Whispers in Her Ear, Defenses Completely Collapse

Ino Yamanaka felt like she was about to go crazy.

Her hands trembled, her cheeks were hot enough to fry an egg on, and her mind was a complete mess.

The man before her was completely different from the perennial dead last in her memories, the fool who used to chase after her shouting, "Ino-chan"!

No, damn it, they were practically two different species!

In a fluster, she wrapped up the finest Blue Enchantress roses in the shop, each blossom seeming to hold the stars of the night sky within it.

Her movements were clumsy, and several times, she nearly pricked her fingers on the rose thorns.

Out of the corner of her eye, that man was simply leaning lazily against the counter, hands in his pockets, watching her embarrassment like it was a show.

That gaze was full of aggression and amusement, as though she were not the proud young lady of the Yamanaka Clan, but a little wildcat cornered by a hunter, trembling with fear while still trying to act fierce.

Too... too awful!

Ino bit her lower lip, tied the last ribbon, and pushed the enormous bouquet of blue roses—large enough to cover half her body—toward him. Her voice was muffled, carrying a stubborn refusal to admit defeat.

"H-Here! It's wrapped!"

She kept her head lowered the whole time, her brilliant blond hair falling down to hide her flushed cheeks and those emerald eyes that dared not meet his.

A wicked curve formed at the corner of Naruto's lips.

That's all it took to make her crumble?

He reached out and took the heavy bouquet.

However, just when Ino thought the transaction was over and she could finally relax—

His left hand holding the flowers dropped naturally, while his right shot out like a hunting hawk, seizing her pale, slender wrist in a flash!

"!"

Ino's entire body stiffened as if she had been electrocuted!

An explosive sense of masculine strength spread from her wrist through her entire body in an instant!

His palm was scorching hot, dry, and filled with irresistible force, like a pair of red-hot iron tongs branded firmly against her skin!

"W-What are you doing?! Let go of me!"

Humiliation and alarm surged through her. Without even thinking, Ino tried to yank her hand back with all her strength!

Yet it did not budge at all!

Naruto's hand seemed to have grown onto her wrist. That strength made her feel as if she were struggling against a mountain, helpless and despairing.

The two bystanders were already completely dumbfounded.

The potato chip Choji Akimichi had just put into his mouth fell to the floor with a slap, yet he did not even notice.

Even Shikamaru Nara's perpetually sleepy, dead-fish face had widened its eyes. Two words slipped from his mouth instinctively:

"I'll... be."

That was way too bold!

Flirting with the young lady of the Yamanaka Clan in public?

Was this guy seriously not afraid of Ino's father charging out of the back courtyard with a forty-meter blade?!

Under their stunned gazes, Naruto suddenly twisted his wrist!

"Ah—!"

Ino let out a short cry as an immense force dragged her forward beyond her control!

She crashed headfirst into a firm, scorching-hot embrace, and her nose was instantly engulfed by a faint grassy scent mixed with an overwhelmingly masculine scent, like sunlight baking down on the earth!

It's over!

The moment Ino's brain collided with that chest as solid as an iron wall, it completely shut down!

The distance between them was practically nonexistent.

She could even clearly feel the contours of his chest muscles and hear the steady, powerful heartbeat within his chest, beating like a war drum.

"Thump... thump... thump..."

That sound seemed to hold some kind of magic, making her own heart race wildly along with it, nearly leaping out of her throat!

Naruto lowered his head, ignoring the girl in his arms as her body shook violently from panic.

His lips slowly approached Ino's small, delicate earlobe, which had already turned red enough to bleed.

A scorching breath brushed over the most sensitive part of her ear, sending a string of fine shivers through her body.

Then, a low, husky, magnetic voice slipped into her ear like an electric current, striking straight into the depths of her soul!

"Seeing you cry just now, I suddenly felt that these flowers... aren't nearly as beautiful as you."

Boom—!!!

It was as though ten thousand bombs had exploded inside Ino's mind at once!

W-What kind of outrageous thing was that to say?!

Before she could process the impact of those flirtatious words, Naruto's dangerously seductive voice sounded again. Every word carried unquestionable dominance and possessiveness.

"Don't cry over that clueless, expressionless idiot anymore."

"Become a woman of the Uzumaki Clan, and I'll make you... smile every day."

!!!

Silence!

The entire flower shop fell into absolute silence for several seconds!

Ino froze completely. Her emerald eyes were wide open, filled with stunned disbelief!

B-Become a woman of the Uzumaki Clan?!

What was this man... saying?!

How dared he?!

She had originally thought Naruto was just a troublemaker who started causing chaos everywhere after getting rich, some lucky upstart who had stepped in dog shit.

But at that moment, when that overwhelmingly domineering declaration, the masculine aura that made her legs go weak, and the scorching breath beside her ear all flooded into her mind at once—

The cold, proud image of Sasuke Uchiha, whom she had chased after for six whole years, shattered with a crack into dust that filled the sky!

What was coldness?

The icy distance Sasuke-kun kept from everyone only broke her heart and made her feel like a ridiculous clown.

What was dominance?

This man before her, this blazing magma that would not permit refusal and wanted to swallow and melt her body and soul whole—that was true dominance!

This was... a man!

An unfamiliar emotion unlike anything she had ever felt before, mixed with fear, shyness, and extreme excitement, surged like floodwaters breaking through a dam and instantly swept away every last one of her psychological defenses!

[ Ding! Target detected: Ino Yamanaka. Her favorability has fluctuated intensely! ]

[ Current favorability: 65 (Admiration for the Contrast)! ]

[ Favorability has exceeded the threshold of 60. Congratulations, Host, you have received a bond reward: top-tier spiritual secret art Great Evolution Divine Soul Art! ]

[ Great Evolution Divine Soul Art: Passive effect: the Host's Mental Sea is impregnable, granting complete immunity to all genjutsu and spiritual attacks. Active effect: can forcibly invade another person's Mental Sea, perform Soul Search and Spirit Seizure, alter memories, and plant a Mental Brand! ]

Listening to the string of system notifications in his mind, the amused smile on Naruto's lips grew even deeper.

It worked.

To deal with a tsundere young lady like Ino, who had lived a smooth life since childhood and never taken a real beating, he had to use the simplest, crudest method.

First, use absolute strength and wealth to smash her pitiful little pride.

Then, use the most direct and domineering masculine attitude to force his way into her world and redefine her understanding of what a "man" was!

Showing concern and warmth?

That would only make her think he was cheap.

A huge cash gift, followed by a killer flirtatious whisper in her ear!

That was the correct way to win her over!

Feeling the girl in his arms go soft as a puddle of mud, Naruto knew the timing was about right.

If he held her any longer, this girl would probably faint on the spot.

His target was not this blond little wildcat.

These flowers had been prepared for his future principal wife.

Thinking of that adorable figure who always shyly buried her face in her collar, steam practically rising from her head whenever she so much as met his eyes, Naruto's heart softened a little.

It was time to go see his real woman.