"Don't worry, I'll definitely defeat her in the official match." Ino solemnly promised that she would defeat Temari in the match to avenge Tenten.
"You guys chat, I'm going out to change my dressing." Tenten saw Neji seemed about to say something, so she excused herself and left the ward.
Ino looked Neji up and down: "Huh? You look better than before? Did you gain some insight during the battle?"
Neji seemed to have shed the burden of being a genius; a defeated genius was no longer a genius. From now on, people's attention on him would be much less. Having fallen from the clouds to the mortal world, his expression actually held a hint of relief.
He nodded and said, "You also underwent a lot of hard training to address your weakness in Taijutsu, didn't you?"
Mistaken intelligence led him to believe Ino's Taijutsu was easily defeated. The truth was, Ino's Taijutsu was not as bad as rumored; they could exchange a dozen blows without issue. This accumulation of errors meant that by the time Ino successfully used the Shadow Clone Technique, he had already lost. The subsequent Hakke. Kaiten, besides wrecking the arena, had little practical significance.
"Do you think I need to strengthen my Ninjutsu training?" he asked very directly.
Is it necessary? Ino's current focus on Ninjutsu was a last resort; time waits for no one.
Taijutsu was certainly good, but on one hand, she didn't have Lee's perseverance, and on the other, there wasn't enough time.
There was only a little over three years until the Fourth Shinobi World War. Even Lee, as diligent as he was, only barely reached the level of opening six gates in the end.
What use were six gates in the final battle? So much sweat, so much round-the-clock arduous training, what did it ultimately yield?
Ino used herself as an example: "Look at me, I mainly practice Ninjutsu. As long as my Taijutsu isn't too bad, and I don't get completely dominated by a Taijutsu master like you, it's fine. Since your talent in Taijutsu is so high, it's really unnecessary to switch to practicing Ninjutsu now. Just do some targeted training for Ninjutsu. This is just my humble opinion."
"Understood, thank you for the guidance."
"You're welcome."
During the two days waiting for Inoichi to send people to inquire about Tsunade's whereabouts, Ino, holding a large bunch of keys, went around the Village collecting rent from tenants. There were those who honestly paid rent, and naturally, there were also those who wanted to freeload in her houses. They either pretended not to be home or calculated the rent collection time and hid outside. How could she tolerate that?
Was the Shadow Clone Technique just for show?
While Ino was battling wits with her tenants, she unexpectedly discovered a new shop had opened in the Village: Curry of Life Restaurant! The cooks were still familiar faces, Granny Sansho and her reformed grandson.
After some inquiry, she found out that the Curry of Life Restaurant was actually funded privately by Shikamaru, who invited Granny Sansho to open the shop in Konoha.
Seeing Shikamaru, sweating profusely from the spice, still struggling with the curry rice, Ino was full of questions.
"I didn't realize you had this hobby, eating something so spicy? Are you okay?"
Shikamaru's face was red from the spice, and he waved his hand, indicating he was fine.
He gulped down two buckets of cold water before finally managing to swallow the spiciness.
Upon clarifying the reason, it wasn't surprising; it was still a result of the internal competition.
Shikamaru had done some thinking about his own abilities. He could practice Ninjutsu, Genjutsu, and Taijutsu. While he wasn't like Ino, who could grasp a C-Ranked Ninjutsu after one look and achieve five or six-tenths proficiency with a B-Ranked Ninjutsu after a few days of study and practice, he didn't have such high Ninjutsu talent. However, these things could all be compensated for with diligence. But there was one thing that couldn't: Chakra!
There were too few ways to increase Chakra after birth. Shikamaru's Chakra wasn't small, but it was definitely not abundant. Facing the internal competition, he had to find ways to increase his Chakra.
He had once witnessed Ino's Chakra burst at the Curry of Life Restaurant, and he thought eating chili might be a method. And indeed, chili dispels cold, warms the stomach, and promotes blood circulation. Eating a lot of it would lead to a slight increase in Chakra. Furthermore, as a Ninja from a prominent clan like Shikamaru's, he had been taking secret medicines to enhance his physical constitution since childhood. Now, the chili had fully activated the accumulated medicinal power in his body, and he felt his Chakra had recently increased slightly.
So what else was there to say? As long as it didn't kill him, he would eat it to death.
First it was Shikamaru, then his good friend Choji, and then Lee, who had a special fondness for curry rice. After that came Sasuke, Sakura, Naruto, and Hinata. Finally, even Neji, whose injuries had healed, was dragged by Tenten and Lee to eat a meal.
In Lee's words, it was, "You should try it, it's absolutely delicious."
Neji, with the idea of "trying it," went to the Curry of Life Restaurant, but after eating, he "perished." Less than thirty minutes after being discharged, he was carried back to the hospital for stomach pumping and induced vomiting, a whole lot of trouble.
The process was a bit convoluted, but after such an embarrassing display, about seventy to eighty percent of Neji's aloofness disappeared. With Tenten and Lee as bridges, and his relationship with Hinata, he somewhat awkwardly integrated into Ino's small team.
The Konoha 12 gathered! Shikamaru treated everyone to another curry meal.
Hearing from his disciples that curry rice could increase Chakra, Might Guy rushed over to freeload. To set an example for his disciples, he didn't even consider double or quadruple spice levels. A true man should be hard on himself, so he went straight for 100x spicy curry rice. He ate it, sweating profusely, his hair almost turning red. In the end, he even managed to lick the plate clean and gave his disciples a thumbs-up, indicating that this was also a form of training!
Another day passed. Inoichi found out Tsunade's whereabouts. Ino didn't go through the main gate guarded by Old Iron. After obtaining permission from the Third Hokage, she quietly left the Village through an Anbu outpost.
She had barely left the Village for five hundred meters when she saw three masked ANBU Ninja quickly chasing after her from behind.
What's going on? Ino was confused. Had she committed a crime? No, right!?
She hadn't defected from the Village, so why this?.
As they got closer, she could clearly see that the leader was a Female Ninja with long purple hair and a long sword on her back, Yūgao Uzuki?
To prove the seriousness of the matter, Yūgao Uzuki immediately took off her mask, then grabbed Ino's hand: "Quick! Hayate is injured, very seriously. The Third Hokage believes only you can save him. Can you contact Lady Tsunade? Or do you have some miraculous medicine for injuries?"
Involving her lover's life, the usually aloof Yūgao Uzuki was extremely nervous.
After all that had happened, that unlucky Gekkō Hayate was still cut down? And the Third Hokage thought she could heal him?
For a moment, Ino felt a surge of goodwill towards the Third Hokage. As the teacher of the Sannin, what did this mean? This was keen insight! Look, I'm quite talented in Medical Ninjutsu; even the Professor of Ninjutsu recognizes my ability!
But then her heart sank again. What was her own level? Didn't she know herself?
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