"I have something to say." Naruto spoke up, his voice breaking the silence.
Sasuke and Sakura both looked up at him at the same time.
Sasuke's brows were slightly furrowed, wondering what Naruto was going to say now.
Sakura's eyes still held a trace of tears.
"I've checked the relevant information about the Chunin Exams."
Naruto leaned against the bridge railing, his tone unhurried. "There's a strict rule for Genin participating in the Chunin Exams: registration must be done as a three-person squad. If one person is missing, the whole team cannot participate."
Sasuke was stunned, his brows knitting together. He did not doubt Naruto's statement. The impression Naruto had given recently was completely different from before.
If the old Naruto had said this, he would have immediately dismissed it as empty talk, but now, when Naruto spoke, Sasuke would first process it in his mind before making a judgment.
If it were truly mandatory to register as a three-person squad, that meant if one of them didn't participate, the other two couldn't either.
Thinking of Gaara's cold eyes, and the possibility that the chance to battle a strong opponent might go down the drain due to such an administrative rule, Sasuke's face darkened slightly.
"What?" Sakura's face instantly went pale.
She had been struggling with whether or not to participate, but now, hearing Naruto say that if one person was missing, the whole team couldn't participate, that hesitation was replaced by a wave of intense panic.
If she didn't go, Sasuke couldn't go either? Would Sasuke hate her because of this? Would he think she was holding him back?
Sakura's brain was buzzing, and the application form in her hand almost slipped from her fingertips.
Sakura looked sharply at Naruto and found that when he said this, he happened to be looking at her as well, as if waiting for her to figure something out on her own.
'Wait, is Naruto reminding me?'
'Did he guess my thoughts, and so he purposely said he checked the information, but it was actually meant for me?'
Sakura's gaze toward Naruto shifted several times. Her mouth opened and closed but in the end, she didn't say anything.
Sasuke's brain had also quickly processed this information, and he turned to look at Sakura, his tone direct without any beating around the bush. "Sakura, among the three of us, you are the weakest. There are five days left. Train hard and get your strength up."
Sakura's shoulders hunched at Sasuke's blunt words. She lowered her head even further, her fingers turning white from gripping the edge of the application form.
"I... I understand, Sasuke."
Although what Sasuke said was blunt, Sakura was indeed weak right now, but she was at the top of her class at Ninja Academy in terms of Chakra control and basic theoretical knowledge.
It was just that whenever she encountered Sasuke, she would automatically enter a "one-click restart" state, with all rational functions going completely offline. This trait would be gradually corrected in the future after she became Tsunade's apprentice, but right now, it was a real headache.
Forget it, might as well go all the way. Who told him his goal was to become the Hokage?
The Hokage's duty included leading the entire Konoha toward greater strength, and the teammates before him were his initial team.
If he couldn't even handle a little girl in his own team, how would he deal with those thousand-year-old monsters later on?
Naruto turned to Sasuke, his expression serious. "Sasuke, Sakura is indeed a bit weak."
Sasuke looked at Naruto expressionlessly, waiting for him to continue.
Upon hearing this, Sakura looked up, and all those complex thoughts she had just had about Naruto instantly transformed into anger.
'I just thought he was helping me, and now he turns around and says I'm weak to my face? Whose side are you on anyway?'
But Naruto's next sentence caused her to pause.
"You are the one with the strongest combat power among the three of us. If you teach her yourself, five days is enough to raise her level by a notch."
Sasuke's expression froze. His eyebrows and lips twitched ever so slightly, revealing that his current mental state was undergoing a violent shock.
Seeing this, Naruto knew Sasuke had taken the bait.
"Sasuke, you wouldn't want to miss the Chunin Exams, would you?"
That sentence was a precise finishing blow. What Sasuke cared about most was participating in high-intensity practical combat to hone himself. If the whole team couldn't register because Sakura lacked the strength, he would also lose the opportunity to grow and become stronger.
This approach was a million times more effective than saying, "You should care about your teammates."
Sasuke's brows furrowed deeply, and his lips pressed into a thin line. He quickly weighed the pros and cons in his mind.
His own training was already intense enough, did he really have to spend time teaching someone else?
But if Sakura really couldn't participate in the Chunin Exams due to a lack of strength, then the entire Team 7 would be done for, and he wouldn't be able to clash with those guys from Sunagakure. This thought made the Uchiha blood in Sasuke's veins protest.
A moment later, he nodded.
Sakura had been watching Sasuke closely. When she saw him nod, her whole world lit up.
Sasuke was going to teach her personally!
Deep inside, she let out a scream that only she could hear. 'Well done, Naruto!'
Then, she clasped her hands together in front of her chest and looked at Sasuke while trying hard to suppress her excitement.