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Tian Tian ran the fastest, followed by Ziyanghua, and finally, Ant Knight Naruto.
Leading the way, Tian Tian ran several dozen meters before turning and jumping into a room on the side.
Ziyanghua followed.
Naruto leapt off his ant, abandoning his "vehicle" to flee. His legs pumping, he moved with incredible speed, overtaking the ant from the left—he had passed the "car."
What kind of veteran driver couldn't outrun his own ride?
Reaching the room where the two women were, he glanced back at the ant swarm; they were getting closer.
Scanning the room for something to barricade the door, two enormous stone pillars caught his eye.
Without a second thought, he shattered both pillars with two punches, then kicked one, sending it rolling to the doorway.
"Hraagh!!" he roared, feigning extreme effort, and lifted the second stone pillar to lean it against the first.
Both stone pillars were round. To prevent them from rolling, Naruto turned and braced his back against the pillars.
The ants behind him, unable to brake, whizzed past.
Naruto, breathing heavily, watched the two women who he assumed had let down their guard. His feet slipped for a moment from relaxing his stance, then he pressed firmly again, his hands digging into the stone pillars.
He even forced sweat to bead on his forehead, yet he still wouldn't let go, shouting hoarsely, "Go! These ants are far more powerful than you imagine, and there are so many of them! The tunnels are crawling with ants! Go, hurry, go!!"
It was quite a tragic display, as if behind him were not ants he could casually slaughter, but a group of 'base-bros' far surpassing him in strength.
Fearing his acting wasn't perfected enough for the two women to spot the flaw, Naruto, transformed as Sakata Gintoki, even widened his dead-fish eyes.
When acting isn't enough, widen your eyes to make up for it.
In the time it took to speak a single sentence, the ants behind him had also turned back, blocking the doorway. Ants crowding above extended their mandibles through the gaps above the pillars, while those below pushed forcefully.
Secretly, Naruto thought, These extras are really cooperating! His feet slipped again, then he gritted his teeth and pushed the pillars back into place.
The facts proved that Naruto's acting was indeed on point, and with the enthusiastic cooperation of the 'extras,' it genuinely moved the two women.
However, it might also have been seeing the ants' terrifying destructive power that led them to tacitly choose what they could do.
Tian Tian took out tools and began prying at a protruding stone wall on the other side of the room, hoping to create an opening into the adjacent space.
Ziyanghua bit her finger: "Summoning Jutsu!"
"Boom…"
As the smoke cleared, a three to four-meter-tall panda, its head almost touching the ceiling, carefully padded towards Naruto.
Pandas are incredibly destructive, and this building was old and dilapidated; large movements could cause it to collapse. Ziyanghua also took out a tool and said to Naruto, "Let it hold them off for now. You come over and help us dig."
Knowing his acting had achieved its desired effect, Naruto yielded his position to the panda. He walked over, drew his blade, and helped dig, all while secretly observing with his peripheral vision.
He had skipped over the panda; though a national treasure, this one was unfortunately too ugly, causing him to "ugly-reject" it. His main focus was still on Tian Tian.
Not only Tian Tian, but he was also sizing up Ziyanghua. He remembered this woman.
She was rather pretty, and her Summoning Jutsu was very good. Then, she was turned into the Animal Path by Pain.
He didn't know how she died, but having a bunch of black rods stuck in her body after death was certainly miserable enough.
More and more ants piled in, and the panda showed signs of being unable to hold them off. The situation was critical; none of the three spoke, focusing intently on digging the hole.
"Rawr!!"
In less than a minute, the panda was pushed back a few steps, and two or three ants squeezed through, biting the panda.
"I'll hold them off for a bit, you two keep digging." Naruto presented his back to the two women, charged at the ants with his blade raised, seizing the opportunity to 'grind for favorability points.'
He brought his blade down on an ant's head, but Naruto held back some strength; the blade sank in halfway. When he pulled it out, a large amount of blood sprayed forth, staining his clothes with speckles of crimson.
The second ant abandoned the panda and turned to attack Naruto. His earlier taunts had perfectly 'aggroed' it.
As time passed, more and more ants entered. Naruto acted diligently, narrowly dodging each ant attack, making it appear incredibly perilous.
His figure, stained with blood yet seemingly a wall blocking all harm, earned him the label of 'great, glorious, and correct' in the hearts of the two women digging behind him.
Finally, the hole was broken through, large enough for a person to pass. Tian Tian called out, "Come on through."
"You two go first." Naruto slowly retreated, holding a blade in one hand and an ant's mandible in the other,
employing the peerless technique for repelling enemies—Starburst Stream. After a flurry of wild slashes cleared a space, Naruto turned and squeezed into the opening.
Beyond the opening was another empty room, with only a stone table and two wooden stumps rotted to ash.
Pulling the stone table to block the opening,
Naruto then continued to play a 'multiplayer Temple Run' with them. After several twists and turns, the three finally found a safe room, temporarily shaking off the ant pursuit.
Sitting on the ground without a care for her image, Tian Tian unrolled a scroll. "These guys must be insane."
"Thump."
"Here." Tian Tian produced a bamboo flask filled with water and handed it to Naruto. After their life-or-death escape, Naruto had temporarily earned Tian Tian's friendship.
"By the way, what's your name?" Tian Tian looked Naruto up and down as he drank. She felt this person somewhat resembled Teacher Kakashi, and he seemed to know her, yet Tian Tian was quite certain she had never met him before.
Naruto put down the bamboo flask and introduced himself, "Sakata Gintoki." Tian Tian then asked, "Never heard of you…"
Of course you haven't heard of me; it'd be bad if you had.
"It's normal that you haven't heard of me. Our squad hasn't carried out many missions, so we're not famous in Konoha."
"You're from Konoha too?"
"Mm." Naruto took out a Konoha forehead protector.
"Are you also a candidate? How come I haven't seen you?"
"No, about a month ago, our squad was on a mission,
tracking something here, and we ran into the ant swarm and couldn't find an exit… so my teammates… I hid for a long time.
Today, I heard some commotion and came to check it out, unexpectedly getting discovered by the ants, and even more unexpectedly, running into you." Naruto recited his well-prepared lines.
"No wonder you're so dusty and dishevelled, and you smell a bit sour…"
After a few more exchanges, Tian Tian stood up, patted the dirt off her clothes, and complained, "Since you knew me, why were you chasing me?"
If Naruto had just ridden his ant around a few more times to shake off the ant swarm earlier, she wouldn't have had to put so much effort into escaping.
[Because you have Lucky Aura.]
This was Naruto's inner thought. As an Unlucky Gambler who hadn't gotten an SSR even after 600 pulls, he genuinely envied Tian Tian, the Lucky Emperor who could just pick up gear anywhere.
But he couldn't say it. He could only continue weaving lies: "Apologies, I haven't seen a living person in over a month. Suddenly seeing someone, and a familiar face at that, I couldn't help but get a little excited, and besides…"
Naruto's expression suddenly became bashful, then, as if mustering great courage, he blurted out: "Actually, I've liked you for a long time."
"Eh!!!"
Tian Tian exclaimed, then instantly clamped her hand over her mouth, fearing her voice was too loud and might attract ants.
Not giving Tian Tian a chance to retort, Naruto continued his act: "Ever since I saw you in the stands during the last Chunin Exam, I was captivated by you. I couldn't eat or sleep, but I didn't know how to pursue a girl, so I could only observe you secretly.
It wasn't until this mission, and the death of my teammates, that I gained a new perspective, and only then did I find the courage to say these words."
Thanks to Fuhua Koyuki's many years of tutelage, otherwise Naruto would have already broken character halfway through.
The veteran driver took the turn too sharply, and the rookie Tian Tian couldn't keep up with the rhythm at all, nearly 'flipping over'.
This was the first time in so many years anyone had confessed to her, leaving Tian Tian quite flustered. In her nervousness, her 'tucao skill' came back online: "Neji… how do your eyes even work?!"
This person has been secretly observing me for over a year, and you didn't notice a thing?! Naruto offered an explanation for his 'brother-in-law': "Actually, it's not his fault. I've always used this to observe from a distance."
Saying this, Naruto pulled out a telescope and continued, "Besides, you're not always with Neji. For example, on the way to meetings, when you disperse to go home, or when you go to the women's bathhouse…"
Before he could finish, Ziyanghua and Tian Tian both simultaneously retreated.
Tian Tian retreated two more steps than Ziyanghua. As a girl, being confessed to by someone not bad was actually quite pleasing, but she hadn't expected him to be…
"You're a pervert, aren't you?!"
Naruto stepped forward, explaining, "This can only be considered normal courtship, right?"
"Don't come closer." Tian Tian took another step back. "How is that a way to pursue a girl?!"
"So you're not agreeing?" Naruto's expression grew slightly cold.
"How can I agree with your methods?!"
Naruto's face darkened. "Just because you think I'm a pervert?"
"No, actually, I like…"
"How can this be considered perverted?!" Naruto scoffed, his face contorting into a smile of utter indignation, changing as rapidly as a Sichuan opera mask.
He drew his blade with one hand, exploding into action with lightning speed.
The veteran driver took another sharp turn, and this time, the rookie Tian Tian didn't react at all; she had 'flipped over.'
Tian Tian couldn't dodge in time and was grazed on her hand by Naruto's blade, just a tiny bit of skin broken.
Naruto had held back; otherwise, that one strike could have severed her hand.
Retreating several large steps, Tian Tian pulled out a scroll.
Naruto picked up his blade and smiled, "You'd best not move. This blade of mine is coated with poison."
Oh, you European Seal, take this ultimate move from an Unlucky Gambler!
"You…"
"Are you feeling a fever and weakness throughout your body now?"
"Hey, hey, hey, this poison of yours isn't that kind of poison, is it?!" Even in this situation, Tian Tian was still 'tucao-ing'.
Naruto brought the blade to his lips, an evil grin spreading across his face.
"This… this is what a pervert really is…"
This poison was something he had specifically purchased. It took effect quickly, but it didn't have any special effects. The poisoned person would feel like they had a cold:
a fever throughout the body and weakness in the limbs.
In other words, it was cold medicine.
Tian Tian: "..."
Hello, Konoha Hospital? It's Tian Tian. Yes, that same 'turn.' I've 'flipped over' again.
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