"Ahhhaha, sorry about that—I was just distracted by Sakura—Sakura, what's wrong?!"
Ino said with a nervous laugh, trying to shift the blame onto Sakura. But the moment she turned her head, she saw that Sakura was lying against her shoulder, eyes closed and face pale.
"Sakura's suffocating!" Naruto shouted in alarm, checking under her nose with his finger. His expression immediately turned to horror.
"Huh? Suffocating?!" Ino and Hinata stiffened—their hands had apparently covered Sakura's nose earlier. Could it really be—
"Wake up, Sakura! Please wake up!"
Naruto hugged Sakura tightly, sobbing and shaking her violently.
"Stop it already."
Sakura punched Naruto on the head and took a deep breath. Color finally returned to her face. "If you keep shaking me like that, I'll die from motion sickness even if I wasn't suffocating to begin with!"
"Ah, sorry. You almost scared me to death there," Naruto said, patting his chest nervously.
"Kakashi, you're dead meat," Sakura glared at Kakashi before turning to Naruto. "After the match is over, snap a couple of pictures of Kakashi and Obito in bed and publish them as gifts in the Celestial Society bookstore—print lots of copies and tuck them into books for free distribution!"
"Eh? What does this have to do with me?"
Kakashi nearly dropped his Make Out Paradise book. This wasn't his fault at all—why was he being punished like this? "It was Hinata and Ino who covered your nose and almost made you suffocate. Why am I getting punished? How am I supposed to show my face around here after this?!"
"I don't care how you carry yourself!" Sakura chuckled sarcastically. "And why are you being punished? Because *you* were the one who gave orders to Hinata and Ino in the first place! If I can't blame you, you big dummy, should I blame my dear best friend instead?"
You big dummy Kakashi: "...MMP—this is beyond ridiculous."
Helpless and unable to reason with Sakura, Kakashi gripped the book in his hand tightly. He silently made a decision—he absolutely must destroy those photos before they ever saw the light of day.
"What's taking Shino Aburame so long? Why hasn't he come down yet?"
Hayate Gekko frowned while asking. Beside him, Takaya Rain also looked annoyed.
"I've been here for quite some time already."
"Ahh! Ghost!"
Shino's voice came from directly behind Hayate Gekko, startling both him and Takaya so badly that they nearly drew their swords.
"I'm not a ghost," Shino replied. Dark mist swirled around him. Even wearing sunglasses couldn't hide the resentful look in his eyes.
"Y-You… When did you get here?" Takaya patted her chest, still recovering from the shock. The sudden appearance of Shino had almost scared the living daylights out of her—she hadn't been mentally prepared for such a surprise at all.
"I arrived much earlier. It's just that all of you completely ignored my existence," Shino said. His black mist grew even thicker. Normally, teammates overlooking him was understandable enough, but now even his opponent was ignoring him—it was such an infuriating feeling!
"How is that possible?"
"You were here all along? Why didn't I notice?" Takaya Rain blinked her big eyes and thought carefully, but she really couldn't recall when Shino had arrived.
At her words, Shino practically radiated frustration, as if a dark aura surrounded him. His hands clenched inside his pockets. Don't get angry. Don't get angry. She didn't do it on purpose.
"Aburame-san," said Hayate Gekko while coughing twice, "please give me a heads-up next time you appear behind me, or I might reflexively attack without control."
"It wasn't me who appeared behind you, Examiner Hayate. You positioned yourself in front of me yourself. You even walked past me without noticing my presence at all."
Shino's resentful gaze felt like two spotlights shining on Hayate, making him feel extremely uneasy.
"Hehe, look at him now. Doesn't he kind of look like a brooding jilted lover locked away in sorrow?" Observing what was happening below, Sakura and others whispered among themselves.
"Now that you mention it, kinda does!" Hinata pinched her chin thoughtfully. "It feels like Examiner Hayate and Cloud Village's Takaya are just heartless lovers, while Shino is the wronged one."
Sakura faintly heard someone singing: Of course you should forgive him [classic meme reference].
"Examiner Hayate, please start the match as soon as possible."
After staring at Hayate for a moment, Shino looked away and fixed his gaze on Takaya across from him.
"All right." Hayate sighed with relief and quickly announced the match to begin before dashing off to chat idly with Haku and Zabuza about upcoming events.
"Cloud Village Genin Takaya Rain."
Takaya formed the Defiant Seal and introduced herself seriously.
"Konoha Genin Shino Aburame."
Shino also formed the Defiant Seal before placing his hands back into his pockets.
Chapter 235: Insect That Evolves [Part One]
"Umm... shall we start fighting now?"
They stood there in silence for a while, neither making the first move. Finally, Takaya hesitated before asking cautiously.
"Let's go!"
Shino's face was completely hidden behind his tall collar and dark sunglasses—no one could read his expression. Yet his tone remained calm as ever.
"Then here I come."
Takaya steadied her nerves and pulled out the long blade from her back. I guess I can't really blame him — after all, he did give me quite a scare earlier.
Calmness restored, holding her long sword firmly, Takaya charged toward Shino.
"Attacking with Taijutsu?" Shino adjusted his sunglasses, his voice still calm. "If it's just Taijutsu, it'll be completely ineffective against me. As for why, well... I've already made adequate preparations."
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