Chapter 569: Orochimaru Brings the Taijutsu Data
"Well... Sakura, just leave Lee alone. He's having one of his episodes again. Leave this to me. I'll help inject Guy-sensei."
Seeing the situation, Tenten hurried over, took over the task, and changed the subject.
Then she turned around and shot Lee a warning look that clearly said, "Don't say another word."
It wasn't that Tenten wanted to stand out.
She was just a member of Team Guy and genuinely didn't want to lose any more face.
As everyone knew, Team Kakashi had two different groupings.
Kakashi, Naruto, Sasuke, and Sakura were one group.
Naruto and Sasuke alone were another.
Team Guy was the same.
Guy and Lee were one pairing, while the whole team was another.
If Guy and Lee embarrassed themselves only as the first pairing, Tenten honestly wouldn't care.
But what they were about to talk about was the result of Guy learning from Kakashi and repeatedly taking them to watch movies.
Those two taijutsu fanatics were just like Naruto.
They were both simple-minded and naturally dense.
They took everything they saw at face value.
For example, why had Lee suddenly begged Sakura not to anesthetize Guy-sensei?
Because not long ago, they had watched a movie from the Land of Snow called 'The Clan of Love: Warring States Chronicles'.
It told the story of the Uchiha Clan, the Clan of Love, during the Warring States Era.
One scene in particular went like this:
The eldest son of the powerful Uchiha Clan leader, Uchiha Sho, found his younger brother, Uchiha Natsusuke, while he was out on a mission with his companion and master, Daimaru Maruko.
Daimaru Maruko was also the movie's heroine.
Sho had urgent information to pass on, so he used genjutsu to immobilize Natsusuke's companion and teacher, Daimaru Maruko.
Then the most horrifying scene happened.
While Uchiha Natsusuke was taken away to speak with his older brother in the distance, a ninja named Shinoya, who had secretly loved Daimaru Maruko for years, saw that she was completely unable to move because of the genjutsu.
Unable to hold himself back any longer...
He mercilessly took her innocence.
However, the genjutsu had only paralyzed Daimaru Maruko's body.
Her hearing and awareness remained perfectly intact.
The heroine mistakenly believed that Uchiha Natsusuke had been the one who did it.
When Natsusuke returned, she immediately proposed marriage.
Completely blindsided, Natsusuke instinctively rejected her.
The heroine instantly fell into despair, believing Natsusuke to be a heartless scoundrel who had gone too far and trampled on both justice and loyalty.
Later, after learning the truth, Uchiha Natsusuke awakened the Mangekyo Sharingan, came into conflict with his older brother, developed a dark side that sought to destroy the ninja world, and even lost an arm because of it.
...
In short...
Lee was afraid that Guy-sensei would end up like the heroine Daimaru Maruko.
If Guy were put under anesthesia, what if someone secretly came over and stole his innocence?
That was why Lee had begged Sakura for mercy.
But Tenten really wanted to ask...
Who exactly, in this place, would ever want to steal Guy-sensei's innocence?
Huh?
And if Lee actually said that reason out loud...
Would Team Guy have any dignity left?
"Alright then."
Sakura didn't dwell on it and handed the responsibility of anesthetizing Guy over to Tenten.
Her and Ino's treatment was finished for now.
All that remained was to wait until the taijutsu users injured themselves again during training or sparring.
"Sakura, since there's nothing for us to do now, why don't we go have some fun in the resort next door?"
Ino suggested.
"Sure."
"Oh right, Tenten. The current dose should keep Guy-sensei asleep until tonight, and Lee can take care of him. Want to come with us?"
Sakura invited Tenten as well.
"Absolutely!"
Tenten agreed at lightning speed.
Finally...
She finally had a chance to spend time with girls her own age.
Tenten nearly burst into tears.
At last, she didn't have to keep eating meals and watching movies with Guy and Lee anymore.
It had been absolute torture.
The three Konoha kunoichi headed together to the neighboring resort district.
After walking around for a while, each of them ended up holding a cup of shaved ice and several grilled skewers.
"Sakura, look! That movie got a sequel! Let's go watch it!"
Ino pointed excitedly at a promotional stand outside the resort cinema and tugged on Sakura's arm.
"A sequel? You're right."
"Tenten, have you seen this one? Why don't you watch it with us?"
"..."
Faced with Sakura's enthusiastic invitation, cold sweat immediately began running down Tenten's back.
Because...
The movie they wanted to watch was exactly the same one that had made Lee so worried earlier!
She knew it!
Ino and Sakura had far richer social lives than she did.
There was no way they'd miss such a popular movie.
The only difference was that Team Guy had happened to watch it a few days earlier.
Now she was doomed.
As soon as the two of them watched that scene...
They would definitely understand why Lee had suddenly begged Sakura not to anesthetize Guy.
All her effort to change the subject earlier would have been completely wasted.
Worse still...
She was the only one here who had already seen it.
That meant she alone would have to endure Sakura's and Ino's strange looks afterward.
Just imagining it filled her with despair.
Tenten felt that if she were an Uchiha, she would probably awaken her Sharingan right about now.
Without saying a word, she was dragged into the theater by Sakura and Ino in a daze.
The two girls assumed she hadn't seen the previous movie, so they kindly explained the background.
"The Warring States Chronicles movies are divided into several different family-centered series, and each series covers different time periods."
"This new movie, 'The Divine Eagle Heroes', is the sequel to the previous film, 'The Legend of the Boar-Shooting Heroes'.
"The last movie was about the Uchiha brothers practicing hunting wild boars together when they were young."
"After growing up, they encountered a powerful enemy named Kabudou, who had mastered Sage Mode. By using the teamwork they developed while hunting boars as children, they successfully defeated him."
"At the end of the previous movie, the protagonist, Uchiha Natsusuke, secretly joined the Ancient Tomb Sect founded by Daimaru Maruko through the recommendation of the villain Kabudou, keeping it hidden from his older brother."
"Oh... I see."
Finally snapping back to reality, Tenten responded with a lifeless nod.
Did she really need Sakura and Ino to explain it?
She had already watched this movie.
"Whoa! Tenten, look! Daimaru Maruko actually fell into a master-disciple romance with Uchiha Natsusuke! That's completely outrageous!"
When the story reached a key moment, Sakura grabbed Tenten's arm and exclaimed.
"Yeah... it's outrageous."
Having already watched it once, Tenten's expression didn't change in the slightest.
This scene was actually one of the mildest parts of the entire movie.
Right now, she felt like a prisoner waiting to be executed.
It was pure agony.
She couldn't even ask for the execution to come sooner.
Because it was part of the movie.
If she spoiled it now, Sakura and Ino would be unhappy.
And if the other audience members overheard the spoilers, they'd probably want to beat her up.
Tenten could only stare at the ceiling at a forty-five-degree angle and let out a long, despairing sigh.
The movie continued.
Eventually, the story reached the part where Uchiha Sho brought his younger brother, Uchiha Natsusuke, to meet the famous Warring States ninja Shinoya, hoping to have Natsusuke accepted as his disciple.
Natsusuke pretended to agree.
But after becoming Shinoya's student, he discovered that Shinoya was an incorrigible lecher who was infatuated with another disciple, Uzumaki Kuchouko, who constantly entertained him using the Transformation Technique.
So Natsusuke chose to return to the Ancient Tomb Sect from the end of the previous movie and sought out Daimaru Maruko once more.
(End of this chapter)