When Sasuke walked into the training ground, he saw Choji chasing Shikamaru with a log.
"Hey!" he called out to Ino.
Don't I have a name? Am I just "Hey"?
Seeing Choji chasing Shikamaru was quite amusing, so she was in a good mood and didn't mind.
She looked up and asked, "Something wrong?"
Sasuke ultimately didn't refuse the commission from Shueisha; for every book sold, he received three taels.
Three taels wasn't much, but it added up, and it was free money. He didn't have to do any work for it, so it would be a shame not to take it. He convinced himself by thinking he was a mature Ninja, someone who could endure all pain and hardship. Could he not endure a few strange looks? He could handle it! It would be even better if there was more!
With money, he could buy various tonics, large amounts of food, and many Ninja tools and weights to aid his training. It had to be said, having money was truly wonderful!
After realizing the beauty of money, he began to ponder how to earn it.
He didn't know how to do big business, had no clue, and no capital. Fortunately, there were references.
He was very tempted by Ino and Shikamaru's method of renting out vacant rooms. Now, he was a poor person with many empty houses.
The Uchiha old residence was located on the outskirts of the Village, with nothing around it. Orochimaru and Hidden Sand Village hadn't caused trouble here, and the houses were intact. He felt he had many vacant rooms, while many families in the Village had their homes completely destroyed, and reconstruction wouldn't be that fast, so it was perfect for renting out.
Doing this himself was a bit embarrassing, so he awkwardly came to find Ino.
It was only then that Ino learned he had reclaimed the old residence. Thinking she should go find Uchiha Izumi, she immediately agreed.
"Alright, I'll come find you after I finish today's mission."
Sasuke waved his hand coolly: "No need to find me, just go yourself. Besides the room I live in, all the others can be rented out."
The two quickly signed an agreement. Ino would take two-tenths of the rent and help him rent out the houses.
He just needed the money at the end of each month. He wasn't even planning to go home; lately, he had been eating and sleeping at the training ground.
In the evening, Ino arrived at the Uchiha old residence.
At the entrance were still two locust trees. After mastering the Spirit Transformation Technique, she further refined the Summoning Technique: Soul summoning ritual. She quickly awakened Uchiha Izumi, who was still sleeping inside the locust tree.
"Miss Izumi, long time no see. How have you been lately?"
Uchiha Izumi was quite optimistic, smiling brightly: "Just like that, I suppose, since I'm already dead."
Ino chuckled twice, then brought up Sasuke.
When talking about Itachi's younger brother, Izumi's tone was a bit bitter: "I originally thought Sasuke was still a child, but I didn't expect that in the blink of an eye, he's already a teenager. I... we've been dead for many years."
Ino nodded. The memory patterns of souls and spiritual bodies were similar. Because there was no brain organ, memories were very fragmented. Spiritual bodies could subjectively converge, but souls were miserable; various memories were mixed together, turning into a paste after ten days or half a month.
Izumi could still speak so coherently now entirely because she had awakened her Three-Tomoe Sharingan at the age of thirteen. This talent was considered very high even within the Uchiha Clan. Her spiritual energy was very strong, and she still had an unfulfilled obsession, which allowed her to maintain lucidity.
"Miss Izumi, are you willing to leave the old residence, answer my summons, and fight for me?" Ino didn't know exactly how Onmyoji fought, but she could now seal and take away souls like Izumi, then summon them in battle like Shikigami.
Izumi thought about it. She had been wandering around the old residence for a very long time. Now that Sasuke was no longer an infant, he definitely didn't need her care.
Ino could see some of her thoughts and found it increasingly amusing.
It was unlikely that the current Sasuke would smear poop on her face, but if she kept lingering around him as a spiritual body, irritating him every day, in a few days, it might be an Indra's Arrow to the face.
"Miss Yamanaka, the problem now is what help can I provide in battle? Without a body, without a Sharingan, there's very little I can do." Izumi's willingness had softened a bit, but there was more confusion.
The reason Edo Tensei was so powerful was that this technique could replicate a deceased person's abilities from a certain period in their life. Nagato had the Rinnegan after being Edo Tensei'd, and Uchiha Madara also quickly transformed his Sharingan into the Rinnegan after being Edo Tensei'd. These were their abilities from when they were alive, inferior to the original, but capable of replicating some of them.
The Izumi that Ino summoned now was in her post-death state. An organ like the Sharingan, once gone, was gone; it couldn't grow back. Obito could remotely transfer Chakra to Kakashi, allowing him to briefly gain Mangekyo abilities, but Izumi didn't have that skill.
"Actually, finding your eyes would suffice. I can reseal your eyes into your soul, which would allow your sanity to be maintained for a long time, and your abilities would recover to seventy or eighty percent of your prime."
Izumi was tempted, but she had one last question: "But how can I find my eyes? I can't sense their location."
Ino didn't have a good solution for now either.
However, she estimated that after Kakashi's ordeal with Itachi's Tsukuyomi, he would soon be able to use Kamui. Kakashi's eye had already awakened the Kamui ability, but he wasn't consciously aware of it and didn't know how to use it. Itachi's demonstration had allowed him to truly master the Kamui ability.
With Kakashi having Kamui, Ino could create opportunities for him to transfer a few large bombs or something into the Kamui Dimension. Obito surely wouldn't still hide those Sharingan in the Kamui Dimension, would he?
As long as he transferred them to the real world, Ino would have a chance. There's only a thousand days to be a thief, not a thousand days to guard against one.
Ino transformed into her spiritual body state and infused a portion of her neutral Chakra into Izumi's soul. Izumi was originally like water without a source, her soul's Chakra diminishing with each use. Now, with Ino's replenishment, her soul instantly solidified by two parts.
Ino drew a sealing tag on the spot. This was a channel like a Summoning Technique. Normally, Izumi could continue to rest at the old residence, and if needed, Ino could summon her to battle through the sealing tag.
Having awakened the Three-Tomoe Sharingan at thirteen, Izumi's combat abilities were not an issue.
Ino asked, "Since we're now effectively in an employer-employee relationship, I have a task for you: Do you know Uchiha Shisui?"
Shisui was Itachi's older brother, so Izumi naturally knew Shisui, but they weren't close.
She nodded.
Ino said, "The Village records state he fell into the Naka River. I need you to help me find his body and soul."
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