Chapter 5: What You Can't Get Will Always Cause You Trouble
"A man is innocent but guilty of possessing a treasure!"
Takashi Mori murmured, "Although I don't know what happened just now, my strength seems to have increased suddenly—and there's a risk of losing control."
"This must not be known to anyone else! Otherwise, everyone will think I'm a monster, right?"
Having said this, Takashi Mori restrained his aura and returned to his usual harmless appearance.
"Hiss!"
As soon as he moved, Takashi Mori couldn't help but gasp.
It hurts so much!
He had been punched and kicked dozens of times by the fat boy and his companions. Although his muscles and bones weren't broken, anyone could tell without even looking that his body was covered in bruises.
Fortunately, he had protected his head and didn't damage his low-key yet handsome face.
He must find an opportunity to take revenge later!
---
[Yamanaka Ino: I told you, Takashi Mori isn't the scheming type. He's just quick-witted and smart.]
[Haruno Sakura: Are you sure he isn't just... used to being low-key?]
[Yamanaka Ino: Why the pause? Were you about to curse? It's okay, just say it!]
[Haruno Sakura: Get out!]
[Tenten: Sakura's been electrocuted three times. How does she still not learn her lesson? Right, Sakura?]
[Haruno Sakura: Senior Tenten, why are you bullying me too?!]
[Tenten: Haha, sorry, sorry. I was just joking.]
[Hinata Hyuga: Am I safe now...?]
[Yamanaka Ino: Hinata, you can't be like this. Don't you want the buff effect? The group rules say the more loyal you are to the group owner, the more benefits you get.]
[Hinata Hyuga: Ah, but... being loyal doesn't necessarily mean I have to do that, right? I think just being friends is enough.]
[Haruno Sakura: Don't listen to her, Hinata. She just wants to push you out as a pioneer. Look—she talks big, but she's too scared to take any real action herself.]
[Yamanaka Ino: Who said I'm not taking action?! I'm doing it now!]
Before anyone could react, Ino walked out from the darkness and headed straight toward Takashi Mori.
This sudden move startled the others.
Tenten's eyes flickered, and the next moment, she followed Ino and quickly caught up.
Ino glanced at Tenten meaningfully, and the two smiled at each other.
Sakura scoffed at the sight—she knew Ino and Tenten were trying to befriend Takashi Mori.
Although they still didn't know what the chat group had to do with him, all the group rules and future videos centered around Takashi Mori.
There were benefits to becoming close with him, and the four beauties of Konohagakure were all well aware of that.
Now that the authenticity of the future videos had been confirmed, time was of the essence—they had to curry favor with him while they could.
But whenever Sakura thought of the phrase "Takashi Mori's Heroine Group," she felt a strong aversion.
She still wanted to quit the chat group, but not before avenging the electric shocks she'd received earlier.
As for Hinata, she wanted to go with Ino and Tenten, but her timid nature made it difficult to take the first step.
Chasing after him now would seem too abrupt. Regretfully, she decided to take a detour and find another opportunity later.
Since things here had settled, there was no need to linger and risk unnecessary complications.
Hinata and Sakura quietly retreated, taking a roundabout route to the Ninja Academy.
---
On the other side, Takashi Mori had calmed down and walked out as if nothing had happened.
As he turned the corner, he ran into Ino and Tenten.
"Huh? Takashi Mori, what are you doing here?" Ino greeted with a surprised expression.
Takashi Mori silently complained in his heart. If he hadn't seen her comments in the group, he really wouldn't have realized that Ino didn't even remember his name.
"Oh, it's Ino-san!" Takashi Mori feigned embarrassment and said hesitantly, "I just… suddenly had a bit of an emergency."
"…" Ino.
"…" Tenten.
'We can't keep this conversation going. I'm going to kill him.'
Originally, Ino had just wanted to find a random topic to get the conversation rolling.
But she was completely thrown off by Takashi Mori's blunt excuse and didn't know how to continue.
Tenten was speechless for a moment, then quickly pulled Ino along to leave.
They weren't even familiar with each other yet, and saying something like that—as a boy to a girl—was completely uncultured.
As the two hurried away, Takashi Mori couldn't help but smirk slightly.
'You little brats still want to mess with me?'
Now it's not Takashi Mori who needs to get close to them—it's they who should be finding ways to get close to him.
The things you can't obtain are the ones that cause the most restlessness. Let's just keep them hanging.
Takashi Mori was in a good mood, and even the pain in his body seemed to ease a little.
---
After getting away from Takashi Mori, Ino couldn't help but curse: "Damn, this guy is really…"
Before she could finish, Tenten covered her mouth.
"Do you want to experience another electric shock?" Tenten warned in a low voice.
Ino finally came to her senses and shook her head.
Tenten let go and sighed. "I think he did it on purpose."
Ino looked confused, so Tenten explained, "You saw what he just went through, right?"
"I think he was afraid we'd notice something and didn't want to talk, so he deliberately gave us an awkward excuse to make us leave on our own."
Ino thought about it and agreed. "I underestimated him. He's sharp! He used to be a total nobody in class… Was he just pretending to be weak all along? But why?"
"Who knows?" Tenten patted Ino's arm. "Alright, that's enough for now. You'll figure out what kind of person he is after spending more time with him."
"I can't join the second half of the film, so I'm heading out. Keep me updated later, okay?"
"Got it! But remember, keep what happened just now a secret. Especially don't let Billboard Brow find out," Ino warned, then waved goodbye.
Tenten smiled and nodded.
If Sakura ever found out that Ino had tried to greet Takashi Mori and got verbally shut down, only to flee in embarrassment, she'd probably laugh like a pig.
Of course, that was also embarrassing for Ino—so Tenten had no plans of telling her.
---
When Takashi Mori arrived at the classroom, the four Konohagakure beauties were already there.
The classroom was noisy, and everyone seemed excited.
After all, starting today, they were officially becoming ninjas.
Of course, none of them knew yet that the failure rate was as high as 67%.
Takashi Mori's gaze swept across the classroom and soon fixed on a figure in the front row near the window.
Uchiha Sasuke!
At this stage, he was still just a show-off.
Naturally, Takashi Mori wasn't interested in him.
But the next moment—the moment—was about to arrive.
Sakura was trying to win Sasuke over with an insane level of enthusiasm, which made Naruto visibly annoyed.
Takashi Mori looked over just in time to see Naruto jump onto the table and approach Sasuke.
Naruto glared at him with wide eyes, their faces only two or three centimeters apart.
"Get out!" Sasuke snapped, equally annoyed and puzzled—what was this dead-last idiot trying to do?
"Asshole Naruto, what are you doing?! Don't mess with Sasuke like that!"
"Sasuke beat him up already!"
The girls in the classroom erupted with outrage, shouting at Naruto.
At that moment, a boy in the front row—talking excitedly with his friends—moved too aggressively and accidentally jabbed Naruto's butt with his elbow, shifting Naruto's center of gravity forward.
And then, in the next moment, every girl in the classroom turned to stone.
Naruto and Sasuke kissed—mouth to mouth.
And not the kind that could be pulled apart easily...
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End of Chapter