Takemi was a bit bewildered, but Naruto pouted and leaned his head closer, looking curious.
This made Takemi immediately lose his composure. He reached out and pushed Naruto's head away.
"Stay away from me. It's normal for people to like me. After all, I'm handsome and strong. Would they like you instead?"
"Damn it, your personality is so awful, and no one knows?!"
"If you dare to spread rumors, I guarantee you'll be a Genin for life."
"…"
Naruto immediately deflated. He just couldn't understand why someone's personality could be so awful.
For some reason, he really wanted to punch Takemi right now.
Too bad he couldn't win…
Sasuke, on the side, nodded. Although he felt it was a bit much to see Naruto in trouble, he also felt exceptionally pleased.
"Besides, if you're talking about popularity, wasn't Sasuke more popular than me at the academy?"
Takemi tilted his head, pointing to Sasuke nearby, which made Sasuke a little flustered.
"I only want revenge in my heart, no other thoughts."
"Tch, might as well not ask him!"
Naruto pouted, his face full of disdain.
"You two…"
Takemi shook his head.
Then he suddenly secretly glanced around and then quietly spoke, "Actually, to attract the opposite sex, or rather, to handle relationships well, I have some special methods."
"Hmm?!"
Naruto's eyes lit up. Sasuke frowned, but still leaned in curiously.
"Look at this."
Takemi mysteriously reached into his ninja tool pouch. A moment later, he pulled out a small booklet with an orange-red cover and placed it on the ground.
And on the cover of this booklet, the prominent characters 'icha icha paradise' were clearly written.
"Isn't this…"
Naruto's eyes widened. Sasuke also looked incredibly surprised.
"Kakashi-sensei's 'icha icha paradise'?"
"Mm-hmm."
Takemi nodded, smiling indifferently.
"Although Kakashi-sensei still isn't married, no, he's still an old bachelor, his charm in Konoha is unique, isn't it?"
"…"
"Guess how he maintains his charm?"
"…"
"It's full of techniques, and the techniques are all in here."
Naruto's breathing quickened. He felt something was off about this book, because Kakashi never let him see it, and even Jiraiya never talked to him about it.
But at this moment, he couldn't resist his curiosity.
Even Sasuke, though his face was full of disdain, glanced over, clearly curious.
"Hey, Takemi!"
Just then, a voice suddenly came from a distance, which startled the two boys, making them immediately pull their heads back.
Looking up, they saw Deidara and Mei waving to them from the other side of the river, which made them both sigh in relief.
"Seriously, why are they looking for me again?" Takemi stood up upon seeing this.
After thinking for a moment, he spoke, "You two train yourselves. I have something to do."
"Oh."
Naruto nodded, and Sasuke seemed to notice that Takemi had left the book behind and said.
"Takemi, your, ugh, ugh, ugh…"
But before he could finish his sentence, Naruto put a hand over his mouth.
"Don't shout, you idiot! Don't you want to see the book that Kakashi-sensei and Takemi both praise?"
"…"
Sasuke paused. After thinking for a moment, he slowly nodded.
Seeing this, Naruto smiled and released his hand.
He looked into the distance, watching Takemi, Deidara, and Mei leave. He immediately picked up the book and opened it.
"I want to see what kind of stuff they're reading."
"Less talk, hurry up."
Sasuke also leaned in, now full of curiosity.
However, after they seriously read a few pages, both of them immediately felt their breathing quicken and their faces turn red.
"What in the world is this?!"
"Hey, why are you smiling so strangely?"
On the other side of the river, Takemi, who had already met up with Deidara and Mei, had a mischievous grin on his face.
This naturally piqued Deidara's curiosity and made Mei a bit puzzled.
"Nothing, just a little prank. It's nothing serious anyway." Takemi shrugged indifferently.
He had deliberately left 'icha icha paradise' behind. Of course, he had read it too, and there was nothing particularly significant in it.
He actually didn't quite understand why a book written by an old bachelor would make Kakashi, a young bachelor, so obsessed.
Was it really written exceptionally well?
After reading it, Takemi was extremely disappointed. Emotionally, there was nothing major in it.
"There's not even 'taste the depth and flavor.' No wonder Naruto's ghostwriting is better than yours."
It wasn't surprising. After all, Jiraiya, that old bachelor, was an idiot who had pursued Tsunade for most of his life without success.
Relying on him was useless.
"Alright, enough about that. Did you two need something from me?"
Takemi shook his head, looking at the two strangely.
Mei then pointed to Deidara and said, "I was brought out by him too. I'm not sure what it's about."
"Hehe, I came to find you because I'm ready."
Deidara's face was full of mischievous smiles. Then he pulled out a pile of scrolls and placed them on the ground.
"Everything you were worried about, I've prepared it all."
"Ah?"
Takemi and Mei were both stunned. Was he really that proactive?
"What did you prepare?"
Takemi casually picked up a scroll, asking with a strange expression.
Deidara said with a grin, "Clay. I've prepared a massive amount of clay these past few days. It's perfect for explosions. Besides that, I also got a lot of top-tier military rations pills from the old man…"
"Got?"
"That's right, got. This stuff is specially made, trust me, it's absolutely effective."
"…"
"Besides that, I also used the old man's name to get a lot of information about Kumogakure from the village."
"…"
"You know, when the Third Raikage died in the Land of Earth, we almost started a war, so we made a lot of preparations. Now it benefits me."
"…"
Takemi and Mei looked at the excited Deidara. Had he emptied Iwagakure?
"And things like explosive tags and ninja tools, I prepared a whole bunch."
Deidara was still grinning, completely unaware of what he had actually done.
"As for other miscellaneous things, I think we should fight first."
"First, we'll deal with them, let them know how powerful we are, and make them think we've always been there."
"Then, many things will become unbearable for them themselves, won't they?"
[New Side Mission Acquired]
[Kumogakure Crush Plan]
[Punch first, then ask all the questions while punching]
Takemi fell silent as his mission suddenly updated.
Then he looked at Mei and asked, "What do you think?"
"I'll follow your lead." Mei replied after a moment of thought.
"Your strength is the greatest, and our retreat will also depend on you, so…"
"Takemi should be the leader!" Deidara immediately interjected, then stared intently at Takemi.
"How about it, is it good?"
"In that case…"
Takemi paused, then his gaze turned to the distance.
"Prepare a little, preferably leave a clone, and then we'll set off. Our target this time is Kumogakure."
"Yay!"
(End of Chapter)
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