"Those two little girls actually want to play mind games with me? I'm just not stooping to their level. No way they'll get an advantage without giving something in return. Let them play their awkward friendship drama—I've got no intention of getting involved."
Mizuki didn't really care either way. He only needed to teach one student, so adding a tagalong was simply someone extra he could ignore completely—actually, having an extra pair of hands saved him quite a bit of trouble. Besides, he'd already accepted Sakura Haruno's payment. As for Ino Yamanaka, if she wanted to watch, fine. If she hoped to gain any real insights, well, that depended entirely on her skills.
By now he'd worked himself into quite the busy state—the streets were already crowded, though there were clearly increasing numbers of unfamiliar faces. This time of day usually saw lots of hurried workers, while couples strolling hand-in-hand like the ones ahead of Mizuki were relatively rare.
"Huh? Isn't that Asuma Sarutobi and Kurenai Yuhi in front? Two instructors skipping duties to train Genin, huh? Out here showing off their romance?"
"Hey you smoking guy with the beard! Yeah, don't look around, I'm talking to you!" With some free time to kill, Mizuki decided to tease them a little, "Why so nervous? Did you do something shady?"
"Not at all—we just happened to meet each other," Asuma looked rough but surprisingly turned out to be quite shy.
"I never said anything about you two—you're confessing without being accused!" Mizuki gave them a knowing look, "You 'happened' to meet, then decided to have breakfast together?"
"Yeah, yeah~" Both answered simultaneously, almost competing.
"Jonin Asuma, Jonin Kurenai~"
"Yes, what is it?"
"I just came from the Third. We were discussing Konoha's new Genin teams—they've performed rather well overall, although..."
"Although what?" At mention of the Hokage, both became attentive.
"It seems some people have been slacking after entering the third stage," Mizuki casually remarked, "Take Kakashi Hatake for example—he's our most dedicated teacher. Already extremely busy training Uchiha Sasuke, yet still making special arrangements for neglected students like Sakura Haruno and Naruto Uzumaki. Truly a model instructor. But others... well, let's say their team performances aren't exactly impressive, yet they remain as casual as ever. Not necessarily bad exactly—inexperienced instructors producing such results deserves credit. It's just...comparison makes certain things look worse than they are."
"Ahhaha~ How could that be?" Asuma forced a laugh, obviously uncomfortable, "Actually, I remember I have something else to do. Gotta go first~"
"Same here. I need to arrange Shino's training. Running late already~" Kurenai also prepared to leave.
"Tsk, what a bore. Thought we might chat longer, but turns out you two don't know how to take a joke," Mizuki muttered with mock disappointment.
"Exactly! They were so obvious too, yet insisted on pretending not to notice. We had to pretend not to notice too—it's exhausting, you know!" Suddenly another bold voice joined in without restraint.
"Eh?" Taken aback by this unexpected voice, Mizuki turned around immediately, "Oh, it's you, Examiner Anko? Early start today."
"Hahaha~" Anko slapped Mizuki's shoulder heartily as she laughed, "You're actually pretty sharp! Never realized before. Used to think you only messed with young Genin trainees. Didn't expect you had guts to tease senior Jonin!"
Mizuki endured her hard pats without complaint.
"Not that we're close friends, are we? Coming on this strong doesn't seem right."
"How could you say that? I'm just delivering Lord Third's advice to an irresponsible mentor."
"You really do talk exactly like Kakashi described," Anko Mitarashi said, increasing the pressure of her palm. "Excellent talent for speaking nonsense with a straight face. You've got potential—I guess I shouldn't be surprised you mentioned becoming a performer recently. You're truly gifted~"
Seeing through him, Mizuki didn't get angry: "I'm just thinking about our village's genin, you know? The Chunin Exams are life-changing opportunities. Being better prepared is always better."
"Then why leave Sakura Haruno alone at the flower shop studying by herself?" Anko leaned in with a suspicious grin. "I just came from your flower shop and heard Kakashi paid quite handsomely for you to tutor her. There's quite a gap between what you're saying and what you're doing, isn't there?"
"That's impossible! I'm simply balancing work and rest." Hahaha~ He really hated these thick-headed, overly earnest ninja who were hard to deal with and didn't know how to beat around the bush.
"Taking a break before even getting any work done in the morning—that's unusual," Mitarashi teased without mercy. "Hmm? You smell strangely familiar… Odd~?" She moved closer, one hand rubbing her neck, another brushing over the cursed seal area on Mizuki's right arm, sniffing curiously.
"Erm… excuse me, is something wrong? This is making me uncomfortable," such intimate behavior out in public was too improper—the rumors might reach Tsubaki's ears, causing trouble later. "I ate quite a few dango this morning. Maybe that's what you're smelling?"
"Ohhh, that's it then. No wonder the smell felt familiar—you've got great taste," Anko nodded in realization. "I haven't had breakfast yet. Perfect timing—I'll grab some dango skewers then. See ya!"
Watching Anko walk off energetically, Mizuki finally exhaled in relief.
"I'm definitely not good at dealing with thick-headed hot-blooded ninja types who act purely on impulse."
Mizuki gently touched the cursed seal sealed beneath his right forearm.
"It's definitely not time to expose myself yet. My cursed seal's activity did increase after the last activation, but as long as the seal holds, it should be fine. Orochimaru's return has reactivated Anko's cursed seal—it's currently active. Looks like I'd better avoid both Anko Mitarashi and Sasuke Uchiha for now."
At around noon, Mizuki arrived at Four Seasons Flower Shop carrying several boxed lunches, finding two young girls—one still studying, the other counting money.
"Lunchtime. Take a little break."
"Great," After a whole morning's work, everyone did feel rather tired.
But Ino Yamanaka seemed to have a question ready: "Teacher Mizuki, my family's flower shop is located almost equally as well as this place, selling similar varieties. Why does Four Seasons Flower Shop do so much better business than mine? That's just too strange."
"Commercial secret. No comment," Mizuki naturally wouldn't admit he used [Genjutsu] to manipulate sales.
"Ugh!" Ino muttered in frustration. "I just can't accept this—how is it fair that someone who doesn't know anything about flowers can outshine our family, who've worked in this business for generations? The flower master must be biased."
"You're absolutely right," Ino muttered to herself. "If there really is a flower master, it must be on my side. I even named my shop well—'Four Seasons Flower Shop.' That's so much more fitting! What does your family's legacy even mean by comparison?"
Having loved flowers since childhood and worked with them for over a decade, Ino just couldn't bear it. But there was no denying the truth, and she had no argument left to make.
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