The next second, Sakura lost her rationality. She roared and threw a punch towards Nojuro Ryun's head.
It must be said that although Sakura's current strength is lacking, her violent temperament is already fully evident.
This book is first published on the Taiwanese Novel Website → twkan.com, providing you with an error free, non scrambled chapter reading experience.
Unfortunately, Ryun is not Naruto. He would not deliberately yield to Sakura.
He raised his hand and caught Sakura's wrist. Then, with a twist of his wrist, he threw Sakura back onto the bed.
Then, Ryun used his own kimono sash to tie Sakura up, trussing her up like a zongzi.
Sakura struggled and hopped a few times. Finally, she bumped her head against the headboard. Dizzy and seeing stars, she finally calmed down a little.
Who am I. Where am I. Why am I tied up.
Facing life's three questions, Sakura struggled to sit up. She looked at Ryun, then looked at the surroundings, before finally speaking. "Nojuro, am I alright now?"
"If you are referring to your injuries, I am glad to say, mission accomplished. It turns out I have a rather good talent for medical ninjutsu. I managed to heal your injuries."
Sakura once again carefully felt her body. After confirming there was no burning pain anywhere, she finally showed a relieved smile.
However, looking at her current tied up state, she said somewhat embarrassed and annoyed, "Can you let me go first?"
"Then you must promise not to hit me again."
"I won't. I was just startled from a nightmare earlier..."
Sakura said a reason she herself didn't believe. She clearly knew it was because Ryun had seen her body, making her so shy her mind short circuited.
But then, thinking that Ryun's role earlier was essentially that of a doctor, she felt maybe it wasn't that embarrassing after all. That was a lie.
With only her thin juban left underneath, large parts of Ryun's neck were exposed, faintly revealing his defined shoulder blades. How could Sakura possibly maintain her composure.
At least for now, the Ryun in Sakura's eyes was much more handsome than Sasuke.
As for Sasuke, just thinking about his somewhat crazed behavior earlier, Sakura still felt a faint fear.
Even though Sasuke was still as handsome as ever, someone who casually hurts women had already exceeded the limits of what Sakura could bear.
The current Sakura and Sasuke are not yet teammates. Her tolerance for Sasuke naturally isn't that high, nor does she have the idea of pulling Sasuke back onto the right path even at the cost of abandoning herself.
Keeping her distance is the most normal reaction.
Of course, without further external intervention, if she still forms a team with Naruto and Sasuke in the future, she would likely return to her original life trajectory.
But now she is facing Ryun. Ryun would not waste the opportunity Sasuke created for him today.
Ryun untied the sash binding Sakura. Sakura finally let out a sigh of relief and used Ryun's kimono to wrap herself up.
"Thank you."
Sakura spoke somewhat gloomily, saying, "Later, I will find a way to repay you. As for your kimono, I will return it to you after I wash it clean. For now, please lend it to me to wear."
In Sakura's view, Ryun would probably reply with 'you're welcome', or some polite words like 'don't mention it' or 'no need to mind'.
But Ryun's following words completely caught her off guard.
"No. I should be the one thanking you. You protected me."
Sakura looked at Ryun in astonishment, then smiled self deprecatingly, saying, "Are you trying to use this reason to make me give up on repaying the favor?"
"Your intention is good, but don't use such a lame excuse."
"Your strength is greater than mine. At that time, I rushed forward without thinking and hugged you. I actually caused you trouble, didn't I?"
"You could have dodged directly. I wouldn't have gotten hurt either. I messed everything up. I..."
Sakura's voice grew smaller and smaller, eventually fading away.
She didn't say the words 'I'm useless', even though she had already confirmed this point in her heart.
She didn't have much talent. Her strength was weak. She had an inferiority complex since childhood, and only regained some initial confidence through Ino.
As graduation approached, the thought of soon having to kill as a ninja made Sakura feel utterly unconfident. She simply didn't know what power she could use to fight.
The reason for Sakura's dejection was perfectly clear to Ryun.
This reason was the same as why Sakura wasn't well liked. That is, Sakura, coming from an ordinary background, couldn't keep up with Sasuke and Naruto in strength, providing minimal help to the two.
In a sense, Sakura was even a troublemaker and a burden. Ryun from his previous life held similar views.
But in this life, he worked as a low level grunt in Konoha and nearly died silently.
Therefore, the current Ryun deeply understood Sakura's feeling of helplessness, of wanting to do something but not having the strength to match.
Against this backdrop, for Sakura, a weakling, to still want to step forward and protect the strong, was this some kind of absurd, ridiculous joke.
From the perspective of ninja mission efficiency, obviously it was.
But putting himself in her shoes, if Ryun were to choose teammates, he would rather choose Sakura than a strong person who didn't treat teammates as human and might even backstab them at any time.
Of course, if a teammate was a smart, rational person who could clearly assess the situation, provide timely support, and withdraw sensibly, that would naturally be the best.
However, Ryun from his previous life had played MOBA games and knew how rare such a supporting carry was, something you could encounter but not seek.
He was not a ninja, much less a member of Team 7. Naturally, he wouldn't use such standards to demand of Sakura.
So Ryun spoke up. "Strength and weakness are only temporary. Strong people also have times when they are injured and weak. At such times, would anyone really refuse a courageous teammate like you?"
"You just lack experience and strength. You don't know when to display this courage."
"Strength can still be improved through methods, but the courage to protect others is something innate. Many extremely strong people never possess this courage in their entire lives."
Ryun's words were sincere and reasonable, making Sakura look at him in surprise. She never expected to experience such deep understanding and validation from the inside out, from a boy she just met today.
In the past, this kind of thing only happened with Ino.
Sakura immediately felt her blood flow speeding up. Her two bare feet inside the kimono secretly overlapped and rubbed against each other. Her hands also nervously pinched her own thighs.
She wanted to tell herself that Ryun was the boy Ino liked, she couldn't compete with Ino for a handsome guy again...
And at this moment, Ryun's next words made her lose self control once more.
"While Ino hasn't arrived yet, let me trim your hair."
"It's a pity. I still think girls with long hair are prettier..."
Ryun took out a kunai and came behind Sakura.
What was burned wasn't just Sakura's clothes and back, but naturally also her originally long hair, now uneven, scorched yellow, and split ended.
Seeing Sakura didn't refuse, Ryun helped Sakura tidy it up. It wasn't until a mirror was placed in front of Sakura that she snapped back to reality.
Looking at her youthful, cute self in the mirror, then at Ryun's smiling face behind her, Sakura slowly pulled her head into the kimono, not daring to say another word.
But then she regretted this action, because this was Ryun's kimono. Inside, it seemed to be filled with Ryun's scent.
Sakura felt her head growing dizzy again.
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