CH_100

100!!!!!

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Tōji thought back to Anko again—

Even if she hadn't run into Namiashi Raidō, but instead some other proctor carrying a genuine scroll…

Could she have beaten a tokubetsu jōnin who was actually trying?

It was hard to say.

It was entirely possible—Anko could probably defeat a specially promoted tokubetsu jōnin even as a genin.

Someone like her—who was already close to tokubetsu jōnin level while still a genin—was truly rare.

Too bad that after Orochimaru defected, Anko's growth stagnated for years… her spiritual core had truly been damaged.

Thinking about Anko made Tōji feel sorry for himself again. 『Will she beat me up every time she sees me in the village from now on…』

"Hey, Tōji—why do you always space out? Let's go, idiot!" Neru waved and headed off first.

"Oh—see you in a few days." Tōji snapped out of it. By then, most of the examinees had already left.

He noticed that Mizuki was gone, but Tsubaki was still there.

Tsubaki would glance at the bracket, then sneak a peek at Tōji—she repeated this little routine two or three times.

『Looks like Mizuki and Tsubaki don't know each other yet at this point—probably haven't even met.』

"Hey—are you checking to see if I'm Kazamatsuri Tōji?" Tōji called out directly. "That's me."

"Ah! Sorry—I'm Tsubaki. I was just confirming my opponent… which is you… sorry, I was rude." Tsubaki spoke hesitantly, bowing twice to apologize.

"No need to apologize—everyone checks out their opponent before the match." Tōji smiled, unconcerned. "So, have you confirmed it now?"

"Uh—I think so. I'll go back and look into your details a bit more!" Tsubaki seemed flustered, almost rambling.

"Aren't you going to ask me directly?" Tōji found this shy, timid girl amusing and couldn't resist teasing her.

"Huh? I can do that?" Tsubaki seemed to take him seriously.

"Uh… now that you're asking, I don't know how to answer." Tōji suddenly felt awkward. He'd overestimated her cleverness.

『Alright… Tsubaki seems like a kind, gentle girl—but not very sharp… I shouldn't tease her—she takes it literally.』

"Should we walk and talk? Everyone else is gone." Tsubaki was a little too "innocent."

"Alright…" Tōji felt like something was off, but he couldn't quite put his finger on it—

Like… was this going to mess up Mizuki's love life?

Then again—Mizuki would end up in prison in about thirteen years, so it wasn't really a "love life"… more like a doomed relationship. Engaged, but never able to marry… Tsubaki was a fool too.

Tsubaki was already waving for Tōji to hurry up and walk with her…

『Didn't we just establish that we're opponents? Why does this feel like we're old friends…』

『Well—I guess she did graduate in the same year as me.』

『But I still don't get it—how did someone this clumsy manage to graduate on time? Iruka had to stay in the Academy for another year…』

"So—what kind of jutsu do you use? Tōji… kun?" As the two of them started walking back together, Tsubaki asked cautiously.

"You don't need to use that form of address—I'm not really used to it. We're classmates from the same year—you can just call me Tōji." He genuinely wasn't comfortable with that style of address.

Faced with a girl who was a bit naive and a bit weak, Tōji didn't have the heart to lie. "I can use some Water Release and Earth Release jutsu—but I can't tell you exactly which ones."

"Ah—thank you! Oh, by the way—I'm Tsubaki!" She was a little jumpy.

"You already introduced yourself once…" Tōji was speechless.

Tsubaki said, "Oh… right. Sorry—I forgot."