CH_160

"Not running? Fine—worst case, you get to punch me once." Tōji slumped onto the grass, exhausted, as if he'd already seen through the fact that Anko wouldn't actually do anything to him.

"You were sneaking around the moment you got back today—you were avoiding me, weren't you~" Anko plopped down cross-legged beside Tōji, a small stalk of foxtail grass dangling from her mouth.

"I'm not avoiding you now, am I? If you're going to hit me, get it over with. If you miss this chance, we're even." Tōji kept his eyes fixed only on the flowing river, not looking at Anko—as if the water was more worth watching.

But Anko could tell Tōji was distracted. "You go see the Hokage and come out looking like this?"

"Your mission… got any stories worth hearing?" Who knew if Anko was really as thick-skinned as she seemed.

"What 'look'? I'm always like this—just doing my regular daily training." Tōji's tone carried a hint of not wanting to deal with Anko. "Isn't that what you said? Every time I show up, I'm sneaking around, doing nothing good. What's there for you to be curious about?"

"You—!" Anko was a little annoyed.

She and Tōji weren't exactly close, but she knew he wasn't particularly strong.

Tōji, who'd never made any headlines, had actually "screwed her over" during the Chūnin Exams. At the time, she'd felt humiliated and wanted to teach him a lesson on the spot to save face and vent—but then she'd been fooled a second time…

Actually, that kind of thing, Anko usually forgot by the next day—that was just her personality. But right after being tricked by Tōji a second time during the Chūnin Exams, she'd immediately realized—Tōji's escape ability was far better than hers!

And that… was not a simple matter.

After all, Anko was in a league of her own among Tōji's graduating class. No matter how good someone's escape skills were, they shouldn't have been able to slip away right under her nose…

Out of curiosity, during the final round of the Chūnin Exams, Anko had watched Tōji's match with extra attention. But—only three seconds… Still, those three seconds were enough to tell her—this guy's Body Flicker was on par with some tokubetsu jōnin… Tōji had put serious work into his Body Flicker!

So Anko had looked forward to Tōji's final match even more! But then—this guy suddenly couldn't compete… He'd been taken down by a poison he'd brewed himself!

She found it ridiculous!

Yet that same day, Tōji showed up at the exam venue, skipped a match, and still got promoted!

Anko refused to accept it!

A "three-second man" could become a chūnin?!!

But on second thought, Anko let it go. After all, with Body Flicker speed that crushed every other examinee, he could already be considered undefeatable.

Namikaze Minato had shaken the era by relying on top-tier space-time Body Flicker—the 【Flying Thunder God Technique】.

So that was how this scene came to be.

Anko had seen Tōji—freshly returned to the village, tanned to a shade common in the Land of Lightning—and he seemed to be avoiding her. She wanted to tease him a bit, to pass the time and satisfy her curiosity—she wanted to know Tōji's real strength.

After all, Anko had also just shone brilliantly in the Chūnin Exams a few days ago and successfully been promoted to chūnin. Among her graduating class, barely anyone could trade blows with her—they were all trash!

But as Anko followed Tōji all the way, she noticed… after coming out of the Hokage Tower, Tōji was dazed, to the point where he didn't even notice her tailing him.

Even after she'd sat in a tree watching him practice those garbage jutsu for quite a while, Tōji never seemed to notice.

And she could still tell when someone's emotions were off…

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