Ninja Pot Shadow

Even after they fell out, Ino still considered Haruno Sakura her friend.

What Sakura Haruno was thinking, we don't know.

"What are you looking at? Are you looking at Sasuke?! How cunning!"

"You actually got 95 on the test today?! I'm so angry! You must be trying to get Sasuke's attention. I've finally figured you out!"

Ino tilted her head to the other side, not wanting to pay attention to her.

Call it low self-esteem or say she's willing to do anything for love, but Ino doesn't want to have too much interaction with Haruno Sakura. She's currently thinking about who to blame next, so she doesn't have time to play dating games with a 12-year-old girl. She's very busy.

"Go away, you broad-foreheaded fellow, don't bother me."

"You wild boar, you're definitely trying to run away!"

Ino was getting annoyed. Seeing that Sakura Haruno kept pestering her, insisting that she swear to the heavens that she would never give up pursuing Sasuke, Ino had no feelings for Sasuke, but it was impossible for her to make such a vow that was completely contrary to her former self's wishes. To outsiders, this change in personality was too abrupt, and it seemed suspicious no matter how you looked at it.

"You must swear an oath! Hurry up!"

"Say it now, abandon Sasuke forever! Say it, say it now!"

Ino's forehead creased with the character "井" (well). The reason she was standing here wiping the windows was that she was waiting for a "destined person," but now that Haruno Sakura kept pestering her, she was annoyed.

If you're ruthless, don't blame me for being unjust. Since you've taken the initiative, you can take the blame for the rest...

She suddenly pointed out the window, her face filled with panic: "Oh no! Look! Sasuke is injured!"

"Where is she? Where is she?" Sakura Haruno pressed her face against the window, looking around nervously, when suddenly Ino kicked her in the butt from behind.

"Tch, a chestless, buttless brat." Leaving behind a nonchalant comment, Ino swaggered out of the classroom, went up to the rooftop, and called up Shikamaru and Choji, who hadn't even gone to the playground to exercise. The three of them skipped class and went to eat barbecue.

"Barbecue? Now?! Great! Let's go, let's go!" Fatty Choji jumped eight meters high. If Ino hadn't grabbed him by the collar, he would have jumped straight off the rooftop.

Falling won't kill you, but such an enthusiastic display is a bit exaggerated. When skipping class, you should pay attention to the way you do it and not make a big fuss about it.

"Shikamaru, let's go together." In Ino's memory, even Sarutobi Asuma, the Jonin who wrote "My village chief father," was forced to kneel and apologize to the barbecue restaurant owner by Choji. She felt that she probably didn't have enough money on her, so she had to call Shikamaru along...

"Sigh, this is really troublesome." Shikamaru guessed her intention and looked at the white clouds on the horizon, sighing slowly like a retired old cadre.

Not all teachers are as conscientious and responsible as Iruka. The teacher in charge of teaching the female students how to do housework, Suzume-sensei, and the teacher in the distance, seemed not to see them and let the three of them swagger away.

If nothing unexpected happens, these three are the 16th generation of the Ino-Shika-Cho clan, the heirs of their respective families. The three families have been allied for over two hundred years, stretching from the Warring States period to the present day, which is even longer than the history of Konoha Village. The Yamanaka family, known as the "Ino," is in charge of intelligence, the "Shika" family is in charge of medicinal herbs, and the "Cho" family is in charge of logistics and supplies. Together, the three families have more than a dozen Jonin who have mastered a large number of ninjutsu and secret techniques. Their strength is no less than that of a typical small ninja village.

With the Senju clan no longer existing, the Uchiha clan only having the Four Laughing Heroes left, and the Hyuga clan facing a generational gap, the Ino-Shika-Cho trio has become the number one ninja clan in the ninja world.

It's not a matter of principle; the village won't do anything to them. Skipping class? Is that even a big deal?

……

"I'm so angry! Inoboro even got first place! I have to work harder! Ah! If I can get first place back, Sasuke will definitely... Hehehe! I'm so embarrassed... Ugh, I'm so angry! Inoboro dared to kick me!"

Sakura Haruno crawled out of the bushes, infuriated by Ino's comment that she had "no breasts and no butt." What? She felt she still had some! Thinking of Sasuke, she immediately turned into a lovesick girl again.

Exams, Sasuke, Ino—her thoughts kept jumping between these three words.

"Huh? What's this?" Sakura Haruno has a keen eye for observation. Before long, she found a somewhat tattered scroll under a patch of soil in the grass.

Open the scroll.

"Ah!" she exclaimed, then quickly covered her mouth, looked around, and only after finding no one paying attention to her did she carefully examine the text on the scroll.

"Want my treasure? You can have it all. Go find it; I've left all my treasure there!" The scroll was written in a vigorous and powerful style, and it came with a map. It was signed by a man named Hashirama Senju.

Chapter Six: Skipping Class

Back then, Madara Uchiha said, "Konoha is an integral part of the village. Without trees, there is no flourishing of leaves, and without leaves, trees cannot survive for long." He named the village Konohagakure (Hidden Leaf Village), which shows that he cared about the village, himself, and Hashirama Senju's dreams, and that he still held onto those hopes.

The words have come true; now the tree is gone, and the leaves are almost gone too.

Aside from Ino and a few older people, few people still know the name Madara Uchiha, but the name of the First Hokage, Hashirama Senju, is known to almost everyone.

Even if you really don't know, with such a big head on the Hokage Rock, anyone with a bit of curiosity would go and ask about it.

Sakura Haruno doesn't have Ino's family background. After their friendship ended, she studied very hard and got excellent grades. Although the village always referred to her as the First Hokage, she quickly connected Hashirama Senju with the title of First Hokage.

Shikamaru hesitates even when using explosive tags, Hinata gets excited for ages when she sees a shop giving away kunai in a raffle, Ino is so poor she's starting to think about "renting out vacant houses," and Sakura Haruno, who comes from a commoner background, is even poorer. She really wants the First Hokage's treasure.

Without notifying anyone, she placed the scroll at the bottom of her backpack, intending to study it more carefully when she got home.

Right now, she has something more important to do: study hard and surpass Ino in academic performance! This is directly related to whether she can win back Sasuke's heart, at least that's what she thinks. Treasure is important, but love is even more valuable!

……

Ino, Shikamaru, and Choji encountered the boisterous Kiba Inuzuka at the entrance of the school building. Seeing that the three of them had skipped class, the dog lover looked remarkably calm and followed them out carrying Akamaru, the ninja dog he had raised since he was a puppy.

Where are you going?

"Want to go eat barbecue, Ya?" Shikamaru asked.

"Why not go? Let's go!" Kiba Inuzuka never knew how to refuse a free meal, so he readily agreed.

Three-year-old ninja dog Akamaru knew he could get a free meal and barked happily twice.

Ino glanced at Shikamaru, as if to say, "You know we don't have enough money, yet you still call for help? Are we really going to be washing dishes at this yakiniku restaurant today?"

Shikamaru lazily shrugged, indicating that he couldn't do anything about it. Since they had already run into each other, they couldn't very well say, "Let's go home and study, can we?"

One more person means one more mouth to feed. Judging from Kiba Inuzuka's expression, he's clearly planning to bring his ninja dogs along for a free meal, which means two mouths to feed.

Ino scratched her head in worry; money was becoming increasingly scarce. Should she call Naruto along? She remembered that Naruto seemed to be quite wealthy.

“There are already four people, and you’re the only girl here, so let’s invite another one to keep us company.” Shikamaru gestured with his chin, indicating that she should look to the right.

Who? Ino followed his gaze and saw Hinata carefully carrying a bucket of water, preparing to go back to clean.

We're going to call Hinata too? Good heavens! If we call her, we definitely won't have enough money!

Ino understood Shikamaru's meaning perfectly: he wanted Hinata to help share the cost of meals.

Even a starved camel is bigger than a horse. No matter how down on its luck the Hyuga clan is, it is still a top-tier Konoha clan. As the eldest daughter, Hinata has a lot of pocket money. In addition, she has a gentle personality and spends very little. At this stage, she is definitely a rich woman, at least that's what Shikamaru thinks.

Ino was speechless. She could only say that even the wisest can make a mistake. With information asymmetry, even if Shikamaru has an IQ of 200, it's useless. He can still misjudge things sometimes...

"What? Is there information in this that I don't know?" Shikamaru was so shrewd; he immediately noticed Ino's hesitation. He didn't know the basis for this hesitation, so he carefully examined Hinata.

What else could Ino say?

To say that Hinata looks pitiful, weak, and helpless, but she has an enormous appetite? That's impossible.

Well, I hope she really is a wealthy woman.

With quick reflexes, she grabbed Hinata Hyuga, who looked like a little rabbit and seemed easy to bully.

"Hinata, let's go get some barbecue."

"Ah... this... this... we're still in class... what about Ms. Suzume?" Hinata was completely bewildered and at a loss, not knowing how to refuse at all.

“They’re all boys, so just keep me company. Come on, come on, we’ve been classmates for so many years, but we’ve never eaten together before. Today’s the perfect day to catch up. I remember your birthday is in December, right? Haha, you’re three months younger than me.” Ino pulled and dragged the eldest daughter of the Hyuga family out of the school.

Two girls, three boys, and a dog—this lineup isn't unusual.

As she walked, Ino pondered the matter.

Of the Konoha Twelve, three were from the previous year and have now graduated. They cannot be contacted at present, so they are disregarded.

Sasuke, that cold-faced guy, doesn't need to be called. Even if the sun rose in the west, this self-proclaimed "Avenger" guy would never go out for barbecue with a bunch of classmates.

Naruto is cleaning the wide noodles of tears on the Hokage Rock. Sakura Haruno has also been tricked by Ino. If you remove these three, twelve minus six equals six. There are currently five people here. Who is missing from the Konoha Twelve?

"Are you looking for me?"

"Huh?" Ino turned around and found a boy wearing a beige hooded jacket and sunglasses, with most of his face covered, standing not far behind her to the left.

This is now outside the campus.

She was taken aback: "Shino, you've been following us the whole time?"

“I came here with this guy,” Shino Aburame said, pointing to Kiba Inuzuka, a dog lover standing to the side.

Good heavens! Ino exclaimed.

A perfectly healthy person made no attempt to conceal themselves, and it took them over a hundred meters to spot them – their presence was incredibly low! It would be a loss for the ninja world if they weren't ninjas.

"Shall we go get some barbecue together?"

"it is good."

The other party's answer was as crisp and concise as ever.

The Yamanaka family, Nara family, Akimichi family, Hyuga family, Inuzuka family, and Aburame family—all six families were ninja clans in the village. Among them, Hinata Hyuga's Hyuga family was a powerful clan in Konoha that could rival the Uchiha clan back then.

They didn't actually mean to exclude civilian ninjas, but without realizing it, the six of them came together, and the civilian ninjas were excluded.

As they entered the Q BBQ restaurant, the somewhat plump proprietress saw them, especially the chubby Choji, and it was as if she had seen a relative.

"How many of you are there?"

"Boss lady, six people."

"okay!"

Ninjas are typically nocturnal, so their schedules are quite irregular. Even at around 10 a.m., there are still quite a few people eating at the barbecue restaurant.

Ino saw her adoptive father's subordinates, and Shikamaru saw his elder relatives. They went over and greeted each other politely.

Chapter Seven: Returning Home

"Senior Aoba." Ino greeted Yamashiro Aoba, a special Jonin from the intelligence department. She recognized him because he had visited her home before.

The other party was very polite: "Oh, it's Miss Yamanaka, out having dinner with your classmates? That's great, come on over."

"Yes."

Meanwhile, Shikamaru exchanged a few pleasantries with his senior Jonin elder, Nara Suzaku.

After the two of them sat down, the proprietress brought out plates of grilled meat one by one. Choji Akimichi's big physique was very representative; if there wasn't enough meat on him, it was considered disrespectful!

Ino, Shikamaru, and Shino, who used ninjutsu, quickly finished eating and sat chatting idly. Kiba Inuzuka and Choji, who practiced taijutsu, were still eating voraciously. Hinata was clearly not full, but she didn't want to lose her ladylike demeanor, so when the others weren't looking, she would secretly stick out her little tongue and lick the plate...

She didn't lick continuously; instead, she would lick once, steal a glance at the others, and only when she realized no one was paying attention would she lick again as if nothing had happened.

Ino was still thinking about getting her to pay the bill; she couldn't just lick the plate clean!

"Boss lady, bring two more plates. Hinata, look how thin you are. Come on, eat some meat. It's on me today, don't be shy."