Sakura's Decision

"You... what are you going to do?" the terrified delinquent girl asked timidly.

"Sakura!" Tahm suddenly turned to Sakura and said, "Go fight her!"

Sakura did not understand. "Huh? What?"

"That girl keeps targeting and bullying you. Only by defeating her yourself can you truly grow stronger," Tahm explained, revealing his unique idea.

"But..." Sakura looked timid and hesitant, nothing like the valiant, powerful female ninja she would become in the future. "I can't beat her."

Tahm did not soften just because Sakura was afraid. "I believe in you. You can definitely do it." Without waiting for Sakura's consent, he used his long tongue to wrap up Sakura and the delinquent leader and set them down in an open area. Then he glared fiercely at the delinquent girl and said, "Fight seriously, or else..."

The delinquent girl shuddered in terror. She could not help recalling the horror of being "locked in a dark room" just moments ago, and immediately threw a punch at Sakura as if she had lost her mind.

The punch was far below her usual standard and should have been easy to dodge. But Sakura was still standing there in a daze, so the punch landed squarely on her face, swelling one side of her mouth at once.

"Sakura!" Naruto and Ino instinctively wanted to rush forward and help. Hinata also gazed at Tahm with worried, watery eyes, as if pleading with him.

Tahm remained unmoved and simply shouted at Sakura, "Sakura! If you don't fight back, you'll never become strong. Do you want to stand behind Naruto and Ino forever, remaining an unopened flower bud?"

Sakura's heart churned with emotion. She thought of how she had always envied Ino's optimism, confidence, and wide-ranging knowledge. Then she thought of Naruto's small yet determined figure. Finally, she recalled the conversation she had had with Ino after Ino helped her deal with these delinquents:

"Ino, you're so beautiful and know so much. You're just like a blooming cosmos... while I..."

"You idiot, Sakura. You're still an unopened flower bud! One day, you'll bloom into dancing cherry blossoms!"

Yes...

I can't shrink back anymore!

Sakura's gaze instantly hardened, as if another personality had awakened within her.

When her opponent once again charged forward, swinging a chaotic flurry of punches, Sakura held her breath and focused, quietly channeling strength into her hand as she clenched her fist. Then, with courage she had never shown before, she threw a punch.

The punch struck the delinquent leader without resistance. A heavy thud rang out, and the figure was sent flying like a kite with its string cut, smashing into a large tree and leaving a sizable dent.

As expected of the future inheritor of Tsunade's Monstrous Strength Fist—she truly possessed tremendous strength by nature. Tahm marveled inwardly. If that delinquent girl had not been a ninja for generations and thus had a body trained from childhood, she probably would have ended up hospitalized for several months from that one punch.

The three girls were left dumbfounded, and Ino was especially astonished. Her best friend, who had always been bullied by delinquents, had actually displayed such power with her very first attack!

"Nicely done!" Tahm said approvingly. "I knew you could do it."

Sakura turned around and gave Tahm a heroic smile. "Thank you, Tahm!"

"Forget about them. That big fish is almost done roasting. Come and eat!" Tahm called to the girls and Naruto, no longer paying attention to the delinquent girls fleeing like a pack of stray dogs.

The group gathered around again and began tasting the food Tahm had roasted. However, after that little incident, their relationships had subtly changed. A Naruto with a face swollen like a pig's had squeezed in beside Ino and Sakura, leaning against Sakura and laughing happily. Seeing how pleased he was to have finally grown closer to his goddess, Sakura, Tahm remembered that he seemed to have forgotten to use a skill to heal him, but he still could not bring himself to interrupt Naruto's foolish happiness.

Ino and Sakura had also become much more enthusiastic toward Tahm. Through his Favorability System, Tahm could see that both girls' favorability toward him had reached 70, putting them above the ordinary-friend level. Sakura's favorability toward him had even reached 78, just one step away from the close-friend level, which would earn Tahm his first reward.

The blonde and pink-haired girls ate the delicious food while chattering like two larks, asking Tahm all sorts of questions and satisfying their ever-growing curiosity about him.

Tahm was also happy to chat with the two girls. Drawing on the knowledge he had gained from spending time on the internet in his previous life, he entertained them with all kinds of jokes until they giggled nonstop. Hinata, however, was somewhat unaccustomed to such a lively atmosphere. She merely watched Tahm happily chatting with the two girls, then hugged his arm tightly with a slightly pouty expression and refused to let go. If Tahm had noticed, he surely would have been overwhelmed by Hinata's adorable tsundere expression, something she had never shown before.

As they chatted merrily, Tahm went even further and bragged about himself, claiming to be Jiraiya's junior fellow disciple and the Fourth Hokage's martial uncle. The two girls, who had only met Tahm that day, listened with stars shining in their eyes. Even Naruto was completely fooled, his eyes gleaming. "Boss Tahm, are you really the Fourth Hokage's martial uncle?"

Tahm suddenly felt that something was strange. Am I really claiming to be the Fourth Hokage's martial uncle in front of the Fourth Hokage's son...? But when he thought about it, it was indeed a fact. After hypnotizing himself for a while, Tahm patted his chest and said, "Of course! I'm incredibly powerful!"

"Boss Tahm, can you teach me how to train?" Naruto made an abrupt request. "If you're the one teaching me, Boss Tahm, I'll definitely be able to become Hokage someday, right?"

The scene fell silent. Not only children from clans like Hinata and Ino, but even Sakura, whose father was merely a chūnin, knew that training secrets could not be casually taught to outsiders, much less to a stray child they had only recently met.

Looking at Naruto's expectant eyes, Tahm came up with an idea. Now that he knew Naruto, why wait for him to spend years as the dead-last before erupting just like in the original story? Since he had become Naruto's father's cheap martial uncle, he might as well guide Naruto ahead of time!

Thus, Tahm said, "Sure! I was already planning to bring Hinata here today to find a suitable place to train. If you want to come, wait for me here tomorrow morning!"

"Great!" Naruto jumped up excitedly, then rushed over and hugged Tahm's free arm. "Thanks, Boss Tahm!"

"Shoo, shoo!" Tahm shook Naruto off with some distaste. "You're a dirty, rough-looking brat. Don't imitate my Hinata and hug me." His words caused an alluring blush to spread across Hinata's face, and she instead buried her head even deeper against Tahm.

Sakura was stirred by this unexpected turn of events, and desire rose within her heart. Her father, a chūnin, could only teach her the basics of chakra training. Any techniques of even slight value were restricted by Konoha's confidentiality regulations and could not be passed on. Thus, although she was naturally a top student and worked harder than ordinary people, her progress still fell short of that of clan children like Ino.

She said somewhat bashfully, "Tahm, can I come too?" Her eyes concealed boundless longing, as well as the inferiority complex unique to children from civilian families.

Tahm did not think much of it. Bringing one person was no different from bringing several, and it would not cause any trouble. Thus, he said, "Of course, Sakura! And if Ino wants to come too, that's fine."