"W-White…?"
Sakura froze for a moment, then yanked her shirt lower as if to shield her waist. Her cheeks flushed bright red as she glared at Ayato.
"Where exactly were you looking!?"
She never imagined Ayato-sensei could see through her chakra flow so precisely.
Did that mean normally… he could see anything he wanted?
Pervert.
Shameless teacher!
She didn't even have a boyfriend yet and felt like she had already been "seen" too much!
Ayato waved a hand dismissively.
"Relax. I'm an adult, not some creep. Why would I be interested in peeking at a kid who hasn't even finished growing?"
He had seen countless landscapes — why would he admire a sprout?
"Grow… grow… growing!?"
Sakura's entire face turned crimson — partly from anger, partly from embarrassment. She clenched her pale fist and punched toward Ayato's smug face.
"You jerk!"
She could endure no more.
Ayato caught her wrist effortlessly and pinned her to the ground with a light grapple.
"Hey now — don't get so worked up. I don't have time to mess around."
"Ugh— that hurts…"
Pinned to the ground, Sakura winced softly before shooting Ayato a furious side-eye.
"You're the one messing around!"
Ayato released her and clapped his hands lightly.
"Alright, that was a fun little joke. Let's get back to business."
"Who was having fun!?" Sakura rubbed her wrist, pouting. "You're the only one laughing!"
Just you wait, she thought.
When I'm strong enough, the first person I'll beat up is you, Ayato-sensei!
Ayato stroked his chin, reading her expression like an open book.
"Your thoughts are written all over your face. Let me guess— you're planning to 'teach me a lesson' someday? Admirable ambition."
Across the entire shinobi world, there were enough people who wanted to "teach him a lesson" to form a line from the Hokage Tower to the village gates.
None succeeded.
Sakura's mouth twitched. Being called out so accurately was embarrassing, but she forced herself to retort.
"Fine! When I get stronger, I will teach you a lesson! And you'll learn to respect girls!"
"Good, good. Wonderful dream. Work hard toward it."
Ayato nodded in satisfaction.
Sakura grit her teeth. He was infuriating.
"Then I'll continue my question, Ayato-sensei!"
"Go on," Ayato said. "Let your chakra flow to your feet."
"Like this?"
Sakura formed hand seals, suppressing her anger and focusing on pushing chakra downward.
"Hm… something's off. Hold it for a minute."
Ayato studied her calmly, his Transmigration Eye observing the chakra streams flowing down her legs.
Sakura felt incredibly uncomfortable knowing Ayato could see chakra this clearly.
It almost felt like standing in front of him without any defenses — a very unpleasant feeling.
After a moment, Ayato spoke.
"The method is correct, but you're using too much chakra, and it isn't being distributed evenly to each point in your soles. That's why you can't maintain it for long."
Sakura instinctively covered her lower torso and chest, confused yet wary.
"Evenly? How do I make it even?"
Ayato sighed.
"No need to cover up. Even if you block it, I can still see the chakra flow. That's all I'm looking at."
He beckoned her forward.
Sakura stepped closer, wary.
"Ayato-sensei?"
"Lift your leg."
Sakura didn't move — instead, she glared.
Ayato added casually, "It's for instruction. Don't be shy."
Sakura hesitated, then lifted her leg outward.
The posture looked absurdly awkward, and she wanted to bury herself in the ground.
Ayato paused.
"If you want to imitate a dog doing its business, be my guest… but there's no reason to pose like that."
Sakura's embarrassment exploded.
"You could've explained it clearly first!"
She redirected her leg toward Ayato properly this time.
Ayato held her ankle gently, then released a controlled pulse of blue chakra into several blocked points in her lower leg — clearing them.
"Alright. Try again."
"That's all?" Sakura asked skeptically, but formed seals again and sent chakra downward—
Her eyes widened.
"It's so easy now!"
The flow was smoother than ever before — no heaviness, no sudden drain.
"Ayato-sensei, what did you do!?"
Ayato tapped his chin thoughtfully.
"With your level of chakra control, the explanation would get technical. In simple terms… think of it like a cramped circuit. I just helped clear the blockage."
Sakura blinked.
"Did you have to call it a 'cramp'?"
Still, she beamed.
"Thank you, Ayato-sensei!"
She trotted off happily toward the training tree — confident she could reach the top this time.
Ayato stretched lazily.
"Since my students are so motivated, I can finally take a nap."
Just as he settled back—
Footsteps.
Sasuke approached, hands in pockets, cold expression unchanged.
"You told her," he said flatly. "The trick."
He had clearly watched Sakura improve after whispering with Ayato.
Naruto improved too.
Only Sasuke's progress remained stagnant.
He couldn't tolerate being overtaken — so he came to Ayato.
Ayato shrugged. "More or less."
"Tch… tell me the—"
Sasuke caught Ayato's indifferent gaze and instantly stiffened. His face reddened slightly as he corrected himself.
"…Ayato-sensei. Please… tell me the technique."
Ayato couldn't hold back — a laugh burst out.
"Pfft— ha! Are you a tsundere heroine from some novel?"
He wiped the corner of his eye, still amused.
"Alright, I'll teach you. But first… hm. What should I ask for?"
He tapped his lollipop against Sasuke's chest.
"How about this—
Say a few compliments about me.
From the heart."
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