Ten minutes later.
Sakura Haruno's mother pushed open her bedroom door. "Sakura, dinner's ready."
Seeing Sakura sitting on the bed in a daze, her mother asked, "What are you spacing out for?"
"N-nothing." Sakura answered vaguely, hiding what was on her mind.
She checked again: the chakra inside her had increased by 10%!
Girls were always fond of letting their imaginations run wild.
Over the past ten minutes, Sakura had thought of all sorts of things.
She liked Sasuke, the cool, top-of-the-class boy in her class, but he always treated her with indifference.
Sakura had always been self-conscious, thinking it might be because she wasn't good enough at her studies.
After all, Sasuke's desire to become stronger was practically written all over his face.
If she became as strong as Sasuke, would he be willing to like her too?
As the gap between her and Sasuke grew wider, she'd thought her chances were slim.
But things were different now.
She'd obtained a magical diary, as if she'd found a shortcut to becoming stronger.
"Even if Takasaki's just a dead-last like Naruto, and he writes about me in such an unfriendly way in his diary, at least he's making me stronger. I can put up with a little of that."
Sakura mused to herself, "Perhaps Takasaki can indirectly help me get stronger. If so, I probably shouldn't show too much disdain for him from now on. But that dead-last Naruto is still as annoying as ever."
With her chakra increased by 10%, she'd definitely pass the school's final exam in three days.
As a civilian ninja from Konoha, she had no inherited bloodline, and her parents couldn't teach her any secret techniques. She could only rely on herself to walk the path of a ninja.
Now that she'd finally found a shortcut to becoming stronger, she had to seize the opportunity!
Even though the diary hadn't warned her not to reveal this, she wouldn't let anyone else find out.
It was her own secret.
Sakura tucked the diary under her blanket. Coming back to her senses, she jumped off the bed, hugged her mother's face, and planted a loud kiss on it. "Mom, I think I've figured out how to get stronger! I'm sure I'll graduate from the Ninja Academy and become a capable ninja of Konoha!"
The one who cursed Takasaki the most was a girl far away in the Land of Hot Water.
More precisely, she was a sexy, alluring mature woman: Tsunade.
Tsunade had long, pale-yellow hair, usually tied into twin ponytails, and a blue-violet Yin Seal mark on her forehead. She came out of the casino, furious after losing a whole box of money.
In her rage, she headed back to the inn. Shizune, walking beside her, didn't dare say a word too loudly.
So when she found Takasaki's Diary in her room and saw what was written inside, she was so furious she nearly tore it to shreds. "Who the hell is this Takasaki? He deliberately left his diary in my room and even wrote my name on the cover! He must have done it on purpose! The shamelessness of this stuff is practically on par with Jiraiya's."
"A treasure chest? His child and mine? How could I possibly have a child with such a shameless scoundrel? The nerve! He must be a despicable, sleazy, greasy middle-aged bachelor!"
"If I find out who this guy is, I'll beat him to a pulp! I'll make sure he never writes in a diary again!"
Only when two lines appeared at the end of the diary did she stop: [The first time Takasaki wrote your name in his diary. Reward: Chakra increased by 10%.]
[Helpful tip: The more often Takasaki mentions your name in his diary, the more rewards you receive.]
The room fell abruptly silent.
Tsunade's furious roar stopped. She felt the increase in chakra inside her.
Her expression stunned, she first gaped in surprise, then gradually calmed down.
She shut the window and carefully examined the diary on the bedside table. "Could I have misunderstood? This diary isn't an ordinary diary, but some kind of special ninjutsu?"
Even more astonishing, the diary could not only grant her chakra, but also disappear and reappear according to her thoughts.
What kind of bizarre ninjutsu was this?
Meanwhile.
In the room next door.
Shizune, with her dark gray hair and traditional long-sleeved top and trousers, dressed in a demure, conservative style, stared at the diary that had appeared out of thin air in her hand at her command.
She seemed to understand why the room next door had suddenly gone quiet.
Lady Tsunade must have discovered, just like her, that this diary really could reward her with chakra.
"What a miraculous diary. Who created it? It actually increased my chakra by 10%."
"More precisely, the one who determines whether I receive a reward is this guy named Takasaki, the one writing the diary."
"It seems that the more often Takasaki writes my name, the more rewards I get."
When Shizune first saw the contents of Takasaki's diary, she also felt offended.
She might act meek and obedient around Tsunade, but that was mainly because Tsunade was her teacher, not because she had a good temper.
In private, whenever something bothered her, she could be just as hot-tempered as Tsunade.
So when she first read the diary, Takasaki's insulting words had stirred up her anger too.
After receiving the reward and calming down, she weighed things over and decided that being insulted like this once might not be such a bad deal.
It might even be a little gain.
After all, that shameless guy Takasaki wasn't hanging around in front of her, so she didn't have to see him or think about him.
He was only writing things about her in his diary. He hadn't actually touched her, and her chakra had still increased by a full 10%.
That was more than she could achieve through a whole year of hard training.
What ninja didn't want to become stronger?
If this happened every day, she could probably pass Konoha's Jonin exam in no time.
Of course, she wouldn't tell anyone this secret.
Not even Tsunade.
She'd quietly grow stronger, then amaze everyone.
Konoha.
Ninja Academy.
The teachers' office.
Kurenai Yuhi, with her black curly hair, red eyes, full red lips, and fair skin, was looking at the diary in her hands.
When war broke out, she was one of the village's Jonin team leaders.
Now that the Five Great Nations were at peace, she worked part-time as a teacher at the Ninja Academy.
Most of the Ninja Academy's teachers were Chunin. A Jonin like her was a rarity.
At this time of day, she was usually at her desk grading assignments.
But after feeling her chakra increase by 10%, her attention was completely fixed on the diary.
"This student Takasaki is quite the little rascal. Instead of focusing on his studies, he's got his mind on me. He wants to marry me and a bunch of other girls when he grows up... I'm his teacher!"
If this were just an ordinary diary, after reading it, she would've planned to talk to Takasaki when he came to school on Monday and give him a lesson in proper conduct.
The problem was that this diary wasn't ordinary. It could even make her stronger!
The 10% increase in her chakra was real.
Kurenai was genuinely at a loss.
This diary was just too mysterious. She didn't know what else it could do, so she didn't dare act rashly.
Since the diary gave her rewards, could it also punish her?
If she accidentally gave Takasaki a bad impression and he criticized her in his diary, would the diary punish her?
Kurenai didn't dare risk it.
"Damn it, this student Takasaki has me somewhat under his thumb."
"This diary is my secret. I absolutely can't let anyone else find out."
After thinking it over, she made a decision.
"Forget it, I'll wait and see. As long as I do nothing, I can't do anything wrong."
Kurenai's gaze fell on the line in the diary where her name appeared.
She stared at it for a long moment, then lowered her head and looked at her own snowy, shapely thighs. Confused, she asked, "These legs of mine are worth a year of playing with? How do you play with them?"
Before you continue