At this time, Tenten was tilting her head slightly, blinking her eyes, with a confused expression appearing on her cute face.
When Aoba saw the three of them, although his heart skipped a beat, there was not much ripple on the surface.
A true warrior dares to face the brutal field of shame directly!
He was only surprised for a moment at their sudden appearance, then spoke very naturally.
"Of course we're taking you guys along, Tenten. For something like an outdoor cookout, it's definitely more fun when everyone goes together."
"Is that so?", Tenten narrowed her eyes, looked at Aoba, then glanced at Hinata, who had her head lowered in embarrassment.
"I thought you two were trying to sneak off for some alone time, just like right now. Clearly said you'd wait for us, yet ended up sneaking away."
Aoba replied righteously, "Isn't that because you guys were late? We were already starving."
"This…", Tenten was instantly speechless. That was the truth, but even putting the truth aside, there were still reasons to complain.
She glanced at Ino and Sakura, who were currently interrogating Hinata, and said with some dissatisfaction, "It's all because Ino and Sakura dragged me; otherwise, I would've come long ago."
Ino and Sakura were originally angry that Hinata had secretly run off without them, but upon hearing Tenten's words, they both looked over with equal displeasure.
"You were the one dragging us! We were planning to speed up, but you insisted on pulling us along."
Although the topic had shifted, seeing that the three were about to argue again, Aoba quickly stood up and pulled them to their seats.
"Don't cause trouble for others. Sit down and have something to eat first, fill up your stomachs. When we head up later, it's going to take a lot of energy."
"Hmph!" ×3
The three girls all snorted lightly, then obediently sat down around the small square table.
Under Aoba's guidance, the small conflicts between the four quickly settled down.
They shifted to discussing the earlier mentioned topic of the next outdoor cookout.
"So you guys are all here!"
A surprised voice suddenly came from not far away, momentarily interrupting their discussion.
Naruto and Sasuke walked over together.
Aoba was a bit surprised. "Didn't expect you two to come together."
Sasuke, as always, had a blank expression, "Just happened to run into each other on the way, that's all."
Everyone was already used to Sasuke's tsundere attitude, and they greeted the two, telling them to sit and eat something first.
They resumed the discussion about the cookout and the upcoming evening festival.
Time always passes quickly when chatting, and before long, all the skewers they ordered had been eaten.
At that moment, the four girls' expressions subtly changed.
The atmosphere at the little table instantly shifted.
From casual skewer-chatting, it turned into a roundtable conference in the blink of an eye.
"W-what's going on?", Naruto looked confused, not understanding what was happening.
But Sasuke pulled him back, signaling him to stay quiet and just watch obediently.
"Let's begin then!", At that moment, Tenten took out a wooden cylindrical box and placed it on the table.
Then she brought out four colored sticks, red, white, yellow, and pink, and put them in one by one.
After shaking it for a few seconds, she set it on the table and pushed it toward Aoba.
Tenten, Hinata, Ino, and Sakura all looked nervously at Aoba.
Aoba looked at the lot-drawing box in front of him, a bit amused.
This felt just like flipping a nameplate.
"Wait a minute!", Just as Aoba was about to reach for it, Ino suddenly spoke.
"What is it?", Aoba asked, puzzled.
Ino looked toward Tenten, "You didn't tamper with it inside, did you?"
"Hmph!", Tenten snorted softly, replying irritably, "I would never use such petty tricks!"
"That's not certain. Hinata, take a look," Ino nudged Hinata beside her with her elbow.
"Okay!", Hinata immediately activated her Byakugan, seeing through the box's contents clearly.
After a careful inspection, she shook her head, "No problem."
"Hmph, see? You think I'm like you?", A look of disdain appeared on Tenten's face as she went straight for a face-to-face taunt.
"In Aoba's words, this is judging a gentleman's heart with a petty person's mind."
She had actually thought about doing a little trick at first, after all, it was a chance to be alone with Aoba in the woods at night, plus all sorts of little traps.
A perfect opportunity to trigger various low-probability events. If they were a bit older, maybe they could even trigger a 16+ special scene...
Such chances didn't come often.
But she had already predicted that Ino would raise such doubts, so she gave up on the idea.
'A mere Ino, already seen through her.'
And she could use this chance to land a vicious taunt on her opponent's face, and the other party couldn't even refute.
"Hmph!", Ino couldn't stand Tenten's "smug petty-villain" look, and let out a snort, turning her head away, refusing to respond.
'To think she didn't even do anything, what a wasted opportunity.'
Aoba looked at the scene and smiled helplessly, then reached out and patted both their heads to comfort them.
Then he picked up the lot box and poured out a pink stick.
———
At this moment.
In the forest.
Led by Uchiha Itachi.
Uchiha Fugaku was behind him, leading many Uchiha clan elites moving through the darkness.
Since Uchiha Itachi was a member of the Anbu, only he understood the layout near the Hokage building.
So he took the lead.
Only…
"Itachi, this isn't the way to the Hokage building!", Uchiha Fugaku's voice rang out abruptly in the dark, and he suddenly stopped, standing atop a tall tree.
In an instant, all the Uchiha clan elites behind him stopped as well.
They raised their heads and looked toward the Hokage Rock, realizing that they were indeed moving further and further from the Hokage building.
They just didn't know why none of them had noticed this detail earlier.
"Didn't expect to be found out so soon?", Uchiha Itachi also stopped, turned around, and looked at the crowd before him.
A pair of crimson Sharingan eyes lit up in the darkness.
"Itachi, don't tell me you've betrayed us too?", Uchiha Fugaku's voice carried sorrow.
As if he had suffered the greatest betrayal of his life.
His words immediately made all the Uchiha present raise their guard, one pair after another of crimson Sharingan eyes lit up in the dark.
"Uchiha Itachi… Are you going to stop us?"
Uchiha Itachi didn't speak, he just drew a short sword from behind.
Uchiha Fugaku's gaze sharpened slightly, "Itachi, you really have betrayed the clan! Is it for Konoha?"
"Sorry, Father. This isn't for Konoha, it's to see my own strength!"
Uchiha Itachi's eyes were cold, his tone devoid of any emotion, "You're not going to come out yet?"
"Hehe, I thought you could handle it alone."
As the space around them fluctuated—
A teasing voice rang out, accompanied by the sound of chains scraping.
Next, a figure clad in a black robe and wearing a tiger-striped mask appeared before the Uchiha clan members.
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