Ninja Pot Shadow

"Ninja in the Pot" by Don River Who Wants to Be Quiet

Copywriter:

Want to know my secret to becoming stronger? I'll tell you: "Art originates from explosions, and shifting blame is the key to becoming stronger!"

This is a story about how someone climbed to the top of the ninja world by shifting blame and adding their own efforts.

Chapter 1 Yamanaka Ino

The Land of Fire, Konoha Village.

At the very north end of the village stands a tall cliff. The First Hokage, Hashirama Senju, and Madara Uchiha once stood atop the cliff, gazing at the southern plains, and dreaming of creating a paradise without killing or resentment, where children could take off their armor, throw away their swords, and play freely with smiles on their faces.

The two abandoned their conflict and joined forces to establish Konoha, the largest village in the ninja world. Later, the Second Hokage, upholding the First Hokage's will, built a ninja academy at the foot of the cliff.

The images of the First, Second, Third, and Fourth Hokage are vividly depicted on the rock face, their expressions solemn. Villagers can occasionally look up and see the shadow rocks of the four Hokage, demonstrating their heartfelt respect for their leaders.

With six months left until the graduation exam, the teachers at the Ninja Academy are doing their best to impart more knowledge to their students.

In order to understand the students' actual level, exams are naturally indispensable.

"Ugh... I'm doomed..."

"This is so difficult..."

"Heh, you actually know it's difficult? I can't even understand the questions!"

The students were groaning in despair, everyone felt the questions were too difficult, and many handed in blank papers.

A few top students discussed in hushed tones. They believed that at least three of the ten questions fell into the category of Chunin Exams. Honestly, they weren't even Genin yet.

With blonde hair and blue eyes, a wisp of bangs covering her right eye, and wearing a white long-sleeved jacket, Yamanaka Ino, whose left and right arms are adorned with blue and green stripes and each bears the Chinese character "亥" (hai), is considered somewhat peculiar by her classmates because she is somewhere between a top student and a slacker.

After handing in the paper, her movements and expression looked unusually heavy.

"Ino, did you not do well on the exam either?" a familiar female classmate asked in a low voice.

"It's just...sigh, it's hard to describe. I did terribly on the test this time, I'm sure I'll fail. I made mistakes in several places, my head is completely blank right now." Ino looked dejected, as if she was about to cry at any moment.

"It's nothing, it's just a mock exam."

"Yes, one mistake is nothing."

Several of her "plastic" friends held her hands and offered words of comfort.

Before long, Iruka, a young teacher wearing a Chunin vest and with a noticeable scar on his nose, finished grading the papers and announced the results on the spot.

"Ino, 95 points, first place!"

"Sakura Haruno, 94 points, second place."

"..."

Several of the academically challenged girls stiffened their necks, their gazes towards Ino changing. "Judging from your expression just now, we were prepared to offer superficial comfort while secretly mocking you. And the result? First place? You're kidding me!"

Ino was secretly pleased. You guys play in class and play at home, while I play in class and study hard at home. How can that be the same?

As someone who applied for a sales job to buy a house, got an insider price to work as an intern at a decoration company, and then switched jobs to work as a sales assistant at a furniture store, she worked hard for more than half a year and was about to move into her new house when she was suddenly transported to the dangerous world of Naruto. She was devastated.

I don't know who will end up with that house; just thinking about it makes me feel like I've lost out big time.

Ino looked out the window and saw several dark figures flash past her at an extremely fast speed, disappearing from sight in less than two seconds. She knew very well that they were ninjas from the village.

Everyone got used to it.

There are many "supermen" in the village who can jump eight meters high and break a tree with a single punch. Instead of taking the main road, they insist on jumping over other people's rooftops. This is a basic skill for many ninjas. After experiencing fear, doubt, anxiety and caution, she gradually got used to it.

Since we can't change the world, we can only try to change ourselves.

She studied everything she could learn in school, regardless of whether it was useful or not. She even studied the "Will of Fire" series, which was criticized by transmigrators, and found the Third Hokage's handwritten copy that he had left at school. She read it carefully from beginning to end twice.

Unfortunately, this isn't the Lankavatara Sutra; there are no martial arts manuals in its contents.

To become stronger, she studied hard, and to avoid being ostracized by her classmates, she had to pretend to be a poor student. Ultimately, it all stemmed from a lack of security.

Everyone received their papers, and Iruka-sensei began explaining the questions.

"Question 9: Diethyl ether containing a certain aromatic hydrocarbon is first mixed with dilute hydrochloric acid, then with sodium hydroxide solution and stirred until it separates into layers. What is the compound in the final ether layer?"

"What is it?" He didn't expect the students to answer at all and started writing on the blackboard on his own.

"This is a problem that ninjas often encounter during missions. Because some necessary conditions are lacking, we must make reasonable assumptions and analyses. Let's assume that this aromatic hydrocarbon contains an amino group and will react before hydrogen chloride. Then we need to make an analysis..."

He began to list several possible scenarios, and for each assumption, he wrote down the specific analysis and results. He filled the blackboard with his writing, and only then was the problem completely solved.

"What is a ninja? A ninja is someone who has a calm mind in battle and can analyze intelligence." Iruka said earnestly. He looked at his blackboard, his analysis was reasonable and his explanation was clear. His tone and manner of speaking were also quite encouraging. He glanced at the classroom out of the corner of his eye, and his heart sank to the bottom of the sea, because... hardly anyone was listening.

"Bang!" Teacher Iruka slammed his hand on the blackboard, his voice suddenly rising: "You're the worst class I've ever taught! What are you all daydreaming about? Write this down! This question might be on the exam! Write it all down!"

"it is good……"

"Hi……"

"understood."

Apart from a few truly good students diligently writing, the remaining 90% of the students were just going through the motions, their pencils barely scratching the surface as if that was enough to complete their work. Judging by their performance alone, these guys were definitely a bunch of academic failures.

Ino maintained her role as a pseudo-slacker but a true academic genius. She rested her chin on her left hand, occasionally glancing up at the blackboard, and succinctly recorded a portion of the content on the blackboard in a slightly lazy manner.

Teacher Iruka on the podium was still yelling at a room full of underachieving students. To be fair, he was a really good teacher. He was conscientious, responsible, patient, and meticulous. All the virtues of a teacher could be seen in this 22-year-old man.

However, for many 12-year-olds, this content is really difficult to learn.

There are no dedicated math, chemistry, or physics courses here. The ninja school only has five courses: theory, training, insights, history, and practice.

A large amount of knowledge from mathematics, chemistry, physics, and geography is integrated into this one course, which naturally makes it very difficult for students to learn.

Without the foundation of higher education from her previous life, Ino wouldn't have found learning so easy.

Chapter Two begins with a fat best friend.

Is the knowledge learned at the Ninja Academy useful? It's a matter of whether it's useful or not. It might be helpful in exams or special missions. But it's also a matter of whether it's useless. It's truly useless when facing those who play with snakes, carry rice, or dance.

Regardless of whether she was weak or not, Ino was at least taking notes. Some people didn't even make a gesture. For example, the two guys behind her, the thinner one was sleeping on the table, and the fat guy next to him, who was 1.5 meters tall and weighed 60 kg, was eating snacks.

The sound of teeth chewing puffed snacks was incessant. The twenty-seven students and one teacher in the classroom seemed to have gotten used to the sound. The chubby brothers were eating with great joy.

Seeing Ino turn around and stare at him with dead fish eyes, the fat guy hesitated for two seconds, then gave Ino a very gentle smile and handed her the bag of potato chips. After Ino slowly reached out, he solemnly raised one finger, meaning that he could only give her one chip, no more.

The chubby brothers didn't take classroom discipline seriously at all. Why were they eating in class? Don't ask, it's because it's necessary for cultivation. Ino still respected the conscientious and responsible teacher. She moved very quietly, quickly glanced into the bag of potato chips, and then overlapped her left and right thumbs with her left thumb slightly higher than her right thumb, forming a standard "未" mudra.

"Perception!"

The world around her instantly became clear to her senses: the sound of people breathing around her, the glances Iruka gave them in the distance, the passing of notes, the drawing of little figures, the picking of noses in the classroom—a flood of information that was usually blocked out by her brain rushed in all at once.

Ino already had some talent in perception. As a salesperson, she was very sensitive to the emotions between people. After transmigrating, the fusion of two souls further enhanced this ability. Ignoring useless information, she effortlessly used her perception to select the largest potato chip. Then, under the astonished gaze of the fat Choji, she slowly put it into her mouth and chewed it a couple of times with relish.

While it's called the biggest, it's not actually that big. Most people wouldn't even be able to tell the difference. But for a top-tier glutton like Fatty Choji, even without powerful sensory abilities, his rich experience and intuition allow him to detect the difference.

"Huh?! This...you..." Despite being as fat as a pig, the fat boy Akimichi Choji, whose family name is actually Butterfly, takes his promises very seriously. He felt a little heartbroken when the biggest potato chip was taken away from him, and he looked distressed and conflicted.

"You two are so childish, like little kids..." Nara Shikamaru, whose family name is Shika, lazily commented while lying next to the fat Choji.

"Hmph, so old-fashioned. You're only one day older than me." Ino smiled slightly, giving the two of them a victorious look, before turning back to continue writing in her notes.

It has been three months since she transmigrated and merged with the memories. As a descendant of the famous ninja clan alliance Ino-Shika-Cho, barring any unforeseen circumstances, her teammates for a long time to come will be these two behind her.

Teamwork and understanding should be cultivated early on, because this understanding might save your life in a critical moment in the future.

She still cares a lot about her own life.

The relationship between the previous Ino and the two behind her was just average. At the age of 12, boys played with boys and girls played with girls. It would be difficult for her, a girl, to play with the two boys behind her. Their parents were more familiar with each other, exchanging greetings during holidays and nodding to each other when they met at school.

After Ino transmigrated, she consciously changed the status quo. Sales wasn't for nothing; she didn't need to push houses, renovation materials, and furniture to her friends. Through daily trivialities, they interacted more, and their relationships naturally became closer.

The three are heirs of their respective families, and the three families of Ino, Shika, and Cho are clearly distinct. If one family were to use marriage or other means to annex another family, the foundation of the three-family alliance would cease to exist, and romantic love between men and women would be impossible, as the families would not approve. This also makes it easier for Ino to build relationships with them without causing any misunderstandings. Currently, the three have a very simple friendship.

Shikamaru is highly intelligent and wary; he is a top-notch smart person. Ino didn't try to curry favor with him, and their relationship was neither too close nor too distant—just slightly above that of classmates.

After Ino agreed to introduce pretty girls to the fat Choji, she and Choji were already good friends. Facing countless protagonists in various worlds, she could proudly say that she had a fat best friend right from the start.

Ino has a knack for dealing with fat people, especially young fat people; the trick of eating, drinking, and building relationships never goes out of style.

She said, "Let's go eat barbecue after school. It seems like Q Barbecue is having a 10% discount today."

Fatty Choji's eyes blazed with fury as he slammed his fist on the table: "Really? You're treating?"

When it came to treating, Ino was a little embarrassed, as she was really short of money. The previous Ino had spent so much on clothes and shoes that she hadn't had much money left. Plus, the fat guy could eat a lot; he could eat twenty plates of barbecue in one go. She was worried about her wallet. But she had already made the promise, so she couldn't go back on her word.

"Hehe, it's on me, it's on me..." She chuckled twice, and while the fat Choji was daydreaming about the delicious barbecue and his eyes were glazed over, she covered her mouth and whispered to Shikamaru, "Hey, I might not have enough money with me today, could you lend me some later..."

Shikamaru glanced at Choji out of the corner of his eye: "This guy ate all my allowance."

Ino and Shikamaru looked at each other and sighed in unison. That's the downside of having a fat best friend—he can eat too much.

When money was mentioned, Shikamaru lost all interest in sleeping. The Ino-Shika-Cho trio were all famous clans in the ninja world, and now they were the top-tier wealthy families in the village. The clans were not poor, but they were young and had little pocket money, so they were very poor individually. His best friend's stomach was like a bottomless pit; he was either eating or on his way to eat every day. Shikamaru's pocket money had all been eaten up, so he was unusually serious at this moment.

He asked, "We can't go on missions, and our allowance is limited. Do you know any ways to make money?"

As someone who was struggling to find a place to live just three months ago and had no stable job, Ino casually replied, "Rent out the vacant house?"

She paused for a moment after saying that, and Shikamaru also began to think about it quite seriously.

Do you have any vacant houses?

"You have one at home too?"

The two looked at each other again and both thought... Hmm? This method seems feasible!

They don't own a house, but their family does.

Konoha Village experienced three Shinobi World Wars. The price of victory was the deaths of a large number of shinobi. Many members of the Ino-Shika-Cho clan died in the wars, and many houses had been vacant for many years. It was not difficult to rent them out.

It is peacetime now, and not all the residents of the village are ninjas. Civilians, merchants, blacksmiths, and monks all have housing needs, so there is a market for rentals.

Chapter Three: Naruto's Desire for Recognition

Both being intelligent people, Ino and Shikamaru knew that discussing this matter between the two of them would be useless, as it involved the distribution of benefits and they had to seek coordination from their respective families.