Chapter 14: This Damn, Nowhere to Place Charm!
After a brief embrace, the two figures immediately separated.
The forest fell silent once more. Morning mist drifted between them, and the atmosphere was a bit awkward.
Naruto took two steps back, rubbing his fingers as if savoring the moment.
Couldn't tell.
This pink kimono looked thin, but the fabric was unexpectedly thick. Plus, the collision just now was too fast; besides that intoxicating faint medicinal fragrance and soft touch, he didn't have time to confirm whether it was flat or curvy at all!
[Damn it! I failed! Doesn't this mean I verified nothing?]
[And what was with my heart beating so fast just now? Li Yi, oh Li Yi, stay steady! The person standing before you is a genuine man who, according to the official Databook, is bigger than you once he pulls it out!]
[But... looking at those slightly reddened corners of the eyes from shyness, that look of wanting to speak but not daring to while biting the lip... if it's a man, I would also...]
[No! Stop your dangerous thoughts! If you turn gay, how can you face Big Sister Tsunade and Little Sister Mei Terumī who are waiting for you?!]
Opposite him, Haku was currently clutching his collar tightly with both hands, his whole body trembling slightly.
He was trembling because of the voice that continued to bombard his mind, like someone loudly plotting in the depths of his soul how to "know a man and go for it."
Every mention of "it's a man in the Databook" reminded him he was a boy, yet the following perverted comments about "reddened eyes" and "hesitating to speak" made him feel like he was being stripped bare and scrutinized under a magnifying glass.
This kind of mental torture was even more terrifying than Lord Zabuza's killing intent!
"Whew..."
Haku forcibly suppressed the urge to immediately silence the Blonde Youth in front of him, trying to pull the conversation back on track. He had to regain his composure as Lord Zabuza's tool.
"You... seem very energetic."
Haku's voice returned to its original cool and gentle tone, though upon closer listening, the end of his words still trembled slightly. "Training in the forest so early, is it because there's something you want to protect? Or rather... someone very important to you?"
This was a very reasonable question. According to a normal script, the protagonist should deliver a hot-blooded speech about their ninja way and bonds at this moment, thereby touching the assassin's cold heart.
Naruto indeed immediately put on a serious expression. He looked up, his azure eyes gazing deeply at Haku as the breeze blew through his hair, making the scene look quite handsome.
However, the content playing on the heavenly curtain was a different story entirely.
[An important person?]
[Looking into these eyes... Damn, why do I see stars in his pupils?]
[If I followed my heart, the thing I want to do most right now is pin you down on this dew-covered grass, and even if you scream 'I'm a man,' I'll use actions to shut your mouth...]
[Stop, stop, stop! This is a young adult publication! It won't pass censorship! And this is a guy, ahhh!]
[But... an important person... if I say 'it's you' right now, would this guy be so moved that he'd directly offer himself to me?]
[No, forget it. In case he actually does, and on the wedding night two handles are pulled out, that scene would be too beautiful for me to watch.]
*Crack.*
Haku felt as if something in his mind had shattered. The mask of the cold-blooded assassin crumbled into dust before these wild inner thoughts.
Grass? Pin down? Shut the mouth? Wedding night?
This string of vocabulary made Haku see stars. His face burned once again at a speed visible to the naked eye, the flush even penetrating that thin layer of base makeup.
He didn't want to understand! But the heavenly curtain very thoughtfully provided some suggestive pixelated images.
What on earth is inside this person's head?!
Isn't he doing this for his so-called ninja way and dreams? Why would he associate it with those kinds of things!
What made him even more uncomfortable was that even facing this inner monologue that could be called mental pollution, his heart... actually skipped a beat.
It was because amidst that pile of trash, there was an extremely strong, unreserved purity—even knowing I am a man, he still couldn't control being attracted to me.
For him, who lived as a tool, this unreasonable craving actually possessed a fatal attraction.
[Ding!]
[Detected that the host "Haku" is enduring the protagonist's "impulse to cross gender and species (?) barriers" and the "intense clash between reason and desire."]
[Emotional Judgment: Shame level off the charts, accompanied by a form of self-doubt and wavering: "Could my charm be so great that he ignores gender?"]
[This wavering touches the essence of Ice Release—ice is both hard and water that can melt.]
[Congratulations to the host for obtaining the reward: Ice Release Nature Transformation · Absolute Zero (Qualitative Change)]
[Description: Your ice is no longer just a manifestation of Chakra; it begins to be tainted with a conceptual chill that can freeze even heat. Just as you currently wish to freeze your own restless heart.]
A wave of cold suddenly erupted from Haku's body. On the surrounding grass, dewdrops instantly condensed into ice beads.
"I..."
Haku took a step back, his eyes becoming frantic—the instinctive reaction of prey facing a top predator. "I... I have to go."
If he stayed any longer, he feared he would truly break.
Whether it was his conviction as a tool or his common sense as a boy, everything would be completely destroyed by the Blonde Youth before him.
*Whoosh!*
Without any extra movement, Haku directly activated a not-so-proficient Body Flicker Technique. His figure turned into a swirl of ice flowers and instantly disappeared into the thick mist with a flustered messiness.
Leaving behind only a cold breeze carrying a cool fragrance.
"Hey! Don't go! We haven't exchanged contact info yet! I don't mind that you're a guy... Eh?"
Naruto instinctively reached out to grab, but only caught a handful of cold mist.
Looking in the direction where that pink figure had disappeared, Naruto let out a long sigh, looking somewhat dejected.
He plopped down where Haku had just stood, plucked a blade of frost-covered grass, and put it in his mouth to chew.
It was bitter.
Just like his conflicted heart right now.
[Sigh... My first love just got lost at the crossroads of gender.]
[Why run so fast? I won't eat you... Although I want to in my heart, I haven't even made a move yet, have I?]
[But... even that running posture is as beautiful as a painting. That swaying hem of the kimono, that look of panic in the moment of looking back... Truly, a pity.]
[Forget it, forget it. The next time we meet will probably be on the battlefield, right? At that time...]
[If I shatter all his Demonic Mirroring Ice Crystalsand trap him in a corner, looking at that pitiful appearance of his... Tsk tsk tsk, even a rough guy like Zabuza would feel sorry for him, right?]
While Naruto continued to refine a battlefield plan in his head that would make the person involved cough up blood, he regretfully patted his butt and stood up.
[Ding!]
At the same time, the system's emotionless prompt finally appeared before his eyes.
[Detected that the host successfully crushed the mental defenses of the S-rank important character "Haku" with "excessive imagination," causing extreme panic and self-doubt.]
[Achievement Unlocked: Knowing the Man and Going for It]
[Evaluation: You have proven with practical actions that a true gentleman is not bound by mere gender. Your mental attacks have reached a level sufficient to interfere with reality.]
[Congratulations to the host for obtaining the rewards: Nine-Tailed Chakra Adaptability +5%, massive Chakra infusion!]
[Obtained Passive Status: Charm resistance against characters with a "specific temperament" -50%, attack desire -50%, conquest desire +100%.]
A stream of heat surged from the seal on his abdomen through his entire body, instantly warming his slightly chilled frame.
Naruto clenched his fists, feeling the Chakravolume in his body surge once again, a satisfied wicked smile appearing on his face.
Although I didn't get to hug a wife, receiving the cheat isn't a loss!
And...
[With this adaptability, using that red cheat should be smoother in the future, right? When I meet that guy again, I'll show him what a punch filled with love looks like.]
He patted the dirt off his clothes, hung that silly smile back on his face, and hummed an out-of-tune tune as he walked toward Tazuna's house.
He had no idea that on the bridge over there, a pink-haired girl was falling into a strong sense of crisis and jealousy because of the question and answer about the "important person" in the heavenly curtain's live broadcast.