Even Writing a Diary Is This Hard-But the System Follows the Rules Too Closely

"Is he someone I like?"

Mei Terumi recalled the lewd things Takasaki had written in his diary and felt a surge of disdain.

Takasaki needed Hinata to teach him even the Three Body Technique. His strength must be terrible.

How could she possibly like a man who was so fickle in love and spent all day dreaming of marrying all sorts of girls and bringing them home as his wives?

"What does a man like him have to offer that would make me like him? I already told you: if you find him, beat him up first!" Mei Terumi tossed out the words, flipped her hair, and left the intelligence department.

The men in the intelligence department all breathed a sigh of relief and went back to work.

At the same time, they couldn't help feeling a little envious of this man named Takasaki.

If they were in his shoes, having Mei Terumi think about them like that would be something to brag about.

"I heard women in love always say the opposite of what they mean. What they say is often different from what they're thinking. Does Lady Mei Terumi really not like that man named Takasaki?"

Someone suddenly muttered.

The intelligence department fell silent again. The men all wore blank expressions, but inside, they were worried sick.

At the same time, they worked even harder.

They had to find that guy named Takasaki first, then beat him up!

Konoha.

At that moment.

Takasaki had no idea Mei Terumi was hunting him down.

After eating Ichiraku Ramen with Naruto, he parted ways with him and followed the busy streets to the Konoha Bay Apartments.

The summer sun was already blazing as noon approached.

When Takasaki got home, sweat beaded on his forehead from the heat. He was about to turn on the air conditioner when he suddenly shivered.

"Shivering on a hot day can't be a good sign."

Takasaki had a strange feeling.

Was some ill-intentioned person keeping an eye on him?

Was Pain going to come to Konoha early to haul rice?

No way.

He had to get stronger as soon as possible.

The most direct way for him to grow stronger wasn't to grind his ninjutsu proficiency. It was to earn rewards by writing in his diary.

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

The first was to make his ninjutsu stronger.

The second, and more important reason, was to meet the requirements for writing his next diary entry as soon as possible.

Takasaki went into the bedroom, took the diary out of his mental space, and was about to write.

But as soon as he picked up his pen and wrote a few words, the writing vanished from the diary before his eyes.

"Just as I thought. It's still the same as before."

When he'd received the reward for his previous diary entry, the diary had told him that he needed to raise his Clone Technique proficiency to level 4 to unlock permission to write the next one.

He'd tried his luck, hoping he could break the rules.

Obviously, it hadn't worked.

There was nothing he could do about a diary that followed its rules so strictly.

He checked his Clone Technique stats.

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

He still needed 140 proficiency points to reach level 4.

Back to grinding.

Takasaki glanced at the clock on the wall. It was ten in the morning. If he kept grinding his Clone Technique proficiency until evening, he should be able to reach level 4.

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

"Clone Technique!"

Takasaki formed a one-handed seal.

Two hours passed in a flash.

Takasaki walked into the bathroom drenched in sweat and washed it off. While waiting for his chakra to recover, he lay on the bed under the air conditioner for a while, then went back to grinding his Clone Technique proficiency.

"Clone Technique!"

Sunagakure.

Lunchtime.

Rasa's residence.

Rasa, Temari, Kankuro, Chiyo, and Ebizo sat around the dining table in the living room.

Chiyo was Sunagakure's poison expert and had made outstanding contributions during the Ninja World Wars.

Unfortunately, Chiyo's son and daughter-in-law had both died on the battlefield.

Even Chiyo's grandson, Sasori of the Red Sands, had mysteriously disappeared.

That left Ebizo as Chiyo's only remaining family.

Ebizo had once handled intelligence and espionage work for Sunagakure. Now that he was advanced in years, he'd stepped back from active duty.

Over the past two years, Chiyo had spent a lot of time with Rasa's family. In the end, she and Ebizo had simply moved into Rasa's home.

One reason was to make it easier for her to carry out Rasa's military orders. Another was to make it convenient for her to teach Kankuro the Puppet Technique. The most important reason was that she could act quickly whenever the Tailed Beast inside Gaara went berserk: by using poison to control him, she could suppress Shukaku inside him.

At this time of day, Gaara usually ate with them.

But a few days earlier, after losing control, Gaara had killed a middle-aged woman and several shinobi in the street, terrifying the villagers. He was now at a training room on the outskirts of the village, far from the residents, practicing sand manipulation.

That was what they called it, anyway. In truth, he was being kept under lock and key so he could suppress the restless Shukaku inside him.

They didn't wait for Gaara to return for lunch.

As usual, Rasa reminded Temari to prepare a bento for Gaara.

"Among the Five Great Nations, the country with the poorest land is our Land of Wind. The country with the most resources is the Land of Fire, and the country with the most Tailed Beasts is the Land of Lightning..."

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

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

At the same time.

Rasa could tell something was off about the atmosphere at lunch today.

More precisely, it had felt different for several days.

His family members were talking less.

Ebizo spent most of his time eating in silence, but that was simply because he wasn't much of a talker.

Temari and Chiyo had also grown quiet.

They seemed preoccupied.

He could understand Chiyo's silence as worry over his plans to attack Konoha. She'd figured out what he had in mind but hadn't said so outright.

But what was going on with Temari?

He hadn't even told her about his plan to attack Konoha.

Usually, Temari deliberately brought up topics related to Gaara around this time. But over the past few days, she'd hardly mentioned his name.

When had this started?

Probably a few days ago, when Temari had specifically come to him to ask for information about someone named Takasaki.

"Father."

Temari suddenly looked up, wiped the corner of her mouth with her napkin, and met Rasa's gaze with a serious expression. "I want to ask you something."

"Big sister, do you really have to be so serious? This isn't Father's Kazekage's Office," Kankuro teased.

Most of the time, Kankuro was busy training his Puppet Technique in preparation for the upcoming Chunin Ninja Exams.

He was still young and hadn't experienced as much as Rasa. He hadn't really noticed the change in his sister.

"Go ahead, my daughter." Rasa put down his bowl.

"Are Tailed Beasts considered the Five Great Nations' strongest military force and used for military research solely because of their destructive power?" Temari asked earnestly.

"You're right. The Tailed Beasts are the Five Great Nations' strongest military force precisely because their destructive power is so great. They're a powerful deterrent against other countries."

Rasa paused for a second, then continued, "Take the One-Tail, Shukaku, of our Land of Wind. If he revealed his full form on the battlefield, the destruction he caused would rival that of thousands of shinobi."

When he finished speaking.

The dining room fell silent.

Even Kankuro, who'd been about to interrupt, shut his mouth, his heart heavy.

The One-Tail, Shukaku, his father had mentioned was inside his younger brother, Gaara.

Gaara's existence had greatly increased the military strength of the Land of Wind.

At the same time, because of Shukaku inside him, Gaara lived in constant torment. He often lost his mind and killed people indiscriminately, leaving the residents of Sunagakure to hate and fear him.

Temari seemed to have thought of something. She asked earnestly, "Father, if I become stronger than Gaara someday—strong enough to suppress the full form of Shukaku inside him—would that mean I could let Gaara get a good night's sleep without suffering mental torment? And could I also become the strongest military force in the Land of Wind and protect our country?"

Rasa looked at Temari with interest, a faint smile on his lips.

He considered it for a few seconds, then nodded. "You're right."

Kankuro burst out laughing. "Temari, what are you thinking? How could one shinobi possibly be stronger than a Tailed Beast?"

"One shinobi can be stronger than a Tailed Beast."

Chiyo, who'd been eating in silence, suddenly spoke. "That was during the Warring States Period. I lived through it. First Hashirama Senju, who founded Konoha, and Madara Uchiha were both strong enough to capture any Tailed Beast with ease."

Kankuro's laughter died.

Just imagining one person capturing a Tailed Beast was staggering.

Kankuro swallowed. "What about now? Are those two still in Konoha?"

"They lived during the Warring States Period. They died long ago," Rasa replied.

If Hashirama Senju and Madara Uchiha were still in Konoha, how could he have dared to plan an attack on the village?

"That's a relief." Kankuro let out a breath.

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

Chiyo, who'd been eating, put down her bowl and chopsticks and studied Temari for a second.

A few days ago, Temari had asked Rasa about Takasaki's background. Chiyo knew about it.

She'd been suspicious at the time.

Did Temari also have a diary?

Chiyo had lived from the Warring States Period to the present day and had experienced far too much. She was exceptionally shrewd.

Even though Takasaki had never once mentioned her name in his diary, and even though she'd never received a reward from it, reading his two diary entries had been enough for her to deduce the truth.

The diary wasn't hers alone. At the very least, Hinata, the girl who'd received an extra reward, had one too.

Now that Temari was asking about Takasaki again, Chiyo had reason to suspect she also had a diary belonging to him.

Chiyo didn't let her suspicions show. After studying Temari for a second, she turned to Rasa and waited for his answer.

"I had people investigate. There's no one named Takasaki among the great clans or civilian families in Sunagakure. We're also looking into the villages nearby, but it's too soon for the information to have come back."

Rasa was puzzled.

This wasn't the first time Temari had asked him about Takasaki.

Something occurred to him.

His daughter was now at the age when girls started thinking about boys.

He smiled and looked at Temari. "Do you know that man named Takasaki? Is he important to you?"