Naruto: The New Beginning

70. Cheating

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Naruto, Sasuke, and Sakura are playing cards in the lounge, and the loser has to put a sticker on their face.

At first, it's just normal entertainment with winners and losers, but Sasuke usually avoids games like this.

He wants to emulate his father Fugaku's serious and old-fashioned demeanour, thinking he wouldn't be playing cards with his two teammates.

So, Sasuke ends up losing the most, and the stickers on his face completely cover his eyes.

Then something miraculous happens. After that, Sasuke starts winning every game as if he has god's help.

Sakura is in awe, unable to believe how quickly Sasuke improves at playing cards, falling into her usual fangirl mode.

Naruto, however, senses that something is off. While Sasuke is shuffling the cards, Naruto casually lifts one of the stickers from Sasuke's face.

Sasuke's smooth movements halt, and under Naruto's scrutinizing gaze, Sasuke's eyes shift from their Sharingan state back to normal.

Caught red-handed, Sasuke feels the tension rise as Naruto's expression turns from suspicion to disgust. "No wonder you've been so eager to shuffle the cards every round! I thought you were just trying to get familiar with the rules or find a strategy,"

Naruto grumbles. "But you were using your Sharingan to track every card's position. No wonder you were winning!"

Naruto, now fuming, adds, "When the Sage of Six Paths finds out you're abusing the Sharingan for something like this? You should apologize to every generation of Indra, you bastard."

Naruto throws down his cards in frustration. "If I ever play cards with the Uchiha again, I'll be an idiot. That goes for the Hyuga clan too. You guys, with your special powers, have no business in gambling."

He continues to rant, "I remember hearing Izumo and Kotetsu joke that the Hyuga clan uses their Byakugan when playing cards, and now it all makes sense. This is ridiculous."

Deciding he's had enough, Naruto declares, "I'm done with these trash games. They're ruining my youth."

He tosses the cards aside and goes to retrieve some scrolls, eager to study instead. "At least learning makes me happy," he mutters, diving into his notes on space-time ninjutsu.

Sakura, witnessing the unexpected turn of events, is left in shock. Not knowing what else to do, she decides to join Naruto in studying.

She picks up the medical scroll Naruto had given her and Sasuke previously, focusing on how to use it.

Now she can carry some medical books with her, thanks to the sealing technique she learned.

Sasuke, his face flushed with embarrassment, quickly puts away the cards.

The game wasn't the problem—it's getting caught that's truly humiliating.

Resigned to his fate, he pulls out some ninjutsu scrolls and starts studying alongside his teammates.

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Meanwhile, other teams in the forest aren't as relaxed as Team 7. Most are cautiously navigating through the woods, searching for other teams to steal scrolls from while trying to survive the harsh environment.

It's not that Naruto doesn't want to help Hinata's team; he does, but in the end, he decides against it.

Even after defeating two teams from the Grass Village, he chooses not to take their scrolls.