Sakura’s concerned gaze, got up and resumed picking up trash.
This time, even picking up trash was filled with energy.
Sasuke and Sakura hadn’t learned to walk on water, so all the trash on the surface could only be handled by Naruto alone.
Yet, looking at the sheer amount of garbage, Naruto felt a bit hopeless.
With so much trash, how long would it take for him to finish alone?
He needed a shortcut.
Glancing at Kakashi, he saw the teacher leisurely reading a small book.
Sharp-eyed Naruto caught the title.
“Intimate Paradise”?
That title clearly didn’t sound serious—probably some lewd novel.
Teacher Kakashi’s secret revealed.
“Teacher Kakashi,” Naruto called weakly, “is there any ninjutsu that can make this trash fly into the net by itself?”
“There’s no such ninjutsu. You’d better just pick it up yourself,” Kakashi replied without looking up, still focused on his lewd book, dismissive.
“Really? I don’t believe you.”
Seeing Kakashi ignore him, Naruto’s eyes shifted and he asked again, “Teacher Kakashi, is there any ninjutsu that can control water to move?”
Impatient, Kakashi finally closed the book.
Though it had only been two days, Kakashi knew that if he didn’t teach Naruto a ninjutsu now, Naruto wouldn’t rest.
“This is a water-style technique created by the Second Hokage. I’ll demonstrate it for you.”
Kakashi leapt down and onto the river’s surface.
“Water Release: Water Surge Wave!”
Under Kakashi’s control, the river water instantly roiled. The water around him spun rapidly in a whirlpool.
Suddenly, the spiraling river water surged upward, swirling with immense force as it crashed against the nearby cliff.
Though the cliff had been weathered and hardened over years by wind and water, chunks still broke off under the assault.
If that water struck a person, they’d surely be bruised and battered.
Ahem.
Making a mental note, Naruto closed his eyes, both recalling and studying.
“Very good, Teacher Kakashi. I’ve learned it, but such a fierce move isn’t quite right.”
“Oh?” Kakashi remained unimpressed.
Even a genius can learn this technique just by watching once—so what?
Better to just pick up the trash honestly.
Both mindset and experience are training.
Which ninja hasn’t gone through this stage?
“Watch me!”
Naruto shouted, jumping onto the river.
“Sasuke, Sakura, get your nets ready. Here I come!”
“Ah?”
Though they didn’t understand why, as teammates they cooperated obediently.
Forming hand seals, every water molecule around responded.
A staggering control over 404 units of chakra!
This was unprecedented in the entire ninja world—no, in the whole world, even the entire dimension.
Every water molecule competed to obey Naruto’s command.
“Water Release: Trash Collection Technique!”
Several water streams, each as thick as a bucket, surged continuously from the river’s surface, carrying vast amounts of trash straight toward the nets.
Once the water streams deposited the trash into the nets and hit the ground, no splashing or scattering occurred.
Not a single drop splashed toward Sasuke or Sakura.
They obediently flowed back into the river, ready for the next cycle.
Under Naruto’s control, the river water ceased its chaotic turbulence, instead orderly driving the trash to gather by him.
Naruto’s profound chakra control—this powerful water-nature chakra manipulation—left Kakashi dumbfounded.
Not even just surprised, but utterly stunned.
‘Is this real? Are you kidding me?’
Is this the level of control a human can achieve?