"Hmm?" When the Shinigami descended, Ino, who was promoting lucky rabbit feet at the flower shop, froze. What was happening? Had the Shinigami Old Iron entered the material world? And so close to her?
Handing her work over to Yamanaka Rino, she headed straight for the restroom.
Closing the door, her mind followed the Secret Technique bridge of the Mind Disturbance Technique, connecting to the Shinigami Old Iron, and then looked through His eyes.
Oh my goodness! Orochimaru was actually resurrected!?
Ino was greatly surprised, then she saw Danzo and the others, and only then did she understand that Danzo had resurrected Orochimaru. That Old Bastard certainly had his ways.
Her first thought was to report them, but then she suppressed the impulse, deciding to see what these guys were planning to do.
Danzo was still using the 1.0 version of the original Dead Demon Consuming Seal, without the 'buy one get one free' bonus. It's easy to go from frugality to extravagance, but hard to go from extravagance to frugality, so the Shinigami was a bit displeased.
At the scene, besides the Ninja using the Dead Demon Consuming Seal, only Ino could see Him.
Danzo and Orochimaru could not see Him.
The Root Ninja who summoned the Shinigami was extremely loyal and reported everything he saw and heard truthfully.
"Is that so? Only the summoner can see the Shinigami?" Orochimaru was also racking his brain.
These past two days, he had been battling wits with Danzo, trying to maneuver, and also had to use Danzo's men to retrieve his body and soul, which had utterly exhausted him.
Now, the Shinigami was completely invisible and could not be communicated with. Even with his many methods and mastery of numerous Secret Techniques, he was stumped for a while.
What to do?
Having finally been resurrected, he dared not make a direct deal with the Shinigami again. If anything went wrong, he would be finished.
He ordered the Ninja using the Dead Demon Consuming Seal to ask the Shinigami many questions, but received no response.
Then he had the summoner attack the Shinigami with Shuriken, Ninjutsu, Sealing Technique, and Genjutsu. All methods were tried. The Ninjutsu hit empty air, and the Shinigami remained silent and unresponsive, seemingly not even on the same plane as the others.
Soon, the Shinigami took the summoner's soul, and Ino received another wave of "gifts." After that, the Shinigami returned to His own dimension.
Before Ino could even figure out how to handle this matter, the highly efficient Danzo and Orochimaru, within ten days, summoned the Shinigami three times consecutively, sacrificing three Root Ninja skilled in Sealing Technique for this purpose.
Ino felt a pang of heartache. The Root Ninja, who regarded death as going home, had always been seen by her as her own subordinates, her possessions. To waste them so senselessly was truly too extravagant! One must know that Ninja capable of using the Dead Demon Consuming Seal were elites, and to die for such a thing was simply worthless.
Danzo didn't know her thoughts, and Orochimaru didn't care; neither of them regarded the Root Ninja as human beings.
Orochimaru made full use of every summoning opportunity to search for and study the flaws in the Dead Demon Consuming Seal.
He was busy and tired.
These ten days had also exhausted Ino.
Since the Shinigami was summoned, it couldn't be wasted.
The Yin Style Chakra, given as a "gift," didn't just fall from the sky. Ino created it by fusing her physical and spiritual energy, then adding Yin Release nature transformation. Even with her "Essence" at 10 points, such frequent extraction of Chakra was a huge drain on her.
After three deliveries within ten days, her relationship with the Shinigami had greatly improved. As a testament to their friendly relationship, Ino received the string of prayer beads from the Shinigami's left wrist!
Wearing these prayer beads would help her focus more during her spiritual energy training.
Following the principle of reciprocity, Ino disassembled Tayuya's summoned beasts and gave the Shinigami the clumsy demon among the three ogres—the one wrapped in bandages, without arms, who could only "back-butt."
Both parties were delighted. If quantified, Ino's relationship with the Shinigami had now moved beyond "friendly" to "respected."
Three deliveries of Yin Style Chakra within ten days manifested physically as Ino's pale complexion, occasional coughs, and a somewhat frail appearance.
Hinata thought she had injured herself again while using her Byakugan, so she would cook meals and cut fruit for her at every opportunity. One day, when the Yamanaka Clan adults were out, Hinata even offered to wash Ino's hair and feet, much to Ino's embarrassment.
Despite Ino repeatedly explaining that she was fine and healthy, Hinata simply didn't believe her.
Danzo and Orochimaru's three summonings of the Shinigami were all quite coincidental, happening when Ino was in charge of the flower shop. Each time, she had to ask Rino for help and rush to the restroom. Rino began to suspect something: could her daughter be suffering from kidney deficiency? Girls could have kidney deficiency too.
It must be that her Yin Release level was too high, harming her body!
Yamanaka Rino decided not to discuss this with her husband or her best friend. After observing for two days, she noticed Ino's poor complexion, which further confirmed her suspicion.
She told Ino to eat some yam and walnuts to nourish her kidneys. Ino, still preoccupied with Orochimaru and the Byakugan, responded perfunctorily with a series of "mm-hmms" and "ah-ahs."
Yamanaka Rino pondered repeatedly. Unable to do anything herself, she could only seek external help.
Noticing that Ino often listened to Hinata, she went to Hinata, asking for her help to persuade Ino not to ruin her body at such a young age.
"It's all my fault! It's all my mistake!" Seeing Ino's mother come to her, Hinata thought the secret was out and was extremely upset, bowing repeatedly in apology. However, she didn't want to expose the fact that Ino was helping people enhance their Dojutsu Power, so she couldn't explain the reason for her apologies.
My daughter has kidney deficiency, what does that have to do with you? Yamanaka Rino was a bit confused by the connection, but fortunately, she didn't probe further. She gently spoke about helping Ino nourish her body, and Hinata readily agreed.
No more Gentle Fist training!
The two went to the market together to buy groceries, chatting as they walked, and discovered they got along surprisingly well!
They had many common topics, whether discussing TV dramas, housework, or the price of vegetables; they could always pick up on each other's conversations, and their views on many things were surprisingly consistent.
"Hinata, let me tell you, that guy selling green beans over there is a total rip-off. Last time I bought two pounds of green beans from him, after he weighed them, he secretly took back three taels while I was talking to Shikamaru's mom."
"That person is truly wicked. Mm-hmm, Auntie, I'll remember that."
Rino stroked Hinata's head. So well-behaved! Her own daughter was also good, but everything is subject to comparison. Compared to Hinata, Yamanaka Ino certainly lived up to her name; she was truly "wild" to the mountains!
In the afternoon, after having a drink with Tsunade, who had just returned to the village, Ino staggered home with a defiant gait. As soon as she entered the house, she looked up and saw Hinata wiping the floor.
"Ino, you're back." Hinata greeted her with a smile.
???
Three question marks appeared on Ino's forehead. She instinctively took two steps back and looked around. This is my house, I didn't go to the wrong place! Why is Hinata in my house?
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