Hokage, no one knows better than me how to cultivate talent.

Qiu Shui stood on the shore watching, feeling somewhat helpless. Although his talent aura could reduce the negative effects of the sealing technique and the Nine-Tails' chakra in Naruto's body, the effect was far from powerful enough to fully restore him to a normal state.

During this period, he roughly estimated that he had only reduced the interference by about one-third, and the rest would have to be done by Naruto through hard work.

"Sasuke, go up and try it." Shusui explained the water-walking method to him in detail again, including the strength of chakra concentration, the feeling when the soles of the feet touch the water surface, and how to fine-tune the output based on the feedback from the water surface.

Sasuke listened attentively and nodded.

He slowly gathered his chakra to the soles of his feet, first extending one foot and tentatively stepping lightly on the water's surface. He felt a solid yet subtle sensation under his feet, as if he were stepping on a thin, elastic membrane that wouldn't sink but required sustained contact. He took a deep breath, steadied himself, and then slowly lifted his other foot.

Naruto, who was not far away, was watching Sasuke's movements with a tense expression. He even forgot to continue treading water. He had fallen in with a splash after only taking two steps. Naruto secretly hoped that Sasuke's performance would not be too good, and that he would be as miserable as he had been. That way, he could feel a little better.

However, his little scheme quickly fell through.

Sasuke took his first step, steadily and surely; his second step, still steady and reliable; his third step, his fourth step...

He didn't walk until the thirteenth step, when his chakra output was slightly out of control, he slipped and sank into the water with a splash.

"Again." Sasuke emerged from the water, shook his wet hair, and showed no sign of discouragement.

He swam back to shore, climbed ashore, regrouped his chakra, and stepped onto the water again without hesitation.

Seeing this, Naruto felt a sudden sense of urgency.

Sasuke took thirteen steps, while he had only taken three. This difference made him restless. If he could catch up with him in a little longer, wouldn't he be able to do so?

For the rest of the morning, Naruto trained harder than ever before, but his impatience caused him to perform worse than the previous two days, and he fell into the water more and more often, almost as if he was competing with Sasuke to see who could drink more water.

Hinata Hyuga was training well, but she was distracted by the atmosphere of the two chasing each other. She couldn't help but take a few more glances, and as a result, she lost her footing and fell down with a "plop".

As Qiu Shui stood on the shore, watching Naruto and Sasuke secretly vying for dominance, a smile involuntarily crept onto his lips.

He found that the two were quite compatible for training together. They were both competitive and determined. When one improved, the other would try his best to catch up, which created a positive cycle of competition.

As for Hinata, although she did not directly participate in their competition, she has always been serious and focused in her work. In terms of seriousness, she is no less than that of the famous man and Sasuke.

As the sun rose higher, the sunlight became increasingly intense.

Around noon, Qiu Shui called out to the group of people who were still struggling in the water, "You guys rest for a while. I'll go back and cook, and bring it to you later."

"Great! Mr. Akisui, hurry up and go, I'll wait for you here!" Naruto's eyes lit up as soon as he heard the word "cooking," and he shouted excitedly.

He hadn't eaten a meal cooked by Teacher Qiushui for several days. Although Qiushui had bought him ingredients and taught him how to cook a few simple dishes, what he made was only edible and couldn't compare to what Qiushui made. Now, just thinking about the delicious and visually appealing dishes that Teacher Qiushui made made his mouth water.

Hinata didn't shout like Naruto, but her big, white eyes clearly showed anticipation.

The Hyuga clan's meals have always emphasized nutritional balance, but the taste is really average, bland and tasteless, with only a few dishes repeated over and over again. Compared to the dishes made by Master Shusui, it's like heaven and earth.

Uchiha Sasuke stood to the side, expressionless as he watched the two men's expectant faces, thinking to himself: It's just a meal, is it really necessary to look at each other with such anticipation?

He shook his head, inwardly sighing. These two couldn't even uphold the most basic rules of ninja, losing their composure like this over a meal.

As expected, I am still the stronger one.

At least in terms of composure, Uchiha Sasuke would never be swayed in the slightest by a mere meal.

Sasuke walked to a big tree, sat down with his back against the rough trunk, picked up the bento box on the grass next to him, which contained the seaweed rice balls he had prepared that morning, and began to eat them bite by bite.

An hour later, Qiu Shui came over carrying the food.

Sasuke's eyes lit up the moment he saw Naruto and Hinata, and Naruto swallowed hard without any attempt to hide it, leaning his whole body toward the food box.

Sasuke watched with growing confidence, realizing that his composure was indeed far superior to that of the two men.

"Sasuke, come and eat with us," Shusui called out to Sasuke.

"Teacher Akisui, I've already eaten, thank you," Sasuke replied.

Naruto eagerly took the food box, while Hinata carefully helped take out the dishes one by one.

The tender and juicy slices of meat gleamed with an oily sheen, their edges slightly charred, and the broth slowly seeped into the meat's texture. The side dishes on the side were also brightly colored.

Sasuke's Adam's apple bobbed slightly as he witnessed this.

"Eat some more even if you've already eaten," Qiu Shui said, as if she could read his mind. "It's quite hot today. If you don't eat more, you might not have the stamina for the water treading training this afternoon."

Uchiha Sasuke hesitated for a moment, then stood up, brushed the grass clippings off his trousers, and walked over.

As he walked, he silently emphasized to himself that he was not there because of the delicious food, but simply to better prepare for the afternoon's training.

Naruto's mouth was already stuffed with food. Seeing Sasuke approaching, he puffed out his cheeks and mumbled teasingly, "Oh, didn't you say you weren't going to eat? Why are you here now?"

"Naruto-kun..." Hinata, who was eating a small meal, gently tugged at Naruto's sleeve, afraid that the two of them would start arguing again as usual.

Sasuke simply rolled his eyes at Naruto without saying a word.

Having spent time with him, he had long since figured out Naruto's weakness with words; he was just trying to get some advantage with his mouth, but he didn't really mean any harm.

Sasuke Uchiha was too lazy to waste his energy on such things.

Sasuke sat down next to Naruto, took the bowl and chopsticks handed to him by Shusui, glanced around the dishes, and finally settled on a piece of fish.