"Boss, thirty sticks of dango, please!"
A woman in a beige trench coat, with a revealing fishnet top peeking out beneath, smiled brightly at the dango shop owner. Her purple hair framed a face full of straightforward enthusiasm.
"Coming right up!" The boss rarely had customers order so many dango at once. Looking up, he recognized his regular, Anko Mitarashi. He quickly retrieved a large wrapping paper, carefully encasing all thirty skewers of three-flavor dango, and handed them over to Anko.
"Hahaha, now I can eat to my heart's content!" Anko looked down at the massive bouquet of dango in her hands, her eyes gleaming with satisfaction. She pulled out a skewer, bringing it to her mouth, eager to taste the sweet, chewy morsels.
Unexpectedly, the dango in Anko's hand vanished. Her teeth bit down on nothing but air, meeting empty space.
"?" Anko noticed someone had appeared beside her. She looked up and saw a boy, slightly taller than her, standing there. And in his hand… it was the skewer of dango that had just been in her hand!
The offense of taking one's dango is unforgivable!
"Hey—" Anko was about to speak, but the boy, who didn't look very old, beat her to it, asking with a hint of skepticism, "The taste is only so-so. I don't think it's that good. Why do you like eating this so much?"
"You brat! You steal my dango, and then you dare to say my favorite dango isn't delicious?! That's going too far!" Anko's eyes narrowed dangerously as she glared at Ren. "Hey, kid!" she threatened, thoroughly displeased. "Hand over double the dango right now! Otherwise, I, your elder sister, will make sure you regret it today!"
"What a temper," Ren sighed, feigning admiration. "Anko Mitarashi, you wouldn't be starting menopause at such a young age, would you?"
"What did you say?!" Anko's fury instantly flared. Flames seemed to erupt from her head. She snatched a kunai from the ninja pouch on her leg and swiftly threw it towards the boy.
However, the moment the kunai left her hand, Anko felt a pang of regret. This handsome boy in front of me, though taller than me, still looks only thirteen or fourteen. He's just a brat. What kind of strength could someone his age possibly have? A Genin? At best, maybe a recently promoted Chūnin. No matter how you looked at it, she was a Special Jōnin. Even a casually thrown kunai like that couldn't be dealt with by someone of Genin or Chūnin strength. Why did I just throw a kunai? If I hurt him, I'll probably get myself into trouble. I should have just used my fist. I should've just punched this kid into the air!
Just as Anko was consumed by remorse, a surprising sight unfolded before her eyes.
Huh?
She watched as the boy, facing the incoming kunai, neither dodged nor retreated. He simply extended his index and middle fingers with astonishing calm and gently clamped the kunai flying towards his throat.
"Anko Mitarashi, are you planning to murder your superior?"
"Superior?" Anko's expression shifted. Her mind wasn't dull, and she instantly locked onto Ren's identity. He was very young but could effortlessly catch her kunai, which proved his strength was considerable. And he claimed to be her superior…
"Are you Lord Ren?" Though she already knew the answer in her heart, looking at the youthful face of the young man before her, Anko couldn't help but feel a tremor of hesitation in her tone. While she had heard of Ren's name before, she had never actually seen him. This was their first encounter. Anko couldn't help but sigh inwardly. He's young. Too young! This superior of mine is truly unbelievably young!
"It's me," Ren confirmed with a nod.
"Anko Mitarashi, reporting to Lord Ren!" Upon learning his identity, Anko immediately knelt on one knee, bowing before Ren. During the Chūnin Exams, Ren was her direct superior, so she naturally dared not show any disrespect.
"Get up," Ren said lightly.
"Yes." Anko Mitarashi rose from the ground, then asked, "Lord Ren, have you come to inquire about the various matters concerning the Chūnin Exams?"
"That's right," Ren nodded, speaking modestly. "Since I was directly promoted to Jōnin by the Hokage, I haven't actually participated in this form of Chūnin Exam. This time, the Hokage suddenly made me an examiner, so there are indeed many things about the process that I don't know, and I need to ask you for guidance."
"..."
Guidance? Anko Mitarashi secretly sighed inwardly. Lord Ren… are you sure you're not just humble-bragging? Despite her internal thoughts, Anko still took a scroll from her ninja pouch and handed it to Ren.
"Lord Ren, I've recorded the details of this Chūnin Exam on this scroll. Hokage-sama explained to me earlier that while you are the chief examiner of the Second Phase of the Chūnin Exams, the Forest of Death, this exam doesn't require you to do too much. As your deputy, I will help you with all the arrangements. However, if anything unexpected happens during this exam… then please, Lord Ren, enter the examination area as soon as possible to protect the safety of those Genin."
"Understood," Ren took the scroll and tucked it into his arm. Then, with a serious expression, he said to Anko Mitarashi, "By the way, besides that, I have one more thing to tell you."
"Lord Ren, please speak," Anko Mitarashi said respectfully.
"Eat fewer dango and desserts in the future."
"What?" Anko Mitarashi tilted her head in confusion. Meow meow meow? This?
(I don't even know what the author means by meow meow meow.)
…
"If you eat too much, you'll gain weight," Ren stated earnestly. "By then, you'll truly become an old aunt." Thinking of the original timeline, Anko getting fat later… it's truly a pity.
After saying this, Ren blurred into a black shadow, disappearing from Anko Mitarashi's sight. He left the still bewildered Anko standing on the street in a daze, looking at the large bundle of dango in her hand. For a moment, she was utterly conflicted about whether to keep eating them or not, her expression caught in a tangled dilemma.