"Sasuke" waved at Sakura, signaling her to come closer.
Sakura, blushing shyly, took two steps forward. Then, "Sasuke" brought his index and middle fingers together and gently tapped her forehead with a doting gesture.
"Sasuke-nii" smiled with a hint of dominance: "I've noticed your wide forehead for a while now, hehe."
After her initial shyness, Sakura felt a twinge of confusion. The term "wide forehead" sounded a bit off to her. Ino, too, felt she might have overstepped. Sasuke's body, infused with spiritual energy, had indirectly boosted her own spiritual energy, making her feel unusually "spirited." Realizing the gesture might have been inappropriate, she quickly shifted the blame.
In the spiritual realm, she looked at Sasuke with suspicion: "This is strange. Why did I do that? Was it an instinctive reaction from your body, or did you secretly regain some control?"
Sasuke, of course, wouldn't explain his past intimacy with "Oni-chan." He felt a heaviness in his heart—did his body still retain some instincts? After a whirlwind of thoughts, he finally let out a cold snort: "You don't need to know!"
Ino nodded, thinking, Well done, young man. You're carrying this blame quite steadily.
In the physical world, "Sasuke-nii" looked benevolent as he reached out to pat Sakura's pink hair.
This "fan-loving" gesture caused an uproar among the fangirls. They started shouting like a flock of three hundred ducks, creating a cacophony of noise.
The girls began to fight, pulling hair and scratching faces, while the jonin watched from the shadows, thoroughly entertained. Ino was nearly doubled over with laughter.
She laughed both in the spiritual realm and openly in the physical world.
She didn't care whether her smile resembled that of a domineering CEO or a smug warrior. After all, it wasn't her who'd be embarrassed.
The girls fought fiercely, with Sakura holding her own against four opponents, about to gain the upper hand. Suddenly, Ino raised her voice: "Stop it! Do you really think you can marry into the Uchiha clan acting like this?"
The girls immediately quieted down, looking at her like timid quails.
Her gaze swept over their faces.
"Good! You're all full of spirit, excellent girls! You certainly have what it takes to marry into the Uchiha clan. But for the sake of the Uchiha's future generations, I'll test you with a riddle, as I mentioned earlier. Everyone has a chance, but I'll only choose the best. Listen carefully! This riddle directly determines whether you can marry into the Uchiha family."
"Sasuke" coughed, waiting until all eyes were on him before speaking: "Here's the riddle. It's as white as snow, as hard as iron, washed three times a day, and hidden in a cabinet at night. What is it?"
Sakura was stunned, then blushed furiously as if she'd thought of something. The other girls had similar reactions.
Shikamaru's eyes flickered. It was his first time encountering such a riddle. He had an answer but wasn't sure.
Noticing "Sasuke-nii" looking at her, Sakura covered her face, trying to muster the courage to speak. But when the words came out, they were hesitant: "I think it's... Oh, Sasuke-kun, you're so naughty!"
"Sasuke-nii" didn't understand her expression and had no idea where these guys' thoughts had wandered, so he could only reveal the answer: "It's a bowl!"
Including Sakura, the girls looked at Sasuke with resentment, feeling as if they had been played. Ino glanced at the panel, noticing the energy in the black pot slowly increasing. She felt a surge of excitement. The jonin knew she was using the Mind Body Switch Technique, but these girls, these academy students, didn't. The Mind Body Switch Technique was definitely a divine skill for making someone take the blame!
"Sasuke" closed his eyes in thought: "No one answered correctly. The Uchiha clan still needs to continue, but I can't have children myself. What should I do? Well, I'll give you another chance. Here's another riddle."
"Okay, okay!"
"Sasuke, I will definitely become your wife!" "Sasuke, I will definitely answer it, I promise!"
"Sasuke" thought seriously for a moment: "Here's the riddle. Wearing green clothes, with water inside, bearing many children, all with black faces. What is it?"
The girls exchanged glances, silently communicating. This time, it's not that thing, right? Probably not! But it seems to be talking about a girl, something about water... "I know! It's Sasuke's bride!" Sakura blushed.
"That's sneaky, I figured it out too. It's actually talking about me!"
"No, it's clearly about me. Only I can give Sasuke-kun lots and lots of children!"
The girls started arguing. Ino waited for half a minute, noticing Shikamaru muttering something out of the corner of her eye. She glared at him, and Shikamaru quickly raised his hands in surrender, whistling and looking away. Satisfied that he wouldn't ruin her plan, she turned her attention back.
"Wrong! All wrong! What are you all thinking? A bunch of idiots, the answer is watermelon!"
Some of the jonin had an epiphany, while others nodded subtly. Might Guy took out his notebook, looking devout, and quickly recorded the riddle and its answer, planning to teach it to his students later. Even the Third Hokage gave a slight nod, finding the riddle quite interesting. For kids like Sakura and her peers, it was quite entertaining. He thought he could tweak a few words and include it in his Will of Fire series—after all, it's inspiration, not plagiarism. "Here's another riddle. Ears like fans, body like a hill, nose long and long, helps people with work. What is it?"
The girls answered uncertainly, "...a shovel?"
Ino shook her head: "Wrong, it's an elephant."
The serious martial arts competition had turned into a riddle-guessing event.
Ino and her friends were sixth-year students, and naturally, there were fifth-year, fourth-year, and all the way down to first-year students.
The crowd by the small river gradually gathered.
Humans are naturally drawn to spectacles, and eventually, even many villagers from the town came over.
Ino needed more people to join her in guessing riddles and then pin the blame on Sasuke. She welcomed everyone.
The Third Hokage thought this educational method was quite good. The school teachers didn't dare to stop it, so the crowd naturally grew larger and larger.
"It has a face but no mouth, feet but no hands, four legs but can't walk. What is it?"
Might Guy, hiding in the woods, shouted loudly: "It's nunchaku! Two sticks!"
Kakashi: "..."
Ino: "..."
Double your sister!
"The answer is the table."