While Danzo was reading the newspaper, Ino officially recruited the bandit Buggy to be her subordinate. That Rogue Ninja Dong Feng was also captured by her during the prison chaos. She threw him at Buggy's feet, letting Buggy finish off that villain with a single strike.
Karin, holding Ino's letter, had a messenger mission. While Karin's strength was indeed weak, she was a genuine Ninja and could go to Takigakure Village.
Buggy, being a civilian, couldn't. Without taking a secret path, if he went via Takigakure Village's Great Waterfall, he wouldn't be able to swim across without holding his breath for seven or eight minutes.
Ino told Buggy to find Karin in the Land of Waterfall; Karin would still be in charge of the subsequent work.
Meanwhile, she was returning to Konoha Village with Morino Idate, who was suspected to be a Rogue Ninja. On the way, she met Senior Sister Shizune, who had a pair of long, fair legs.
"Sister Shizune, did you come specifically for me? That's too kind, we're not strangers." Ino was quite happy, thinking, 'Look, I even get a pick-up service for my 'commute'. Tsunade is quite considerate.'
But then Shizune's words made her realize she was completely mistaken.
"No, no, I came for him."
Shizune pointed at Morino Idate, indicating that he was the target.
"You're taking him back to the Village?" she asked Ino.
"Yes, I suspect this guy is a Konoha Rogue Ninja. Since I encountered him, I naturally have to take him back." Ino spoke with a tone of unwavering loyalty to Konoha.
Shizune looked around, then pulled her aside and whispered, "Idate's current boss is Mr. Jirocho of the Land of Tea, and Jirocho and Lady Tsunade have always been on good terms..."
She rambled on, explaining, hoping Ino wouldn't be so rigid. 'Anyway, the Village doesn't know. If you don't say anything and I don't say anything, won't the matter just be glossed over? Right?'
She spoke very vaguely, especially glossing over the relationship between Jirocho and Tsunade. Ino didn't quite understand their specific relationship.'Surely, I'm not getting a young master-in-law out of this, am I? An old ox eating tender grass... Jiraiya really is too pitiful.'
Noticing the gossip in her eyes, Shizune waved her hands repeatedly, her voice dropping another two degrees: "No, no! They're not that kind of relationship. Mr. Jirocho is just an ordinary person; it's just that his organization helped Lady Tsunade pay off her gambling debts a few times."
By the end, Shizune's face was full of difficulty and embarrassment.
Ino feigned sudden understanding, 'Ah, I get it, so he's Tsunade's big sugar daddy!'
She had never quite understood many of the local civilian organizations. They clearly engaged in dark activities, seemingly doing everything from extortion to blackmail, yet many local power holders and even governments of small countries recognized these 'vibrant' social organizations. Some Daimyo were even good friends with these organization leaders. All in all, it was a very strange, deformed product.
With Shizune's intercession, Ino did not insist on taking Morino Idate back to the Village.
"How is my older brother now?" Morino Idate, having avoided the fate of returning to the Village to face his brother, regained his wits and wanted to ask about his elder brother's recent situation.
Shizune and Tsunade had been away from the Village for many years, so she didn't know Morino Ibiki's recent situation. The two were classmates; even including Kakashi, Asuma, and Yuhi, these people were all Ninja from that generation or within two generations. Shizune's Ninja ID was 010800, and Morino Ibiki's was 010913. They were essentially Ninja of the same generation, or if not, they most likely knew each other as children.
Hearing Morino Idate's question, Shizune couldn't help but look at Ino, wanting to know her old classmate's recent news.
"Morino Ibiki? He's doing great! He has such a big rock." Ino gestured, indicating it was about the size of a millstone: "Your older brother lifts this big rock every day for strength training, then throws it at people. Within a hundred-meter radius, he hits his target every single time!"
Shizune: "..."
Morino Idate: "..."
This Morino Ibiki sounded not very intelligent, completely unlike the iron-blooded man they remembered.
Ino smiled, spouting nonsense: "Occasionally practicing with big rocks helps cultivate his temperament. His work is very busy."
Morino Ibiki was actually a strong Special Jonin, able to fight the Animal Path for several rounds. However, by boruto, the iron-blooded man was completely useless, only capable of smashing people with big rocks, having even forgotten Ninjutsu.
Tsunade was currently in the Land of Tea. Ino, Shizune, and Morino Idate traveled together to find Tsunade.
Along the way, she began to tally her gains from this trip.
She had to admit, the'Scapegoat King' truly had prestige.
By shifting the blame to Danzo, Ino directly gained five'scapegoat points'—this was the most she had ever received.
Adding the two points she had saved before, she now had seven'scapegoat points' in hand, never having been so well-off.
She first took out three'scapegoat points' and added them to'Spirit'. Chakra, the more, the better.
Seven points was a watershed. Before seven points, stages like 4 to 5, 5 to 6, and 6 to 7 could be increased with one'scapegoat point', considered a level achievable by ordinary people through effort. After seven points, that was the realm of talented individuals, or what could be called geniuses, requiring two, three, or even four'scapegoat points' to increase, with each improvement being enormous.
With three'scapegoat points' added, Ino's'Spirit' reached 9 points, just one step away from a massive amount of Chakra.
She felt her body's cells were filled with vitality, and the Chakra that instantly surged within her made her feel like she was about to explode!
Ninjutsu talent and such were difficult to quantify. When 'Ninjutsu' increased to 10, she only felt that her understanding of Ninjutsu was very profound, but how profound exactly? It was hard to say.
Chakra was different.
More was more; less was less.
From 7 to 8 points, she invested two'scapegoat points', which was equivalent to tripling her original 7 points of Chakra. Now, from 8 to 9 points, she invested three'scapegoat points', and she felt it tripled again based on the 8 points.
It was simply too much! The Chakra was so abundant it was almost uncontrollable.
Originally, she planned to use the remaining 4'scapegoat points' to increase'Spirit' to 10. Now, at 9 points, it was already showing signs of losing control. She dared not add so much at once. She needed to spend some time adapting to the surging Chakra. Once she could control this Chakra freely, she would add more points.
It would likely be difficult to adapt to the surging Chakra in the month leading up to the official Chunin Exam. Should she leave the 4 points unspent? That would be a waste.
After much deliberation, she combined three'scapegoat points' and added them to the level of Yin Release, upgrading Lv3 Yin Release to Lv4.
If nothing unexpected happened, the Third Hokage would still use the Dead Demon Consuming Seal. This time, Ino was not facing the residual Chakra of the Second Mizukage, nor a summoned beast that had slept for fifty years and was almost muddled. Instead, it was a genuine Shinigami, a native-born Shinigami who had stubbornly survived after the brutal strike of Ōtsutsuki Kaguya.
Lv3 Yin Release was still not enough; she needed Lv4 to have even a little confidence in befriending the Shinigami.
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