Ninja Pot Shadow

She asked Kakashi for help to formally recommend herself to Jiraiya and Tsunade. Kakashi was the disciple of the Fourth Hokage and the son of Konoha's White Fang. He not only inherited the legacy of his predecessors but was also the inheritor of the Will of Fire. He was comparable to Shanks from One Piece and was a very prestigious person.

Ino needs to save face now.

Inoichi thought for a moment, then picked up a document handed over by the Anbu and looked it over: "Key Country, Lock Village, female ninja Ari... Hmm, you don't need to get involved in this matter. Leave the rest to me."

After Ino left, Inoichi found Ibiki Morino, who was in charge of the interrogation, and emphasized the ambiguous relationship between the captured female ninja and Kakashi.

It's true that Ibiki Morino is stern and impartial, but he's not stupid either.

He didn't know that Kakashi would become the Sixth Hokage in the future, but he knew that among the remaining young ninjas in the village, the Sannin had left one after another, the Fourth Hokage had died in battle, and Kakashi was the pillar of the village.

As a close confidant of the Third Hokage, he knew many of the Third Hokage's thoughts, and Kakashi was very close to the position of Hokage.

If Kakashi really had feelings for the female ninja, but due to his excessive use of torture, she ended up losing an arm or an eye, it would be difficult to remedy the situation afterwards...

No problem, just hand over the issue.

Ten minutes later, the information on the female ninja, Ari, arrived on the Third Hokage's desk.

The Third Hokage also felt that the matter was rather troublesome. In many ways, it was less about Kakashi's reputation and more about the legacy of the Fourth Hokage. The Fourth Hokage and his wife sacrificed themselves to save the village, and everyone owed them a debt of gratitude. Naruto, because of the Nine-Tails inside him, basically didn't enjoy these things. His disciples and sons were in a similar situation to some extent. Most of these invisible and intangible favors fell on Kakashi's shoulders.

He pondered for five minutes: "Bring this female ninja here, I want to talk to her myself."

"Yes, Hokage-sama."

……

The next day, Naruto, who was eating ramen, casually turned around and saw Kakashi and the female ninja Ari walking side by side on the main street of Konoha Village.

The two didn't appear intimate, but they were definitely not strangers either.

"Pfft—!" Naruto spat all the noodles out of his nostrils, which angered the shopkeeper.

"Sorry, sorry!" Naruto didn't have time to explain. He hurriedly put down the money and ran out to watch.

On the way, they encountered Sakura coming out of the flower shop in the mountains, and Sasuke standing coolly in the middle of the bridge. The three of them, with a gossipy mindset, secretly followed him all the way...

Afterwards, Ino, Shikamaru, Choji, Hinata, Kiba, and Shino also joined in the pursuit.

In the end, even kids like Konohamaru and Moegi followed.

Ahead were Kakashi and Ari, who were chatting and laughing from time to time. In the distance, a large group of people were hiding in the shadows, in the corners of the walls, and behind the trash cans!

In the Hokage's office, the Third Hokage was also observing the situation through a telescope.

Danzo and Inoichi stood beside him.

The old man coughed and removed the chakra from the crystal ball.

“Kakumae Village placed a jutsu in this female ninja’s right eye, Inoichi. If you use your mind-reading ability on her, she can use this jutsu to read the information in your brain in return. Your decision to report this was very wise.”

Haiyi was also a little scared at this moment. Who would have thought that this female ninja named Ari would have a reverse spying technique in her eyes?

Losing information about the village is a minor matter; what's worse is losing the Yamanaka family's secret techniques, medicines, incantations, and other inherited knowledge. After Haiyi dies, he won't even have the face to face the Yamanaka family's ancestors.

In the entire Hidden Leaf Village, probably only the Third Hokage had the ability to discover this technique sealed inside the eye.

Ino's actions couldn't really be described as saving the Yamanaka family or the village, but looking back now, Inoichi feels that his daughter was incredibly lucky, as if divinely aided...

Danzo asked menacingly, "Kakumae Village? Such a small ninja village dares to spy on Konoha. Hiruzen, do you intend to continue to tolerate this?"

The third generation took a drag of his cigarette and, seemingly ignoring the question, said, "Ah Li said she has never been back to Suoqian Village. The village is worried that spies outside will be arrested and their location will be revealed, so they are never allowed to return. They have been traveling for many years and have no idea where the village is. I don't think Ah Li is lying."

Danzo couldn't help but sneer. This Kusama Village actually dared to provoke Konoha!

They're incredibly audacious. Konoha has tens of thousands of ninjas; they could crush this small ninja village like a bug. Aren't they afraid? Yet, they treat their village's elites like thieves, sending selected elites away from their villages and families at a very young age to receive training and gather intelligence from other ninja villages. They never tell them the location of their own village, only giving them a vague hope. It seems they're also pitifully timid.

Danzo left with the words, "Hmph, I'll have the Root ninjas gather intelligence," and departed alone.

Meanwhile, Teams 7, 8, and 10 gathered together to eat barbecue under the guise of celebrating Kakashi and Ri's long-awaited reunion.

Kakashi naturally treated everyone to this meal.

He has done many missions and killed many ninjas over the years, and he has no expenses and is rich!

Seeing that someone else was treating, Asma was overjoyed and kept telling the owner, "Bring on the barbecue! Bring on a big plate of barbecue!"

Chapter 99 Kakashi's True Colors

Inviting someone to dinner is a necessary means of building relationships in any era. Right now, with the big spender Kakashi treating everyone, everyone is eating heartily, while Hinata, the little girl, is still eating the barbecue with that timid expression.

"Ino, I really can't eat anymore."

"Thank you, Teacher Hong, I'm really full..."

"I'm really full... I really can't eat anymore..."

Hinata maintained a very good pace while eating the barbecue; if you weren't paying attention, you wouldn't know that she was the biggest eater among everyone present.

Ino didn't miss the opportunity either. Asuma urged her to practice taijutsu whenever she had time. After hearing that she had been attacked by the Kirigakure trio with taijutsu several times, Inoichi also made her strengthen her training in this area. She was expending a lot of energy, and if she didn't eat meat, she wouldn't have the strength to train.

Sakura's mind wasn't on eating.

She chatted with Ali about a lot of gossip. The girl with the wide forehead was clearly more interested in these things. As a spy who had traveled all over the country, Ali had mastered the art of speaking to people in a way that suited them perfectly. She could easily fool a silly girl like Xiaoying. She seemed to talk a lot, but if you thought about it, she actually didn't say anything.

Hong and Asma were whispering to each other at another table.

There were four girls in the group. Ari sat on the far left, closest to the aisle, Sakura and Ino were in the middle, and Hinata sat at the very back to hide her identity as a member of the Big Barrel Clan.

Sakura was having a great time chatting when she turned around and found Hinata and Ino eating voraciously.

Her thought process is ultimately different from that of ordinary people, and she often discovers things that others cannot.

She nudged Ino with her elbow: "Ino-boo, look at Kakashi-sensei."

"What's wrong?" Ino looked up and glanced at him. "Are you alright? Is there a problem?"

Sakura lowered her voice: "Kakashi-sensei never takes off his mask while eating, do you think there might be something under his mask...?"

Her eyes darted around, her expression strange: "Could it be buck teeth?! Or thick lips? Or maybe..."

She guessed several times in a row, which made Ino shiver. Ari just covered her mouth and chuckled. Naruto, on the other hand, was sneakily looking at Kakashi. His movements were a little exaggerated, and Sasuke followed suit and looked over as well.

Upon closer inspection, everyone realized the problem.

Kakashi doesn't usually eat, but whenever the waiter brings out the food, or when someone is blocking his view, he will devour an entire plate of grilled meat with lightning speed! Afterwards, his cheeks will bulge out as he chews it bit by bit in his mouth.

Seemingly noticing their stares, Kakashi swallowed the meat in his mouth and explained confidently, "This is a habit I picked up during the war. I eat too fast and I can't change it. Hey, boss, bring another plate of grilled meat for Hyuga-san!"

This kind of diversionary tactic is really too low-level. They're not children. Straight men like Naruto and Sasuke don't care at all how much Hinata eats. They're more interested in knowing what's behind Kakashi's mask.

Speak your mind! That's Naruto's ninja way.

He asked directly, wanting to know Kakashi's true face beneath the mask.

"You guys are staring at me instead of eating, is that all you're doing?" Kakashi asked, his gaze sweeping over the group's faces.

Everyone, including Shino Aburame, who had always had a low profile, nodded vigorously.

Asuma and Red chuckled and did not participate in the "activity".

"You kids are so curious..." Kakashi grabbed the mask and pulled it down little by little with very small movements.

Even Ino, who was half-heartedly pondering the danger of the explosion and four-tenths of her mind on how to cause trouble, looked over seriously at this moment.

Naruto's forehead was sweating, and he nervously swallowed a mouthful of saliva. The others stared intently at Kakashi's right hand, all thinking that his movement of pulling up his mask was too slow.

Just as the group was about to protest, Kakashi swiftly ripped off his mask, and then... they discovered that beneath his black mask was another blue mask...

"Pfft!" Naruto spat out all the roasted meat in his mouth, then coughed violently, bent over, and couldn't straighten up for a long time. Sasuke's face was very ugly, feeling that he had been tricked. Sakura was even more disappointed. Is that all?

"Hahahaha—" Asuma and Kurenai laughed loudly on the side. They had obviously been tricked by Kakashi before, and now they were laughing so hard that tears were streaming down their faces.

Kakashi ultimately did not reveal his true identity.

The atmosphere at the dinner was good, so no one continued to make fun of that point. Jokes should be kept within limits; going too far is not good.

Ino, seizing the opportunity to lighten the mood, started promoting her services to Kakashi: "You have a girlfriend now, shouldn't you buy some flowers? Shouldn't you buy some jewelry? Some gold and silver ornaments or something? I have all of those, and shipping is free."

"No, no, Ari and I are just ordinary friends," Kakashi explained, waving his hands repeatedly.

Ah-Li smiled without saying a word, appearing very gentle and ladylike, completely belying her status as a major spy who traversed numerous ninja villages.

"Kakashi-sensei, how did you and Ari meet?" Sakura, her mind clouded by romance, couldn't wait to ask this question.

Several people around them strained to listen, and even Asuma and Kurenai glanced over out of the corner of their eyes.

Kakashi scratched his head, unsure of what to say.

Ali was quite generous: "Let me tell you. I remember I was young back then, about the same age as you are now. I was very confused at that time, and the training was very tough. I just wanted to... I wanted to find the way back to the village, but I got lost."

She glossed over the village incident, then her cheeks flushed slightly as she looked at Kakashi: "When I was at my most helpless, I met him. He encouraged me. He said that if I missed my family, I should look up at the white clouds in the sky and imagine them as my family..."

Sakura kept glancing at Sasuke out of the corner of her eye. She never expected Kakashi-sensei to say something so sweet. She wished Sasuke would say the same thing.

……

After the "Yakiniku Q" dinner ended, Kakashi called Ino over, and after everyone had left, he asked seriously, "Senior Inoichi said you want to become Tsunade's apprentice. Can you tell me why?"

Ino said, half truthfully and half falsely, "Actually, Haku stabbed my palm before, and Chojuro's Hiramekarei slashed my back hard. It really hurt so much. I'm afraid of pain, afraid of death... I'm even more afraid of my comrades dying in front of me, and I can't help them at all. I want to learn more advanced medical ninjutsu, so that I won't be helpless when regret comes."

Kakashi said, "Your ninjutsu is already very powerful. I believe that among your peers, there are few ninjas who can rival you. In addition to Water Release and Earth Release, learning medical ninjutsu will greatly distract you."

Ino shook her head: "But ninjas will always get injured in battle, and once injured, their combat ability will drop significantly. I think treatment methods are still very necessary."

Chapter 100 Tracking Mission

Ino persuaded Kakashi with two reasons: "Ninja injuries affect combat ability" and "Protecting comrades".

He thought for a moment, then said very seriously, "Since you've made up your mind, I'll recommend you to Jiraiya-sama and hope he can put in a good word for you with Tsunade-sama, but..."

He chuckled and scratched his head: "...Haha, but don't get your hopes up too high, my influence might not be enough."

Your influence will definitely work! Ino firmly believed this.

Tsunade doesn't accept just anyone. If Sakura hadn't formed a bond with Naruto and Sasuke, Tsunade wouldn't have given her a second glance.

Since Ino couldn't find that kind of bond, she could only try to find a way elsewhere.

Before Jiraiya and Naruto acknowledged each other, Jiraiya would generally agree to Kakashi's requests as long as they didn't go against his conscience. After all, Kakashi was his grand-disciple and one of his own. Once Jiraiya got serious, Tsunade would also give him face.

"Thank you, Kakashi-sensei."

"Oh? Oh, you're too kind, you're too kind."