In the evening, Shikamaru and Choji returned to the Yamanaka Flower Shop, bringing Hinata, Kiba, and Shino with them. They discussed buying some flowers to visit Sasuke.
Seeing that everyone else was going, Ino felt it would be inappropriate not to go as a classmate, so she agreed to accompany them to Konoha Hospital. However, everyone still had to pay for their share of the flowers. Even among close friends, accounts must be clear. They each paid in turn, and Ino didn't even spare Shikamaru, Choji, or even Hinata.
"You, pay up!" She extended her hand towards Shino Aburame.
Shino Aburame, wearing sunglasses and a hood that covered most of his face, standing in the corner, was startled: "That doesn't make sense. Why do you only notice me when it's time to pay? Is this some special ability of yours?"
Ino herself was quite puzzled: "Yeah, isn't it a coincidence? I don't know how it happened, but I saw you right away. Don't try to sneak away, hurry up, pay."
".Alright."
This was not a time of war, so there weren't many patients in Konoha Hospital.
Ino walked in as if nothing had happened. Seeing Sakura crying like a teary mess in the ward, she couldn't help but glance at her twice.
Sasuke lay on the hospital bed, his eyes lifeless. Looking closely at his eyes, they were completely devoid of spirit. Ino was startled. What was going on? Was this the ultimate stage of the Mangekyo Sharingan, blindness?
She immediately realized the crisis. If Sasuke went blind, who would Naruto's bond be with? Could Naruto still reach his original heights? Who would seal Ōtsutsuki Kaguya in the future?
This was also one reason why she had been so restrained when fighting Sasuke, fearing that she might accidentally kill the savior and bring misfortune upon herself.
"Hey, why are you so listless? This isn't the Uchiha Sasuke I know," she said.
Sasuke turned his head to look at her.
Ino looked closely and finally realized that the school heartthrob wasn't blind; his eyes were just hazy, like he had cataracts, but he still had some vision and wasn't completely blind.
She was a bit confused: ".How did you end up like this?"
Sasuke remained arrogant: "None of your business!"
Ino hadn't learned Medical Ninjutsu, nor had she experienced any 'eye-opening' events. At this moment, she didn't want to meddle. 'None of your business' was best; if he said it was her business, she'd find it troublesome.
She casually made small talk: "Hmm, you look pretty energetic. Alright, get some good rest."
"Hey!" Sasuke suddenly called out to her and said, "Use that Secret Technique on me again, the one from that day."
"Now?" Ino didn't want to be cut by Indra Chakra again for no reason. She shook her head: "I refuse. That kind of Secret Technique isn't suitable for sparring between classmates, and you need to recover now, not fight me."
"Are you scared?"
".Heh heh, think whatever you want. If you think so, then so be it. I don't care."
Ino had no interest in wasting words with Sasuke, who looked like everyone owed him five hundred dollars. Outside the ward, she started talking business with Shikamaru.
"Sigh! Have you talked to Uncle Shikaku about renting houses?"
Shikamaru leaned against the wall and said lazily, "Yes, we can handle this ourselves, but the clan won't provide too many houses. After all, if too many houses are rented out, it could cause some very troublesome issues."
Ino was very interested in collecting rent, while Shikamaru was too lazy to move. After some discussion, Shikamaru handed all the houses Shikaku had assigned to him over to Ino to manage. They would split the profits sixty-forty, with Ino taking the larger share.
"Don't set the rent too high," Shikamaru cautioned.
Ino waved her hand: "Got it, got it."
Ninja are definitely high-income earners in this world, but most Ninja still live paycheck to paycheck. The commoners at the bottom are even worse off.
Konoha Village is located within the Land of Fire, where the weather is favorable and the land is fertile, so incomes are slightly better. But it's only slightly better. Renting houses to a group of commoners wearing straw sandals and cloth clothes doesn't actually earn much money.
Ino sighed heavily, feeling truly poor.
Ino only stayed in the ward for five minutes before leaving. Shikamaru and Choji followed close behind. They were all young men. When Sasuke said he would take on three of them, Shikamaru was actually very displeased. Being intelligent doesn't mean you don't have a temper. It was his business if he didn't want to fight, but if Sasuke looked down on him, then they had to have a talk.
Choji, on the other hand, had a peaceful and kind nature, never arguing with anyone and possessing an excellent temper. But he and Shikamaru were best friends. If Sasuke made Shikamaru unhappy, Choji wouldn't give him a good look.
When Sasuke was on the retrieval mission, Choji fought Jirobo for Shikamaru, not for Sasuke.
The three left, and Kiba Inuzuka also walked out of the ward with a few other classmates.
No one knew when Shino Aburame left.
Sakura and Hinata, the other girls, were the last to leave.
Sakura really wanted to peel an apple for Sasuke, but seeing his face, calm as a dead man's, she ultimately didn't dare to go over.
She had also been quite busy recently, practicing tree climbing, and practicing the Water Release nature transformation of Chakra, determined to catch up to Ino. These things consumed most of her energy, and when her body was too tired, her mind didn't have time to think about romance.
The ward quickly became quiet. Sasuke stared at the ceiling, his eyes lifeless, wondering what he was thinking.
"Yo, kid, how's your recovery going?" Kakashi appeared at the window, greeting him.
"Who are you?"
"You were unconscious then, so you probably don't know me. I'm here to help you. I owed the Uchiha Clan a big favor back then." After a simple introduction, Kakashi stated his purpose.
He was entrusted by the Third Hokage to help Sasuke awaken his Sharingan.
Sasuke didn't care who Kakashi was or what he had done; he only cared about his eyes.
He asked coldly, "What exactly is wrong with my eyes?"
Kakashi scratched his head. There was too much he couldn't say, at least the part about Itachi, he didn't know how to explain. After carefully choosing his words, he decided to just deflect the blame.
".This is complicated to explain, but looking at you, I can't not explain it. Alright, I'll start from the beginning. That Yamanaka Clan lady used a Secret Technique to possess your body, and then—"
He avoided the important details, not mentioning Uchiha Itachi or Dojutsu Power at all.
Don't ask; if you ask, it's because your body is special.
Sasuke had actually been quite puzzled as to why Ino's Secret Technique had suddenly failed that day. He couldn't figure it out. Combining it with Kakashi's words now, he felt he had the answer: "You mean outsiders can't possess an Uchiha's body, and if they do, they'll suffer a backlash?"
Is that what I meant? Kakashi was really too lazy to explain. Think whatever you want. Being possessed once was enough; surely no one else would try to possess your body, right?
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