Chapter 48: The Goddess Alliance Assembles!
Five days remained until the official finals of the Chunin Exams.
Inside a certain abandoned air-raid shelter beneath Konoha Village.
A top-secret meeting that could change the course of the Ninja World was taking place here. But if you saw the faces of the participants, you would surely think it was the backstage of a beauty pageant or a girls' tea party.
"Is everyone here?"
Anko Mitarashi stepped one foot onto the dusty conference table and scanned the room boldly. Her fishnet bodysuit glistened under the candlelight, and she still held the last skewer of dango in her mouth.
Seated around the round table were all the famous female Ninjas of Konoha today.
Kurenai Yuhi was elegantly applying nail polish, her red eyes full of confidence; Hinata sat upright, her fingers nervously twisting the hem of her clothes, but a hint of determination was hidden deep in her eyes; Sakura and Ino, the pair of rivals, were still competing with their eyes to see whose chest was perkier; Tenten held a giant scroll, excitedly sketching some Gatling gun blueprints on paper.
And Yūgao Uzuki, who had just joined this small circle, had a look of utter disillusionment on her face. She huddled in the corner, clutching her sword hilt tightly, as if only a weapon could bring her a sense of security.
"Since everyone is here, the 'First General Shareholders' Meeting' will now begin." Ankoswallowed the dango in one gulp, her eyes turning cold. "There is only one agenda item—how to protect our 'number one cash cow' during that upcoming upheaval, and while we're at it, reap a massive harvest!"
"Cash cow... do you mean that dead last Naruto?" Yūgao couldn't help but ask in a low voice. Although she had already experienced that 'instant power-up' feeling once, tying the safety of the entire Village to a lecherous brat still felt absurd to her.
"Not just a cash cow, but a power bank and a wishing machine." Kurenai Yuhi gently blew on the red polish on her nails and added faintly, "Yūgao, you joined late. You might not have experienced that sense of urgency to become stronger just to be 'fantasized about by him' yet."
The women exchanged a knowing look. It was a complex understanding shared between victims and beneficiaries.
"Enough small talk." Anko pulled a crumpled scroll from her bosom, covered in dense, strange notes. "Based on my monitoring of that idiot's 'inner thoughts' while he was daydreaming over the past half-month, as well as the 'pervert quotes' compiled by Senior Kurenai, we have mapped out Orochimaru's troop deployment for this operation."
Anko pointed to a line of crooked characters on the scroll.
"The Sound Four. Orochimaru's bodyguards. If we don't deal with them in advance, they will activate a barrier called the Four Violet Flames Formation. By then, forget about us farming rewards; even that Old Man Hokage might be trapped inside and cooked."
"So, this involves our core task for today—splitting the loot... ah, no, I mean assigning tactical objectives."
Anko grinned, her smile looking a bit eerie in the candlelight.
"First, Jirobo. This fat guy is very strong and can absorb Chakra."
"I'll do it!" Sakura Haruno was the first to raise her hand. "Naruto complained in his head that day, saying, 'That fat guy looks incredibly weak. If Sakura used her monster strength to punch him in the stomach, would he burst like a watermelon?'"
Sakura cracked her knuckles, making a crisp popping sound. "Since he wants to see a watermelon burst, I'll give him an eyeful. I've been wanting to try out the 'Monster Strength: Pulverizing Version' I just got."
"What a violent maniac..." Ino rolled her eyes beside her but quickly raised her hand. "Then leave that Tayuya to me? I remember Naruto muttering something in his heart like, 'If that flute-playing beauty was controlled by Mind Transfer, would she play herself a lullaby instead?'"
Ino flipped her hair. "Hmph, she dares to use sound for genjutsu? It's about time this young lady taught her what real mind control is."
"That two-headed freak called Sakon and Ukon..." Tenten held up her design blueprints, her eyes sparkling with excitement. "Although Naruto didn't fantasize about this disgusting guy in much detail, he did mention, 'If this kind of fused freak encountered dense suppressive fire, would he be turned into a sieve?' I want to try out my new baby, that 'art' of three thousand rounds per second."
Although the women didn't understand what "three thousand rounds per second" meant, seeing Tenten's gaze that looked ready to turn someone into a pincushion, they all silently moved aside.
Finally, there was one left.
Kidōmaru, a spider-man with six arms who specialized in spitting silk.
The meeting room suddenly fell into an eerie silence. Everyone's eyes drifted, more or less, toward the soft-hearted and superficially innocent eldest daughter of the Hyuga clan.
Hinata felt everyone's gaze, and her face instantly turned into a ripe tomato, with steam sizzling out.
"Um... as for the spider-man... I-I'll take responsibility..." Her voice was as thin as a mosquito's buzz, almost inaudible if one didn't listen closely.
"Oh?" Anko leaned in with a mischievous grin. "Why choose this difficult one? I heard that guy's spider silk is unbreakable."
Hinata buried her head even lower, her fingers nearly shredding the hem of her clothes. She stammered for a long time before finally, as if throwing caution to the wind, she closed her eyes and shouted:
"Because... because when Naruto-kun passed by the forest yesterday, he was staring at a spider web and thinking..."
The women pricked up their ears.
"He was thinking... 'If a girl with a soft body like Hinata was entangled in sticky spider silk, struggling in mid-air... it would be like that bondage play thing, very... very exciting...'"
By the time Hinata finished, she looked like she was about to spontaneously combust. "If... if it can make him excited, I... I'm willing to try that... to see if I can reverse-control those threads..."
Pfft—!
Ino, who was drinking water, spat it all out, and Yūgao's hand jerked so hard she almost committed suicide with her own blade.
Even the battle-hardened Anko was stunned. Looking at the pure-hearted girl before her who was actually willing to accept being "bound by spider silk" just to please her beloved, she couldn't tell for a moment who the real pervert was.
"Is... is this the power of love?" Yūgao felt her worldview being shattered once again. "Or have you all lost all sense of shame for the sake of those so-called rewards?"
"This is strategy! It's a tactical sacrifice!" Kurenai corrected her solemnly, although even the tips of her ears had a suspicious flush.
[Ding!]
Just then, a notification sound rang out simultaneously in the minds of all the female Sky Screen Holders present.
[Detected that the host "Hyuga Hinata" has generated a bold and self-sacrificing "self-restraint combat concept."]
[Your "husband-protecting" will has reached resonance with the LSP brain hole.]
[Reward issued: Hyuga Style Secret Technique - Gentle Fist Art: Chakra Thread Manipulation (Originally a technique for puppeteers, in your hands, it will become a divine counter-restraint skill).]
Hinata snapped her head up, a sharp light flashing in her white eyes. She reached out, and with a slight flick of her fingers, several invisible Chakrathreads in the air suddenly tightened, instantly slicing off a piece of the table corner.
"I-It worked..." Hinata looked at her hands. Although her face was still red, the shyness in her eyes had been replaced by confidence. "With this kind of power, even if I really am tied up... I can still perform a counter-kill for Naruto-kun to see!"
"How terrifying..." Ino whispered. "This is what a scary woman truly looks like."
Anko clapped her hands, drawing everyone's attention back.
"Alright! Since the assignments are done, let's all get moving. Our goal is simple: on the day of the finals, let these four fools who don't know their place become experience packs for us to farm rewards!"
"That idiot only needs to act cool or drool on stage. The dirty work, the hard work... and even that weird 'Play,' will be handled by our 'Goddess Alliance'!"
"Yeah—!"
Several voices rang out in the dim air-raid shelter. Although the situation was full of things to complain about, the morale was unexpectedly high.
Meanwhile, in Naruto's apartment a few kilometers away.
Naruto, who was fast asleep, suddenly shuddered. He rolled over, muttering in his sleep:
"Hehe... Spider-Woman Hinata... must be so cute... Anko-sensei in leather... don't hit me with that whip..."
[Ding!]
Naruto didn't realize in his sleep what kind of passive skill his sleep-talking had brought him.
[Detected that your "Harem" is undergoing high-intensity tactical coordination for the sake of your fantasies.]
[As the core (culprit) of all this, you have gained a special "Protected" bonus.]
[Obtained Passive Buff: Goddess's Protection(When there are two or more female teammates with a favorability rating over 60 within 50 meters, your defense increases by 20% and your luck increases).]
Moonlight spilled over the rooftops of Konoha. A ridiculous war centered around a "would-be lecherous savior" was about to begin in five days.
And Orochimaru could never have dreamed that the Sound Four he had painstakingly trained were already slated to be the main course for a few crazy women who were researching how to please a man, even before they stepped onto the battlefield.