"You're back."
Kano spoke while sipping her tea, feigning an air of profoundness, but neither of the two people opposite her reacted.
"Aren't you going to see Sasuke? He's grown quite a bit."
The hand of the person wearing the Vermilion Ring trembled slightly as they held their tea.
"The person you're looking for is with Jiraiya. You won't be able to take him away, but you can always try—just in case."
With Kano here, they couldn't take Naruto. Don't forget that Kano had acquired Shadow Hiruzen and a large number of Shadow Ninjas during that battle.
Moreover, their quality was quite good. Kano kept a portion for herself and used the rest as upgrade materials for Shadow Deer Tube.
Now, Shadow Deer Tube had roughly Kage-level strength. Its all-attribute Ninjutsu had reached the Chunin level, and its Wind Release Ninjutsu had reached the Jonin level.
As for its Taijutsu, it was even more ridiculous; it could probably go several rounds with Guy with four gates open. In other words, Shadow Deer Tube alone could blow Kisame away.
As for the part she kept, they were all female Shadow Ninjas. There were very few, only a handful. She wanted some good-looking followers, but most of those capable of fighting were men; female Ninjas were truly rare.
If she saved up a bit, maybe one day she could put together a cute shadow girl. With this shadow-collecting gameplay, she definitely had to get a waifu card.
Seeing that the two still didn't react, Kano planned to reveal more information to pique their interest. But just then, Kakashi arrived and stood at the door.
Kano couldn't say anything more; she finished the dango in her hand and left.
"Is Kakashi-sensei here to buy dango too?"
"No, I'm here to wait for someone. Do you have any plans for later? Do you need me to find someone to help you with your training?"
"No need. I'm currently composing a new song, which will take a long time. I won't be training for the time being."
"Then you'd better hurry, or those two will surpass you. Their growth rate is very fast."
"It's fine, I don't mind. Their achievements are destined to be higher than mine. Once they grow up, they can just protect me. Anyway, I'm just an Idol; it's okay to be a bit weak. I'm going back now, goodbye."
"Yeah, goodbye."
Kano returned home, gave the treats she had brought to Karin, and patted her head. It felt like raising a child bride; Karin was being raised to be super cute by Kano now.
She had already taken off those ugly glasses, and Kano had changed her hairstyle to more adorable twin tails. Her outfit was also chosen by Kano, following the same pure and cute style as Kano's.
"I plan to head out for a few days. When I get back, I'll have your identification papers ready. That way, you can become a member of Konoha Village and go out in public openly."
"Really? Thank you so much, Lady Kano!"
"Alright, don't call me 'Lady.' It makes us seem distant. If you really feel awkward calling me by my name, just call me'Sister'."
"Okay, Big Sister!"
"Sigh, whatever you want, sigh."
Afterward, Kano said goodbye to her mother, Yoshino, preparing for a long trip. Since she was leaving immediately, she didn't give Yoshino a chance for motherly love.
Finally, a chance for light travel; how could she carry big bags again? Like when she went to the Land of Waves and had to use Shadow Deer to carry her luggage.
Since her Shadow Ninja stock was mostly depleted, Kano started stockpiling Shadow Deer again. She could only stockpile one Shadow Deer a day, as the others had to be left for the clan disciples to practice the Shadow Deer Technique.
By now, Kano had four Shadow Deer in total. One was a dedicated mount that had been upgraded many times. The other three were basic backup Shadow Deer.
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