Whether to Bind?

Nebula Kotetsu: "..."

Uzuki Yugao continued to press: "Or to put it bluntly, how about I be your girlfriend?"

Nebula Kotetsu: "...No!"

He was currently intentionally controlling the number of his girlfriends; he preferred to keep them from increasing to conserve his energy.

"Why?" Uzuki Yugao did not back down: "In terms of figure or looks, do you really think I'm that bad?"

Nebula Kotetsu said directly: "It has nothing to do with that. I don't intend to have a girlfriend."

As he spoke, he prepared to brush past her and leave.

"Wait!" Seeing him about to leave, Uzuki Yugao hurriedly stepped forward and grabbed one of his hands.

In an instant.

A powerful sensation of stimulation and comfort surged rapidly upward from their touching fingers!

Through the palm, the elbow, the shoulder... all the way to the brain!

"Hiss~"

Uzuki Yugao sucked in a sharp breath.

"Hiss... subarashii..."

"Is this what the touch of a handsome man feels like?"

The next second, her hand was shaken off.

The wondrous feeling was severed instantly.

Coming back to her senses, Uzuki Yugao felt a sense of loss in her heart.

But soon, her eyes reignited with fighting spirit.

Her charming eyes stared fixedly at the man before her, looking at him as if he were prey she was determined to capture.

Anko was right! A man like this is someone I cannot miss out on, no matter what!

With this thought flashing through her mind, Uzuki Yugao looked at the displeased Nebula Kotetsu and said.

"Nebula, shall we spar in swordsmanship?"

"Not interested," Nebula Kotetsu said coldly.

It wasn't that he disliked her; he simply hoped she would realize the difficulty and retreat.

"Just a spar~ I've noticed your taijutsu is quite good and you excel at close-quarters combat. We could spar together and improve each other."

Nebula Kotetsu remained cold-faced.

Just as he was about to walk around her and leave, a voice suddenly rang out from not far away.

"Yugao! I finally found you!"

A fair-skinned boy with faint dark circles under his eyes ran over, panting.

He stopped in front of Uzuki Yugao.

"Yugao, why didn't you go to our usual spot to practice today? Why did you come here?" As he spoke, he cast a subtle glance at Nebula Kotetsu.

Uzuki Yugao panicked for a moment, then returned to her normal expression: "Oh, it's nothing. Anko brought me here today, but she had something to do and left early."

"I'm about to leave, too."

"Is that so? That's perfect, shall we go get some three-color dango?"

"Forget it, I'm going home."

"Nebula, I'm heading home now. Think about what I said." As she spoke, she gave him a light wink where the boy with dark circles couldn't see.

For a moment, her eyes shimmered with a captivating charm.

Nebula Kotetsu was just about to refuse.

The boy with dark circles at her side suddenly spoke up: "So you are Senior Nebula."

"At the academy, I've long heard of your great name!" He looked at Nebula Kotetsu with a bright smile on his face, though a trace of imperceptible contempt and hostility flashed in the depths of his eyes.

Nebula Kotetsu looked at the boy with dark circles.

Gekko Hayate.

A character who had long since finished his role in his own biography. He was already accustomed to the boy's gaze, so he simply nodded without saying a word.

Seeing he had no reaction, Gekko Hayate felt rebuffed: "Then, Senior Nebula, Yugao and I won't disturb you any further."

"Farewell!"

"Let's go, Yugao. I'll walk you home."

[Ding!~]

[Detected potential bond target: Uzuki Yugao (A young woman destined to be a widow; save this woman's fate and fill the ninja world with love)]

[Bind?]

The system prompt rang out once again.

Looking at the panel information floating before his eyes, Nebula Kotetsu formed a giant "?" in his mind.

"System, why wasn't there a prompt just now?"

"It's only prompting me now?"

"Can you tell me the reason?"

"Network lag?"

The panel did not answer, merely continuing to pop up windows.

[Bind?]

He sighed in his heart.

Nebula Kotetsu looked at Uzuki Yugao, who was being dragged along reluctantly by Gekko Hayate.

The two of them likely hadn't confirmed their relationship yet, and even if they had, it wouldn't violate his principles.

Not far away, Uzuki Yugao was listening with little interest as Gekko Hayate recounted amusing anecdotes from their class. Just as she was pondering when she might find another chance to have a proper chat with Nebula Kotetsu, his voice suddenly came from behind her.

"Wait a moment!"

Uzuki Yugao stopped in her tracks and turned around, looking puzzled.

Under her gaze, Nebula Kotetsu organized his thoughts and spoke: "Tomorrow morning, I will be training with my squad leader."

Uzuki Yugao blinked.

Seeing Nebula Kotetsu turn and walk away after saying that one sentence, she was slightly stunned.

A moment later, she vaguely understood what Nebula Kotetsu meant.

Training tomorrow morning.

Which meant... he was free in the afternoon?

But why had he been refusing just a moment ago, only to change his mind after such a short time?

Three seconds later, a vague thought flashed through Uzuki Yugao's mind. As if she had suddenly realized something, she shot a sharp glance at Gekko Hayate beside her.

When she looked back at Nebula Kotetsu, her gaze was full of oddity.

"Yugao, what did he just say?"

"Training tomorrow morning, what does that mean?" Gekko Hayate asked, confused, as he watched Uzuki Yugao standing there in a daze.

"It's nothing." Uzuki Yugao shook her head. "We were just discussing whether we'd be busy after graduation."

"Is that so?" Gekko Hayate was unconvinced.

Why did that logic feel so disjointed?

Just as his train of thought stalled, Uzuki Yugao had already started walking toward her home. He immediately cast the thought aside and chased after her.

"Yugao, wait for me..."

[Bound Target: Uzuki Yugao (Sub-target: Gekko Hayate)]

[Current Mission: Friendly Senior (How could one have the heart to refuse a junior's request for guidance? Agree to her sparring request and spar until she is satisfied.)]

[Mission Time Limit: 10 days.]

[Mission Reward (Choose one): Gale Great Sword Technique Lv1, Assault Dagger Technique Lv1, Konoha Style Swordsmanship Lv1.]

At home, Nebula Kotetsu wore an apron as he prepared dinner, lost in thought while contemplating the panel information.

Since the system was activated, he had successively bound several characters, and for every character, a sub-target would appear.

But until now, he hadn't discovered the specific function of these sub-targets, so he remained curious and asked the system, yet the system never answered.

However, starting from Kurenai Yuhi, Asuma Sarutobi, Fugaku Uchiha, and all the way to today's Gekko Hayate.

Deep down, he had an inexplicable feeling.

System, you aren't right.

You are very, very not right!

At one point, Nebula Kotetsu even wanted to confront the system and demand an answer.

Are you really a proper system?

However, after thinking about it, he abandoned that plan.

It was meaningless.

Whether the system had issues or not, he had no choice.

The Uchiha Massacre, the Nine-Tails Rebellion, Orochimaru visiting his teacher, Pain buying rice...

And the Otsutsuki in the future.

Without the system, what could he do?

Train diligently like in his past life, only to achieve nothing? Or settle down with a woman, never knowing if the person beside him was human or a monster?