This Is Too Absurd

Kankuro had heard Temari mention that name more than once.

Takasaki sounded like a boy's name.

Who was this boy, and why did his sister care so much about him?

Kankuro could clearly feel that over the past few days, Temari had cared about Takasaki more than she cared about him and Gaara.

It left Kankuro feeling deeply slighted.

He went downstairs and returned to the dining table, only to find Rasa and Ebizo still eating there. Granny Chiyo had left at some point.

"Does Temari not want to take Gaara his lunch?" Rasa asked when Kankuro came downstairs alone.

"She's not coming."

Kankuro returned to his seat, picked up his bowl, and shoveled in a mouthful of rice. Irritated, he said, "All she can think about now is that guy named Takasaki. She doesn't care about me or my little brother at all."

Rasa smiled.

He wasn't as angry as Kankuro. After all, he'd been through much more than his son.

Temari must have reached puberty and entered her rebellious phase.

Boys typically became more combative when they entered their rebellious phase. They especially wanted others to acknowledge them and were eager to prove themselves by getting stronger. That fit Temari's behavior at the table just now.

After all, judging by what Temari had said, she fancied that one day she could use her own strength to suppress the Tailed Beast inside Gaara.

That kind of unrealistic fantasy often came from boys entering puberty.

Temari was strong-willed, with a personality much like a boy's, so it was only natural for her to think that way.

As for why Temari was looking for that guy named Takasaki, Rasa understood that too. "Your sister's body is developing quickly, and she's entered puberty. It's only natural for her to be curious about the opposite sex. She's probably thinking about falling in love."

"Onee-chan wants to fall in love?"

Kankuro didn't like any girls and still didn't understand what love meant.

But Temari had once taken him to a movie theater to watch some sappy romance movies that girls liked, so he had a rough idea of what it meant.

"So you mean Onee-chan likes that boy named Takasaki?"

Kankuro's brow twitched, and a hint of displeasure welled up inside him.

"That's probably what it means," Rasa said with a smile.

Kankuro followed up, "Does she want to marry that boy?"

The smile on Rasa's face stiffened slightly. He shook his head. "Marriage is a long way off. Besides, marriage involves two families. It isn't something your sister can decide on her own. She'll need my approval too."

Kankuro's remark served as a timely reminder to Rasa.

Dating was one thing, but marriage was no joke.

He was the Fourth Kazekage, and as his daughter, Temari deserved to marry into any great clan in the Ninja World.

Conversely, only the great clans of the Ninja World were worthy of his daughter.

If that guy named Takasaki came from an ordinary family and couldn't even afford the betrothal gifts required to marry his daughter, how could he give her happiness? Never mind providing his future grandson with a good environment to grow up in.

Earlier, when Temari had asked him to investigate Takasaki, he hadn't taken the matter seriously. After all, he needed to focus on preparations for the planned attack on Konoha a few months from now.

Now, he suddenly felt that this guy named Takasaki might matter more than he'd thought.

Temari had always been strong-willed.

Any boy Temari liked was probably strong. Even if he was still studying at the Ninja Academy, he had to be one of its top students—a genius, not a dead-last loser.

A trace of gravity crossed Rasa's brow.

It seemed he really ought to pay some attention to Takasaki and gather information about him as soon as possible.

Not just about Takasaki's talent and strength.

Most importantly, did Takasaki's family background make him worthy of his daughter?

"Father, I really hate that guy named Takasaki. I feel like he's stolen the attention Onee-chan used to give me and Gaara."

Kankuro took a lunchbox from the cabinet and began putting the dishes from his plate into it, one by one. "Onee-chan usually makes Gaara's lunch, but now I have to do it."

Rasa chuckled but said nothing.

In his eyes, Kankuro was still a child.

Even ten years from now, when Kankuro was grown, had a family of his own, and had made a name for himself in the Ninja World, Rasa would still think of him as a child.

After all, a parent's view of their child never changed.

Kankuro went on rambling. "I can already control Crow, Black Ant, and Ibuse, all three of my puppets. Once Granny Chiyo teaches me more of the Puppet Technique and I get stronger, I'll challenge that guy named Takasaki to a duel. If he can't even beat me, he's not good enough to be with Temari. I won't accept him."

Rasa nodded along, murmuring agreement.

At home, he wasn't as stern as he was in public. He was always a little more indulgent toward his children.

Regardless of how strong that guy named Takasaki was,

at least his existence could motivate Kankuro to work harder. That wasn't necessarily a bad thing.

"By the way, why did Granny Chiyo leave the table so early today too?" Rasa glanced at the empty seat beside him.

That was where Granny Chiyo had been sitting.

When Temari went upstairs, Granny Chiyo had put down her chopsticks and gone back to her room as well.

"Maybe she's thinking about falling in love too. She's been so unpleasant to me these past few days," Ebizo said unhappily, still eating at an unhurried pace.

Rasa burst out laughing at that and didn't take it seriously. He assumed the siblings, Chiyo and Ebizo, were bickering during their otherwise peaceful old age.

Chiyo was, after all, his elder, and she had contributed greatly to Sunagakure. He respected her deeply.

Unless there was an especially difficult mission that needed her, he never interfered with how she spent her days.

At that moment,

in Chiyo's room,

the door was locked and the curtains were drawn tight.

She took the diary out of her mental space, read through the two entries Takasaki had written, and sighed. "Why has Takasaki written so many women's names in his diary, even Temari's, but never mine?"

"If Takasaki knows even Temari, he should have heard of me."

When Chiyo first discovered the diary, she hadn't thought much of it.

Even when she read its first entry, she hadn't given it much thought.

She had assumed it was just a silly joke from a boy with a dirty mind.

Only after she discovered that she could send the diary into her mental space just by thinking about it did she realize something was wrong.

This kind of ninjutsu was beyond anything she could comprehend.

Even Hashirama Senju and Madara Uchiha in the Warring States Period couldn't have done it.

From then on, Chiyo began investigating the diary's secrets.

After reading Takasaki's second entry, Chiyo discovered that the little girl named Hinata recorded in the diary also had one of her own.

What's more, Hinata was very good at exploiting the diary's rules. She had deliberately approached Takasaki to earn an extra reward.

A 10% increase in stamina.

When she saw that extra reward, Chiyo's heart began pounding faster and faster.

In other people's eyes, increased stamina meant improved Taijutsu.

But Chiyo saw it differently.

At her age, her stamina had deteriorated badly. She didn't expect to become much stronger. She only hoped she could live a little longer.

Her grandson was still missing, but she had a feeling he was alive.

She hoped she would live long enough to see him again.

An increase in stamina meant better physical health, which could help her live longer.

"So as long as Takasaki writes someone's name in the diary, they have a chance of receiving a reward. The more times their name appears, the more rewards they can get."

This wasn't just Chiyo's speculation. She had confirmed it for herself.

On the very night she got the diary, Temari had excitedly sought her out and asked to spar.

At the time, Chiyo hadn't thought much of it.

After all, she often trained Temari and Kankuro.

Naturally, she had won that training match against Temari.

The problem was that Temari had clearly become stronger than before.

Especially her chakra reserves, which seemed to have increased by about 10%. Chiyo had reached that estimate based on her past experience training with Temari.

Ninjutsu could be learned quickly, but increasing one's chakra reserves was an extremely slow process.

How could Temari have gained so much chakra in such a short time?

Chiyo had immediately sensed something was off, but she hadn't let on. Instead, she had praised Temari. "You've gotten stronger, Temari. Can you tell me how? I can clearly feel that your chakra reserves have increased."

Temari had been so excited that after Chiyo praised her, she seemed about to blurt out the reason.

But then, a hint of panic appeared in Temari's eyes.

After a long pause, Temari said, "It's all thanks to hard training. Maybe my talent for ninjutsu is only showing itself now. Anyway, Granny Chiyo, I'm going to become really strong!"

Looking back now, Chiyo was more and more certain.

Temari's 10% increase in chakra reserves must have come from a diary reward.

It seemed that the rewards granted by the diary weren't all the same. They came in many different forms.

Could one of them help her live longer—or even make her younger?

As Chiyo pondered this, someone knocked on her door.

She put the diary back into her mental space and opened the door. Ebizo was standing outside.

"Chiyo, what have you been doing in your room? Why have you put up blackout curtains and drawn them all the way in the middle of the day?" Ebizo peered into Chiyo's room through the window.

"What is it?" Chiyo didn't answer his question.

Her mind was on studying the diary.

Ebizo gave a goofy smile. "Nothing much. I just wanted to take a walk with you. Don't we usually walk together after dinner to help digest our food? I've been walking alone these past few days, and it's been a little lonely."

"All right," Chiyo said with a nod.

After all, Ebizo was her only family. They were the same age, and he was not only her younger brother but almost like her husband.

Before long,

the two of them were strolling along the streets of Sunagakure.

Usually, whenever Chiyo and Ebizo walked somewhere, she would chatter away, reminiscing about the past.

But this time, Chiyo didn't say a word. She seemed preoccupied, as if something weighed heavily on her mind.

She looked a lot like Temari had at dinner just now.

Ebizo noticed Chiyo's expression and sighed. "Chiyo, you promised you'd spend your old age with me. If you want to find yourself a new companion, I won't be able to get used to it."

He was a shinobi who had lived from the Warring States Period to the present alongside Chiyo. They had endured several Ninja Wars and depended on each other for companionship.

At the very least, Ebizo had grown used to having Chiyo by his side.

If Chiyo wanted to find a new companion, he wouldn't be able to get used to it, and he wouldn't agree to it either.

"Find a new companion?" Chiyo stopped in her tracks, momentarily stunned.

Once she understood what Ebizo meant, she came to her senses and shook her head with a smile. "I'm an old woman. Why would I look for a companion? I only hope I can see my grandson, Sasori of the Red Sands, one more time before I die."

At that,—

Ebizo felt a little reassured.

The problem was that Chiyo had been acting over the past few days exactly like she had when she was young and in love.

Ebizo ventured, "You really aren't thinking about men?"

Thinking about men?

Chiyo chuckled and shook her head. "Why would I be thinking about men?"

She really wasn't thinking about men. To be precise, she was thinking about a boy.

Judging by what was written in the diary, Takasaki was probably just a boy who hadn't yet graduated from some country's Ninja Academy.

In her eyes, Ebizo's worries were completely unnecessary.

Even if she liked Takasaki and wanted to enjoy a romance in her twilight years, she was far too old for him to be interested in her.

Unless...

Unless she could get close to Takasaki and get him to write her name in the diary a few times, then earn some kind of reward from it that could make her younger.

In her youth, her looks had been every bit as striking as Temari's, especially in a swimsuit.

Otherwise, the First Kazekage would never have fallen for her at first sight, fallen in love with her, married her, and had children with her.

"By the way, Ebizo, you used to be in charge of the village's intelligence and espionage work. Even though you've retired from the front lines, you still have plenty of spies in other countries, don't you?" Chiyo asked, as if suddenly remembering something.

"Yes. Why?"

"If I asked you to investigate someone, would it be difficult?"

At that,

Ebizo seemed to suddenly come to life.

A man was always a boy at heart. Even at Ebizo's age, he still wanted a woman to admire him.

Especially since this woman was the only family he had by his side.

If Chiyo realized that he was still capable and had enough skill to impress her, perhaps he would seem more attractive in her eyes—and she might stop being so indifferent to him, as she had been these past few days.

Just thinking about it made Ebizo stand a little straighter. "Who do you want me to investigate? Just tell me. I may have retired from the front lines, and I can't gather intelligence as well as the people in the Intelligence Division, but I'm still quite capable. If it's anyone with a name, I can find out about them..."

Before he could finish,

Ebizo seemed to suddenly realize something and changed course. "The person you want me to investigate isn't a man, is he?"

"He is,"

Chiyo said with a nod. "To be precise, he's a boy named Takasaki."

After saying that,

she clasped her hands behind her back and leisurely continued walking.

Ebizo stopped in his tracks.

"Takasaki?"

The sagging flesh on Ebizo's cheeks quivered faintly with age.

The name sounded familiar.

Wasn't he the one Lord Kazekage had mentioned at the dining table earlier—the boy Temari liked and was so eager to find?

According to Chiyo, Takasaki was just a boy, and he was probably around Temari's age. Since Temari liked him, they seemed like a good match age-wise.

Why did Chiyo want information on Takasaki, too?

A sudden sense of danger stirred in Ebizo's heart.

Could it be that Chiyo liked that guy named Takasaki, too?!

Impossible... This is ridiculous, Ebizo thought.