Chapter 72: This Round Doesn't Count
When Naruko opened her eyes, golden light flashed momentarily in her azure pupils before vanishing.
Sasuko curiously leaned in to observe: "What just happened to you?"
From her perspective, Yu had only stared at Naruko for a moment before she suddenly fell asleep.
A red light flew out from within her body and disappeared into the sky, while the sleeping Naruko alternated between tears and smiles. Only after quite a while did she awaken.
Naruko showed a tear-stained smile: "I had a very warm dream."
Sasuko poked Naruko's cheek suspiciously: "What did you dream about? You were crying and laughing..."
"I dreamed about..." Naruko suddenly paused, mysteriously winking. "It's a secret..."
Seeing Naruko being evasive, Sasuko immediately turned her inquiring gaze to Yu: "Yu, you know what happened, right?"
Seeing Naruko secretly wink at him, Yu smiled gently at Sasuko: "Sorry, I don't know either." He naturally changed the subject. "But Naruko's chakra flow is indeed much smoother now. That's a good thing."
Sasuko looked between the two of them, inwardly certain: These two definitely had some secret they were keeping from her.
It was one thing for Narukoto hide it, but even Yu wouldn't tell the truth.
She puffed up her cheeks indignantly: "Fine, don't tell me. I don't care anyway."
Right now, winning Yu's reward was most important!
She deliberately turned away, her fingertips quietly condensing pale blue chakra—after Yu's guidance, she could now skillfully circulate her internal energy.
Sasuko secretly glanced at Naruko who was attempting hand seals, noticing her technique differed slightly from what Yu had taught. The corners of her mouth couldn't help curving up.
Naruko really was an idiot—she couldn't even get the hand seals right.
This win was guaranteed!
She imagined the scene when Yu fulfilled his promise, her ear tips slightly heating up.
Seeing both girls could independently complete chakra circulation, Yu began the final lesson: "What you need to learn now is the most critical step—how to teleport to the marked location."
Yu took out a kunai and threw it at the cherry blossom tree in the courtyard, the kunai embedding firmly in the trunk.
He continued:
"First, you must carve a mark on the target object."
"Use chakra to sense the mark's coordinates."
"Then imagine yourself becoming a ray of light, flowing along the chakra's trajectory—"
Both little girls held their breath in concentration.
Sasuko unconsciously mimicked Yu's hand seal gestures, while Naruko focused intently on the flickering pattern of the jutsu formula, golden radiance faintly flowing in her eyes.
Whoosh!
Yu's figure suddenly disappeared from the veranda, appearing the next second beneath the cherry blossom tree. He gripped the kunai as petals rained down on his shoulders.
Seeing Yu instantly appear under the cherry tree, Naruko was first to clap enthusiastically: "Yu is amazing!"
From the memories her father had passed down, she knew this jutsu was far more complex than it appeared.
Hearing this, Sasuko proudly lifted her small face. Though the praise was for Yu, she seemed happier than the person being complimented.
Yu returned to the two girls: "Who wants to try first?"
Naruko was about to raise her hand when Sasuko had already rushed forward to grab the kunai: "Me first!"
She carefully recalled Yu's movements, slowly channeling chakra into the kunai before throwing it at the cherry tree...
But at the moment of teleportation,
With a "poof," Sasuko appeared three meters above the cherry blossom tree, flailing before falling into Yu's timely opened embrace.
"There's some error." Yu smiled as he steadied her in his arms. "But for a first attempt, this is already excellent."
Hearing Yu's praise, Sasuko's cheeks flushed with joy. She then lifted her chin, looking at Naruko with a challenging gaze that clearly read:
"Dummy, your turn~"
But Naruko wasn't annoyed at all, responding with a brilliant smile: "Mm-hmm, let me try~" She took the kunai, chakra flowing smoothly into the blade as she threw it at the cherry tree.
Whoosh!
Her figure blurred accordingly, appearing precisely beneath the tree. Though she stumbled two steps upon landing, she had indeed completely reproduced the Flying Thunder God technique.
"How's that!" Naruko proudly swayed her twin-tails, petals still clinging to the ends.
Sasuko's eyes widened in shock, and even Yu raised an eyebrow slightly—this progress was extraordinarily fast.
Sasuko had studied an entire morning longer than Naruko and could only barely complete spatial transference, yet Naruko had achieved precise teleportation on her first try.
Sasuko immediately looked at Yu with pitiful big eyes: "Yu, did you secretly give this dummy extra tutoring behind my back?"
Yu smiled helplessly: "I really didn't. If we're talking about special instruction, you studied an entire morning more."
"Then, then how could she..." Sasuko indignantly pointed at Naruko, "use it so well on the first try!"
"Perhaps Naruko does have a unique talent for Flying Thunder God." Yu gently ruffled Sasuko's hair.
Sasuko indignantly snatched the kunai from Naruko: "This round doesn't count!" Her cheeks flushed red. "Best two out of three!"
Naruko maintained her cute smile: "Okay~"
"Best three out of five!"
"That's fine."
"Best four out of seven!"
"No problem."
"Best five out of nine..."
...
No matter how Sasuko challenged, Naruko cheerfully accepted.
What made Sasuko even more devastated was that she lost every single match without suspense.
Inside, Naruko was secretly delighted, though her face maintained an innocent smile throughout.
Hmph, who told Sasuko to always call her dead-last? She, had a temper too!
When Sasuko fell from the tree branches into Yu's arms for the thirty-fifth time, she finally threw down the kunai with reddened eyes: "I'm not competing anymore! I'm not in good form today!"
Hearing Sasuko concede, Naruko jumped up happily: "Does that mean I won the reward? I can make one request to Yu?"
Yu nodded with a smile: "Yes. What does Naruko want?"
Sasuko immediately became unhappy and wanted to compete again, but having already spoken those words, she couldn't bring herself to take them back in front of the little blonde. She could only turn away huffily.
Naruko tilted her head, her finger lightly tapping her lips as she thought for a moment, then suddenly blushed somewhat shyly:
"I... I want to leave my mark on Yu..."
***
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