Takasaki-kun is indeed still working hard

Shizune's thoughts were identical to Tsunade's.

She had originally assumed that only she and Tsunade possessed a Diary.

Now, it seemed that many people had one.

That girl named Hinata had received a bounty of rewards all at once, simply because she had taught Takasaki the Three Body Technique today, leading Takasaki to write about it in his Diary.

If only I had been the one to teach Takasaki the Three Body Technique today, Shizune thought to herself. I mastered such a basic ninjutsu long ago. If I were the one teaching him, I would certainly have done a better job than Hinata.

That was easy to say.

The problem was that she didn't even know where Takasaki was.

Immediately after, she heard Tsunade's voice shouting from the next room, accompanied by the sound of her pounding on the bed frame: "Shizune! Shizune! Go to the Ninja Academy in the Land of Hot Water and find someone for me."

Shizune immediately tucked her Diary into her consciousness space, pushed open the door, and entered Tsunade's room: "Lady Tsunade, who are you looking for?"

"Find a student named Takasaki."

It was indeed Takasaki; this was within Shizune's expectations.

Why go to the Ninja Academy in the Land of Hot Water to look for him? Could it be that Lady Tsunade had already deduced Takasaki's location?

"I'm on my way." Shizune felt a surge of excitement. After dropping those words, she ran downstairs, unable to wait a moment longer.

Watching Shizune rush off to handle the task without a moment's rest, Tsunade sighed: "As expected of my fine disciple, she's becoming more and more proactive."

Leaf Village.

Sakura Haruno's bedroom.

After finishing the entry Takasaki had just written, Sakura Haruno tucked her Diary into her consciousness space and sat blankly on the edge of her bed, as if deep in thought.

A moment later, she took the Diary out again to read the contents once more, as if confirming something, before putting it away again.

Anyone who understood girls would know, just by looking at Sakura Haruno's actions, that she had likely suffered a mental breakdown over something and was now experiencing an emotional outburst.

"How is this fair..." Sakura Haruno suddenly muttered: "It's one thing that I didn't get a reward, but why does Hinata get one?! And an extra reward at that!"

Clearly, she had accepted the fact that the Diary was not hers alone.

The problem was that she couldn't accept the fact that the rewards from the Diary weren't hers alone!

Why was the entire entry about Hinata, without mentioning her name even once?

Was she not as pretty as Hinata? Was her pink hair not cute?

Most importantly, Takasaki had actually taken the initiative to find Hinata today and have her teach him the Three Body Technique.

Why didn't he come to find her?

She knew the Three Body Technique, too.

If Takasaki had come to find her, she certainly wouldn't have refused. In that case, she would likely be the person mentioned most in this entry, and she would have been the one to receive the Diary's reward.

Turning it over in her mind, Sakura Haruno felt she had been dealt a raw deal and silently cursed Takasaki under her breath: "If I don't go to him, can't he take the initiative to come to me!"

"That guy Takasaki, in his last entry, kept saying he would accept it if I acted like a 'lick-dog' toward him. Although I still don't understand what a 'lick-dog' is, how am I supposed to lick him if he doesn't take the initiative to get close to me?"

"This can't go on."

Having enjoyed a reward from the Diary once, Sakura Haruno naturally wanted to enjoy it a second time.

Seeing others receive extra rewards from the Diary, she naturally wanted them too.

No matter how fast she trained to get stronger, it was never as fast as the rewards directly from the Diary.

It wasn't that she couldn't handle the training, but the Diary's rewards were simply more cost-effective.

"Tomorrow, I'll find an opportunity to approach Takasaki and make him mention my name in the Diary at least five times."

"I'll just go to Takasaki's door tomorrow morning and wait to walk to school with him."

Having made her decision, Sakura Haruno's emotions calmed down.

She took out the Diary once more and flipped through both entries.

In the first entry, Takasaki acted like a lecher, wanting to take many girls home as his wives, but she was the only one missing.

In the second entry, Takasaki seemed a bit more innocent, constantly praising Hinata, and still, she was nowhere to be found.

All in all, among all the girls in Takasaki's Diary, she was treated the worst.

Comparing it like this, Sakura Haruno felt a bit broken: "That loser Takasaki, even if he goes to learn the Three Body Technique from Hinata, he'll definitely never master it! If it weren't for wanting to get the Diary's reward, I wouldn't take the initiative to walk to school with him tomorrow!"

Not to mention that Takasaki had never written that he liked her in the Diary.

Even if he had, she wouldn't like Takasaki.

How could she ever be with a loser? The only boy worthy of her was Sasuke!

The sun had already set.

The afterglow of the setting sun bled into the night.

The Konoha night market was bustling with business, and the Ichiraku Ramen shop was packed with customers.

Takasaki was still unaware that his diary, after being publicly exposed, had drawn curses from Sakura Haruno, shy blushes from Hinata, and envy from Tsunade.

Shizune had already tracked down the principal of the Land of Hot Water Ninja Academy to ask if he was a student there. After receiving a negative answer, she returned to the inn feeling dejected to report to Tsunade.

Meanwhile, Sakura Haruno and Hinata had both reached the same decision: they intended to walk to school with him tomorrow.

The feeling of being fought over by two beautiful female classmates was something Takasaki had only ever experienced in his dreams.

He knew he was quite handsome, but the problem was that in this world of rigid social stratification, being born into a commoner family with deceased parents, living in poverty, and being a dead-last student made it truly difficult to attract girls.

At this moment.

Takasaki was at home grinding his ninjutsu levels. Smelling the scent of barbecue drifting in from outside the window, he drooled, "It smells so good. It's time to go out for a late-night snack."

Eating a late-night snack cost money.

Takasaki felt his pockets; they were completely empty.

He rummaged through his cabinets and drawers but couldn't find a single bill.

There was no help for it; he had no income and relied solely on the meager pension left by his parents and relief subsidies from Konoha to get by. How could he have spare money for late-night snacks?

Fortunately, there was still a box of instant noodles at home, the same brand as Naruto's, though it had expired a few days ago.

Clinging to the idea that food expired for less than a month didn't count as expired, Takasaki decided to turn his hunger into motivation and continue grinding his ninjutsu levels.

"In a few days, I'll find a chance to mooch a meal at Hinata's place again. I just hope I don't run into Neji."

"Clone Technique!"

Takasaki formed the seals with one hand, and two puffs of smoke appeared beside him simultaneously.

The smoke cleared.

Takasaki wiped the sweat from his forehead and kept grinding!

"Clone Technique!"

What he didn't notice was that a figure wearing a white robe, about the same height as him, had appeared by the window.

Neji Hyuga.

After being severely scolded by the head of the Hyuga clan, Hiashi Hyuga, Neji had come immediately to apologize to Takasaki. Seeing Takasaki's figure training hard by the window, the way he looked at Takasaki was no longer as disdainful as before; it was filled with more admiration. "Takasaki-kun is indeed still working hard. It's hard to imagine how much effort Takasaki has put in behind the scenes over these past six years to shed the title of 'dead-last.' No wonder Hinata has been influenced by Takasaki. In fact, even I have been somewhat influenced by him."