Sasuke Breaks Down

Sakura Haruno pursed her lips, suppressing the anger welling up inside her.

Forget it.

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

Sakura Haruno still felt guilty.

But when Sakura Haruno saw Takasaki say she deserved to be called an idiot by Sasuke, she couldn't hold back her anger any longer and immediately snapped. "That's too much! I can put up with Takasaki insulting me in other ways, but not this. He's gone too far!"

Sasuke was the person she liked, so every time he looked at her with disdain, it hurt. Every time he called her an idiot, she felt wronged.

Now, looking at the words Takasaki had written in the Diary, Sakura Haruno broke down on the spot. "Idiot, idiot, idiot! You're the biggest idiot of all, Takasaki!"

She let out a few insults to vent.

Sakura Haruno continued reading the rest of the Diary, but her mood still didn't improve.

"Takasaki actually said he'd never marry me, even if I offered him a dowry? What's that supposed to mean? I never said I wanted to marry him when we grew up! The only person I'm going to marry is Sasuke."

Sakura Haruno said nothing more, because she saw a line appear at the bottom of the Diary.

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

"So I really can get rewards!"

Seeing the words, Sakura Haruno felt relieved.

She had been worried that because Takasaki had written about her doing things to harm him, she might not only fail to receive a reward but actually be punished instead.

Now it seemed her worries had been unnecessary.

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

The problem was that when Sakura Haruno checked the chakra inside her body, she found that its amount hadn't increased.

"That's strange. The Diary said it would reward me with 10% more chakra. Why don't I feel any different?"

As Sakura Haruno wondered about this, another line appeared in the Diary.

[Since 100% of the mentions of your name in Takasaki's diary are negative, 100% of your reward will be transferred.]

"My reward was transferred?"

Seeing the words, Sakura Haruno's eyes widened. Her fingers clenched around the Diary, and her wrist trembled with anger.

"Where was my reward transferred?"

She had no time to think about it. Perhaps the Diary would soon tell her where the reward had gone.

What she cared about more right now was that she had just lost the reward she could have earned from Takasaki's latest diary.

And all because every mention of her in the diary had been negative.

"If I'd known Takasaki would write negative things about me in his diary, I wouldn't have targeted him so much."

Sakura Haruno would have been lying if she said she didn't regret it.

After all, she could have gained 10% more chakra out of nowhere—equivalent to two years of hard training—and now it was gone. Anyone would be upset.

There was no point dwelling on it now.

Sakura Haruno took a deep breath and tried to calm herself.

She tried to look on the bright side. "At least my actions helped me figure out another rule of the Diary. If Takasaki writes something negative about you in his diary, you lose part of your reward. You lose the same proportion as the proportion of negative comments."

Learning another rule of the Diary wasn't nothing.

Even so, she still found it hard to swallow her anger.

Because she saw that Hinata, who also had a Diary, had been mentioned in Takasaki's diary too—and not a single mention was negative.

In other words, Hinata had received an even greater reward than her this time!

Sakura Haruno was terribly jealous.

Suddenly, she remembered a question she had just overlooked. "Wasn't the reward I got from the Diary transferred away? Where did it go? The Diary still hasn't said."

Meanwhile.

By the lake.

After using the Great Fireball Technique twice in a row, Takasaki felt utterly exhausted.

He was so tired he could barely catch his breath.

That said, using a ninjutsu with this kind of power felt amazing.

After all, in terms of flair, visual impact, and attack power, it was in a different league from the Three Body Technique.

What would the Great Fireball Technique be like if he raised its proficiency to 100 points and leveled it up to Level 2?

Takasaki really wanted to know.

He wanted to keep training, but the problem was that he had only 20 chakra left—not enough to use the Great Fireball Technique again. So he decided to keep grinding proficiency in the Clone Technique instead.

Just as Takasaki formed Hand Seals, preparing to use the Clone Technique, the system's voice suddenly rang out:

[Receiving reward transferred by the Diary]

[Successfully received reward transferred by the Diary]

[Chakra amount increased by 10%]

"Huh?"

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

His chakra and stamina instantly felt replenished.

His chakra, in particular, had increased.

Takasaki checked his chakra. It had been 80 points, but now it was 88.

An exact 10% increase.

Takasaki slowly came to his senses. "I received a reward transferred by the Diary? It increased my chakra by 10%? Where did the Diary transfer the reward from?"

Three questions arose in his mind.

But the system wouldn't answer them.

Takasaki had no idea that the reward Sakura Haruno could have received had been transferred entirely to him.

His instincts told him that the reward's source had to be connected to the Diary.

Maybe he had triggered some kind of reward mechanism in the Diary. He could look into it later. For now, having more chakra was a good thing.

Most importantly, while his chakra amount had increased by 10%, his total chakra had also been fully replenished.

That meant he could use the Fire Style: Great Fireball Technique twice more.

Takasaki began forming Hand Seals.

A second later, he completed six seals, and a huge mass of scorching flames burst from his mouth.

"This dead-last can still use the Great Fireball Technique again!"

This time, Sasuke's pupils contracted sharply.

Whenever he trained in the Great Fireball Technique, his total chakra increased a little.

After several years of training,

his total chakra had steadily grown until he could finally use the Great Fireball Technique twice.

But the crucial thing was—

Right now,

Takasaki was already using it for the third time!

"He has more chakra than I do!"

Sasuke had barely muttered the words when, a few seconds after the flames by the lake died out, Takasaki formed Hand Seals again.

The heat washed over Sasuke once more.

"That's the fourth time!" Sasuke broke down completely.

He held his breath and stared wide-eyed, his back against the tree trunk. It felt as though all the strength had drained from his body as he slowly slumped down onto the grass.

At that moment, he couldn't help wondering who the real dead-last was—and who the genius.