As I said just now, people's thoughts don't change that easily.
Everyone lives in their own little world of self-perception.
As soon as Gisei Shiraishi finished speaking, Anna Takemoto rushed over, grabbed him by the collar, and executed a flawless shoulder throw.
Gisei blinked while suspended in mid-air, his mind instantly recalling some unbearable childhood memories.
Is she trying to recreate my dark history?
Gisei decided he absolutely could not tolerate this.
The moment he hit the ground, his entire body dissolved into a swarm of butterflies, reassembling behind Anna.
Anna became alert instantly and whipped a roundhouse kick behind her.
Gisei scattered into butterflies again.
This time he didn't get close to her; instead, he materialized a safe distance away.
"You don't think you can still sit on me and beat me up like when we were kids, do you?"
"Why can't I? Don't think that just because you've become stronger, everyone else has been standing still."
Gisei laughed out of anger. "When you can't win with words, you use your fists. Truly worthy of being that old guy's granddaughter."
Anna snorted coldly. "I've never used my full strength against you. It's a good opportunity to let you see it today."
She began to form hand seals, and Gisei frowned.
This was the hospital roof; using ninjutsu here would cause way too much commotion.
"Fire Style: Great Flame Bullet!" (Katon: Gōen no Jutsu!)
Before Gisei could even process the situation, Anna had already unleashed her Fire Style technique.
That wasn't all; she was still forming seals.
"Wind Style: Great Breakthrough!" (Fūton: Daitoppa!)
A combination ninjutsu of wind and fire...
Gisei's face went dark. If he dodged this, at least half the hospital would collapse.
With no other choice, Gisei quickly formed three seals.
"Water Style: Water Dragon Bullet!" (Suiton: Suiryūdan no Jutsu!)
"Water Style: Water Encampment Wall!" (Suiton: Suijinheki!)
After firing off two Water Style ninjutsu in succession, butterflies began flying out of his sleeves.
With a loud boom, a massive cloud of steam rose up.
After raising his hand to shoot a few shuriken, Gisei rushed into the steam.
Seeing the shuriken, Anna quickly dodged. She knew how to use the Body Flicker Technique too.
However, she didn't notice that the entire roof was already covered in butterflies.
The butterflies began to flash with lightning, and a moment later, Gisei appeared right in front of Anna.
Seeing him appear out of nowhere, Anna felt a sudden sense of foreboding. She wanted to dodge, but her body couldn't keep up at all.
With a very simple grappling move, Gisei pinned her to the ground.
Smack!
Gisei slapped Anna fiercely on a certain indescribable part.
Anna was still struggling, but after being hit, she froze for a moment before struggling even more violently.
Gisei slapped her again, and Anna suddenly bit down hard on his arm.
It hurts!
Gisei's face twisted in pain.
"Let go!"
Anna just kept biting him, staring up at him with a fierce gaze.
Gisei got ruthless and started spanking her butt repeatedly.
After spanking her more than a dozen times, Gisei sensed something was wrong.
By this time, the steam had completely dissipated.
All around them, Anbu members wearing masks were staring intently at the scene.
The leading Anbu had white hair; it was undoubtedly Sakumo Hatake.
Gisei quickly retracted the hand he had raised in mid-air.
"Yo, everyone... long time no see, long time no see! Haha... ha..."
Scratching his head awkwardly, Gisei quickly whispered into Anna's ear, "Let go quickly, the Anbu are here. If you don't want to go to prison, get up now."
Unexpectedly, Anna didn't buy it at all and just kept biting his arm firmly.
Veins popped out on Gisei's forehead. He delivered a sharp hand chop to her neck, knocking her unconscious.
Sakumo took a step forward, pointing at the Hokage building. "Will you go by yourself, or should I take you?"
Gisei: "Can I not go?"
"Do you think that's possible?"
"Fair point... ha..."
Carrying Anna on his back, Gisei cursed himself inwardly for being an idiot.
Why did I have to chat on the hospital roof? Look at this—just chatting and chatting, and now I'm going in.
In the Hokage's office, the Third gave him a scolding right to his face. Gisei listened with his head hanging low. Anna had already woken up and stood silently to the side.
The Third couldn't really do anything to him or Anna, but the formalities had to be observed. Otherwise, if the Third couldn't save face, he wouldn't make Gisei's life easy either.
After finally enduring the Third's scolding—which was as long and stale as an old lady's foot-binding cloth—Gisei walked out of the office with a dark face.
After this commotion, he couldn't go to work at the hospital today, so he might as well go home.
At his doorstep, Gisei endured and endured, but finally couldn't hold it back.
"How long are you going to follow me?"
Anna had been tailing him ever since they left the Hokage's office, and now that they were at his door, she showed no intention of leaving.
A flush rose on Anna's fair face, obviously recalling the embarrassing scene of being pinned down and rubbed against the ground.
She gritted her teeth, stepped forward two paces, kicked his front door open, and walked in nonchalantly.
Gisei began to take deep breaths. The world is so beautiful, why get angry with a woman?
But he couldn't help getting angry. Gisei closed the door with a scowl and locked it tight.
No one gets in today; my turf, my rules.
Anna lay on the lounge chair in the courtyard, closing her eyes and crossing her legs, rocking back and forth. It made Gisei dizzy just watching her.
The sunlight on her face was suddenly blocked. Anna opened her eyes to see Gisei looming over her with a dark expression.
She raised an eyebrow and said disdainfully, "What, want to hit me again?"
Gisei's mouth twitched, but he didn't speak.
"I told you you're a coward. I'll let you hit me—do you dare?"
Anna rolled over, lying on her stomach on the lounge chair, looking at Gisei with eyes full of mockery.
If he could tolerate this, Gisei really wouldn't deserve to be called a man.
Smack!
Anna's body stiffened for a moment, and she quickly tried to turn over to get up.
But it was too late. Gisei pinned her down and gave her a fierce spanking.
The sound of smacking rang out continuously.
After spanking her for five full minutes, Gisei let her go resentfully.
"I know you've never seen me as a man. You look down on me from the bottom of your heart and think I'm a coward."
"I'm telling you now, I have things I want. Not the clan, and certainly not the Hokage. Even Konoha isn't what I need."
"I don't belong here, and I'm not your tool. You don't understand what you're facing at all."
Gisei glanced at Anna, who was completely stunned by the beating, and turned to go back to his room.
He had only taken two steps when a pair of arms hugged his waist.
Anna's face was completely red. Gisei tried to struggle a couple of times but then gave up.
"What is this? Did your grandfather send you to use a honey trap?"
"Be careful, or I'll eat you up and wipe you clean, leaving you with nothing."
Anna's face turned pale. She opened her mouth but didn't know what to say.
Human prejudice is just that kind of thing.
Just like if someone said Danzo was a good person, Gisei would spit and draw his sword to hack them.
In his perception, the Takemoto family belonged to the kind of clan that wouldn't harm him but would force him.
Anna Takemoto might be a little different, but she was ultimately a person of that clan.
Invisible labels had already been placed on her by Gisei.