The Strongest Man in the Shinobi World's Romantic Showdown? This Was More Trouble Than Fighting Kaguya!

Smack!

The sound of palms coming together echoed through the courtyard.

A vivid green glow of chakra squeezed out between my fingers.

The force cracked the bluestone paving beneath my feet.

"Sen, what are you doing?!"

Ino let out a shriek.

The half-dead grub in her hand dropped to the ground.

The chakra shock wave hurled it away, splatting it against the floor-to-ceiling window.

I ignored her, crouched down, and pressed both hands into the mud.

"Wood Release: House-Building Jutsu."

I had made the name up. As long as it worked, who cared?

The ground began sinking with a rumble.

Thick roots churned through the soil like drill bits.

They stirred up the damp, rank smell of earthworms.

"Sen! Please don't be angry!"

Hinata dropped her canvas bag and stumbled over.

She tripped and fell to her knees in the freshly turned mud.

A large smear of yellow mud instantly stained her pale knees.

She could no longer hold back her tears, and they pattered down.

"I won't stay inside. I really can just sleep in the courtyard."

"And let the mosquitoes feast on you?"

Kurenai came out of the house and wiped her kitchen knife twice on her apron.

"Out here in the middle of nowhere, even the cats yowling in heat at night are too noisy."

"If mosquitoes bite your face until it swells up, won't Hiashi come here ready to kill us?"

Mei Terumi sauntered lazily under the porch.

Her high heels clacked against the wooden steps.

She waved a hand in front of her nose to fan away the dust.

"Oh dear, what a commotion. My fresh foundation is going to get caked with dust."

She raised an eyebrow at me, her eyeliner drawn in long, slender strokes.

"Sen, this is no way to treat your