Trees Chapter 331 Sasuke...Want To Defeat Me?

"Don’t underestimate this wooden token!"

Noticing the disdain in their eyes, Naruto immediately explained the origin of the item.

Of course, his explanation was mainly aimed at Hinata.

After being thoroughly beaten by his parents, Sasuke probably had some understanding of the Shinigami’s power.

It was just unclear why Fugaku hadn’t given Sasuke a plaque.

A few minutes later...

Hinata scratched her cheek, looking somewhat puzzled as she asked, "But it doesn’t seem that strong."

"I think Aunt Sara is pretty weak."

Sasuke nodded slightly. He felt that his combat system was already well-developed, and rashly incorporating other powers would likely disrupt his current rhythm.

Besides...

The Shinigami’s power really wasn’t that impressive.

Half of the beatings he took at home were just an act. If it came down to a real fight...

His father might not even be able to defeat him.

And...

For now, he still wanted to live a good life.

Seeing their indifferent expressions, Naruto wasn’t sure what to say.

"The Shinigami’s power will only make us stronger."

With that, Naruto, under their horrified gazes, pulled his Zanpakuto out from his chest.

"When did you die?!"

"Can we still have babies?!"

The two spoke simultaneously, voicing their most pressing concerns. Naruto was so angry that he kicked Sasuke ten meters away.

‘What kind of nonsense was this guy spouting?!’

"It’s just the Shinigami’s power… I’m not actually dead!"

Only after Naruto’s explanation did Hinata let out a sigh of relief.

‘If Naruto really turned into a state like Sara’s...’

‘Wouldn’t that mean I’d lost?’

"So?"

"Are you strong now?"

Sasuke slowly got up from the ground. After digesting what Naruto had said, it took him a while before he could ask his question.

‘This yellow-haired guy was already ridiculously strong. Now, with the Shinigami’s power on top of that...’

Sasuke wasn’t sure if, in this lifetime, aside from beating him in games, he’d ever be able to defeat him in a real fight.

"The Zanpakuto is part of the soul..."

Naruto raised his Zanpakuto and began explaining its power to the two.

Well...

To be honest, it wasn’t so much an explanation as it was Naruto summarizing 300+ episodes of Bleach.

"Hiss..."

"That Aizen guy is really that strong?!"

At first, Sasuke thought Naruto was just telling a story… after all, this ‘Kurosaki Ichigo’ guy was clearly just a stand-in for himself.

But when he heard about Aizen...

Sasuke instantly realized that the story Naruto was telling had actually happened in another world.

He had previously used Genjutsu to extract information from that four-eyed guy from another dimension and learned that their world had something called ‘Cursed Energy’...

‘So...’

‘Does ‘Dou Qi’ really exist?!

"Meh, he’s just average."

Naruto pinched his fingers together, implying that even someone like Aizen wouldn’t last more than two strikes against him.

Hinata listened quietly beside them. Even though much of it went over her head, she didn’t interrupt.

"In short..."

"Just think of the Zanpakuto as... the Mangekyo Sharingan’s equivalent of a wish-granting device in the Shinobi World."

As he spoke, Naruto flicked a pebble, knocking over a wild rabbit.

He planned to test his Shikai Ability.

But the power to slice people into cubes was far too dangerous, so he had to settle for experimenting on a rabbit.

Grabbing the rabbit by its ears, Naruto activated his Zanpakuto’s Shikai with his other hand.

Hum…

With a faint vibration, Sasuke and Hinata watched as Naruto’s Zanpakuto transformed into... a cube?!

Especially Sasuke… he seriously suspected Naruto was messing with him.

‘This thing was just a rectangular block with no blade. Could it even kill someone?’

‘The Shinigami’s power couldn’t possibly be this lame, right?’

At the very least, Sasuke felt his parents’ Zanpakuto were much stronger than Naruto’s.

Hinata, however, cupped her cheeks, thinking Naruto looked incredibly cool holding the sword...

"Watch closely."

Naruto warned them first, then swung his sword at the rabbit.

In the next second, the rabbit abruptly turned into a perfectly square object.

Even more bizarrely, Sasuke and Hinata saw a red bar appear above the rabbit’s head...

5/6

‘Is That a Health Bar?!’

As someone who frequently played games, Sasuke immediately recognized the bar above the rabbit’s head as a health bar.

‘But...’

‘What kind of absurd power was this?!’

‘Turning enemies into cubes while also revealing their health bars???’

At first, Sasuke was confused and bewildered. But after pondering for a few minutes, he suddenly jumped up from the ground.

"Holy shit!!"

"Get me one of these too!!"

Sasuke had already grasped the terrifying potential of this ability.

Against opponents of equal or lower strength, Naruto’s cube ability might seem a bit gimmicky.

But!

Against enemies who were stronger than him, this power was a game-changer!!

One slash with the Zanpakuto, and the enemy’s health bar would be exposed… then all he had to do was pour on the damage.

Even if a Dou God showed up, as long as Naruto landed a hit, they’d still have their health bar exposed!

Sasuke’s expression grew excited, as if he had just glimpsed a path to defeating Naruto.

Logically speaking...

If Naruto could have such a broken ability, then even if his own power wasn’t as strong, it couldn’t be too far off, right?

"Fine."

Seeing how eager Sasuke was, Naruto finished off the rabbit with a slash and then tossed the Shinigami’s wooden token to him.

Hinata could wait, better to let his good brother test the waters first.

After all, his parents in the Pure Land had mentioned...

Awakening as a Shinigami required a life-or-death trial.

"Just press it against my chest, right?"

Sasuke took the wooden token, and then, after getting confirmation from Naruto, he slapped it straight onto his chest.

However, the Zanpakuto Sasuke expected did not appear...

When he regained consciousness, he found himself in a pure white world.

"Strange..."

"Why is this different from what Naruto described??"

Sasuke got up from the ground, ‘According to what that guy had said, all I had to do was pull the Zanpakuto out from my inner world, so why was I in this situation?’

"Saa… suu… kee…"

"Saa... suke..."

"Sasuke…!!"

As he wandered through this bizarre space, Sasuke kept hearing someone call his name.

The voice was both familiar and unfamiliar, as if he had heard it in his childhood.

Unable to figure out what was going on, he decided to climb to higher ground, hoping to spot something from above.

Ten minutes later...

Sasuke finally saw four figures in this strange space.

But...

He wasn’t happy at all.

"What the hell!!"

"I knew it would be like this!!!"

When Sasuke saw the feminized versions of Jiraiya, Kakashi, and Orochimaru up ahead, he nearly burst into tears.

‘Don’t mess with me like this!!’

‘I’m just trying to pull out a Zanpakuto!!’

Sasuke was genuinely on the verge of a breakdown.

"Sasuke... Do you want to defeat me?"

Suddenly, his best friend’s voice came from behind him.

Sasuke instinctively turned around—only to see a twin-tailed... feminized Naruto.

‘What the…?!’

‘Uzumaki Naruko?!’

Finally, Sasuke realized that the familiar voice calling his name earlier was none other than the voice of Naruto’s shadow clone from back in the day.

"Sasuke."

"You want to defeat me?"