Hinata looked at me, her eyes filled with determination. "I will do my best, Naruto-kun. I will not lose."
"That is the spirit," I grinned. "Just... try not to trip on anyone during the written exam, okay?"
"I will try," she promised.
We disbanded for the day to "prepare mentally." In reality, I wanted to test my new chain. I walked with Hinata toward the training grounds, taking the long route through the village.
As we turned a corner near a fence, we heard a commotion.
"Let me go! You jerk!"
It was a child's voice. I recognized it immediately. Konohamaru.
We rushed around the corner.
There, standing in the middle of the street, were three strangers. One was a boy in a black full-body suit with cat ears and purple face paint. He was holding Konohamaru by the scarf, lifting the kid off the ground. Next to him was a girl with four spiky blonde pigtails and a giant metal fan on her back.
And behind them, silent and terrifying, stood a boy with red hair and a giant gourd.
The Sand Siblings. Kankuro, Temari, and Gaara.
"Put him down," I said, stepping forward. My voice was calm, but inside, I was screaming. ("Gaara is here. The guy who crushes people for fun. System, tell me Gaara isn't a target for the Rito Effect. Please.")
"Scanning..." The System hummed. "Gaara of the Desert. Status: Unstable Jinchuriki. Danger Level: Catastrophic. Rito Effect Probability: Low, due to 'Sand Armor' defense preventing physical contact. However, target Kankuro (The Puppet User) is wide open."
Kankuro sneered at me. "Another annoying leaf brat? This kid bumped into me. I am teaching him a lesson."
"He is just a kid," Hinata said, stepping up beside me. She slipped into her Gentle Fist stance. "Please release him."
Kankuro’s eyes tracked Hinata. He looked at her mesh armor. He looked at her legs. He grinned a greasy, unpleasant grin.
"Well, well," Kankuro leered. "The Leaf Village has some nice scenery after all. Maybe I will let the kid go if you come hang out with us, sweetheart."
"Warning," the System announced. "Sexual Harassment Detected. Hostile Male Target: Kankuro. Initiating Rito Effect: The Puppet Master’s Folly."
"Put him down, or I will make you," I warned, my hand reaching behind my back. ("Time to test the chain.")
Kankuro laughed. "You? Make me?"
He moved his fingers. Strings of chakra connected to the bandaged bundle on his back—his puppet, Crow.
"Crow! Attack!" Kankuro yelled.
The puppet unwrapped itself, flying toward me.
At the same time, Temari sighed. "Kankuro, stop playing around." She reached for her fan.
"Hinata, dodge!" I yelled.
Hinata moved. She side-stepped the puppet. But as she moved, the System activated the trap card.
Kankuro was so focused on controlling the puppet that he didn't notice Konohamaru flailing. Konohamaru kicked out, his small sandal connecting with Kankuro’s shin.
"Ouch!" Kankuro yelped.
His concentration broke. The chakra strings snapped or tangled.
The puppet, Crow, lost its lift. It crashed to the ground. But because Kankuro was stepping forward, he tripped over his own puppet.
"Whoa!"
Kankuro fell forward.
Hinata, having dodged the puppet, was now standing directly in his path. Seeing a grown ninja falling toward her, she panicked.
"Rotation!" she cried, trying to use the Hyuga defensive move.
But she hadn't mastered it yet. Instead of spinning chakra, she just spun herself.
She slipped on the loose bandages of the puppet.
Hinata fell. Kankuro fell.
Physics took a holiday.
Kankuro landed flat on his back. Hinata landed on top of him. But it wasn't a simple landing. Her knee drove into his solar plexus, knocking the wind out of him. Her hands slammed onto his shoulders to brace herself. And her face ended up inches from his painted face.
To make matters worse, Kankuro’s chakra strings were still active and flailing wildly. They wrapped around Hinata’s waist and pulled her hips down, locking her against him.
"Gah!" Kankuro wheezed.
"Netorare Situation Detected!" The System chimed. "The 'Puppet Bondage' Event. Shy Points Gained: One Thousand Two Hundred."
"Get off him!" Temari shouted, swinging her giant fan. "Wind Scythe Jutsu!"
She was about to blast Hinata (and her own brother) with a gust of wind.
"Oh no you don't!" I shouted.
I focused on the heat in my back. ("Adamantine Chain! Restrain her!")
I felt a massive drain on my chakra. From the small of my back, a golden, spectral chain erupted. It wasn't physical metal; it was pure, condensed chakra.
It shot toward Temari like a golden viper.
"What is that?!" Temari gasped. She tried to open her fan to block it.
The chain ignored the fan. It wrapped around the fan, then whipped around her waist, her arms, and her legs in a split second.
Clink!
The chain tightened.
Temari was instantly immobilized. Her arms were pinned to her sides, her legs bound together. She toppled over, hitting the dirt with a thud.
But here is where the System’s "sentient" description came into play. The chain didn't just bind her; it lifted her up and suspended her in the air, dangling her upside down.
"Put me down!" Temari screamed, her face turning red as gravity worked against her skirt. She frantically tried to hold it down with her bound hands. "You pervert! What kind of Jutsu is this?!"
"I... uh..." I stared at the golden chain protruding from my back, holding a terrifying Sand Kunoichi upside down like a prize catch. ("System! I said restrain, not... this!")
"The Chain responds to the subconscious desires of the Netorare System," the voice replied calmly. "It prioritizes 'exposure' and 'humiliation' of hostile targets. Temari is now flagged as a 'Captured Target'."
I looked at the scene.
Kankuro was groaning on the ground with Hinata pinned on top of him by puppet strings. Temari was dangling upside down in a golden bondage chain. Konohamaru was standing there with his mouth open.
.....
...