Even Writing a Diary Is This Hard, No Choice, The System Is Too Rule-Abiding

"He is the person I like?"

Mei Terumi thought of the lewd words Takasaki had written in the Diary, and a sense of disdain welled up in her heart.

Takasaki even needed Hinata to teach him the Three Body Technique; his strength must be exceptionally pathetic.

How could she possibly like a man who was unfaithful in love and spent his days dreaming of marrying every girl he saw and bringing them home as wives?

"What right does a man like him have to make me like him? I said it before: if you find him, beat him to a pulp for me first!" Mei Terumi tossed these words over her shoulder, flicked her hair, and left the Intelligence Division.

The men in the Intelligence Division collectively breathed a sigh of relief and returned to their busy work.

At the same time, they all felt, to some degree, a bit of envy for this man named Takasaki.

If it were them, being kept in the thoughts of Lady Mei Terumi like this would be something to brag about; it would feel like a great honor.

"I've heard that women are always saying the opposite of what they mean when it comes to love; what they say is often different from what they're actually thinking. Does Lady Mei Terumi really not like that man named Takasaki?"

Someone muttered this out of nowhere.

The Intelligence Division fell silent once more. Every man wore a blank expression, yet their hearts were filled with worry.

At the same time, they began to work even harder.

They had to find that guy named Takasaki first, and then, beat him to a pulp!

Leaf Village.

At this moment.

Takasaki had no idea that he was being hunted by Mei Terumi.

After parting ways with Naruto following their meal at Ichiraku Ramen, he walked along the bustling streets toward the Konoha Bay Apartments.

The summer sun, nearing midday, was already growing scorching hot.

Takasaki returned home, his forehead beaded with sweat. Just as he was about to turn on the air conditioning, he suddenly shivered.

Shivering on a hot day like this—that doesn't feel like a good sign.

Takasaki had a strange feeling in his heart.

Had he been targeted by some ill-intentioned fellow?

Could it be that Pain was coming to the Leaf Village to "carry rice" ahead of schedule?

No.

He had to get stronger as soon as possible.

The most direct way for him to grow stronger wasn't by grinding his ninjutsu proficiency, but by obtaining rewards through writing in his Diary.

He worked hard to grind his ninjutsu proficiency for two reasons.

One was to make his ninjutsu stronger.

The second, and primary reason, was to meet the requirements to write the next entry in his Diary as quickly as possible.

Takasaki went to his bedroom and took the Diary out of his consciousness space, intending to write.

But as he held his pen and wrote a few characters, the ink on the page vanished at a speed visible to the naked eye.

"As expected, it's just like before."

When he received the reward for his previous entry, the Diary had indeed told him that the requirement to unlock the writing permission for the next entry was to reach level 4 proficiency in the Clone Technique.

He had held onto a glimmer of hope, intending to see if he could break the rules.

Clearly, it was to no avail.

Faced with such a rule-abiding Diary, he was completely helpless.

He checked the attributes of his Clone Technique.

[Level 3 Clone Technique (360/500) (2 Chakra points)]

He still needed 140 points of proficiency to reach level 4.

Time to keep grinding.

Takasaki glanced at the wall clock. It was 10:00 AM; if he ground his Clone Technique proficiency until nightfall, he should be able to reach level 4.

In other words, as long as he worked hard enough, he could write a new entry tonight and obtain a new reward.

"Clone Technique!"

Takasaki formed the hand seals with one hand.

Two hours flashed by in an instant.

Takasaki walked into the bathroom, drenched in sweat. After washing the sweat off his body, he took advantage of the time spent recovering his chakra to lie on the bed in the air-conditioned room for a while, before continuing to grind his Clone Technique proficiency.

"Clone Technique!"

Sand Village.

Lunchtime.

Rasa's residence.

Rasa, Temari, Kankuro, Chiyo, and Ebizo were sitting at a round table in the living room, eating.

As the Sand Village's expert on poisons, Chiyo had made outstanding contributions during the past Ninja World wars.

It was a pity that both her son and daughter-in-law had died on the battlefield.

Even her grandson, Sasori of the Red Sand, had gone missing under mysterious circumstances.

Consequently, Ebizo was the only family Chiyo had left.

Ebizo had originally been in charge of intelligence and espionage for the Sand Village, but now that he was advanced in years, he had retired to the sidelines.

Over the past two years, Chiyo had grown close to Rasa's family, eventually moving into Rasa's home alongside Ebizo.

The first reason was to make it easier for her to carry out Rasa's military orders; the second was to facilitate her teaching Kankuro the Puppet Technique; and the third reason, the most important one, was so she could promptly use poison to suppress the One-Tail, Shukaku, whenever the Tailed Beast inside Gaara went on a rampage.

Usually, Gaara would be dining with them at this hour.

However, because Gaara had lost control a few days ago and killed a middle-aged woman and several high-level ninjas in the street, causing panic among the villagers, he was currently confined to a training room on the outskirts of the village, far from the residential area, to practice controlling his sand.

Calling it "practicing sand control" was merely a euphemism for solitary confinement, forcing Gaara to suppress the restless Shukaku within him.

The group did not wait for Gaara to return for the meal.

Instead, Rasa instructed Temari as usual to prepare a bento for Gaara.

"Among the five great nations of the Ninja World, the one with the most barren land is our Land of Wind, the one with the richest resources is the Land of Fire, and the one with the most Tailed Beasts is the Land of Lightning..."

Rasa was explaining the current landscape of the Ninja World to his son and daughter.

Kankuro listened very attentively, occasionally raising questions of his own, which Rasa answered patiently.

At the same time, Rasa sensed that the atmosphere at the table today was somewhat off.

To be precise, the atmosphere had been different from usual ever since a few days ago.

The family had become less talkative.

Ebizo spent most of his time eating in silence, though that was simply due to his naturally quiet personality.

However, Temari and Chiyo had also become very quiet.

They seemed preoccupied.

Rasa could understand Chiyo's behavior as her having sensed his intention to attack Konoha, causing her worry, even if she hadn't spoken of it directly.

But what was going on with Temari?

He hadn't told Temari about the plan to attack Konoha yet.

Usually, at this time, Temari would deliberately bring up topics related to Gaara, but for the past few days, she had rarely mentioned his name.

When exactly had things started to change?

It was likely from the moment a few days ago when Temari had specifically sought him out to investigate information on someone named Takasaki.

"Father."

Suddenly, Temari looked up, wiped the corners of her mouth with a napkin, and looked at Rasa with a serious and earnest gaze. "I would like to ask you a question."

"Big sister, is there any need to be so serious? This isn't Father's Kazekage office, after all," Kankuro teased with a grin.

Kankuro spent most of his time training his Puppet Technique, preparing for the upcoming Chunin Exams.

After all, he was still young and hadn't experienced as much as Rasa, so he hadn't clearly noticed the change in his sister.

"Go ahead and ask, daughter." Rasa set down his bowl.

"The reason Tailed Beasts can serve as the strongest military power for the five great nations, and are even used for military research—is it solely because their destructive power is great enough?" Temari asked solemnly.

"You are correct. It is precisely because their destructive power is so immense that Tailed Beasts can serve as the strongest military force for the five great nations, acting as a powerful deterrent against other countries."

Rasa paused for a second, then continued, "Take our Land of Wind's One-Tail, Shukaku, for example. Once it manifests its full form on the battlefield, its destructive power is enough to rival thousands of ninjas."

As his words fell, the dining room went quiet.

Even Kankuro, who had intended to interject, closed his mouth, his mood turning heavy.

The One-Tail Shukaku his father spoke of was, in fact, inside his younger brother, Gaara.

Gaara's existence had greatly boosted the military power of the Land of Wind.

At the same time, because of the Shukaku within him, Gaara lived a life of torment and agony, often suffering mental breakdowns and killing indiscriminately, which led the villagers of the Sand Village to both hate and fear him.

Temari seemed to have thought of something, and she asked earnestly, "Father, if my future strength were to surpass Gaara's—strong enough that I could suppress the full form of the Shukaku inside him—would that mean I could allow Gaara to finally have a good night's sleep, free from his mental torment, and that I could also become the strongest military force of the Land of Wind, protecting our country?"

Rasa's gaze fell upon Temari with a look of intrigue, a faint smile playing on his lips.

He pondered for a few seconds, then nodded. "You are absolutely right."

Kankuro, standing to the side, burst into laughter. "Temari, what are you rambling about? How could an individual ninja's strength possibly surpass that of a Tailed Beast?"

"An individual ninja's strength can indeed surpass that of a Tailed Beast."

Chiyo, who had been eating in silence, suddenly spoke up. "That was during the Warring States Period. I lived through it. Either one of the two men who founded the Leaf Village—the First Hokage, Hashirama Senju, or Madara Uchiha—could easily capture any Tailed Beast."

Kankuro's laughter died in his throat.

The mere thought of a single person capturing a Tailed Beast was staggering.

Kankuro's Adam's apple bobbed. "What about now? Are those two still in the Leaf Village?"

"They were people of the Warring States Period; they have long since passed away," Rasa replied.

If Hashirama Senju and Madara Uchiha were still in the Leaf Village, he would never have dared to plan an attack on it.

"That's a relief," Kankuro said, exhaling.

"By the way, Father, does the village have any information on Takasaki?" Temari suddenly asked.

Chiyo, who had been eating, set down her bowl and chopsticks and looked up, staring at Temari for a second.

She knew that Temari had asked Rasa about Takasaki a few days ago.

At the time, she had felt a flicker of suspicion.

Did Temari also possess a Diary?

Having lived from the Warring States Period to the present, Chiyo had experienced far too much and was incredibly sharp-minded.

Even though Takasaki had never mentioned her name in his Diary once, and even though she had never received a reward from Takasaki's Diary, she had been able to deduce the truth after reading two of his entries.

The Diary was not hers alone; at the very least, that girl Hinata, who had received an extra reward, also had one.

Now, seeing Temari inquire about Takasaki again, Chiyo had reason to suspect that Temari also possessed Takasaki's Diary.

Chiyo did not make her thoughts obvious. After staring at Temari for a second, she turned her head toward Rasa, waiting for his response.

"I sent people to investigate. Whether among the noble clans or the common families of the Sand Village, there is no one named Takasaki. However, we are also investigating the villages surrounding the Sand Village. The time has been too short, and the information hasn't been fed back yet."

Rasa felt a twinge of doubt.

This was not the first time Temari had asked him for information on Takasaki.

He seemed to realize something.

His daughter was at the age of adolescence now.

He smiled, his gaze falling upon Temari. "Do you know this person named Takasaki? Is he very important to you?"