The desert night was unusually cold. After relieving himself, Choji didn't return to his room, but instead stared blankly at the moon above.
The fat boy didn't quite understand what a 'circle' meant, but he knew he was getting further and further away from Ino and Shikamaru. The Village sending him out was basically an afterthought; the main force was still Ino and Shikamaru. Whether he was there or not made little difference.
What could he do?
He had tried, but he was naturally at this level.
He had the best relationship with Shikamaru, but recently Shikamaru had been too busy and rarely had time to play with him anymore.
After realizing his lack of Ninja talent, Shikamaru chose to follow the old path of the Nara Clan: no matter who became Hokage, or who rose to power, the Nara Clan would always be the Hokage's auxiliary.
He had to study knowledge from all aspects—history, culture, geography, religion. If Shikamaru's effort at the Ninja Academy was a 1, it was now a 100.
If Shikamaru was this diligent, the 'King of Effort' was even more so.
Ino had already far surpassed her peers. Many people used the Kakashi of yesteryear to describe the current Ino; both were overwhelmingly strong among their peers, making their contemporaries seem like a group of idiots.
Six hand seals per second, one-handed hand seals, using Wind Release, Fire Release, Water Release, Earth Release, and now even Wood Release. Ino had a plethora of abilities, and Choji also wanted to emulate her, but he genuinely wasn't cut out for it.
The saying 'a golden phoenix flew out of a wild boar's nest' had become a common view in the Ninja World. While there was a hint of disdain in it, there was more envy, as everyone wished the golden phoenix had flown out of their own dog kennels, chicken coops, or rabbit hutches.
Many people were truly exasperated, so they could only eat a couple more pig trotters to satisfy themselves.
Thinking of pig trotters, the fat boy twitched his nose twice, looking left and right. He seemed to smell roasted rabbit!
The scent was far away, but when it came to food, his nose had always been sharp; he was confident he wasn't mistaken.
After a moment of thought, he followed the direction of the scent.
Staying up so late, it couldn't be Ino and Shikamaru secretly eating delicious food without him, could it?
You can call me stupid, you can call me fat, but you cannot secretly eat things without me! Absolutely not!
The fat boy followed the smell, and when he got closer, he only saw an extinguished campfire and some food scraps.
"Sigh." He had walked a long way and was hungry again. He slumped to the ground, sighing heavily, lost in thought.
He vigorously knocked his head. He was truly being paranoid; how could Ino and Shikamaru sneak out to eat in the middle of the night? His lack of self-confidence was getting worse.
He stood up and started walking back, when he suddenly noticed a dark figure standing not far away.
The fat boy, whose brain reacted only slightly faster than Naruto's, finally realized the problem. He was a bit far from the camp. Was it still time to call for backup?
"Hey, don't be nervous. I mean no harm. You just suddenly intruded into my resting place." A young man emerged from the shadows. He was tall with well-proportioned muscles. He pointed to the extinguished campfire, then gestured for the fat boy to look at the tent in the cave behind him.
The young man rekindled the fire, then took out a whole roasted rabbit. He looked at the fat boy's size, tore off half, and threw it to him.
"Hungry, aren't you? I heard your stomach rumbling from afar."
The fat boy fumbled to catch the roasted rabbit. He was indeed hungry. The Akimichi Clan's Secret Technique provided extremely high resistance to toxins; most poisons could be endured. He also didn't sense any ill will from the young man, so he sat down on the other side of the fire and began devouring the roasted rabbit.
"You're not from around here, are you? People from the Land of Wind aren't as fat as you." The young man asked.
Choji was a Ninja after all. Having spent so much time with Ino and Shikamaru, he was still capable of spinning a tale.
He casually made up an identity as a wandering Ninja.
The young man asked seriously, "Are you really not a Konoha Ninja?"
The fat boy wore an expression that said, "What are you talking about? I don't understand."
"Hahahahaha—" The young man chuckled, shaking his head. "Don't worry, don't worry. Whether you're a Konoha Ninja or not is none of my business. I'm not a Sunagakure Ninja. By the way, my name is Shirō, little brother, what's your name?"
"Uh, hello, Big Brother. I am Choji."
Choji and Shirō chatted for a while, and as they talked, Choji poured out the frustrations in his heart. The two got along very well.
He only had two companions who were so outstanding they were dazzling, but Shirō was much more miserable than him.
Shirō was very much like Might Duy and Lee of Konoha Village; he couldn't use Ninjutsu or Genjutsu and could only train his Taijutsu day after day.
The Third Hokage of Konoha Village had relaxed the admission requirements for the Ninja Academy, allowing even those who couldn't use Ninjutsu or Genjutsu to become excellent Ninja.
Sunagakure didn't have such an enlightened leader. Shirō was excluded from the Ninja system at a very young age. He faced countless Byakugan and discrimination, forced to live alone in the Gobi Desert, diligently honing his Taijutsu.
After hearing Shirō's story, Choji felt a great deal of empathy: "...Actually, I don't know any Ninjutsu either. I just can't learn it, no matter how much I practice."
He especially envied Ino. Wind, Water, Fire, Earth—various Ninjutsu, Sealing Technique, Genjutsu—the scene of her unleashing them was cool just to imagine! He heard his father say that Ino had mastered over a hundred Ninjutsu, while he, apart from his inherited Secret Technique and Three Body Technique, couldn't even use a single proper Ninjutsu. The gap between them was simply too vast.
He used to have an advantage in Taijutsu, but now Ino's Taijutsu had also rapidly improved. Apart from his strength, he no longer had any area where he could surpass Ino.
Shirō nodded lightly: "Is that so? Talented and hardworking companions? Meeting such people is indeed a painful thing, but you don't need to be discouraged. I'm a few years older than you, and I can only tell you that life is only one; constantly lamenting the misfortune of your birth is meaningless. Those happiness and misfortunes are actually all part of your life."
He gently patted the fat boy's shoulder: "Believe in yourself, don't be defeated by reality. Stand tall, chest out, breathe deeply, exhale fully. As long as you don't die, nothing can defeat you!"
Shirō's words weren't very convincing; they sounded rather dry, but Choji still saw hope in him. At least he still had his inherited Secret Technique, didn't he? This person in front of him couldn't use any Ninjutsu at all! Compared to him, Choji wasn't the most miserable!
Actually, Lee was also a role model, but Lee's personality, looks, and hairstyle were too eccentric; the two simply couldn't connect.
Shirō was different; he was several years older and looked quite handsome.
"Big Brother Shirō, how can I become as confident as you?"
He asked rather abruptly. Shirō hesitated for a moment before saying, "When I said'stand tall, chest out, breathe deeply,' I wasn't being perfunctory. This is indeed a method I use when training. I don't know if this training method is suitable for you, but you can try it."
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