Seeing the usually carefree Ueda Shin suddenly act so seriously, Senju Kotoha also put on a serious air.
Ueda Shin warned her solemnly,
"Since we're both Transmigrators, there are some things we'd better establish clear boundaries about."
"Even though our strength isn't much different right now, the ability my system gave me is incredibly powerful. In the future, you won't be able to keep up with how quickly I grow stronger, even if you try your hardest. I'm telling you my taboos in advance, so you'd better not cross the line."
He spoke shamelessly,
"I'm going to marry every beauty in the story. So all the pretty girls at school are my future women."
"You've transmigrated into a woman, so you don't have that ability anymore. Go have fun with girls if you're into that. I don't care if you find other women. But you can't touch any of the beauties from the original story, like Sakura, Ino, Tenten, Hinata, Tsunade, Shizune, Anko, and so on. They're all mine."
Senju Kotoha looked at Ueda Shin with disgust. This guy really dared to say anything. Coming to another world had completely let him run wild.
At the same time, she immediately realized that Ueda Shin probably thought he'd been a man before transmigrating. He must have assumed she'd transmigrated after a sex change and didn't want Kotoha to sully the goddesses in his mind.
That was only natural. After all, how could a woman possibly transmigrate into the world of a shonen anime like Naruto? That was the mindset Ueda Shin had when he warned Senju Kotoha.
In reality, Senju Kotoha had been a woman in her past life. She hadn't even watched the Naruto anime. She only knew from everyday conversations that there was an anime by that name, and that its protagonist was Naruto Uzumaki. Sasuke was pretty handsome, too. She knew nothing else. With next to no knowledge, she'd been dropped into the world of Naruto.
"I can agree to that. After all, I'm not interested in women," Senju Kotoha replied coolly.
Ueda Shin looked surprised.
"How is that possible? Didn't you transmigrate after a gender change? Could it be that you were a woman in your past life, too?"
Senju Kotoha didn't want Ueda Shin to know the truth. If she admitted that she'd been a woman in her past life, he might start wondering how much she knew about the Naruto story. That would expose her biggest weakness.
If he found out that she hadn't watched Naruto, Ueda Shin definitely wouldn't casually reveal the original story like he had today. He might even use his knowledge of the plot against her, putting her at a disadvantage.
Besides, Kotoha didn't want to get too involved with Ueda Shin. She didn't like him and didn't want to join his harem. If she admitted she was a woman, he might even add her to his harem list. Then he'd keep pestering her, and she'd be driven crazy.
"Of course I was a man in my past life. I was just the submissive one."
Senju Kotoha's gaze shifted as she casually lied to hide her gender.
Ueda Shin's expression turned complicated, fear and disgust mingling in his eyes.
"Holy crap, that's disgusting. You're a damn gay guy?"
He spat and lost all interest in talking with Senju Kotoha. Gay men were way too threatening to straight men.
He took a few steps away from Kotoha, as though she were carrying some kind of virus.
"I'll deal with those two Transmigrators at school, Yamanaka Masami. You go sound out Ito Makoto. That's it."
Then he fled.
Ito Makoto hid in a corner, silent. That had been quite a show.
He'd learned what the two could do, figured out their hostility, and found out what they planned to do next. Ito Makoto had come away with a lot.
As for Senju Kotoha's gender, he didn't believe her. At school, Ueda Shin had been sent by Iruka-sensei to run laps, so he hadn't heard Kotoha introduce herself.
Ito Makoto had already suspected that Senju Kotoha probably hadn't watched Naruto and didn't know much about what was going on. Now he was sure that she really didn't know the plot.
Besides, Kotoha had probably been a woman in her past life who'd never watched the anime. It made sense; there was little chance a woman would watch Naruto. But why someone like her had still transmigrated into this world remained a big mystery.
Meanwhile, after seeing that she'd managed to get through the encounter, Senju Kotoha left the alley and headed home. Ito Makoto had sent the Golden Eagle to follow her and confirm her address.
Now that he knew where she lived, he could sneak a look at her practicing the Breathing Technique and copy it with his Sharingan.
Once the show was over, Ito Makoto dispelled the Summoning Technique and sent the Golden Eagle back to its original cliff.
As he got ready to head home, Ito Makoto realized he seemed to have wasted too much time. Sakura was probably still waiting for him.
If he went back to see Sakura now, she'd definitely fly into a rage. At the thought, Ito Makoto broke out in a cold sweat.
Since he'd already wasted so much time, he might as well put it off a little longer.
A little over an hour later, Ito Makoto returned to where they'd parted. Sakura was still waiting there.
"A-Cheng, you sure took your time in the bathroom!" Sakura clenched her fists and gritted her teeth.
"Did you fall in or something? You were in there for over an hour. What were you doing?"
"Sakura, don't be angry yet." Ito Makoto hurried to placate her with an awkward smile. "Actually, that was just an excuse. I had something else to do, so I made it up."
Thud—
Sakura punched Ito Makoto in the stomach, the impact landing with a solid thump.
"You think I'll forgive you just because you say that? Why didn't you just tell me the truth before?"
Ito Makoto felt as if his insides had been punched right out of him. Ever since she'd begun molding chakra, Sakura's punches had grown stronger and stronger over the past six months. Even he, with all his Taijutsu training, could barely stand the pain unless he used a jutsu.
But if he used a defensive jutsu like Earth Spear, the force of the rebound might injure Sakura's bones. So he could only take the hit. After all, his soul was that of an adult—he had to let a kid have her way. Thankfully, his bloodline was strong and the Senju Clan's recovery was incredible. A few punches from Sakura only hurt.
Still, he couldn't understand it. How old was Sakura? How could her fists hit so hard?
Lying on the ground, Ito Makoto clutched his stomach.
Sakura was acting more and more like Sakura the Punching Queen. He'd better not provoke her temper from now on.
To placate Sakura, he brought out the backup plan he'd prepared.
Slowly, he took a cherry blossom pendant from his bag. The pendant was purple, with five purple crystals set in a silver necklace.
"I heard you liked cherry blossom pendants, so I went out of my way to buy this. I wanted to surprise you."
"Sorry I got held up for so long."
Sakura's rosy cheeks seemed to take on the glow of sunset. She covered her mouth with both hands, and all her anger vanished.
"Brother Xiao Cheng, I can't believe you really remembered what I said."
Seeing Sakura's reaction, Ito Makoto knew his plan had worked.
It had been worth using the Body Flicker Technique to race all the way to the shop and buy the pendant. He'd spent a whole year's worth of saved allowance on it, and it was genuine silver. This world wasn't like his past life; there were no cheap plastic imitations. He couldn't even find an affordable substitute.
Still, seeing Sakura happy made the money well spent.
He got up from the ground, walked behind Sakura, and fastened the cherry blossom pendant around her neck.
"Of course I remembered. I'm your Brother Xiao Cheng. How could I forget what you said?"
Sakura was touched, but she hadn't forgotten what had happened earlier.
"Honestly, Brother Xiao Cheng, couldn't you just tell me when something's going on? You're always sneaking around. You made my hand hurt so much."
"I won't do it again."
Before you continue