After speaking, Kakashi immersed himself once more in the fascinating book in his hands.
Young Boruto shook his head with a helpless sigh, then turned his gaze toward the battlefield.
By this point, the battle between the two had grown increasingly fierce, to the point where they were even starting to unleash various Ninjutsu.
Seeing this, Young Boruto felt a tight knot in his chest and turned back to Kakashi once more.
"They're actually using Ninjutsu now. Are they really going to be all right?"
Kakashi waved a hand dismissively, his expression completely calm as he replied, "Don't worry, with me watching right here, absolutely nothing is going to go wrong."
Even so, Young Boruto still felt somewhat uneasy, and muttered to himself:
"I just wonder whose attack is stronger—their Rasengan or their Chidori."
As it turned out, Naruto had somehow managed to condense a Rasengan. With his right hand firmly supporting the sphere—which radiated a powerful surge of Chakra—he came charging fiercely straight toward Sasuke.
Meanwhile, Sasuke showed no intention of backing down. Raising one hand high into the air, he charged right toward Naruto with a Chidori, its dazzling lightning flashing intensely in his palm.
Just as the two of them were about to collide head-on:
"Huh?"
"A Rasengan?" Kakashi, who had still been looking completely relaxed up to that moment, saw his expression turn instantly serious upon hearing the word "Rasengan."
Kakashi jerked his head up, his gaze locking urgently onto the field.
Right at that critical moment, Sakura's tearful voice rang out sharply:
"Stop fighting, both of you!"
Crying floods of tears, Sakura charged desperately right into the middle of the fiercely fighting pair.
Seeing this, Kakashi couldn't help letting out a curse: "Damn it!"
Without wasting a second, he shoved his book into his jacket, his feet seeming to sprout wings as he dashed at breakneck speed toward Sakura and the two boys.
On the other side, seeing Sakura suddenly rush in, Naruto felt a jolt of panic, but it was already too late to pull back his attack.
The thunderous attacks of the two boys were about to crash into one another.
Right at the speed of lightning, a figure appeared instantaneously between them.
It was Young Boruto, who had managed to arrive on the scene just in time by using the Flying Raijin.
Agilely extending his left hand, he grabbed Sasuke tightly by the wrist.
At the same time, his right hand shot out to firmly grip Naruto's wrist, lifting both of their hands high up into the air together.
Almost at that exact same moment, Kakashi finally reached the scene.
Gazing at the terrifyingly close call that had just been averted, Sakura broke out in a fine layer of sweat across her forehead.
Seeing that the kids were all safe and sound, Kakashi's previously tense face finally relaxed, and his expression quickly returned to its usual lazy, nonchalant state.
Narrowing his eyes slightly, Kakashi gave the two boys a half-mocking, half-serious look, then let out a slow sigh and said:
"Will you two tell me what you're doing acting like maniacs on the hospital roof?"
"This is no place for you to run wild," Kakashi added, giving his head a gentle shake.
Then, his brow furrowing into a stern frown, Kakashi interrogated them severely: "And besides, isn't fighting like this going a bit too far?"
"Do you really intend to kill each other?"
With that, Kakashi crossed his arms over his chest and waited quietly for their answer.
However, upon hearing Kakashi's questioning, Sasuke didn't care about it in the least.
Refusing even to look at Kakashi, Sasuke turned his head instead, fixing his glare directly onto Young Boruto standing nearby.
With a sudden, violent yank, Sasuke jerked his arm free from Young Boruto's tight grip. Adopting an intensely arrogant posture with his chin tilted up toward the sky, he let out a cold huff and snapped:
"Hmph, stop standing there preaching and pointing fingers at me!"
Seeing such an arrogant, insufferable young Sasuke, Young Boruto couldn't help muttering inwardly to himself:
"I never would've guessed Uncle Sasuke was like this when he was a kid!"
"He is seriously punchable... and honestly, the way he's acting right now is the spitting image of Kawaki."
At that thought, Young Boruto curled his lips downward in a helpless grimace, a bitter smile tugging at his face.
Releasing Naruto's hand, Young Boruto looked at Sasuke and Naruto, and spoke up:
"You two are good friends, so why do you insist on making things so hostile between yourselves?"
Hearing Young Boruto's words, Sasuke's gaze turned instantly cold and sharp. "Hmph, who's good friends with him?"
"And just who the hell are you?"
"What gives you the right to meddle here?"
The atmosphere suddenly grew tense enough to snap.
Seeing this, Kakashi flashed forward to block the space between them. "Calm down, both of you."
At that moment, Sakura stepped forward and tried to reason with Sasuke: "Sasuke, calm down."
Right then, Naruto fixed his clear, curious eyes intently upon Young Boruto and asked in a slow voice:
"Big brother, who are you, exactly?"
A flash of surprise crossed Young Boruto's face, as he clearly hadn't expected Naruto to address him that way.
Hastily waving his hands, Young Boruto replied with a hurried tone:
"Don't call me that! Just call me Boruto."
Hearing this, Naruto gave a slight nod to show he understood, murmuring the name softly to himself: "Boruto..."
Right after that, wanting to give Naruto a better understanding of who he was, Young Boruto took the initiative to explain:
"Actually, I'm currently working as Kakashi's assistant."
Upon hearing this, Naruto instantly perked up, his eyes sparkling with curiosity as he pressed on:
"So Boruto, how strong are you?"
"Are you even stronger than Kakashi-sensei?"
Clearing his throat, Young Boruto gave a casual, nonchalant reply:
"Well... pretty decent, I suppose. I'm probably on par with Kakashi-sensei."
However, the moment those words left Boruto's mouth, Sasuke let out a sudden, disdainful scoff and mocked him mercilessly:
"Hah, you? Please."
Meanwhile, Kakashi—who had been standing quietly to the side observing everything—immediately barked out a stern reprimand:
"Sasuke!"
Yet Sasuke paid Kakashi's words zero mind, not even bothering to glance his way.
Instead, giving Naruto a casual side-long glance, Sasuke turned his eyes back to Young Boruto and continued his cold, derisive taunt:
"You're cut from the exact same cloth as this idiot—all you know how to do is talk big."
Hearing that, Naruto felt the anger inside him ignite instantly in a flash of fury.
Bounding forward in a single leap, Naruto grabbed Sasuke tightly by the collar without a moment's hesitation, staring straight at him with blazing eyes and teeth clenched as he demanded:
"What did you just say?"
"Say that again to my face if you've got the guts!"
Faced with Naruto's challenge, Sasuke showed not an ounce of fear. Instead, he shoved Naruto away hard with a rough push, let out a cold snort from his nose, and replied with total indifference:
"Hmph! If it wasn't for him sticking his nose in and getting in the way, I would've easily beaten you in our match just now."