Ninja Pot Shadow

Shikamaru said casually, "I'll find a place where I can cheer you on while I'm sleeping."

Asuma whispered a reminder: "Remember, you are Konoha ninjas. You are in competition with Team 7, but you are definitely not enemies."

He then gestured for the three to observe Haku's actions: "That boy is not only an ice-style ninja, but he also seems to know how to use a sword. You need to be careful... especially Ino. The enemy has already seen your ninjutsu, and they will definitely use specific tactics against you this time."

"Understood, Asuma-sensei."

The three nodded in unison, while Kakashi on the other side was giving Team 7 their final instructions, which Naruto and the others listened to attentively.

Half an hour later.

The old and frail Master Yuan nodded gently, as if he might breathe his last at any moment.

Quan Bingwei, a confidant of Yuan Shi, took out the dazzling gemstone, cast several spells on it, and infused it with his own chakra. Soon, the cave entrance in front of them was filled with thick fog, and the already blurry entrance completely disappeared, leaving only a vast, white, and unknown space.

The group listened intently. Although it was an underground cave, there seemed to be some faint sounds mixed in from behind the thick fog.

Naruto stared wide-eyed inside: "There's someone in there? I think I heard someone talking in there."

Sasuke sneered, "Idiot, that's an illusion."

Seeing that the place was full of illusions, he felt that his chances of winning were even greater.

Ino was also examining the thick fog. Was it a trick left behind by the Second Mizukage's summoning beast "Shin"? Or was it a clone of a summoning beast? Or was the main body at the bottom of the cave?

If I bring the Second Mizukage's summoning beast back to Konoha, will the Third Hokage be able to withstand the pressure?

While she was lost in thought, Naruto, determined to charge ahead, strode into the thick fog, followed by Sasuke, and finally, the incredibly anxious Sakura.

Ino, Shikamaru, and Choji exchanged glances before stepping into the thick fog, followed by the three members of Kirigakure who were the hosts.

Chapter 89 The Second Mizukage

"Huh?" As soon as she stepped into the thick fog, Ino realized that Shikamaru and Choji were no longer beside her; the three of them had been forcibly separated by the maze.

She looked ahead but saw no trace of Naruto and the others. She stood there for a while but still didn't see the three people from Kirigakure who should have come in later.

"This illusion is amazing..." Her illusion skills were really lacking. What exactly made this illusion so good? She didn't know either, she could only say it was awesome!

Ino continued walking in the same direction she had gone before, and after walking for ten minutes, she still couldn't see an exit.

Thick fog surrounded her, and she quickly lost her sense of direction. She instinctively felt that she had gone astray, but there was nothing she could do but keep going.

The fog stretched endlessly, completely disorienting her.

"There's no other way... Shadow Clone Technique!" Ino couldn't just run around aimlessly in the fog, so she immediately created eight shadow clones, numbered them, assigned them directions, and sent them out one by one to find their way.

No matter how strong that "mirage" is, it can't use space-time ninjutsu. It was in the cave before, and it must still be in the cave now. It's just that the path under its feet is covered by genjutsu. This genjutsu works on the surroundings, not on Ino and the others, so they can't break free from this thing that is called genjutsu but is actually more like an illusion.

With a "bang," a shadow clone fell into the giant pit. The returned memories were received by Ino's main body, who drew an "X" in the direction where the shadow clone disappeared.

"Bang bang bang" One after another, the shadow clones disappeared. Some fell into traps, and some encountered dead ends. Ino sorted through all her memories and moved forward little by little.

She kept sending out shadow clones to scout ahead, while her main body took the path she was most confident in. Thirty minutes later, the view suddenly opened up before her.

"Fresh eel, fresh eel, come and see!"

"Steamed buns! One tael each!"

"Mizuno-kun, will your mother dislike me? Is this outfit too bright for my first visit?"

Surrounded by a bustling crowd, Ino found herself in a market, surrounded by vendors selling all sorts of things, from groceries to seafood. When she turned around, she found herself surrounded by people as well. Her sudden stop and glance back drew strange comments from passersby, who pointed and whispered among themselves.

Ino immediately used her sensory abilities to try and find Shikamaru and Choji.

After a thorough search, not a single familiar face was found. Not only Shikamaru and Choji, but even Naruto and Sakura were nowhere to be seen.

"...What a pity about Shikamaru's plan. That guy must be looking for a place to sleep right now."

Ino put her hands on her hips and looked around.

Since I can't find any companions, I'll have to go it alone.

She walked around the market but didn't see anything unusual.

Ino attempted to break the illusion using traditional methods, namely, disrupting the flow of chakra.

"untie!"

The chakra circulated within her body for two cycles, and when she opened her eyes, she was still in the bustling city.

This illusion is on an incredibly high level!

Whether Sasuke, who possesses the Sharingan, can undo it is unknown, but she certainly knows she cannot.

The Second Mizukage's illusionary skills were far superior to what was imagined. The bustling crowds, the lively city on both sides, the streetlights, and the castle tower in the distance—the sounds, smells, and textures all looked incredibly realistic.

Ino picked up a monkey face mask from a roadside stall. It felt a little rough to the touch, but the stall owner kept telling her that it was a masterpiece made by a master craftsman.

Fireworks burst in the night sky, and jugglers tossed and caught torches, drawing laughter from the children. It was a scene of peace and tranquility.

Ino picked an unnamed wildflower from the roadside, held it to her nose and smelled it. The fragrance was refreshing and lingering.

There is no Chojuro here, nor is there Sasuke Uchiha. It seems there are countless people, yet it also seems there is only her.

Ino pondered intently, holding a wildflower in her right hand, twirling it between her fingers like a pen, before letting out a soft shout.

"Flower Shuriken!"

The wildflowers flew straight behind me.

The so-called flower shuriken is just what Ino said to Sakura when she was a child. It's like children playing around and saying "I am Optimus Prime" or "I am Megatron". Children can't become Optimus Prime, and wildflowers thrown out like that are far less powerful than shuriken. But in this labyrinth, it is a test of judging reality and illusion.

She turned around and looked behind her, her brows furrowed.

With her long pink hair and broad forehead, Sakura stretched out her right hand, her index and middle fingers together, and held a wildflower between them. Standing three meters away, she gave Ino a rather smug smile.

Her height, demeanor, clothing, expression, and even that hesitant, awkward manner were exactly the same as Sakura's.

"Ino, I won't lose to you anymore, never again!" Sakura declared with unwavering spirit. "To win Sasuke-kun's love, let's settle this here today!"

Ino couldn't help but shudder: "Uncle, please stop using your powers right now. Your tone is really scary and disgusting!"

"Hmm? Really? Your willpower is so strong? You weren't affected by the illusion at all?" Sakura's figure became blurry, and soon, a man who looked to be at least 1.8 meters tall, with long yellow hair and wearing a high-collared trench coat appeared in front of Ino.

The man had no eyebrows, heavy dark circles under his eyes, and a somewhat comical mustache.

He stroked his chin, scrutinizing Ino: "That shouldn't be the case. How come a little girl like you hasn't been affected by my illusions? Could it be that you have some kind of peculiar bloodline limit?"

Before Ino could answer, he jumped up as if he had discovered a new continent, his movements extremely exaggerated. Then he pointed at Ino's waist: "...This is!? This is a Konoha headband? You're a Konoha ninja?"

"Yes, senior, I am..."

The man with the mustache was horrified: "Could it be... that Kirigakure has already been destroyed by Konoha? The gem that opened the labyrinth has fallen into Konoha's hands? Those damn juniors, they've really disgraced me! I'm so angry! Ugh—I'm going to die of anger!"

He would say he had let down the First Mizukage's trust, and then he would curse his descendants for being unhelpful.

He wallowed in self-pity for a full five minutes before Ino finally managed to interrupt him while he was kneeling and pounding the ground: "Senior! Second Mizukage! Konoha and Kirigakure are not enemies; we are here for friendly exchanges."

"Are they really not enemies?"

"No, it's not!"

The man with the mustache stood up, dusted off his clothes, and looked quite annoyed: "Exchange? I left them so many powerful ninjutsu, why would they need to exchange with Konoha? They're just a bunch of useless trash!"

Chapter Ninety: The Art of Mind Disorder and Divine Power

Ino chuckled twice; this was a bit of a difficult question to answer.

At the same time, she was also carefully observing the guy in front of her. The Second Mizukage had died in the First Shinobi World War, and now the leader of Kirigakure was the Fifth Mizukage.

This guy's chakra is probably the same as the chakra that Minato Namikaze left in Naruto's body. It's just that, thanks to a special environment, a portion of the Second Mizukage's chakra has been preserved to this day.

Ino didn't know exactly how it was left behind, only that the opportunity was rare. This kind of chakra wasn't a perpetual motion machine; it was like the Yin-Yang power that the Sage of Six Paths gave to Naruto and Sasuke—it diminished with each use.

From this perspective, Kirigakure did indeed pay a considerable price for this operation.

The mustachioed man's frustration came and went quickly; in the blink of an eye, he was as if nothing had happened: "You can leave now. I will not teach Konoha ninjas!"

"Senior, it was Elder Master Yuan who sent us in to undergo the test..."

The man with the mustache exaggeratedly curled his lip: "Who is Yuan Shi? Oh... I get it, you mean Yuan, right? That loser dares to order me around? I'm the Second Mizukage! No one can force me to do what I don't want to do!"

"Senior, don't you think that doing this will make Kirigakure break its promise? Kirigakure will not be able to hold its head high in front of other ninja villages in the future."

The man with the mustache crossed his arms and raised his chin: "So what? They're the ones who're embarrassed, not me. I should have been dead for years... Oh, right, how many years have I been dead? Little girl, do you know?"

This question really stumped Ino. The ninjas of Kirigakure generally only knew about the Second Mizukage, but they didn't know his name or what techniques he was good at. Even the ninjas from their own village didn't know, let alone Ino, who was from another village.

The Yamanaka family's intelligence capabilities also have their limits. If you yourselves don't even know, where am I supposed to find out?

Ino could only deduce the timeline she knew bit by bit: "...I remember that your four great ninja villages launched the war after the death of our First Hokage, Hashirama Senju. You took advantage of our misfortune! I despise you... Afterwards, our Second Hokage, Tobirama Senju, succeeded to the throne and single-handedly defeated you four. Then, the Second Hokage died in battle to cover the retreat of his subordinates. You should have perished together with the Second Tsuchikage around that time, senpai..."

Before she could finish speaking, the man with the mustache exploded: "What?! I and Wu died together? Nonsense, impossible! Absolutely impossible! My water-style techniques are unparalleled, can't you see Wu's bandages? Those injuries were caused by my explosion!"

Ino remained expressionless. After a while, once he had calmed down, she said, "Hey, do you still want to hear it? If you don't, I won't say anything more."

"Wait a minute!" There was a noticeable pause on the man with the mustache. Ino suspected that he could appear in multiple locations at the same time in the illusion labyrinth, so he should be asking the other people now.

It's impossible for the people of Konoha to know this history. Naruto, Sasuke, Sakura, and Choji don't even know the Second Mizukage's name, let alone his life story. Shikamaru is out of the question either. High intelligence and extensive historical knowledge have absolutely no connection.

Haku had been following Zabuza all along and had no way of obtaining this information. Ranmaru was so young that he probably hadn't even learned all the characters. The only person who might know this was the shy Chojuro. People like him are usually not good at socializing and just know how to bury themselves in books. Chojuro was also a key figure being groomed by Kirigakure, so there was a high chance that he knew these past events.

The man with the mustache stood there in a daze for two minutes, as if he had lost his connection, before cursing in annoyance, "Damn it, what kind of idiots are these from Kirigakure? Who sent them in? Am I getting old and out of touch with the times...? These three are all men... How can they look like this?! Is this the younger generation of Kirigakure? Kirigakure is doomed!"

Ino smiled smugly.

After waiting another half minute, the man with the mustache exclaimed, "Huh? There's a blond kid in your Konoha village who looks a bit like my nephew. Is he really from your Konoha village? Too bad, he's a hopeless idiot!"

Ino didn't say anything, but it was obvious that Naruto's generic face talent of "seeing someone reminds you of your family" had come into play again.

If he were to encounter a man with a mustache on the battlefield, he would probably reminisce for three or four episodes, right?

Naruto knew nothing about the matter, so the mustachioed man's attention had to return to Ino.

Ino began to tell the story, recounting how the Second Hokage used the Impure World Reincarnation to defeat the ninja armies of the four villages, how the Second Hokage died covering the retreat and how the Third Hokage succeeded him, and how the Hidden Stone Village and the Hidden Mist Village fought over the spoils of war, resulting in the mutual destruction of the two villages' Kage.

Having worked in sales, she was able to recount the history from a holistic perspective, while Chojuro at most knew some of Kirigakure's past events, and his storytelling ability was far inferior to Ino's.

“The story is well told, that should be it. The original body was really stupid, dying for a little spoils of war, which is infuriating. However…” The mustachioed man sighed heavily, “but letting the guys from Konoha come to learn my ninjutsu is even more infuriating! You can hit me or scold me as you please, I won’t give you a test, and I certainly won’t teach you! Get out.”

He sat cross-legged, closed his eyes, and said, "Go ahead and hit me, scold me, I won't fight back, and I'd rather die than teach you ninjutsu."

Ino had anticipated this; perhaps that old demon master from Kirigakure had foreseen this scene long ago.