Chapter 209: Beauty, Frozen in Time; The Chūnin Exams Begin
"What did you call me?"
Akiyama Makoto finally stopped the infusion, looking at Kurenai Yūhi with great interest.
The panic on her face slowly faded, and her gaze towards him became complex. In the end, she bit her lip and made the decision that was most in line with her heart.
She hugged him tightly, melting him into her embrace. "You are my man now. I don't need you to do anything that might hurt yourself again."
"You gave me the True Spirit Seal, and I am very happy. You ignored your own health to strengthen it, and I am very angry."
"We... we still have a lot of time in the future. You can do it slowly. Why be in such a hurry?"
Listening to her shy, hesitant, and deeply emotional confession, he finally stopped channeling his chakra. This matter was indeed not urgent, because she would be living here every day from now on. Tenten and the others, however, rarely had the chance to stay for long, which was why he had needed to "feed" their seals all at once.
"So, the chakra infusion... we'll do it later?"
He managed to poke his head out, looking at her face, which was gentle with a mature charm.
She finally dared to meet his gaze again and nodded lightly. She then wanted to pull him into her embrace again. They were both very tired and needed to rest... Wait, why is this guy starting again?
She angrily twisted his two ears. He just chuckled and said, "Forgive me, Big Sister Kurenai. I like you too much. This is the last time."
Her body went soft. She slowly lay back on the pillow, entrusting everything to him.
When she opened her eyes again, it was already past noon.
He really was a man who didn't keep his word. What part of what he had just done had anything to do with a "last time"?
She had been prepared for her body to be exhausted, even to feel a tearing pain. But when she sat up, she felt completely relaxed.
She thought of something and quickly stood in front of the full-length mirror. She looked at the reflection—it seemed no different from the past, yet she was radiant, and all the wrinkles between her brows had disappeared. Hot tears slowly welled up in her eyes.
Have I really become younger?
And according to what he had said, this wasn't a temporary illusion, but a secret technique that could keep her young forever!
From now on, her age would probably be frozen at twenty-four or twenty-five. Both her body and her mind would embrace their peak state. As long as she had the Yin Seal, she would remain this beautiful.
And... she would also be his woman for just as long.
She let out a soft sigh. Just as she was about to go and tidy up, a pair of large hands wrapped around her shoulders from behind.
That familiar feeling washed over her, making her quickly say, "Makoto-kun, let's stop here for today. Hinata and Karin are still waiting for you."
"What did you call me?"
Her face turned red. "I... I can't just call you... that... in front of them."
"But no one is here."
"...Husband."
She said it as if she had resigned herself to her fate. Only then did he smile with satisfaction. He lowered his head and kissed her shoulder, then used the Flying Thunder God to take her to the large bathhouse again.
By the time the two of them came out, it was already two in the afternoon.
She was glowing with radiance, and there was a spring in her step. The only thing was that she didn't dare to look at him, afraid that he would want to... continue their previous engagement.
He, naturally, would not be so intemperate. He just wanted to use this method to completely stabilize her heart.
And it had worked. Thanks to his diligent "cultivation," the system prompts had appeared one after another.
[Ding! Deeper contact with the ninja Kurenai Yūhi achieved. Simulation Attempts +3.]
[Ding! Confirmed intimate relationship with the ninja Kurenai Yūhi. Simulation Attempts +5.]
If these prompts hadn't appeared, how could he have let her go?
Fortunately, she had finally accepted reality. She had become the most beautiful 24-year-old version of herself, and had also become the fiancée of "Makoto-kun," soon to be renamed "Akiyama Kurenai."
"You're so slow!"
The moment Kurenai was about to step into the room, Tenten's complaint was heard.
"Hinata, didn't you say Kurenai-sensei was just checking on him? What kind of check-up skips lunch and lasts until now?"
She looked at Tenten, Ino, Sakura, and Hinata in the living room. For a moment, she lost all her courage and wanted to turn and run. Unfortunately, he gave her a push from behind, forcing her to go forward and meet the girls in her new, younger state.
Tenten and the others stared at her in shock. Finally, it was Sakura who shrieked, "Are you Kurenai-sensei? You're not... her younger sister, are you?!"
"It is Kurenai-sensei! How did you become so young?!"
"Could it be—"
"Don't tell me—"
Ino and Sakura exchanged a look, then rushed towards her, wanting to check her stomach.
Her strength was far greater than theirs. She naturally wouldn't be restrained by them. She easily flipped them all over, and then said with a red face, "It's your teacher, me. I just have a good skincare routine. It's not what you're thinking."
"No way! I don't believe you! Not unless you let me see... Ouch!"
Ino's complaint earned her a flick on the forehead from Kurenai. Looking at the sighing girls, she said, "How about this? If you win in the Chūnin Exams, I'll answer your questions. How about it?"
"Really?"
"It's a deal!"
"Makoto-kun, come over here! You have to train us!"
"That's right, that's right! What did you do? Confess!"
His house, now that all the girls had arrived, became lively and full of life.
Although he was being chased by them, asking about what had happened with Kurenai, he was also enjoying it. Even if Kurenai's True Spirit Seal was exposed later, and he might have to appease their emotions one by one, it didn't matter. He, who had had enough of loneliness, loved this kind of life.
Of course, from today on, it was unlikely he would be lonely at night anymore.
When Anko was here, he would be with Anko. When she wasn't, he would be with Kurenai.
No matter how Kurenai verbally refused him, she couldn't resist him physically. Besides, the front door of his house was open, and she still had to go out to buy supplies every day. If she really wanted to leave, it wasn't like he could attack her in the street.
It could only be said that Kurenai's "mouth" was very stubborn, the most stubborn of all the girls around him right now. But it was no match for his persistence and forcefulness.
In addition, Karin's appearance was also quickly accepted by the girls. After hearing her story, almost all of them praised him for doing a good job. At their current age, they were still emotional. They couldn't even imagine that someone in the Hidden Grass Village was living such an inhuman life.
Karin also assured them at the right time that she would use her power to heal every one of her comrades, which made the girls like her even more. Of course, this was because she hadn't told them that her surname was now "Akiyama." Otherwise, he believed that she, too, would have been "interrogated" by them.
In the following days, the girls would return to their respective teams in the morning for team practice, and in the afternoon, they would come to his place to receive Kurenai's individual guidance. They would only leave after soaking in the hot spring at night.
During this process, Kurenai found excuses not to bathe with them. This almost made them certain that she had also been given a True Spirit Seal by him.
They still found this a little hard to accept. At this time, Hinata and Tenten took on the responsibility of "enlightening" Ino and Sakura.
Tenten declared that she was the first to know his secret, while Hinata explained that their sensei was not sleeping at night due to her anxiety about her age, and could only sleep well after receiving "comfort" from him.
Hearing this explanation, Ino and Sakura also slowly accepted everything. After all, they also liked this dedicated and responsible teacher. And... they had known about his "big family" plan for a long time. Right now, they were just sulking.
But soon, they had no time to be angry, because the first round of the Chūnin Exams was about to begin.
His shadow clone transformed into Karin and participated as a Hidden Grass ninja. A shadow clone could not be seen through by any means. It could only be identified by someone who knew the opponent's intel and realized it wasn't the main body. No one was familiar with a small fry like Karin, so naturally, no one would discover that the current "Karin" was him in disguise.
This also piqued his interest. He decided to see the little interlude before the exam: Kotetsu and Izumo, disguised as examinees, using a genjutsu to turn the second floor into the third, to stop the candidates from entering the exam hall. This was also part of the test. If you couldn't even get through the front door, you were naturally not qualified to participate.
But to their embarrassment, Tenten, Ino, Sakura, and Hinata directly ignored the two who were swaggering around, and led their respective teams straight through the edge of the genjutsu and up the stairs.
The others, realizing what had happened, burst into laughter. He, too, ignored his "teammates" and followed.
He wanted to see if Rock Lee would still confess to Sakura.
❃❃❃
⤑ Show your support with Power Stones!
⤑ Unlock a Bonus Chapter every time we hit 200 Power Stones!
❃❃❃
♕ Get early access to 20+ advanced chapters on Patreon!
🔗 https://www.pat-reon.co-m/c/Hollowborn
(Just remove the hyphen (-) to open the link!)
💬 Enjoying the story? Drop a review!
Your support really helps the series grow—thank you