Aoba looked at the Little Sakura, who had her head buried in his chest and was still sobbing slightly.
He didn't know whether she was really scared or just pretending, but at this mont, it was better to treat her as truly scared.
"Then should I carry you up the mountain?"
Little Sakura was small, her body light, and with his current strength, he could run like the wind even carrying a dozen of her.
"Mhm! Mhm!"
Upon hearing that, little Sakura rubbed against Aoba's chest, nodding repeatedly.
Aoba changed to a princess-carry posture and said jokingly, "Then hold on tight, I'm about to sprint."
"Okay," Little Sakura imdiately hugged Aoba's neck tightly.
Aoba directly took off from the spot.
With an extrely fast speed, he rushed toward the mountain peak.
Along the way, they encountered many of the sa frightening tricks as before, and occasionally so traps like sinkholes and hook ropes.
But Aoba dealt with the puppets with a single strike each and barreled through the traps, passing unimpeded.
It wasn't long before the two of them reached the top of the Hokage Rock.
They saw a light ahead, which should be the endpoint. Without wasting ti, Aoba carried little Sakura and dashed forward at full speed.
"Aoba!"
Tenten and the others had already been waiting here for a while. Seeing Aoba and little Sakura coming out, they imdiately waved to signal them.
But when Ino saw little Sakura being carried, she thought she might have been injured and quickly ran over, the happy expression on her face turning a bit anxious.
"Sakura, are you okay?"
Seeing Ino's worried expression, little Sakura felt too embarrassed to keep being carried by Aoba.
Blushing, she got down from him and softly explained to Ino, "I'm fine, it was just really scary inside, so I asked Aoba to carry up…"
"Scary?", The anxious look on Ino's face vanished instantly, her eyes narrowing.
Seeing little Sakura looking shy like that, how could she not know what this "scared" was really about?
But since the result was from a fair draw, she could only swallow her dissatisfaction.
Seeing this, Aoba reached out to pat Ino's hair, changing the subject, "Didn't you guys go sowhere to hang out first?"
"No! We ca straight here to wait for you," As soon as Aoba finished speaking, Tenten and Hinata also walked over.
Tenten stood with her hands on her hips, looking rather annoyed.
"Seriously, didn't we say to hurry and co up to explore together? And yet you made us wait this long!"
Aoba scratched his head and smiled apologetically, "Sorry, a lot of stuff happened along the way, so we got delayed a bit."
"Hmph!", Tenten snorted coldly. Seeing little Sakura's shy look, she didn't need to guess what kind of situation it was.
But she had no complaints, little Sakura was just lucky. If it were her, it might've taken even longer.
"Forget it, it's almost ti for the fireworks. Let's hurry and walk around while we still can."
Seeing the subject change, Aoba let out a sigh of relief, then asked, "Naruto and the others haven't co up yet?"
The three girls shook their heads, indicating they hadn't seen them.
Just as Aoba was wondering whether to wait, a familiar quarrel ca from behind.
"It's all your fault! That trap was so obvious, how did you not see it?"
"But that girl looked so pitiful, I just wanted to help her…"
"No way there'd be a lost girl in that place, you idiot!"
"What if she was really lost?"
"Even if she was, you can't fall for the sa trap several tis in a row."
Hearing the familiar voices, everyone looked toward the exit.
They saw a sowhat disheveled Sasuke and Naruto.
Sasuke looked annoyed; Naruto had an apologetic face.
"You guys just got here? Looks like Sakura and I won," Aoba smiled at Sasuke.
Sasuke, clothes ssy, looked at Aoba and little Sakura, whose clothes barely had a wrinkle, and couldn't help grinding his teeth.
'I actually lost again, and so completely.'
"It's all this idiot's fault. He triggered every single trap!"
Sasuke glared at Naruto. It's true: fear not the godlike opponent, but the piglike teammate.
Naruto also knew it was his fault, so he kept his apologetic stance.
Seeing Naruto so rarely submissive, Sasuke didn't want to say more, "Forget it. A loss is a loss. I don't feel like arguing anymore."
"Thanks, Sasuke!", Naruto instantly returned to his usual self.
Tenten urged, "Let's hurry up and go, or there won't be ti left."
Aoba suggested, "Before we start playing, how about we go buy so food first? Then we can eat while we explore."
Naruto happily raised both hands, "I'm in!"
"Don't forget, you and Sasuke still owe Sakura and a bowl of ran."
"No problem!"
Naruto waved grandly, full of heroic spirit.
"Then let's buy food first."
Tenten agreed, and the group headed to the festival's snack street together.
After walking a bit, Naruto couldn't help but ask, "Where are you guys planning to watch the fireworks?"
"I'm going to find my mom and dad later, over there," Ino raised her hand and pointed to a high platform in the distance.
Aoba nodded, "That spot's actually pretty good. I also agreed to watch there with my teacher and the others."
"Really?", Ino's eyes lit up.
Aoba nodded again.
"Yay!", Ino jumped a bit in excitent.
"Actually… too," Hinata shyly raised her hand.
" too!" ×2
The smile on Ino's face froze.
Seeing this, Aoba couldn't help but laugh and looked toward Naruto, "Naruto, you should co with us too."
"Okay!"
———
No one knew how much ti had passed, the night had deepened further.
Everyone gathered on the platform that the village had set up beforehand, waiting for the New Year's fireworks to begin.
But Aoba now felt a huge pressure, he could clearly sense the many resentful gazes around him.
Even the temperature dropped a few degrees.
He didn't even need to think to guess who those looks were from.
Because although everyone said they'd watch fireworks with their parents, in the end Tenten and the others all gathered around him.
And in his arms, there was now a tiny loli: Hyuga Hanabi.
But as he looked around, he didn't see Kurama Yakumo or her parents.
They were probably watching from sowhere else.
"Aoba's getting more and more popular, huh," Uzuki Yugao stroked his head while sighing emotionally.
Feeling the force on his head, Aoba was genuinely worried she'd twist his head off.
"Heh," Tsunade sneered, speaking with ill intent, "And not even everyone's here yet."
Crack!
The smiles on the faces of the girls present all stiffened.
The pressure on his head increased a few notches.
'Who else?'
Aoba instantly broke out in a cold sweat.
'Teacher, are you trying to get your student killed tonight?'
———
While Aoba was drenched in sweat, at the sa mont, another person was equally sweaty.
Sarutobi Hiruzen, with his "the professor" experience, had driven Uchiha Obito into a deadlock he couldn't escape.
And was ready to perish together.
Yet on Sarutobi Hiruzen's face, there was no sorrow, only the satisfaction of eliminating a great threat to Konoha.
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