How should it be put? Normally they were very close sisters, but when it came to certain things, neither of them were willing to lose.
Although this was Mabui's first time, with her unwillingness to admit defeat, she still resisted stubbornly.
The battlefield also shifted along with it.
Intense sounds of battle came from the direction of the bedroom.
"S-Samui, listen carefully… in this one matter, I absolutely will not lose to you!"
Because of her personality, Mabui's voice sounded somewhat soft. Her words were a little broken, yet within them carried a determination that felt almost like cutting nails and chopping iron.
In comparison, although Samui's tone also trembled slightly, it was clearly stronger than Mabui's and equally full of fighting spirit.
"Is that so? Mabui, you really dare to say that… we, mm! the three of us grew up together. Even though you're slightly better when it comes to handling affairs… as a ninja, your strength has always been inferior to mine."
Samui's short golden hair kept fluttering up and down in the fierce wind.
Although her speech was also a little uneven right now, when she looked at Mabui, her face still carried confidence and disdain.
"Speaking of which, Mabui, can you still hold on? After all, endurance has always been your weak point."
"That's only what you think, Samui."
Mabui's hair didn't move up and down, but instead swayed forward and back.
The two of them were standing in places where the direction of the wind was different.
"On the contrary, Samui, dragging around such a huge burden of yours, your stamina is probably almost used up already, right?"
"Oh? Then that really does give you an advantage. Want to decide the winner now… though I'm not like you. Aoba-sama comes over every night to help train my endurance."
"...", Mabui gritted her teeth. That really was her weak point.
After all, Samui had already gone through countless battles, unlike her who had just stepped onto the stage. But she didn't want to lose.
"Then let's try it and see. Tonight the final victory will definitely be mine!"
"Heh! Heh!"
What answered her was Samui's cold laugh.
As the saying goes, when the snipe and the clam fight, the fisherman profits. Naturally Aoba wouldn't stop the healthy competition between the two of them.
But compared to this kind of rivalry, what he actually wanted to see more was their cooperation in the future.
———
No one knew how long had passed. Even though Aoba had activated Absolute Sealing midway through, the moon had already risen high into the sky, with stars scattered around it.
The battle inside the room had already stopped.
The two people who had been "playing games" for several hours had finally called a truce.
Of course, although Mabui had never wanted to admit defeat, in truth she had already lost.
So in the end, Samui was the one who laughed last.
But even so, her condition wasn't very good.
"Ha… ha…"
At this moment, Samui had completely gone limp.
She barely even had the strength to sit up straight anymore. She could only press half of her burning-hot cheek against Aoba's shoulder, breathing heavily in big gulps.
Her chest rose and fell continuously as she steadied her breathing.
At the same time, she tightly wrapped all four limbs around him. This suffocating feeling, like a python coiling around its prey, instead brought a softness and warmth.
As for Mabui on the other side, she was naturally in an even worse state.
Because her endurance and physique were indeed inferior to Samui's, her situation looked even more miserable than the latter's. Her eyes were slightly narrowed, filled with a watery sheen.
Her pair of dark, slender legs clung tightly to him.
Her white hair was scattered messily, a few strands stuck together with sweat and clinging to her face, covering half of it.
"So? Mabui, shouldn't you obediently admit defeat now?"
The corner of Samui's mouth lifted slightly. Her gaze passed over Aoba's chest and looked toward her good sister on the other side, whose eyes were already half-closed, drifting between sleep and wakefulness.
She looked completely like the final victor.
Even Aoba hadn't expected Samui's competitive spirit in this regard to be this strong.
But thinking about it, she had already shown signs of it before.
Back then she even wanted to compete with Yugito.
'Could it be that she wants to be the big sister among the three of us?'
But right now Mabui was actually already close to collapsing.
She was truly exhausted now, so tired that she just wanted to lean against Aoba's chest and fall asleep.
It felt like the moment she closed her eyes, she would lose consciousness completely.
"Admit defeat?"
But after hearing Samui's words, her competitive spirit stirred again. She didn't know where the strength came from as she forced her eyes open and spoke in a slightly hoarse voice, trying to argue back.
"You're only taking advantage of having more experience. After Aoba-sama helps train me more during this period, it won't be long before..."
"Hm? Won't be long before what?"
Samui was still waiting for the rest of Mabui's words so she could refute them, when she suddenly realized the other person had stopped halfway through her sentence.
"She fell asleep."
Aoba explained with a helpless smile.
At the same time, he reached out and brushed aside the loose strands of hair stuck to Mabui's face that were covering her eyes.
Hearing that, Samui lifted her gaze to look and only then realized that Mabui had already closed her eyes. Her breathing was even and steady. She really had fallen asleep.
"..."
For a moment she didn't even know what to say.
"This Mabui really is useless."
"Alright, don't bully Mabui too much. After all, it was her first time."
Aoba also pinched Samui's "conscience," which could be considered helping Mabui get a little revenge.
"When did I bully her? She's the one who refused to admit defeat, okay? And just now I even helped her, alright? She's clearly repaying kindness with hostility."
Samui hadn't even intended that in the first place. She had just teased her a couple of times, and Mabui insisted on competing with her.
Besides, if it hadn't been for her help, Mabui would probably still be flustered over there.
"Seems like I wronged you. Do you want to pinch me back?"
After thinking about it, Aoba realized it really did seem to be the case and admitted his mistake on his own initiative.
Samui simply rolled her eyes at him, then squeezed his hand and asked curiously, "By the way, aren't your hands tired?"
"Hm?"
Aoba paused slightly, then understood what she meant and answered with a smile,
"Don't worry, not at all."
Earlier, the duel between the two of them was actually similar to when people used to play arcade games as kids.
The kind where each person had one life, and when one died, the next player would take over.
But in essence it was still somewhat different.
When playing arcade games, when one person was controlling the machine, the others could only watch eagerly from the side.
That situation wasn't quite the same as what had just happened between the two of them.
It was just that Samui had clearly underestimated the intensity of Aoba's usual exercise at home.
"That's good."
After hearing that, Samui didn't say anything more.
Aoba held both of them in his arms. Seeing that Samui was still fairly energetic, he brought up a serious matter.
"Samui, I need you to become the Daimyo of the Land of Lightning."
"Ah?"
Samui froze, clearly not expecting Aoba to say something like that at this moment.
Seeing her reaction, Aoba explained.
"Now that the Land of Fire and Konoha have mostly recovered, next I'm going to take action against the other four great nations. After that, I'll need you and Mabui to help me manage the Land of Lightning."
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