Retzu didn't dare speak the last sentence aloud—he was afraid that Tenten would really try to kill him over it.
"Tch, how boring," Tenten muttered in disappointment. She hadn't even gotten into it yet—just tossed a few *kunai* and *shuriken*. Her opponent quit before the real fight could start. That was just too lame.
"Hehehe..." Retzu rolled his eyes on the ground. Boring? You nearly got blown to bits and you're calling it boring? What kind of fireworks are you looking for then?
"The winner… the winner is Tenten from Konoha, cough cough cough…"
After announcing the result, Hayate Gekko immediately burst into a fit of coughing. The air here was so irritating.
"Young man, you're quite injured."
Retzu, who had been preparing to stand, suddenly heard these words and turned around, seeing two smiling doctors approaching. In particular, the one whose face was entirely wrapped in bandages looked especially creepy with his grin.
"It's you guys again? What do you want? Don't come any closer! I warn you!"
Thinking about how they treated the previous severely injured patients, Retzu broke out in a cold sweat. He tried to scramble away, but battered as he was, escape was clearly impossible.
"Stop struggling. A seriously injured patient should act like one." Haku briefly checked him over and made his diagnosis. "The injuries aren't too bad overall. Severe burns on the skin, internal organs slightly displaced by the shockwave from the explosion, some concussion symptoms in the brain. All things considered, you're not in any danger of dying."
After finishing the checkup, Haku exchanged a glance with Zabuza, who immediately threw Retzu over his shoulder and walked off, ignoring all of Retzu's protests.
"Send more experts skilled in [Earth Release] techniques to fix the arena right away."
Hiruzen's mouth was practically grinning from ear to ear. For him, repairing an arena was just a simple order. But today's matches fully demonstrated that Konoha's future looked promising. All of Konoha's young seedlings were extraordinary individuals indeed. Now he could go explain things to his teacher with peace of mind.
"Tenten, are you planning on blowing us all up with you?"
In the stands, Sakura and others surrounded Tenten with displeased expressions.
"N-no! It was just a sudden impulse—I couldn't hold back properly."
Tenten awkwardly stuck out her tongue, covered in dust and soot.
"Well then, we'll forgive this time. But Tenten, don't you want to go to the hospital for a check-up? You seem pretty hurt too."
Sakura sighed helplessly, looking at Tenten with concern. Although she had been behind a shield, being at the center of the explosion meant Tenten must have sustained injuries as well.
"It's fine. We can talk about it after the match finishes completely." Tenten waved it off casually. Her injuries weren't particularly serious—after all, those shields were top-quality specially made items. Plus, she had chosen a spot with the weakest blast force, so the actual damage wasn't that severe.
Chapter 229: Driver Sakura Gets Stopped Mid-Drive
"Um... if you don't mind, I can help heal your wounds a bit."
Karin hesitated slightly before extending her arm toward Tenten. "Just bite my skin!"
"Eh?"
"Wouldn't this hurt your body?" Tenten asked with a frown. "My injuries aren't serious. Forget about it!"
"No worries," Karin smiled. "Helping you won't affect me much at all! Let me do something I can manage."
"Well... okay." Tenten hesitated for just a moment before accepting Karin's help. She could tell how badly Karin wanted to fit in—and the best way to do that was to go through the same struggles together.
Gently sinking her fangs into Karin's wrist, Tenten immediately felt a warm surge of chakra enter her body. This vibrant energy rapidly healed her wounds.
"That's enough."
Only seconds had passed when Tenten let go, looking at the teeth marks now visible on Karin's wrist. Suddenly, she felt somewhat embarrassed.
"Here. It's scar removal ointment. Apply it twice daily, morning and night, and keep using it for a month to get rid of old scars!"
Sasuke extended his hand forward, holding out a small porcelain bottle. "It's a special formula from the Uchiha clan. Works great!"
As Konoha's most iconic beauties, the Uchiha clan naturally had many such products designed to preserve their good looks. Fortunately for Karin, who hadn't been around long enough to suffer extreme mistreatment in the Grass Village, there were only a few old scars on her arm. With this ointment, she'd soon be as good as new.
"Sasuke, you hopeless case!" Sakura exclaimed with frustration. "You actually toss someone scar removal cream at a time like this? You should volunteer to apply it yourself and build some real connection with her. Maybe while applying the ointment together, sparks will fly—just the two of you alone, chemistry happening—and who knows, maybe even a new heir to the Uchiha clan! Ouch! Why did you hit me, Kakashi-sensei?"
Sakura was just getting into her stride when Kakashi flicked her forehead. Looking over, she realized that everyone—not just Kakashi—was watching her with expressions of exasperation. Especially Temari, who had walked up pulling her younger brother along, now looked particularly wary, shielding him behind her protectively like a hen guarding her chick.
"Just cut back on reading Make Out Paradise from now on," Kakashi sighed worriedly. "You're still only twelve years old—you ought to stay innocent and pure!"
"Tsk, Kakashi-sensei, just reading Make Out Paradise makes me impure? It's simply a romantic novel, maybe slightly suggestive, with a few bikini pictures thrown in. And yet you look so embarrassed to even talk about it!"
Sakura gave Kakashi a deeply disapproving glare.
"I've seen far more violent stuff. Make Out Paradise is practically tame by comparison!"
Kakashi winced, as if every organ in his chest had been twisted in agony. Even he blushed while reading Make Out Paradise—so what could possibly be worse than that? Some forbidden literature he couldn't even imagine, no doubt.
<><><><><><><><>
Thank you for reading! Your support will keep me updating!
~ Every 50 Powerstones = **4 Bonus Chapters** this weekend!
<><><><><><><><>
Want to read the subsequent content in advance?
Please follow my Patreon:patreon/Tansnovel
Tans Novel - The Fastest-Updating Naruto Fanfiction Account
Read 100+ chapters in advance, with at least 3 new chapters updated every day! More free chapters! 20+ Naruto fanfictions!
Just three steps:
1. Download and open the "Patreon" app
2. Search for "Tans Novel"
3. Click on the collection and enjoy to your heart's content
<><><><><><><><>