"Sasuke" waved at Sakura, signaling her to come closer.
Sakura shyly took two steps forward, then saw "Sasuke" press his index and middle fingers together, gently tapping her forehead with a doting expression.
"Sasuke-Gēgē" smiled domineeringly: "I noticed your Wide Forehead a long time ago, hehe."
After her shyness, Sakura still felt a hint of confusion; the appellation "Wide Forehead" sounded so awkward.
Ino also felt she was getting a bit carried away. Sasuke's body, infused with mental energy, indirectly boosted some of her mental energy, making her particularly "energetic." She felt this action was inappropriate and immediately shifted the blame.
In the mental world, she looked at Sasuke with a startled expression: "That's so strange, why would I make that gesture? Is it an instinctive reaction from your body, or did you secretly regain some control over your body?"
Sasuke certainly wouldn't explain his intimate past with his Oni-chan. His heart felt a little heavy; did his body really retain some instincts? His thoughts twisted and turned, finally turning into a cold snort: "You don't need to know!"
Ino nodded, good, young man, you caught that blame very steadily.
Outside, "Sasuke-Gēgē" looked kind, raising a hand to stroke Sakura's pink long hair.
This "fan-favoring" gesture made many fangirls upset. They loudly clamored, like three hundred ducks, chirping and squawking.
A group of girls started fighting, and the Jonin hid in the shadows, watching the show. Ino was almost laughing herself to tears.
She laughed in the mental world, and her smile wasn't hidden in the outside world either.
She didn't care if her smile looked like a domineering CEO or a crooked-mouthed war god, as long as it wasn't her who was embarrassed.
The girls fought for a while, pulling hair and scratching faces, making a lively scene. Just as Sakura, fighting four opponents, was about to gain the upper hand, Ino suddenly raised her voice: "Stop it right now! With you all like this, do you still want to marry into the Uchiha Clan?"
The girls immediately quieted down, looking at her like quails.
Her gaze swept over their faces.
"Good! You're all very spirited, all excellent girls! You completely possess the qualities to marry into the Uchiha Clan. However, for the sake of the Uchiha's descendants, I still need to test you, just as I said before, with riddles! Everyone has a chance, I only want the most outstanding one. Listen carefully! This riddle directly relates to whether you can marry into the Uchiha Clan..."
"Sasuke" coughed, and seeing that everyone's attention was focused on him, he said: "The riddle is like this: Its color is white as snow, its body hard as iron. It's washed three times a day, and hidden in a cabinet at night. Guess what it is?"
Sakura was dumbfounded, then, remembering something, her entire face turned crimson. The other girls had similar expressions.
Shikamaru's eyes flickered. This was his first time encountering such a riddle. He had an answer in mind, but he wasn't sure.
Seeing "Sasuke-Gēgē" looking at her, Sakura covered her face, trying to muster courage, but when the words reached her lips, she didn't know how to say them, and she hesitantly replied: "Is it... I guess it's... Oh, Sasuke-kun, you're so naughty!"
"Sasuke-Gēgē" didn't understand her expression, not knowing what these girls were thinking, so he could only reveal the answer: "It's a bowl!"
The girls, including Sakura, looked at Sasuke with resentment, seemingly feeling tricked. Ino glanced at the panel; the energy in the black pot began to slowly increase. She was excited. The Jonin knew she was using Mind Body Switch, but these girls, these Academy students, didn't! The Mind Body Switch Technique was definitely a divine art for shifting blame!
"Sasuke" closed his eyes in thought: "None of them answered correctly. The Uchiha Clan still needs to continue, and I can't have children myself, so what should I do? Ah, don't say I didn't give you a chance. How about this, I'll give you another riddle."
"Okay, okay!"
"Sasuke, I will definitely become your wife!"
"Sasuke, I will definitely answer it, I promise!"
"Sasuke" thought seriously: "The riddle is like this: Dressed in green, watery inside, it bears many children, each with a black face. What is it?"
The girls exchanged glances, communicating information in their eyes. This time it's not *that* thing, right? It shouldn't be! But it seems to be talking about a girl, something about being watery...
"I know! It's... it's Sasuke's bride." Sakura's face blushed.
"So cunning, I guessed it too! Actually, it's talking about me!"
"It's clearly talking about me! Only I can give Sasuke-kun lots and lots of children!"
The girls started arguing. Ino waited for half a minute, and out of the corner of her eye, she noticed Shikamaru muttering a word. She glared at him, and Shikamaru quickly covered his head with both hands, whistling and looking into the distance. After realizing that this guy wouldn't expose her, she retracted her gaze.
"Wrong! All wrong! What are you thinking? You idiots, the answer is a watermelon!"
Some Jonin suddenly understood, others nodded secretly. Might Guy took out his portable notebook, his expression devout, his movements swift, recording all the riddles and answers, planning to take them back to teach his students. Even the Third Hokage nodded with a minimal movement, finding the riddles quite interesting and rather amusing for children of Sakura's age. He thought he could change a few words and include them in his will of fire series of books; this was borrowing, not plagiarizing.
"I'll give you another riddle. Ears like fans, body like a small mountain, a long, long nose, helps people do work. What is it?"
The girls replied uncertainly: "...A shovel?"
Ino shook her head: "Wrong, it's an elephant."
The good old martial arts arena had turned into a riddle-solving contest.
Ino and her classmates were sixth-graders, and below them were naturally fifth-graders, fourth-graders, all the way down to first-graders.
The crowd by the stream slowly gathered together.
Watching a spectacle is human nature, and eventually, many villagers from the Village also came.
Ino needed more people to guess riddles with her, and then have Sasuke take the blame. She welcomed everyone.
The Third Hokage thought this teaching method was good. The school teachers dared not stop it, and naturally, more and more onlookers gathered.
"It has a face but no mouth, feet but no hands. Although it has four legs, it cannot walk by itself. What is it?"
Might Guy, hiding in the woods, shouted: "It's nunchaku! Two of them!"
Kakashi: "..."
Ino: "..."
Nunchaku your sister!
"The answer is a table..."