Ninja Pot Shadow

Shikamaru was shocked. Good heavens, you even roll up your curry rice? Women are terrifying!

The moment Ino took a bite of the four-times-spicy curry rice, she felt her whole body go into overdrive, steam billowing from her head, her fair skin turning bright red, and the intense heat in her stomach rushing to every part of her body.

Choji's mouth was covered in curry, and he stopped eating, holding his spoon and staring cautiously at Ino, wondering what she was doing.

Ino ignored them.

She closed her eyes and clenched her fist, feeling the medicinal power that had been lingering in her cells finally dissipate completely. The dampness that had accumulated in her body from practicing Water Release for a long time was swept away, and her body energy instantly surged to a peak. Ino gave a soft shout and used her spiritual energy and physical energy to create chakra. She glanced at the panel and saw that her "essence" had finally reached 7!

Her physical condition was exceptionally good at this moment. Without hesitation, she put the two pots she had saved into the "refined" area, and the number changed again, rising from 7 to 8.

A layer of pale blue chakra light emanated from his body; it wasn't very noticeable, but it was definitely there...

Ino's chakra surged so much that Asuma dropped the cigarette he was holding. What did he see?

After eating two plates of curry rice, his subordinate suddenly unleashed such powerful chakra? He knew very well that Ino's current chakra output had surpassed his own; at least, his chakra couldn't be projected to this extent.

Are you kidding me?! He's not some poor, resource-poor commoner ninja; his father is the village chief! From childhood to adulthood, he's had the abundant resources, the best teachers, and the most scientific training methods, and now...

Ino had no time to consider Asuma's feelings; she felt the chakra energy within her body was so intense, it was like a scalding lava field.

My current chakra is already comparable to Tsunade's, right? Tsunade is only at a mid-level among Kage-level beings. If someone at that level has such a huge amount of chakra, how terrifying would those "Elite" 9 or "Elite" 10 beings be?

"I'm going out to practice my ninjutsu!" With that, Ino hurriedly ran out of the house, found a low-lying area, and unleashed a "Water Release: Exploding Water Wave" at her feet!

The output of "Exploding Water Wave" was a bit small, so she added three more hand seals to the original version and increased the chakra output, upgrading it from a B-rank ninjutsu "Exploding Water Wave" to an A-rank ninjutsu "Great Exploding Water Wave"!

The benefits of having a large amount of chakra were immediately apparent. When fighting the bandits, her "Exploding Water Wave" could only cover the area of ​​a basketball court and was about five or six meters high. Now, the Great Exploding Water Wave was practically endless. According to her estimation, this ninjutsu could now cover at least the area of ​​a football field, and the water flow could form giant waves more than ten meters high. This was only because she had just broken through and her chakra control was not yet perfect.

With more chakra, more water is generated, and the impact becomes stronger. If the impact was 1 before, it is now 5.

Ino was very satisfied. When she fought, she would first use the Great Explosion Water Wave to create water. Her offensive ninjutsu included Water Dragon Bullet and Water Chaos Wave. Her defensive ninjutsu included Water Wall. If she couldn't win, she would use the Hidden Mist Technique. If she encountered Sharingan, she would use Shadow Clone Jutsu. In addition, she could use her clan's secret techniques to ambush people from time to time. She was capable of fighting, defending, and running away.

At this level, at this point in the early stages, his self-preservation ability is already very strong. During the Konoha destruction plan, as long as he doesn't fight Orochimaru, Kabuto, or others to the death, he will have no problem surviving.

The released water has completely altered the terrain of this area, and it cannot be taken back. Ino was preparing to return to the Curry House of Destiny when she suddenly heard a muffled "plop" behind her.

Who fell into the water? The water level is quite high now, as if a river has appeared out of nowhere. If two passing villagers drown, her sins will be enormous. She quickly turned around to look.

I couldn't see the person clearly. The other person didn't struggle or call for help like a normal person would after falling into the water; it seemed like they sank to the bottom in an instant.

Ino dove down to save the person.

At that moment, she saw the face of the person who had fallen into the water.

Her eyebrows twitched involuntarily.

A green bodysuit, a watermelon-shaped haircut, and thick eyebrows—isn't that Rock Lee from Konoha Village? What's he doing here?

The other person was a year older than Ino. Originally, Ino only liked handsome guys and had no impression of this guy. She only knew that there was such a person in the Ninja Academy, but she had never spoken to him.

Ino swam to his side.

Judging from her appearance, she was exhausted and didn't pay attention to her footing, so she fell headfirst into the river she had just created.

Ino manipulated the water flow, forcibly pushing him from the bottom of the river to the bank.

Rock Lee lay on the ground, extremely weak, and tried to stand up twice, but failed both times.

He mumbled incoherently, "Don't stop me... Teacher Kai... I can still run! Run ten laps around the Land of Fire... I can still run... If I can't do that, I'll jump rope three thousand times."

Ino leaned down and listened for a couple of minutes, then sighed in amazement. "Good heavens, you've trained too hard, you've even gone abroad! Does your master know?"

As a fellow villager, Ino couldn't just stand by and watch someone die, so she tried to pull Rock Lee up.

...I can't move him! It's fine if there's water, but on land, this guy is as heavy as a rock. Ino's pitiful 2 points of strength are simply not enough to move him.

"You're carrying a heavy load? You're really pushing yourself... It's not that I don't want to help, I just really can't lift it... Asuma-sensei, Shikamaru, Choji! Come help me!" Ino quickly activated her summoning jutsu to call for help!

Chapter Sixty-Nine: Matt Kei and Rock Lee

Before long, Asuma, Shikamaru, and Choji, three strong young men, worked together to lift the semi-conscious Rock Lee and take him to the Curry House of Life.

After taking a bite of curry rice, Lee Rock, who looked extremely dejected, suddenly brightened up and finished the whole plate of curry rice with a determined look.

Only then did he look around.

"Ah! It's Teacher Asuma! Thank you for saving me!" He bowed very formally at a ninety-degree angle. Asuma, who was sitting there with a cigarette in his mouth, quickly stood up to return the bow.

He then looked at Ino, his eyes first filled with doubt, then with excitement: "You're the Yamanaka-san who defeated Uchiha Sasuke, right? I heard you were the top student in your year! That's amazing. Neji has heard your name mentioned before, the genius ninja Yamanaka Ino! If I defeat you, I'll be qualified to challenge Neji, right? Great, I'll challenge you!"

Ino covered her forehead; she knew this would happen.

Just as she was trying to figure out what to say to brush it off, Lee Rock asked Granny Sansho for two more plates of curry rice.

As he ate, he muttered to himself, "I have to finish today's exercise today. If I don't, I'll jump rope three thousand times... Mmm! So delicious! A challenge... Hmm, delicious, delicious. Next time, I'll definitely challenge you! Grandma, another plate!"

He ate three large plates of curry rice, which was said to be ten times spicier than usual. His face turned bright red from the spiciness, but he didn't drink any water.

He left behind a vague sentence, and then, just as he had come, rushed out of the room and ran into the distance.

Anyone who didn't know better would think he ate and dashed.

Ino glanced at the direction he was heading, then looked up at the sun, and quickly shouted, "Hey, if you keep running west, you'll be in the Land of Wind! Turn back! Turn back!"

Her voice was a little soft, and she was quite far away, so Lee Locke couldn't hear what she was saying.

The muscular man turned around, raised his right arm, gave a thumbs-up, and said, seemingly out of nowhere, "Thanks for your support! I will continue to work hard!"

"Thanks my ass!" Ino was exasperated, watching Rock Lee run westward. "Holy crap, Konoha is in the east! What are you doing? You're not planning to go ahead and kick Gaara to death, are you?"

Xiao Li ran extremely fast, but he was exhausted. He hadn't run far before his speed slowed down. Asuma caught up and brought the man back to the Curry House of Life.

He needs to rest and replenish his energy, and the Curry House is clearly not the right place for him.

They can't just abandon him, but the worst thing that can happen during a mission is complications. Team 10 can't just abandon their mission to stay with Rock Lee; doing so would violate a whole host of ninja regulations. What to do? Call someone to take him back to the village.

Asma knew Might Guy and Rock Lee well. He scratched his head, wrote the situation down on a scroll, released a carrier hawk, and then stayed at the curry shop to wait for the village's reply.

With nothing to do, Ino bought two fish from Granny Sansho and continued practicing what she called the "Salted Fish Revival Technique," a basic medical ninjutsu.

The two fish were quickly tortured to death by her; they lay down wherever they fell, and there was no way they could be revived.

Ino complained briefly about the difficulty of medical ninjutsu, then continued practicing.

Grandma Sansho mainly makes curry rice, and there aren't many live fish in the kitchen, so she asked Shikamaru to go fishing at another river and give the dead fish to Choji for dinner.

The Ino-Shika-Cho trio start working together: Shikamaru goes fishing, Ino is responsible for "killing" the fish, and Choji uses Sansho's kitchen to cook the fish.

The next morning, Xiao Li's teacher, Matt Kai, arrived.

"It's okay! I'll take this idiot back to the village. Don't worry, nothing will happen." Might Guy flashed what he thought was a charming smile and gleaming teeth, then raised his arm to the four of them, gave them a thumbs up, hoisted Little Lee onto his shoulder like a sack, and sped away without wasting a second.

It has to be said, they ran really fast. Ino and the others traveled from the village to the land of rivers for two days and nights. Considering that the carrier hawk flew back to the village, the code team deciphered the letter, and finally the message was passed on to Might Guy, if we remove the time wasted in these steps, this Guy teacher probably only took two or three hours to complete the whole journey.

He reassured them, and Asuma felt reassured, while Ino felt even more at ease.

Just kidding! Who is Might Guy? He's the Might Guy! Madara called him the man with the strongest taijutsu.

The four bid farewell to Granny Sansho and headed to the Oxalis Mine.

Actually, the mountain wasn't far from the Curry House of Destiny; you could see it from inside the house. However, as the saying goes, "looking at a mountain makes you look like you're on a long journey," and they didn't find the person who commissioned the mission until the afternoon of the second day. This person was a local official from the Land of Rivers, and he didn't provide much information about the "Kuroshiki Family."

The tenth squad arrived at the small village at the foot of the wood sorrel mine that evening.

The first impression upon entering the village was one of dilapidation. There was a burnt smell in the air, and the villagers were all emaciated and looked like a group of walking corpses.

“Be careful, we may have already come into the enemy’s sights,” Asma said.

Not only Ino and Shikamaru, but even Choji took out a kunai and looked around warily.

Ino closed her eyes and formed a "未" (unknown) hand seal.

"Perception!"

She used her sensory abilities to search for chakra responses within the village, and the result was quite unexpected. The village seemed to be very ordinary, and apart from the four of them, there was no one else with chakra responses.

Ino searched again and said, "Asuma-sensei, something's strange... I didn't see any chakra reactions in the village or around the mine."

Asuma asked, "You don't think any enemy ninjas were involved in this mission?"

Ino hesitated. Of course, she hoped the mission would be as simple as possible, and she was quite confident in her perception abilities, but the current situation in the village still seemed strange.

Not a single enemy? That's too unbelievable.

She tried to articulate her deduction: "No, I think there's a chance that an enemy ninja will appear. Their sensory abilities should be stronger than mine, which is why they're suppressing me."

Asuma smiled: "Always be vigilant, that's the right answer. Hmm... I agree with you. This village and the Kurosuki family are not simple, Shikamaru?"

Shikamaru really enjoyed the feeling of playing against the enemy. He immediately came up with a plan: "The enemy is in the dark, and we are in the light. Assuming our whereabouts have been exposed, they definitely don't want us to escape. They will lure more Konoha ninjas over, and we will withdraw from the village! If the enemy chases us, we will ambush and annihilate them. If they don't chase us, we will come back and secretly enter the village to investigate."

Chapter Seventy: Raiga Kurosuki and Ranmaru

Class 10 had not anticipated this situation.

In the ninja world today, there are very few ninjas with sensory abilities. Now, the enemy not only has a sensory ninja, but can also suppress Ino. How low are the odds?

Shikamaru's method was to lure the snake out of its hole.

What if we don't leave the cave, or there are no snakes inside at all? Then let's come back.

Ino added, "We'll walk along the river. Even if we encounter enemies, I can hold them off with my water-style escape techniques."

She was actually being modest. With her water-style ninjutsu, abundant chakra, and the natural river environment, she could easily take on four or five ordinary genin or chunin.

Asuma remained silent, tacitly agreeing to this solution, and Choji had no objection to their unanimous decision.

To make the performance more convincing, they investigated the village for half an hour before leaving in a hurry.

Halfway up the mountain in the mine, a man dressed entirely in black robes and wearing a hood stood there, and from his perspective, he could see the four people leaving the village.

"Raiya, those guys ran away. They were really fast. It looks like they're not coming back," a rather childish voice said from inside the man's black robe.

A light rain was falling from the sky, and through the hood, the man's thick eyebrows and dark circles were visible.

The man looked up at the sky like a philosopher, his tone filled with madness: "We are as close as family with the villagers, yet these outside ninjas insist on disrupting our peace. Honestly, why are they forcing me? I'm so heartbroken! I really don't want to kill anymore!"

The childish voice paused for a moment, then said, "...Raiya, I am your eyes, I will definitely help you."

The man's face was full of agreement: "That's right! Ranmaru, you are my eyes, and I am your hands and feet. We will definitely find our meaning in this chaotic world!"

"This is our home, and we will absolutely not allow those outsiders to disrupt our peaceful relationship with the villagers. Chase them down! Kill them! Afterwards, hold a funeral for these ninjas who have come from afar! I will give them the most solemn funeral ever!"

At the man's command, seven men in black robes emerged from the shadows. They were agile and exuded murderous intent, forming a net as they chased after the four who had fled the village.