[Card Draw Phase]
[You have drawn: Shu Region Hero Kakashi]
[You have used Ultimate Ninjutsu: One Thousand Years of Death]
[Opponent eliminated]
As it turned out, whether human or vengeful spirit, neither could resist the damage from One Thousand Years of Death.
The spirit Natsuki had ambushed began to tremble violently. Then a black shadow flashed past like lightning, instantly blasting it apart. Its body dissolved into ashes and slowly scattered.
"Th-thank you, Amamiya-kun."
Secretary Fujiwara let out a breath of relief and thanked him gratefully. She couldn't move her body, but speaking wasn't a problem.
Natsuki said nothing, just gave a small nod and continued watching the Daruma Doll.
A moment later, the Daruma Doll slowly turned back around, and the eerie, otherworldly song resumed.
The game continued.
Natsuki stood up and looked at Kaguya beside him—her expression calm and composed, though text reading "so scary" kept floating above her head. He lowered his voice.
"Shinomiya-san, wait a moment."
"Hm?"
Kaguya turned her face slightly toward him, her expression serene. Even her eyelashes didn't so much as tremble. Any onlookers from school would surely praise her as "the Ice Princess Kaguya, as expected." Unfortunately, this ice sculpture girl's true nature was crystal clear to Natsuki.
He didn't waste words. He simply sidestepped twice until he was beside her, then leaned in close to her delicate, luminous cheek.
"I need to tell you something."
Kaguya had been about to pull away, but when she heard his words, she quickly stopped herself.
"Remember, when I stop, you stop. Don't get greedy or act impulsively." To be safe, Natsuki chose to whisper directly into her ear. "Pass it on to Fujiwara-san."
After all, they were classmates. He couldn't just watch them both get eliminated. If he could help, he naturally wouldn't stand by and do nothing.
Warm breath fell against her ear. Kaguya, who had never been in such close contact with a boy in her entire life, instinctively wanted to pull away. But years of cultivated elegance allowed her to endure it. Her expression remained unchanged, her tone cool.
"Understood."
Natsuki nodded and put some distance between himself and the ice sculpture girl. He glanced up at the text above her head and was surprised to find that "so scary" had changed to "too close too close too close"...
Her face is completely expressionless, but her inner world is incredibly active!
The game continued.
He had thought they could smoothly clear the Red Light, Green Light game, but halfway through, Natsuki suddenly found himself targeted by a female vengeful spirit.
This ghost girl wore a sailor uniform covered in dark red, dried bloodstains. Her hair hung down to her waist, clearly untended for ages—it looked like withered straw, dry and dull yellow, without a hint of smoothness or shine.
Natsuki's heart tensed. He quickly glanced at Chika beside him and began counting down.
"Three, two, one..."
"Hiya!"
The instant the countdown ended, Chika dropped to one knee behind the ghost girl—exactly the same move Natsuki had used earlier.
"When playing games, you should follow the rules. Bullying people is wrong, you know."
Secretary Fujiwara's expression was serious. She formed hand seals, summoning Shu Region Hero Jiraiya.
"So... my sincerest apologies!"
"..."
Watching the female spirit dissolve into ash and scatter, Natsuki looked at her with appreciation. "Nice work."
He had thought Chika wouldn't be able to go through with it, but her execution was surprisingly clean and decisive.
"Thanks for the compliment." Chika flashed a radiant smile and giggled. "Now we're even! I can do One Thousand Years of Death too. I used to do it with Kaguya—"
Natsuki looked at the ice sculpture girl in shock.
You two did it together?
I can't even begin to imagine which of you was on top and which was on bottom!
"I did not!"
Kaguya bit her lower lip.
"Don't let your imagination run wild, Amamiya-kun." Chika explained, "Kaguya and I read the Naruto manga together."
"Too bad though—even during the funny parts, Kaguya didn't laugh at all... Huh? Kaguya, what's wrong?"
Chika's voice suddenly grew worried.
Natsuki turned to look and saw the ice sculpture girl's pink lips parted slightly, a faintly vulnerable expression appearing on her pretty face.
"Achoo—"
The ice-cold maiden suddenly furrowed her delicate brows. "My nose is a bit itchy..."
Sneezing involved large-scale muscle movement throughout the body. One wrong move and she could easily be eliminated.
"Amamiya-kun."
Chika quickly looked to him.
Natsuki frowned slightly and began counting down. "Three..."
"Ah, I just thought of something!"
Chika let out a small cry, then suddenly hugged Kaguya from behind. The two girls then hid together behind Natsuki's back.
"The Kaguya Sandwich!"
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