[Medical Ninjutsu: Palm Immortal Technique (1/5000) - Palm Immortal Technique (5000/5000)]
[Palm Immortal Technique: Beginner (0/20000)]
[Affection Value: 95049]
"Heh."
At this moment, Gaara clearly wasn't thinking about Furina. From the way he stared fixedly at her, it was obvious he wished she would just disappear from his sight right now but Furina had no intention of granting that wish.
Facing each other's gazes, neither was willing to back down, and the atmosphere in the room gradually grew colder because of it.
"What are you two doing in here? Eh, why do I feel a bit cold? I didn't feel it at all outside."
Just as the tension between Furina and Gaara was about to drop below the critical point, a questioning voice suddenly came from outside the door. Hearing it, both of them turned their heads to look.
"Ino, you're dressed so lightly. It's weird if you don't feel cold in a place like a hospital."
After seeing the figure at the door, a smile reappeared on Furina's face. The ones who had come to visit the injured were none other than Sakura and Ino, and the person who had just spoken was Ino.
"What do you mean? I've always dressed like this."
Although she was a bit confused by Furina's words at first, it didn't last long. Neither Ino nor Sakura were particularly dense people, and they quickly sensed that the atmosphere in the room seemed a little off.
More precisely, Gaara seemed off. That sullen face of his looked anything but normal no matter how you looked at it.
Although the two girls also appeared to raise their guard, Gaara didn't even glance at them. In his eyes, the only person present who could actually obstruct him was Furina standing opposite him. Everyone else was negligible.
"Since you're so nosy, I'll just kill you first."
As he spoke, Gaara extended his hand toward Furina, and immediately countless grains of sand surged toward her. On top of that, with the mindset of "since I'm already here," he also included Ino and Sakura at the doorway in his attack range. Sand flew toward the two of them as well.
"Tch." Seeing that Gaara was actually attacking Ino and Sakura too, Furina couldn't help but curse inwardly. However, she didn't step in to block for them because behind the two girls, she had already spotted that familiar green figure.
Unlike Furina who would have used a water shield to block, the sand rushing toward Ino and Sakura suddenly exploded in all directions. To achieve something like that required an extremely profound level of taijutsu mastery.
"The real exam is tomorrow. If you want to fight, you can do it then. Of course, if you insist on continuing right now, I'm afraid you'll be staying here today."
Dressed exactly the same as Lee, there was no one else in the entire Hidden Leaf Village like this except for Gai. But the current Gai was different from his usual carefree and loud self he wore a completely serious expression. His words just now were clearly not a joke.
"Hmph." Seeing yet another nuisance arrive, Gaara's eyes darkened further. This time, however, he could no longer ignore it.
After glancing at Furina opposite him and then at Gai staring at him from a distance, even though he was still somewhat unwilling, Gaara ultimately chose to leave.
"Tsk tsk tsk." Watching Gaara leave without even throwing out a single harsh word purely reading the situation and backing down Furina suddenly felt that the other party wasn't actually that crazy after all. Look at how good he was at assessing the situation.
"This time it's thanks to you, Furina. If it weren't for you, Lee probably would have already... Anyway, let me thank you on his behalf first. Once he wakes up, I'll have him personally thank you again."
"No need to be so formal, Gai-senpai. I'm sure not just me, but you, Ino, Sakura anyone who saw someone trying to harm a comrade from the village would step in to stop it. I just happened to be the one here."
Seeing Gai walk up to her and bow in thanks, Furina was startled and quickly reached out to help him up. After all, she had her own selfish reasons for acting she couldn't accept such serious gratitude from him.
"No matter what, you still saved Lee. Thanking you is only right. If you ever need any help in the future, feel free to come to me."
"Got it. When the time really comes, I won't hold back, okay~ Gai-senpai."
While the two were chatting idly, Rock Lee, who had been lying on the hospital bed, finally showed signs of waking up. Noticing that Gai's gaze kept unconsciously drifting toward Lee, Furina tactfully left the room together with Ino and Sakura, leaving the space to the master and disciple.
After exiting the ward, the group's conversation became much lighter and no longer as heavy as it had been inside.
"Hey, look at you dressed so lightly, of course you'd feel cold."
Right after coming out of the ward, Furina suddenly reached over and pinched Ino's waist. Unfortunately, Ino had bandages wrapped around her waist, so Furina didn't get any soft sensation only a stiff feeling.
"What are you doing?!" After being "suddenly attacked" by Furina, Ino hurriedly stepped back a few paces, her face red as if she had been bullied.
"Also, the reason I felt cold was because of that guy carrying the gourd on his back. The moment I saw him, I felt this violent aura, and then he even tried to kill Lee just now.
Under those circumstances, it's perfectly normal for me to feel cold. Everyone knows our Yamanaka clan is very sensitive to this kind of thing. It definitely has nothing to do with what I'm wearing."
As she spoke, Ino crossed her arms in an X shape to emphasize her denial.
"Okay, okay, if you say so, then that's that."
"Why do you talk like that, Furina? You're so annoying."
"Really? But I don't feel that way at all."
"You'd have to be a ghost to feel that way!"
...
The next day
Chūnin Exams, Third Round Venue
"This time it's the same as last time we'll decide the matchups by drawing lots. However, this round will be personally drawn by the Hokage-sama himself. Everyone be prepared; the first match could be any of you."
After Iruka Umino finished announcing the rules, the Third Hokage began the drawing. The very first matchup drawn was a clash of extremes: Uzumaki Naruto versus Hyūga Neji.
It was worth noting that during the elimination round a month ago, Hinata had been seriously injured by Neji. Although Naruto didn't know that Hinata had feelings for him, he was still extremely displeased with Neji's behavior.
"Now this is going to be a good show."
Watching Naruto and Neji already step onto the combat platform, Furina suddenly felt that all that was missing now was some dessert and a refreshing drink. How enjoyable it would be to watch while eating and sipping~
O(∩_∩)O Haha~