Chapter 19: Catfight, Fragile Acts Exposed
After school, Hyuga Chiryo dashed home. After all, she was going out on a date with Tonan, she had to dress up. Uchiha Mina, meanwhile, went to the ramen shop, where this date was to take place and lay in wait. She was going to teach Chiryo a lesson.
In the blink of an eye, it was evening.
At Kakashi’s home.
Tonan’s three tomoe turned in his eyes. Suddenly leaping, he nimbly dodged a hand reaching out under his feet. He pretended to gasp on the surface as he looked at Kakashi who had emerged from the ground.
“Kakashi! Your Double Suicide Decapitation Technique is getting better. I almost couldn’t dodge it.”
Even though the two of them were sparring with the Hatake clan’s sword techniques using wooden swords, as shinobi, nothing restricted them from using ninjutsu during these sessions.
Tonan humbly smiled, and continued, “Compared to you, I’m much worse. Other than the Sharingan, I have got nothing. Let’s stop here today though. I’ve promised Chiryo I’d have dinner with her.”
Kakashi nodded and walked Tonan out. After leaving the Hatake household, Tonan headed for the rendezvous point at the ramen shop. A few white pigeons, perched in the bushes not far away, took flight and began scouting the route for him.
There was hardly any danger in Konoha, much less during the day. But Tonan never had much sense of security. These white pigeons were therefore rarely idle.
Chiryo was walking along a shopping street with great anticipation. At home, she took a good bath before changing into a pair of new clothes.
Her pace was slow. This was a road that one had to take while walking from Kakashi’s home to the ramen shop. She could run into Tonan here. As a girl, if she went to the ramen shop too early and waited alone, people might gossip about her.
“The best way is to enter the shop together with Tonan-kun.”
These were her thoughts. However, just as she reached the street’s corner, a thin hand emerged beside her and pulled the confused Chiryo into the alley.
Thud.
Caught off guard, Chiryo lost her balance and fell to the ground. Her new clothes were soiled. While she turned an annoyed gaze at her approacher, a kunai was pointed at her neck. When she finally saw her attacker, it was Mina.
“What’re you doing?!” Chiryo furiously asked her.
“Stay away from Tonan-kun.”
Chiryo was about to snap at her when she thought of something.
“Tonan-kun should be arriving here. He might pass by this alley any second.”
Then…
In the next instant, Chiryo put away her anger and meekly said.
“How can you do this? We’re classmates!”
“Put that disgusting look away. Only Tonan-kun is pure enough to be deceived by this. A mere Hyuga bitch like you thinks you can seduce an Uchiha genius? Who gave you that confidence? Why don’t you take a good look at yourself?”
“You are going too far!”
“You really think I won’t dare to kill you?” Mina pressed the kunai in her hand, just a little more pressure would pierce Chiryo’s skin. A white pigeon just happened to fly overhead right then.
By this time, Tonan had arrived at the street’s corner. He stopped in place. Through the shared vision with the white pigeon, he could see everything happening inside the alley. Were his two rations getting jealous of each other?
He stroked his chin and began wondering whether he should go and save the day.
Hyuga Chiryo, Uchiha Mina.
Byakugan, Sharingan.
There seems to be no way of fusing the Sharingan with the Byakugan, so Chiryo wasn’t very useful.
On the other hand, if Mina were nurtured, there was no saying she wouldn’t be able to awaken her three tomoe before the Third Great Shinobi War. Then, she can become a tribute to his power.
Since Chiryo wasn’t useful, then who cares? It doesn’t matter if she died.
After making his decision, Tonan turned around and walked towards another road, taking a detour to the ramen shop.
Meanwhile in the alley, faced with Mina’s threat, Chiryo cowered like a little kitten being bullied.
“Mina, I just wanted to thank Tonan-kun for helping me with my homework. I don’t have any other thoughts about him,” Chiryo insisted, wiping her tears.
Mina frowned and put her kunai away.
“Was I overthinking it? Is this bitch faking? Does such an innocent and gentle person really exist in this world?”
Even though Mina was convinced that Chiryo was feigning innocence, what was the point of her continuing the act under such a situation?
“Fine. Promise me that you won’t ever speak to Tonan-kun again.”
Mina’s voice was laced with threat. After all, she had true Uchiha blood in her veins. Even though she was female, her personality was not very different from her clan members.
She acted docile in front of Tonan, but when it came to the same sex, she retained her intimidating character.
Chiryo timidly raised her head to look at the sky, then at the entrance of the alleyway.
“Tonan-kun has still not passed by. Does that mean he took another route?”
The frail look in Chiryo’s eyes disappeared as she slowly stood up.
“Why are you getting up? Answer me!”
In the next instant.
Bam!
Chiryo’s palm hit Mina right in the chest, slamming her into the wall.
Mina felt a sharp pain where she was hit but her chakra pathways were blocked with the attack, completely restraining her. Her kunai also dropped to the ground during the impact.
She raised her head with an incredulous look at Chiryo, who was slowly approaching her.
“How could you possibly…”
Mina saw the coldness in Chiryo’s eyes, the veins around which were bulging, as she crouched down to pick up the kunai. Holding the kunai backward, she pressed the tip of the blade against Mina’s chin. Moving closer to her ear, she said in a cold voice, “Tonan-kun is mine. If you dare have any funny thoughts about him, I’ll kill you.”
Chiryo released the kunai, letting it fall to the ground. After patting the dust off her body, she left the alley.
Inside the ramen shop, Tonan was at his seat, observing the situation in the alley. To be honest, he knew that both Mina and Chiryo liked him, so they were likely to put on an act in front of him. But he didn’t expect Chiryo to be this good at acting. He always thought that she was like Hinata. However…
“Sure enough, the prettier the woman, the better they are at fooling others,” Tonan muttered to himself. He was determined to be warier around women of this world in the future.
Since she was able to fool him, he had to go back and review the ‘Essential Spy Disguise Techniques’.
“Tonan-kun, sorry for being late!”
Chiryo jogged to the ramen shop and stopped by Tonan’s side, panting. Anyone who didn’t know what just happened would think that her flushed cheeks were cute.
“Don’t worry about it, I just arrived here myself. You should sit down and catch your breath.”
Tonan stood up like a gentleman and put his hands on Chiryo’s shoulders, helping her to the seat. Then he sat down next to her, lifted the pitcher, and leaned slightly closer to her to pour water in her cup.
Then, he thoughtfully said, “Don’t rush to eat after a strenuous run. You should calm down with some water first.”
“Tonan-kun…” Chiryo looked at Tonan with stars in her eyes.
This was no act, but a genuine expression of affection.
“You’re mine. You can only belong to me.”
The waiter at the ramen shop came over and asked, “What would you like to order?”
Tonan turned his head around and asked in a magnetic voice, “Chiryo, what do you want to eat?”
Looking at Tonan’s eyes that were looking right back at her, and listening to his deep voice, Chiryo felt light-headed as if she was intoxicated.
“I…I’m fine with anything.”
Tonan nodded.
“I’ve eaten here several times with my mother when I was younger, so I’ll order for you.”
