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Half a month later, Tenten sat by a small river, looking utterly dejected.
Shino stood not far away and gave Natsuki, who had just arrived, a subtle signal—but with those sunglasses on, it was impossible to tell what he meant.
Natsuki nodded vaguely, still confused, then quickly made his way over to sit beside Tenten and asked gently, "Tenten, what's wrong?"
Tenten's voice carried a trace of frustration. "I tried genjutsu and medical ninjutsu, but I really don't seem to have any talent for them. I asked my teacher half a month ago, and he taught me a D-rank genjutsu… I still haven't managed to learn it. Then I took the referral letter he wrote to the hospital to try medical ninjutsu. The test was to heal a fish. That fish… turned into sashimi."
Oof...
Natsuki had expected this outcome, but hearing it firsthand, he wasn't sure how to comfort her.
He turned to look at Shino, only to see his friend standing calmly in the distance, clearly acting as lookout for the "future couple."
His posture screamed: You're on your own for this one, bro.
Natsuki let out a helpless sigh, gathered his thoughts, and said, "Tenten, it's actually a good thing you discovered this early. Now you won't waste time on things that aren't right for you. Just focus on ninja tools and space-time ninjutsu. Compared to your peers who are still lost, you're already way ahead."
Tenten saw Natsuki's worried expression and felt a warmth in her heart. She quickly adjusted her mood.
Then she smiled at him. "It's alright, Natsuki. I was just a little disappointed. I thought maybe I'd at least have some talent. But you're right—at least now I know which path to follow. No more confusion."
Natsuki stared at her seriously, enough to make her shy.
But what he saw reassured him—she wasn't forcing herself to smile. She had truly recovered from the disappointment, and her emotions were back in balance.
Time to shift the mood.
"Oh right, I came up with two new ninja tool designs. Want to take a look?" Natsuki pulled out a set of documents.
"You've got new designs already?" Tenten's curiosity piqued as she eagerly took the papers.
Shino came over as well—clearly just as interested in Natsuki's inventions. After all, the two specialized shuriken Natsuki made last time were pretty impressive.
After flipping through the documents, both of them looked up at Natsuki with wide eyes.
They were clearly shocked by his creativity.
Natsuki's nose practically grew longer from the pride swelling in his chest. Standing tall, he grinned, "Heh, neat stuff, right? Check this out—wire gloves. The gloves have a built-in mechanism on the back of the hand that shoots out steel wire. During battle, you can activate it with chakra. Imagine clashing kunai with someone, and then BAM! Wire shoots from your glove right in their face. No one would see that coming!
"And then there's this gun-type ninja tool. It's nothing like those old matchlock or flintlock guns. It's powered by chakra, and the bullets are small and light, so the firing speed is at least double that of a thrown shuriken. The range is way longer, too. And if you practice enough, it's easy to aim and hit your target.
"Best part? I had the idea to draw a space-time ninjutsu symbol on the magazine—so it can summon bullets at will! No need to worry about running out. You can even prepare special bullets—smoke, poison, flash, or ones packed with explosive tags—and just summon them when you need 'em.
"Heh heh, Tenten, check this out—"
Natsuki was speaking passionately, but midway, he noticed both Tenten and Shino giving him strange looks, and he suddenly choked.
Were his designs not good enough…?
It took a while, but then Shino finally muttered, "Natsuki, I really wanna crack your head open and see how it's wired."
Tenten also smiled sweetly, "Seriously! How can someone be this smart? These two ninja tools are incredible!"
"Geez, you two scared me!" Natsuki let out a relieved laugh. They weren't criticizing—they were shocked by how smart he was.
But Tenten was looking at him with sparkles in her eyes—eyes full of gratitude and emotion.
To her, these ninja tool designs were clearly made for her.
Especially the gun-type ninja tool—it accounted for her low stamina and chakra. Compared to throwing shuriken, using this would be much easier. Plus, its range was far superior, which would boost her combat strength massively. The space-time rune on the magazine? That clearly catered to her talent in space-time ninjutsu!
This guy… seriously, how much did he like her?!
She didn't know whether to be annoyed or flattered!
Her heart was so full of sweetness that she immediately tucked the design papers away like treasure. Without even realizing it, she tugged on Natsuki's sleeve with a smile. "So, how much are you selling them for?"
Natsuki scratched his head. "Uh… you're the expert. Name your price? Or, y'know, free is fine too…"
"No way!"
Tenten pouted. "You have to take money. Shino told me—you're living off orphan subsidies and were worrying about money not long ago. You're at the age where you're growing fast, you can't skimp on food. Let's see… these two designs are even better than the last ones. I'll give you 100,000 ryō. If that's not enough, I'll add more."
"That's more than enough! Way more!"
Natsuki was nearly stunned by her generosity. If he were her dad, he'd probably pass out from the shock.
The tools were good, sure, but they weren't that good. The last time she gave him 40,000 was already a lot. Now she's giving even more—it almost looked like she was… supporting him.
Off to the side, Shino nodded repeatedly, even letting out a quiet burp—he'd eaten too much dog food, apparently.
But he was genuinely happy for Natsuki. His friend wasn't just progressing in romance—his poverty situation was getting better, too. He could finally worry less.
It was clear now—Natsuki had good taste.
Compared to Sakura's shallow crushes and bad manners, compared to Hinata's timidity, compared to Ino's vanity and obsession with looks—Tenten's personality really was amazing.
And the fact that she was a little rich girl? Bonus points! Like Natsuki always said: there's no shame in sticking with a rich girl. Especially one who's pretty, kind, and thoughtful. Who wouldn't like her?
Seeing that Tenten had completely shaken off her earlier disappointment, Natsuki finally relaxed.
So he seized the moment. "Well, I just made some money today, so how about you two come over for dinner? Tenten, you can try my cooking."
They say guys who can cook are attractive. Natsuki wanted to show off this skill in front of her.
Shino instantly agreed. "Sounds good! I'll run home and grab some veggies."
With that, he vanished in a blink, not even giving Natsuki a chance to stop him.
(End of Chapter)
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