Chapter 33: Tenten, the Forgotten Tool Girl
After Hyuga Neji was carried away on a stretcher, the tower became deathly quiet.
Over at Team 3, Might Guy was holding the unconscious Neji and wailing, while Rock Leeclenched his fists nearby, his face covered in tears as he shouted about avenging Neji.
Only Tenten stood there quietly, leaning against the railing, her gaze following the receding stretcher. Now that even Neji, the strongest person in her heart, had lost, what was an ordinary Ninjalike herself supposed to do in the future?
She sighed softly and subconsciously looked up, only to collide with a direct gaze from the second floor opposite her.
Uzumaki Naruto was leaning on the railing, resting his face on one hand, looking over with a somewhat bored expression.
Seeing Tenten look over, Naruto didn't look away; instead, he grinned.
[Oh, so this is Tenten.]
Naruto's blue eyes blinked.
[Speaking of which, she's probably the one with the least presence among the Konoha 12, the King of Extras who's most easily forgotten, right? Every time she appears, she just throws Kunai, and every time they're easily deflected. Her track record is just too poor.]
Tenten was lost in thought when a voice suddenly rang out in her mind, causing her whole body to stiffen.
Who? King of Extras? Who is speaking?
[Actually, looking closely, she's quite cute. Those hair buns and that pink top have a very Chinese style; if she opened a restaurant and became the lady boss, business would definitely be great. Especially those deep red lantern pants, the lines of those calves... Tsk, that old rogue Kishimotoreally didn't know how to appreciate her; he barely drew her at all.]
Tenten's face instantly flushed red. The sadness she felt a moment ago vanished, replaced only by anger.
It doesn't matter who Kishimoto is! What matters is what this guy is babbling about! And... what kind of evaluation is 'restaurant lady boss'? I'm a Ninja! I'm highly skilled in Ninja tool manipulation!
Just as she was about to glare back, the voice rang out again.
[What a pity. The Ninja tool style has absolutely no future in this world full of 'cheats.' In a few matches, she'll run into that Temari from the Hidden Sand Village with the giant fan. Tsk tsk, that battle will be tragic. A sky full of shuriken blown away by a single swing of a fan, and she'll end up hanging off the fan herself, unable to even touch a corner of the other's clothes. It's a complete suicide mission.]
Tenten's pupils suddenly contracted.
Temari? That Sand Ninja carrying the Three-Star Fan? I'll lose to her? And lose that badly?
A strong surge of unwillingess and fear welled up in her heart. In the past, she would have dismissed this as nonsense, but Hinata had just defeated Neji... This Uzumaki Naruto's 'inner voice' might actually be a prophecy!
[Actually, Tenten's path is just too narrow.]
Naruto shifted into a more comfortable position, a hint of pity in his eyes.
[Shuriken, Kunai, senbon... are those things for Ninjas to play with? That's just kids playing house! The highest state of tool manipulation should be a Saturation Strike, shouldn't it?]
[Think about it. If what she summoned from her scrolls was a six-barreled Gatling Machine Gunfiring six thousand rounds per minute... Da-da-da-da-da! With a blue tongue of fire a meter long, I don't care if it's Rotation or a Three-Star Fan, you'd be turned into a sieve in an instant!]
In Tenten's mind, the heavenly curtain didn't just broadcast the voice; it faithfully projected an image based on Naruto's imagination that made her head buzz.
In the image, a version of herself wearing a qipao was holding a black iron beast with six barrels. When that thing started spinning, the sound alone made one tremble, followed by a spray of fire that turned enemies, rocks, and great trees alike into powder.
What kind of... power is that?
That metallic texture and the scent of gunpowder filled with an aura of destruction made Tenten, who had played with cold weapons her whole life, feel as if a great door in her heart had been kicked open.
[And that's not all!]
[A Gatling gun is just the basic operation. Since she has so many space-time scrolls, why throw things by hand? That's thinking too small!]
[True infinite Ninja tools should be like the Gate of Babylon. The entire sky should be filled with opened spaces, and what falls out shouldn't be Kunai, but hundreds of rockets strapped with explosive tags, or even Fuel-Air Bombs to clear the field...]
[At that time, Tenten would only need to lightly snap her fingers.]
[BOOM—!]
[Even if Uchiha Madara showed up, he'd have to kneel and shout: 'Big sister, I was wrong, I won't dance anymore.']
With a bang, Tenten felt as if her brain had exploded.
She stood there with her mouth agape, staring at the Blonde Youth in the distance. Just how is this guy's brain wired?
But... that's too cool!
The sky filled with golden ripples, destroying heaven and earth without even lifting a finger—this was the scene a Ninja tool user desired most!
[Ding!]
[Detected that you have developed anxiety over 'insufficient firepower' and have resonated with the 'truth of firearms' described by the protagonist!]
[Because of the overbearing image of 'Big Sister, I was wrong,' you have even forgotten the insult of him calling you an 'extra.']
[heavenly curtain rewards have been distributed!]
[Obtained Ability: Space-Time Tool Summoning · Zero Delay (No hand signs required, direct mental command)!]
[Obtained Talent: Sure-Hit Intuition · Level 1 (Possess extremely high accuracy when using projectile weapons)!]
[Obtained Special Blueprint Fragment: Rotary Machine Gun Schematic (Requires collecting materials and finding the Land of Artisans to forge)!]
A warm current instantly flooded Tenten's brain. She felt a mental connection with the scrolls in her Ninja tool pouch like never before. No longer needing to unfurl scrolls or perform hand signs, with just a thought, those iron tools would appear as if they were a part of her own body.
She tremblingly raised her hand. Her hand was clearly empty, but in the next second, a Kunaiappeared out of thin air at her fingertips, so fast she didn't even see it clearly herself.
Is this... Zero Delay?
Tenten snapped her head up toward the second floor. Her gaze toward Naruto shifted from the slight anger of before to looking at him as if he were a mountain of gold.
This kid's mouth is a bit mean and his mind is a bit perverted... but he really understands art!
Naruto on the second floor shivered.
"Strange... why did I suddenly get a chill down my spine, like I'm being targeted by some hunter."
He rubbed his arms, still thinking about other things.
[Sigh, what a pity. The idea is good, but I'm still a broke Genin; building a Gatling gun is probably going to be hard. Forget it, next time there's a chance, I definitely have to get Tenten to wear black stockings... ahem, wear a special ops suit. Even just striking a pose with a shuriken would be great.]
[Ding!]
[Detected that the heavenly curtain holder 'Tenten' has developed a extremely high level of approval toward you.]
[System rewards have arrived.]
[Obtained Passive Skill: Tool Throwing · 100% Empty-Handed Blade Catching!]
[Note: When facing any projectile attack, your hands will automatically parry with a 100% success rate. Even if you are eating ramen, your hands will automatically catch an incoming Kunai.]
Naruto froze for a moment, then complained in his heart.
[100% blade catching? What kind of skill is this? I'm not Li Jing.]
But he didn't know that down below, Tenten had already noted down that 'black stockings special ops suit' look in her mental notebook.
She took a deep breath, walked to the corner, and patted the tear-and-snot-covered Rock Lee.
"Stop crying, Lee." Tenten's voice was no longer as soft as before; instead, it felt a bit unfamiliar to Rock Lee, even slightly intimidating. "It doesn't matter that Neji lost. I'm here. I can use firepower to wipe out all our enemies."
Rock Lee looked up with snot hanging from his nose, staring blankly at his teammate: "Ten... Tenten? Are you saying something about youth?"
Tenten didn't explain. She just touched the Ninjatool pouch at her waist, a hint of a smile curling her lips.
"I'm saying, we need to go find Naruto and have a good talk with him about investing in art."