In Konoha, Naruto lies down

He knew that too much was as bad as too little, having already provoked her once last night. It was already this late, so he should be more cautious, lest Ino start to panic again.

As usual, they took turns bathing, and this time Ino chose to bathe last.

"I'm really not that kind of person. What happened last time was just a joke." Naruto wanted to explain.

"You don't have to explain." Ino took several steps back, looking at him with disdain, "Really? You know exactly what you did."

"Are you serious about the way you're backing away?" Naruto sighed. If he had known not to be so clever, why did he act so impolitely at that time?

"Lulu! Don't try to take advantage of me anyway." Ino happily lay down on the sofa, and then picked up Kyuubi who was lying on the small sofa next to her.

Naruto looked helpless and slowly went back to his room to get his clothes and prepare to take a shower. Kyuubi was picked up and looked confused. When he looked up and saw that it was Ino, he became obedient again.

"Your Spitz really drinks? I smell alcohol."

"Yeah, it can drink. What? Are you going to buy it some wine?" Naruto grabbed his clothes and walked out of the room, glancing at Ino and asked.

The eyes of Kyuubi, who was being held in his arms and stroked, lit up and looked up at Ino. This look made her laugh directly, and she hugged Kyuubi and said without knowing it.

"Okay, I'll buy as much as you want."

Kyuubi's ears perked up as he looked at Ino excitedly. He thought to himself, this little piece of shit's owner is indeed this woman in front of him. What a spineless human being.

Although it thought so, it was hypocritical to forgive itself and frankly accepted the fact that it was a tailed beast and not a human. So there was no such thing as backbone, it was just using them.

Half an hour later, while Ino went to take a shower, Naruto was blowing his hair in the living room and glanced at the Nine-Tails again.

"You really have no shame, Nine-Lama."

Kyuubi glanced in the direction of the bathroom and spoke in a hushed voice.

"Don't meddle in my business."

Naruto's expression was complicated: "If you start doing backflips later, I will really look down on you."

"Get out of here, you useless piece of shit! I'm going to start warming up!" Kyuubi said disdainfully.

Naruto: “….”

He ignored the completely unfettered Ninetails and went into the room to change his clothes after drying his hair. He then turned on the air conditioner, and the temperature in the room immediately rose.

When Ino came out of the bathroom, she was surprised to see Kyuubi doing a backflip. She ran over excitedly, clutching her bathrobe, to see Kyuubi doing a few backflips. After feeling embarrassed, she stopped.

Seeing the Nine-Tailed Fox suddenly come to its senses, Naruto was even a little surprised. He changed his position on the sofa and continued lying there.

Ino walked over and carefully pinched the edges of the bathrobe, making sure nothing was exposed before she slowly sat down. To be honest, Naruto was a little disappointed.

There is really no need to be on such guard.

He lay on the sofa and closed his eyes, his mind gradually sorting out the recent events. Back in the Kingdom of Wind, Gaara seemed to be having trouble getting to the top.

Jiraiya continued to gather intelligence, perhaps investigating the Akatsuki organization. The Wind Country's affairs were too sensitive, and it was unknown whether Jiraiya would intervene.

Uchiha Itachi, that crazy brother-con, probably won't be back for a while, and Akatsuki won't come knocking on our door for the next two to three years. There's still a lot of time left, but we can't just sit there and wait for death.

After thinking about it, I decided to talk about it later.

Fighting is an intelligence war. It is said that knowing yourself and your enemy will ensure victory in every battle.

Putting aside other things, Jiraiya's fighting ability is still very strong. If he had enough understanding of Nagato's abilities, he would definitely not be killed by just a few Pains.

With a traitor who is familiar with the intelligence around, Nagato commanded Pain to come, and he was sure that he would not be able to leave Konoha Village alive.

If Tsunade and Jiraiya join forces, plus himself and the Nine-Tails... and then call on Emperor Kai and Emperor 55-50, even if Uchiha Madara comes, he will still be slapped in the face.

He also knows the Impure World Reincarnation, the Thunder Fang Coffin Holder, and the complete Rasengan. After counting, he still has one senjutsu left to learn, and he knows two sealing techniques.

What is most lacking now may not be ninjutsu, but taijutsu.

He lacked the reflexes and muscle memory required for combat, as well as the intuition and experience required for life-or-death situations. And these qualities couldn't be acquired hastily; they could only be developed slowly.

In short, for things like Shadow Clones, you should just ask Tsunade directly. If she doesn't give it to you, just keep pestering her. After all, the Book of Forbidden Techniques will be yours sooner or later.

I've learned all the dirty tricks, and there's still a taboo.

There are no restrictions.

One day, he would stand before Uchiha Madara and roar to wake up, forcing all the deceased to open their eyes, crawl out from the darkness of the underground, and dance slowly with him.

Thinking this way, it seems that there is not too much pressure and the future is promising. Standing at the God's perspective, it feels like playing a cracked game.

"Falling asleep?" Ino's voice sounded in her ears.

Naruto felt someone poking his cheek, and he opened his eyes suddenly and reached out his hand. Ino was startled by Naruto's sudden reaction and was pulled onto the sofa without noticing.

With a bang, Ino was pressed into the sofa by Naruto.

"what!"

"Sorry." After he saw that it was Ino, he quickly stood up and let go of Ino, "Don't scare me suddenly. The time I was scared by Uchiha Itachi has left a psychological trauma on me."

Ino knew she was in the wrong, so she lowered her head, hummed, and said nothing.

It was already eleven o'clock in the evening. Everything was quiet outside the window, and the balcony was covered with snow. Nine Tails stood on his two legs, crouched by the window, and looked out.

The two of them sat on the sofa, and the atmosphere was a little subtle. He himself didn't know why, but once they were quiet, this subtle feeling would exist.

Perhaps this is a common problem during the ambiguous period, neither frank enough nor direct enough.

"I heard it's snowing heavily these past few days. Will Konoha's power go out?" Naruto casually changed the subject. "Konoha's power supply has always been half-dead."

"No way, there was no power outage during the last heavy rain." Ino thought for a while and said. The last heavy rain she was referring to was the time when Uchiha Itachi came to capture him.

"That time it was because the old apartment was located in the very center of Konoha. How could it be the same as the corners here?" Naruto said with a smile.

"But since I moved here, it seems that there has been no power outage. It's impossible that it will happen all of a sudden..."

Crack! The living room was instantly plunged into darkness. Then a long beeping sound came from the direction of the door. The power had really gone out!

Chapter 171: Skylight as a Curtain

All the lights disappeared on this New Year's Festival night. Naruto remembered that before the power outage, he looked at the clock on the wall and it was around eleven o'clock.

Waiting for a call was obviously unrealistic. If the heavy snow damaged the equipment outside, he would have to wait until tomorrow. It was pitch black before his eyes, and he suddenly remembered that he had prepared a candle in the drawer.

So he stood up and knocked over something with a loud crash.

".......That." Ino suddenly became nervous, and a slight tremor could be heard in her voice.

"Yeah." He turned his head to look in the direction of the sofa and responded subconsciously, "What's wrong?"

The living room was dimly lit, and even after his eyes had gotten used to the darkness, he could only make out a vague outline. The residual image from before the power outage was still fresh in his mind, so Naruto could easily determine Ino's location.

He thought that a ninja shouldn't be afraid of the dark, or maybe it was due to other factors, as he was not used to the power outage for a while.

"It's okay, I just..." Ino's voice became weaker as she spoke.

"Are you afraid of the dark?"

"I'm not afraid. The power went out suddenly, and I felt a little uncomfortable."

"That's good. I'll go get some candles. Just sit here and don't move." Naruto instructed.

"Okay." Ino really sat there motionless, looking at the darkness that enveloped the living room and fell silent. There was a rustling sound next to her ear, followed by the sound of a cabinet being opened.

After a few minutes, seeing that Naruto was still searching in the dark, Ino couldn't help but stand up and ask.

"Can't find it?"

"It should be in a few cabinets nearby, but I haven't found it yet." Naruto's slightly distressed voice came, "Wait a little longer and it should be..."

"Let me help you look for it. It's boring sitting here." Ino said, groping in the dark towards the cabinet.

"Okay." Naruto replied.

"Is it right here?"

Ino asked as she squatted down and began to pull out the cabinet, her hands groping inside it bit by bit. The feeling in darkness was somewhat strange. The weakening of vision actually made the other four senses more sensitive.

"It should be." Naruto's voice sounded in her ears.

"Is...is that so?" Ino's voice trembled slightly. She pulled her hand out and began to feel around on the table above the cabinet. Suddenly, she felt an arm again.

Then her backhand was grabbed, her body trembled violently, and she made an "eh" sound from her mouth.

"What's wrong with you?" Naruto looked as if nothing had happened.

His other hand seemed to be still groping in the dark for a candle. Ino could hear the rustling sound of things being messed up, but she also felt the familiar warmth of that palm.

A current flowed from her palm through her heart, a tingling sensation flooding her brain. Almost instantly, Ino felt like she was about to lose her balance. Her body felt limp, as if she had been drinking.

When people are nervous, a faint bitter feeling gathers in the throat and tip of the tongue, and they don't have the strength to speak.

Ino wanted to say no, but her heart was beating so fast.

Everything was pitch black, and my vision was completely lost. All I could hear was the sound of Naruto rummaging around on the counter. After that, he just held my hand, and he didn't say a word.

But Ino didn't dare to move, and let him knead and play with her palm.

"Have you found it?" Her voice was trembling, and tears appeared in her eyes, so she had to close them.

"No." Naruto had already touched the candle and put it aside. "Maybe I got it mixed up. Maybe it's in the cabinet over there on the balcony."

As he spoke, he stood up and pulled Ino up with him. Even though he was already playing with her, he pretended nothing had happened and spoke naturally.

"Let's go look over there, maybe we can find it."

"......Okay." Ino propped herself up and stood up, starting to move her feet, allowing Naruto to lead her forward in the dark environment.

Ninetales, leaning on the sofa, had a puzzled look on its face. Relying on its excellent night vision, it glanced at the two people holding hands in the dark, and then glanced at the candle on the counter.

It couldn't help but start to wonder in its heart that human beings are far more stupid than it imagined.

It thought about it for a while, wondering if it should take the candle, but then it thought that would make it a real dog, so it gave up the idea.

So Jiuwei leaned on the sofa, raised his dog legs, stared at the two stupid humans with a sneer on his face, ready to watch the show.

Naruto had already taken Ino's hand and slowly moved them to the small cabinet in front of the floor-to-ceiling window on the balcony. Ino's hands were a little cold, and there was a layer of calluses on the base of her thumb.

That was the result of holding the sword and kunai, but the rest of the palm was soft. His hands were cold, Naruto thought to himself, so he could only rely on his own heat transfer.

He suddenly realized that Ino hadn't said anything yet, so she was too easy to fool. Adhering to the principle of not taking advantage of a bargain, he continued to pretend to look for candles.

He knew best whether there were candles in this place, so he just took the opportunity to touch them for a while longer.

After touching it for a while, Naruto felt something was wrong. Ino was too silent. He paused and thought to himself, "Oh no, is she really angry?"

"Do you want to open the curtains? If it snows, the light outside will be brighter than in the living room." He turned around and asked, his other hand already pinching one end of the curtains.

Ino finally responded, gently returning his hand and speaking in a trembling voice with a hint of begging.

"no, do not want."

But it was too late. The curtains were rustled open, and the light reflected from the snowy night instantly increased the visibility of the entire living room. With this faint light, he saw Ino's current state.

Tears welled up in her eyes, her delicate white face turned hot and red, her lips pursed slightly, and she exhaled white air unconsciously.

Seeing this, Naruto was slightly stunned and placed his other hand on her forehead.

"You're not sick?"

"Hmm..." Ino suddenly closed her eyes.

How shameful! I was seen like that! I wanted to die! She thought about this and was completely speechless.

The light reflected off the snow and converged through the glass windows outside the balcony. Two people stood together, holding hands, one on the left and one on the right.

With the skylight as their backdrop, the silhouettes of the two stretched endlessly on the sofa, past the nine-tailed man watching the play. Then, leaning against the empty white wall, they leaned against each other, like a couple in love.

The hand covering her forehead did not immediately release, and the flow of time seemed to slow down at this moment. Snowflakes fell outside the balcony, but it seemed to fall on the shoulders of both of them.

Ino slowly opened her eyes and saw a strange emotion overflowing from his blue eyes. It was an emotion that only she could understand, a light in his emotions.

With a heavy gasp, time began to flow again.

Naruto withdrew his hand from her forehead, coughed, and his expression returned to normal. He smiled and said to Ino.

"I think I see where the candle is."

"......Okay." Ino suddenly pulled her hand away and lowered her head with a guilty conscience.

In the dim light, Naruto walked to the cabinet with ease, picked up the candle, and lit it with a lighter. The bright yellow candlelight lit up, illuminating a corner.

He carefully held the candle at an angle, burning a little wax, which then dripped onto the living room table. After pausing for a second, he pressed the candle onto the wax.

Ino also came over and sat down on the sofa closest to the candlelight, her expression now calm again.