Meanwhile, Neji practiced alone nearby, ignoring the farce unfolding beside him.
"Rock Lee, are you an idiot?! Lord Jiraiya was obviously joking with you!"
Even with all her strength, Tenten felt she was little more than a weight attached to Rock Lee, and he gradually dragged her along.
"Lord Jiraiya is a great ninja. There can't be anything wrong with the training he arranged..."
"How is this training?! That Crystal Ball by your feet is just a..."
While Tenten was still trying her hardest to reason with Rock Lee, Jiraiya, the culprit, had already noticed Hinata and the others arriving. He waved cheerfully at them. "Yo, girls! You're here early!"
"Lord Jiraiya, we look forward to your guidance again today."
Hinata spoke politely to Jiraiya.
"Of course, of course. After all, it's a mission assigned by the old man... Lord Hokage."
Jiraiya looked at Hinata and Karin behind her. "The upcoming Chunin Ninja Exams in Konoha will be an unprecedented joint exercise between three villages. Every nation is taking it seriously. As it happens, your teachers were called away on urgent missions, and you're all young Konoha ninja preparing to enter the Chunin Ninja Exams, so the old man asked me to give you some extra coaching..."
As he spoke, Jiraiya stood and approached Hinata, asking quietly, "Naruto still hasn't come back?"
"No."
"Tsk, talk about bad timing."
Jiraiya shook his head in disappointment, but soon put it aside and clapped his hands. "All right, now that everyone's here, let me go over today's training."
"Little Tenten~ You can let Rock Lee go now. You're interfering with his Training, you know. You haven't finished your own Training yet, have you?"
The way Jiraiya addressed her sent a shiver of revulsion through Tenten, and she instinctively let go. Once freed, Rock