A teammate with a high IQ—and arguably the 'number one intelligence' in the Ninja World—who is also powerful, capable of control, and lethal... Just thinking about it is great!
As a mature 'teammate,' he should learn not to let girls lift a finger; his Shadow Secret Technique could handle everything!
"Shikamaru, in the future, we will have to walk the path of Ninjas after all... This is a reality that's hard to change, whether we like it or not—the world is just like this, and we have no choice. So, we can only make ourselves stronger... Every bit of effort you put in now will only make your future more effortless..."
Ino stood up and squatted down beside Shikamaru, placing a hand on his shoulder, using the warmth of her palm to express her concern.
"Hmm?" This single touch gave Ino an unexpected discovery... There was a trace left in Shikamaru's gallbladder meridian of foot-shaoyang that was significantly stronger than the vibrations in the other Eleven Principal Meridians. "Could this be the Nara Clan's Shadow Secret Technique... Right, this kid was slacking off before, so I didn't notice. After being forced to train by his mom these past few days, it's become quite noticeable..."
"The resonance of this meridian starts from the feet and changes... Therefore, the Chakra stirred up by the vibrations of the open string contains mostly Yin and Water..."
"So, the Nara Clan's Secret Technique..."
Ino really wanted to say she didn't do it on purpose, but this damn 'Technique of Returning Light and Hearing Back' was just that sensitive. If it weren't for physical contact, she might not have noticed the state of her friend's meridians since Shikamaru wasn't actively using a Secret Technique. But wasn't her hand on his shoulder? The medium became skin-to-skin contact—it was almost like establishing a wire between their meridians to transmit vibrations, with the signal passing through almost losslessly.
Ino thought to herself, "It's really not my fault; I truly just wanted to encourage you and make you more motivated and hardworking..."
Seeing the Nara Clan's Secret Technique was purely an 'accident'—
She thought again, "Sigh, this was bound to happen sooner or later. My Technique of Returning Light and Hearing Back will definitely become tougher and more sensitive as my meridians are kneaded, stretched, and shaken through various exercises. The frequency, amplitude, and wavelength of the vibrations will break through one limit after another, and my sensory sensitivity will rise to a whole new level... By then, as my teammates, you will all..."
Anyway, whether it was 'one day later' or 'one day sooner,' her teammates' Secret Techniques were bound to be exposed—it's not like she could just play blind, right?
As for other Ninjas... it seemed that, whether they were enemies or not, any Ninjutsu or Secret Techniques they possessed would likely be exposed if they came within her range... This... Shikamaru met Ino's azure eyes, the same color as the sky, and asked, "Ino, what are you thinking about?"
"Cough... nothing. I'm just comforting you—my safety will depend on you from now on. Why don't you change your name to Nara-Can-Cover-It?"
Shikamaru gave Ino a roll of his eyes.
Ino seemed to hear his inner thoughts:
Women are such a drag.
Casually plucking a yellow wild chrysanthemum from the flowerbed and stripping off the leaves, Ino rubbed the stem between her palms and tossed it up like a bamboo dragonfly.
But a wild chrysanthemum wasn't a bamboo dragonfly after all; it only flew about a foot high before wobbling in the wind and spinning down to the ground.
Ino babbled casually, "Of all the flowers, you're the worst; don't be a wild chrysanthemum in your next life." This sentence made it clear that the wild chrysanthemum didn't belong in this flowerbed—these flowers were meant to be sold for money, and wild chrysanthemums couldn't be sold. Their only tiny use was for brewing tea. Since it grew in her family's flowerbed and she happened to see it, she had to 'liberate' it! She wouldn't allow it to compete with the other flowers for nutrients—was it nutrients they were fighting for? No! It was money!
"Hey, Shikamaru. Let me tell you, I've read a very, very long story, and there's a scene in a restaurant..."
"A girl picked a flower, and a boy said, 'The flower was living just fine, why were you so cruel as to pick it?'"
...Shikamaru listened to this nonsensical story with a bewildered face, then stopped thinking about it and continued staring at the sky, emptying his mind.
In a forest shrouded in mist under a gray-white sky, a pale man with long black hair and snake-like eyes, dressed in loose white clothing, walked gracefully through the woods... His footsteps suddenly stopped as he reached out and gently picked a flower.
The flower was pale.
This world was cold and gloomy yet full of vitality; the dense trees and the water vapor they exhaled formed a spectacular sight of cloud and mist.
He enjoyed the cold and vital feeling here. Just like a snake, he preferred dark and damp environments... "Hehe... what a nice place. Since leaving Konoha and shaking off the ANBU, this is a place where I feel at ease. A pity, though..."
A pity... this is the Land of Water, Kirigakure—arguably the most terrifying place in the Ninja World, bar none.
Kirigakure Ninjas are born from the bloody mist; the emergence of every Ninja is accompanied by the death of a comrade—either being killed by a former comrade or killing one... Orochimaru's keen senses already felt the impending storm in Kirigakure—it suited him well and he liked it, but he could no longer stay here. The great chaos in Kirigakure would inevitably make this place restless—but he needed the right time to leave. And that time would not be long... This year, Konoha and Sunagakure will host a world-class Joint Chunin Exams. At that time, Konoha's forces will contract significantly, and all Ninjas will serve this grand event—
Like the annual Summer Festival, this will be a grand event that makes Konoha a fortune, and all missions must make way for this major economic activity.
That will be his chance to leave the Land of Water... the Kaguya Clan is a powder keg about to explode.
The Kaguya Clan, known for their bone-based Secret Techniques and their warlike nature, have reached their limit with Kirigakure's current Ninja training policies—ever since Zabuza killed all his fellow students and ended the bloody mist, this dissatisfaction has begun to fester. The Kaguya Clan is the one among all the Kekkei Clans that relies most on 'combat.'
Without that extreme and cruel slaughter, nearly a quarter of the new generation of the Kaguya Clan is unable to awaken their Bloodline Limit.
If this continues... they will completely transform from a large clan into a small one, eventually disappearing into the long river of history, with no one left in the world to remember them.
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