Sasuke's Defense Breaks

Sakura Haruno pursed her lips, suppressing the surge of anger rising within her.

Forget it.

After all, she was the one who had reported Takasaki several times during the exam; she was in the wrong.

Sakura Haruno still felt a sense of guilt.

It wasn't until Sakura Haruno saw Takasaki say she deserved to be called an idiot by Sasuke that she truly couldn't suppress her inner rage, breaking down on the spot: "That's too much! I can tolerate other things Takasaki says about me, but not this—he's being so cruel!"

Sasuke was the person she liked, so every time he looked at her with disdain, her heart ached, and every time he called her an idiot, she felt deeply aggrieved.

Now, looking at the words Takasaki had written in the diary, Sakura Haruno snapped: "Idiot, idiot, idiot! Takasaki, you're the big idiot yourself!"

She cursed a few times to vent.

Sakura Haruno continued reading the subsequent content in the diary, but her mood remained sour.

"Takasaki actually said he wouldn't marry me even if I offered a dowry in the future? What is this? I never said I wanted to marry him when I grew up! The only person I'm going to marry is Sasuke."

Sakura Haruno didn't say anything more, because she saw a line of text appear at the bottom of the diary.

[You have been mentioned in Takasaki's diary more than 5 times. Reward obtained: Chakra volume increased by 10%.]

"I can actually get rewards!"

Seeing this line, Sakura Haruno felt a wave of relief.

She had been worried that because she had done things against Takasaki, him writing about her in the diary might lead to punishment instead of a reward.

It seemed her worries were unnecessary.

As long as her name was recorded, she would receive a reward.

The problem was, Sakura Haruno circulated the chakra in her body, only to find that her chakra volume hadn't increased at all.

"Strange? Didn't the diary say it would reward me with a 10% increase in chakra? Why don't I feel anything?"

Just as Sakura Haruno was puzzled, another line of text appeared in the diary.

[Because your name was mentioned in Takasaki's diary with 100% negative evaluation, your reward has been 100% transferred.]

"My reward was transferred?"

Seeing this, Sakura Haruno widened her eyes, her fingers gripping the diary tightly until her wrists trembled with anger.

"Where was my reward transferred to?"

She couldn't spare the time to ponder this; perhaps the diary would tell her where it went in a moment.

Right now, she was more concerned that the reward she could have obtained from this diary entry was just gone.

All because every mention of her in the diary was a negative evaluation.

"If I had known my name would be recorded with negative evaluations in Takasaki's diary, I wouldn't have targeted him so much."

If Sakura Haruno claimed she had no regrets, she would purely be being stubborn.

After all, a 10% increase in chakra out of thin air was equivalent to two years of hard training; losing that would be painful for anyone.

Dwelling on it now was useless, however.

Sakura Haruno took a deep breath, trying to calm her mind.

She tried to look on the bright side: "At least I've figured out another rule of the diary through my own actions—being recorded with negative evaluations in Takasaki's diary results in a deduction of rewards, proportional to the percentage of negative feedback."

Figuring out a new rule for the diary wasn't a total loss.

Yet, the frustration stuck in her chest was still hard to swallow.

Because she saw that Hinata, who also possessed a diary, had been mentioned by Takasaki as well, and there wasn't a single negative evaluation.

In other words, Hinata had received more rewards than her again!

Sakura Haruno was truly green with envy.

She suddenly remembered a question she had just ignored: "Didn't my reward from the diary get transferred? Where did it go? The diary hasn't said yet."

Meanwhile.

By the lakeside.

Having performed the Great Fireball Technique twice in a row, Takasaki felt his body was utterly exhausted.

He was panting heavily.

Then again, performing a ninjutsu of this power felt truly exhilarating.

After all, in terms of presence, visual impact, and attack power, it was incomparable to the Three Body Technique.

If he were to raise the proficiency of the Great Fireball Technique to 100 points and upgrade it to Level 2, what kind of power would it have?

Takasaki was eager to find out.

He wanted to continue training, but the key was that he only had 20 points of chakra left, not enough to perform another Great Fireball Technique, so he might as well grind his proficiency in the Clone Technique here.

Just as Takasaki formed the hand seals to perform the Clone Technique, the system's voice suddenly rang out:

[Receiving rewards transferred by the Diary]

[Reward transfer from the Diary successful]

[Chakra volume increased by 10%]

"Eh?"

Takasaki was stunned. Before he could even react, a warm current surged through his body.

His chakra reserves and stamina were instantly replenished.

His chakra volume, in particular, was greater than before.

Takasaki checked his chakra levels; what was originally 80 points had now become 88.

It had increased by exactly 10%.

Takasaki finally gathered his wits. I received a reward transferred by the Diary? It boosted my chakra by 10%? Where did the Diary transfer this reward from?

Three questions in a row surfaced in his mind.

Unfortunately, the system would not provide him with any answers.

Takasaki did not know that the rewards Sakura Haruno was originally meant to receive had all been transferred to him.

His intuition told him that the source of this reward must be related to the Diary.

Perhaps he had triggered some sort of reward mechanism within the Diary. He would study it later; regardless, having more chakra was not a bad thing.

Most importantly, while increasing his chakra by 10%, it had also completely restored his total reserves.

This meant he could continue training the Fire Style: Great Fireball Technique twice more.

Takasaki began to weave hand signs.

In just one second, all six signs were completed, and a massive ball of scorching flames erupted from Takasaki's mouth.

"That dead-last can actually continue to perform the Great Fireball Technique!"

This time, Sasuke's pupils contracted violently as he watched.

Every time he trained the Great Fireball Technique, his total chakra reserves would increase slightly.

Over the course of several years, his total chakra had steadily risen, finally becoming enough to perform the Great Fireball Technique twice.

The key was that, at this very moment, Takasaki was already beginning to perform it for the third time!

His chakra volume is actually higher than mine!

Sasuke had barely finished muttering this when, only seconds after the fireball by the lake died out, Takasaki began weaving signs again.

A wave of heat swept over Sasuke's entire body once more.

"That's the fourth time!" Sasuke was completely broken.

He held his breath, eyes wide, his back against the tree trunk. As if all the strength had been drained from his body, he slowly slumped onto the grass.

At this moment, he truly wondered who the dead-last was, and who the genius.