Wok Shadow Ninja

Chapter 96: Encounter at the Village Entrance

Ino slept for an entire day before finally waking up.

Shortly after she awoke, Choji arrived with a large bag of snacks to visit her. Then came Shikamaru, Sakura, Naruto, and even the usually aloof Sasuke.

Asuma and Kakashi arrived around noon. The genin had entered the maze for their competition, which was a test of the future of both villages. The jonin, on the other hand, had their own activities, which were meant to gauge the current strength of both sides. Asuma and Kakashi had been quite busy.

Kakashi casually sat down after entering the room. His face was slightly pale, a clear sign of excessive chakra consumption.

"So, how did it go for you guys?" Asuma asked bluntly, lighting a cigarette.

Shikamaru clasped his hands behind his head. "The climate inside was very comfortable a great place to escape the heat."

Choji chimed in happily, "The ramen there was delicious! Naruto and I had a competition, and I won in the end!"

Asuma chuckled dryly before turning his attention to Ino.

She spoke, half-truthfully, "Well, I did end up fighting Chojuro and Haku. They were both strong, and Ranmaru's Red Eye really caught me off guard. Otherwise, I wouldn't have been beaten so badly. After that, I got an S-rank water-style ninjutsu. Well, I think it's water-style. It's so difficult that I can't even use it right now."

She told Asuma all this mainly for the sake of reporting. If Asuma knew, then his father, the village chief, would also know. With all the formalities in place, she could use the technique in official settings in the future.

Ino wasn't like Naruto, who could recover instantly. Her body was still weak. Choji left behind some grilled fish that she particularly liked, and the group soon left.

Ino ate a few bites of the grilled fish before dozing off again. It wasn't until she woke up later that she had the energy to assess her gains.

Ninjas improved their strength through life-and-death battles. It was a dangerous method, but undeniably effective.

Since her arrival in this world, the battle with the Mist trio had been her toughest fight yet.

The life-and-death struggle had pushed her body to unlock some of its latent potential, boosting her strength.

Her "Stamina" and "Strength" had each increased by a point.

The "Steam Danger Explosion" technique contained a wealth of ninjutsu knowledge. Her calm handling of the battle with the trio, as well as the confidence she gained afterward, had also increased her "Intelligence" by a point.

Knowledge was also part of "Intelligence." To put it simply, IQ was innate, but knowledge could be acquired. Orochimaru and Tsunade might not have had higher IQs than Shikamaru, but their "Intelligence" was rated at 10 because of their vast knowledge.

Ino had frequently used water-style techniques during the battle, and her water-style proficiency, which had already been on the verge of a breakthrough, smoothly advanced to level 4.

Her current stats were: Ninjutsu 9, Stamina 4, Genjutsu 4, Intelligence 7, Strength 3, Speed 6, Chakra 8, and Hand Seals 6, totaling 47.

In terms of elemental techniques, she had Water-Style at level 4, Earth-Style at level 2, Wind-Style at level 2, and Yin-Style at level 3.

By shifting the blame to Kakashi, she had gained two "blame points." She planned to save up two more so she could directly boost her "Ninjutsu" to 10.

Ao and Mei Terumī hadn't questioned Konoha's gains, only reiterating that the ninjutsu couldn't be shared without Kirigakure's consent. Asuma agreed on Ino's behalf.

Ino spent three days resting, but her restless nature soon got the better of her. She dragged Sakura out shopping and bought a ton of gifts.

She justified her purchases with great enthusiasm: this coat was for Inoichi, this scarf was for her mother, and she even prepared gifts for Iruka-sensei, Moegi, and even Kotetsu, the gate guard.

Sakura initially only bought things for herself, but seeing Ino's filial piety, she ended up buying some gifts too.

When Shikamaru heard about it, he facepalmed, too exhausted to even speak.

"Wow, you're injured like this, and you're still thinking about outdoing us?" he thought.

If a severely injured person like Ino could buy so many gifts for her friends and family, how could the rest of them return empty-handed? They'd be scolded to no end!

No choice time to shop!

Shikamaru and Choji joined in the shopping spree.

Even Asuma had a moment of conscience, realizing he couldn't just buy gifts for his girlfriend. He bought a pipe for his father, the village chief, and a finely crafted ninja sword with a distinct Kirigakure style for his nephew, Konohamaru.

Kakashi, Naruto, and Sasuke, who had no friends, no wives, no children, no parents, were left feeling utterly defeated. "Thanks for the reminder. Our families are all dead. We don't need to buy gifts!"

About a week later, with the matters settled and a basic cooperative agreement between the two villages, the Konoha group prepared to return.

The next step would involve cooperation between the Land of Fire and the Land of Water. Only after their respective daimyos agreed could the two villages establish deeper trust.

Mizukage Mei Terumī had expected some resistance from the Land of Water, but to his surprise, the proposal was approved almost immediately.

Though he found it a bit suspicious, with the daimyo's approval, he couldn't think of any reason to oppose it.

On the way there, they had taken a detour along the southern route, and with the added responsibility of guarding Raiga and Zabuza, the journey had taken over half a month. On the way back, they followed the trade route of the Land of Water and reached the Land of Waves in just over ten days.

Naruto, acting like a leader, inspected the "Great Naruto Bridge," which was named after him. Only the bridge piers had been completed so far, and the bridge itself was nowhere in sight, but he was still thrilled and couldn't stop talking about it.

Homura Mitokado headed to the capital of the Land of Fire to report to the daimyo, while Team 7 and Team 10 returned to Konoha ahead of schedule.

"Hey, you guys worked hard," Izumo and Kotetsu, the gate guards, greeted Teams 7 and 10 with smiles.

Compared to the eccentric and often tragic Team 7, Team 10, with their intact families, had a much better relationship with the two gatekeepers.

Ino even handed them small gifts souvenirs from the Land of Water and the Land of Waves. They weren't expensive, but they showed respect.

"Old Kotetsu" was well-informed and had already heard about Ino's victory over Kirigakure's younger generation. He teased her a bit.

The two teams quickly completed their village entry registration.

"Well, you're dismissed for now. Asuma and I will report to the Hokage," Kakashi started to say but paused mid-sentence, his gaze shifting to the distance.

Ino, Shikamaru, Sasuke, and Sakura were puzzled, then followed his gaze toward the village entrance.

There, three ANBU members, wearing masks, stood in a triangular formation, escorting a young woman through the gates.

The woman appeared to be in her early twenties, with long black hair, wearing a sleeveless top and a fiery red skirt.

Her face was pale, likely from injuries.

"Kakashi-sensei, who's that?" Naruto asked bluntly.

Kakashi, as if lost in thought, simply muttered, "Hmm," as a response.

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