"Come sit down first. I'll get you some fresh tea."
Looking at the two equally bewildered people before him, Chiba took a slight breath, suppressed his earlier astonishment, suddenly rose to his feet, and spoke to them.
Sit? Fresh tea?
Hearing this, Neji Hyuga and Tenten, still dazed, were visibly taken aback and exchanged surprised glances.
They were just about to say something, but stopped after opening their mouths.
By then, Chiba had already stood up and carried the tea and fruit platter into the room.
"This..."
Neji Hyuga and Tenten exchanged another look.
Honestly, they really could not process what was happening. After yesterday's sparring session ended and they had gone their separate ways, they received word sent by their Teacher, telling them to gather at noon today in this remote corner of the village.
Naturally, they trusted their Teacher's message completely. And after the sparring match yesterday, which had practically shaken their world, they were also extremely curious about the ninja named Taki Chiba, who had just returned to the village from an outside mission. Though they did not know why their Teacher had chosen such a remote place, they still arrived on time.
They had even come a little early.
Their Teacher had a habit of arriving at meeting places ahead of schedule. If they came early too, then should they happen to encounter their Teacher arriving early as well, they could use that extra time to learn something about Taki Chiba.
As for after the official meeting time, their Teacher would probably start some kind of special training. After all, both Tenten and Neji Hyuga knew that their Teacher attached great importance to these Chunin Exams.
If they arrived right on time, the special training might begin immediately, leaving them no chance to ask Taki Chiba