Ino returned to the village and first spent some time playing with her daughter. She picked up a stalk of wheat, and Tonton glared at her, baring a mouthful of tiny teeth. If you dare poke my nose with anything again, I'll bite you!
"Sorry, my mistake."
"Hmph, hmph!"
Seeing her put down the wheat stalk, Tonton finally let out a couple of calls, tinged with dissatisfaction. I deliver your letters, your food, your documents, I play with you, I drink with you, and now I have to help you take care of your daughter? Are you trying to work this pig to death?
Ino immediately made a promise: "Later, I'll make you an immortal! We'll call you the Pig Sage, a Pig Sage who stands above those Toad Sages and Snake Sages. How about it?"
Tonton scrutinized her expression, as if to say, You're not tricking me, are you?
"How could I trick you? I'm a bona fide deity now. My promises are absolutely valid."
She figured there were probably deities on the Earth side, including a Cat Sage, and since she was a deity now herself, creating a Pig Sage wouldn't be going too far, would it?
Having coaxed Tonton, she squeezed her daughter's chubby little hand, then let them go off to play while she hurried to find Hinata.
Hinata was quite understanding of her behavior—leaving not long ago, coming back, and now saying she was going out again. Being a shinobi wasn't a profession where you stayed cooped up at home every day.
"How long will you be gone?"
Ino was a little embarrassed. To have a child and then just dump her on her wife was a bit hard to justify, but the current opportunity was truly rare.
"I estimate… about half a year."
She didn't know how much time it would take her to traverse the Snake Way. Judging by King Yama's strength—and discounting the authority he could wield in the underworld—King Yama seemed slightly stronger than her, but not to an unbeatable degree.
Through her inquiries, she learned that it took King Yama two months to cross the Snake Way, so she figured she was at about the same level.
Hinata's personality was truly suited for raising a child at home. After a moment's thought, she agreed.
Ino then went to see Tsunade and readily got her leave approved.
This trip would be long, so many matters had to be arranged.
The work of the Jonin Class was handed over to Asuma, Intelligence Division matters to Aoba Yamashiro, and the Yamanaka clan's affairs were left for Fū Yamanaka to oversee. She also gave a stern warning to each of the six Tailed Beasts: If any of you dare to cause trouble, just wait until I get back. I'll kill you!
Hinata was busy packing her bags with quilts, pillows, a toothbrush, towels—a huge pile of things, even including hand cream.
It was true she could absorb natural energy to sustain her body, but there was no need to endure hunger. Ninjutsu was very convenient in that respect.
Ino found Choji and got a large supply of specially-made compressed food from the Akimichi clan, which she sealed in a scroll along with the backpack taller than a person that Hinata had prepared for her.
Once her preparations were complete, she said goodbye to her family, returned to the underworld on the Earth side, and set foot on the Snake Way alone.
Ino stood on the path, which was just over a person's width. Looking down, she saw clouds swirling below, a true sea of clouds. Looking up, it was the same—nothing but clouds. The only thing in her line of sight was the single, winding path.
"One million kilometers... just how far is that..." She remembered that the diameter of the Earth in her previous life was only a little over ten thousand kilometers. Now it was a hundred times that. The thought alone was exhausting.
"Sage Mode, activate!"
"Rinnegan, activate!"
"Six Paths Mode, activate!"
Ino changed into her Six Paths robes. With a thought, the character for "Boar" (亥) on her back transformed into the character for "God" (神).
She condensed a Truth-Seeking Orb, then molded it into the shape of a flying disc. After stabilizing herself on it, she controlled the disc to accelerate and fly forward.
Half a day later...
"The air is a bit thin..." She sat on the ground eating ham. The gravity on the Snake Way was greater than in the shinobi world, and the oxygen content in the air was lower. It shouldn't have been a problem, but for some reason, her stamina drained much faster here than in the outside world. She had flown nearly ten thousand kilometers in half a day, yet her body felt more fatigued than she had expected, forcing her to stop and rest.
She flew for half a day, rested for an hour, ran for half a day, and at night, she would use Wood Release to create a small house of seven or eight square meters to sleep in. The next day, she would wake up, brush her teeth, wash her face, eat something, and then fly for another half day, repeating the cycle.
One day, two days, three days. One month, two months, three months.
At first, she would calculate the total distance every day. I covered twelve thousand kilometers today, twelve thousand five hundred yesterday, now there's only this much left. But by the second month, she stopped counting. There wasn't a single soul around; counting was meaningless. An environment with no people was the real torment.
If she had two or three companions, her speed could have increased by 20%, but that wasn't possible now. She could only endure the loneliness on her own.
It grew colder and colder as she went on. She draped a blanket with a cartoon Tonton pattern over herself and walked forward mechanically.
"Huh? Holy crap!" As she was walking, she suddenly saw the tail of the Snake Way appear before her. The seemingly endless path had finally come to an end!
"Merlin's beard! I'm going to kick his butt so hard with my boots!" Ino muttered nonsense that even she found pointless. Glancing around, she soon spotted the small, floating planet above her head. This must be King Kai's Planet, right?
The features were so distinct, she couldn't be mistaken.
A little nervous, she leaped up and flew toward King Kai's Planet above.
"Whoa, crap!" Upon entering the range of King Kai's Planet, the celestial body's immense gravity acted directly on her. Even though she was prepared, the sudden, massive force instantly warped her flight, making for an extremely rough landing. Her body spun around in mid-air before her feet plunged straight into the grass, shattering her shoes.
Such intense gravity! It felt almost the same as Kaguya's super-gravity dimension.
The immense gravity pressing down on her was certainly disorienting, but it wasn't enough to completely immobilize her. Ino pulled her feet out of the grass, activated all her various states, and finally managed to regain the ability to walk normally.
A monkey tilted its head, looking at her. It then raised both hands in a waving motion, making "hoo hoo" sounds.
Ino wasn't as foolish as Son Goku; she didn't mistake this creature for King Kai. She just gave it a friendly greeting.
King Kai's Planet was truly small. She turned around, and after just a couple of steps, she saw King Kai watering his flowers. To be precise, this was the North Kai of the four great Kais.
He was short and stout, with a body like a steelyard weight. On his chest were the two large characters for "King Kai".
King Kai had blue skin, wore round sunglasses, and had cricket-like antennae on his head.
Ino's footsteps were heavy. This King Kai turned to look at her—he had to turn his whole body, not just his head, because he was too fat and had no neck.
In truth, King Kai's power wasn't that great, but you couldn't argue with the fact that he was from a race born with a silver spoon. Even if he died, he would still be King Kai! For the system to be that rigid was, in its own way, invincible.
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