Xiao Huan, this cat lover, was clearly from Cat Granny's side. Ino didn't actually know what kind of relative she was. The Yamanaka Clan's intelligence network and Cat Granny's intelligence network had both cooperation and opposition.
The Yamanaka Clan leaned towards the Hokage faction, while Cat Granny's side often served as the Uchiha Clan's eyes in the gray areas, so the two sides naturally had conflicts.
The Uchiha Clan, Cat Granny's biggest backer, had fallen, but the old woman's roots remained. As colleagues, the Yamanaka Clan and she had always maintained a clear boundary.
Ino really wasn't interested in the cat-dog rivalry.
Xiao Huan's few kittens were too weak and could only meow at Akamaru. Akamaru would swat one down with a paw, and after a while, the little one would climb back up and meow again. When they got tired of meowing, the kittens would wander around in a daze.
One of the kittens wandered and wandered, bumping into Ino's leg. The kitten shook its head, then bared its teeth at her fiercely. Ino was extremely bored, so she took out a cat wand and played with the kitten.
"Hey, hey, Xiao Jing!" Ino was squatting on the ground playing with the kitten when she suddenly heard someone call her.
Who was it?
She looked left and right, but no one was there.
Shikamaru, who was resting with his eyes closed, pointed to the shade of a tree on the right. Ino looked up and saw Jiraiya covering his face, squatting behind the tree shade, furtively waving at her.
Her expression was strange; those who knew would say this was the Fifth Hokage, but those who didn't might think he was an enemy!
Ino left a Shadow Clone to continue playing with the cat and walked over herself.
"Hokage-sama, what is it?"
Jiraiya summoned a small orange toad, Gamabunta, the son of Gamabunta, and the eldest grandson of Sage Fukasaku and Sage Shima.
Although they were called toads, Gamabunta's father was a bullfrog, and Fukasaku and Shima were frogs. This whole family being called toads was purely habitual, as their bloodline was completely different from ordinary animals due to their Sage Mode.
Jiraiya's expression was quite serious as he said, "It's not surprising what those madmen from Hidden Cloud Village do. We must be wary of what happened with the Kinkaku and Ginkaku brothers back then. Take this little guy with you. If you encounter danger, help it use Reverse Summoning Technique, and Minato and I will both come to help you."
Hearing this, Ino felt very warm. Jiraiya, as a leader, was absurd at times, but he was quite humane at critical moments.
The Kinkaku and Ginkaku brothers not only killed the Second Hokage back then, but they even killed the Third Raikage of their own Village! They were complete madmen! Although both of them had long since died, and the power of the Kumogakure's militant faction had significantly decreased after two generations of suppression by the Third Raikage and Fourth Raikage, it's better to be safe than sorry. Ino's mission this time might really encounter danger.
Tens of thousands of Ninja rushing in, various Ninjutsu and Exploding Tags flying around, even the Wood Human Technique wouldn't last long.
Jiraiya advised her, "Once you discover that Hidden Cloud Village has ill intentions, go into their Village and use Water Release and Wood Release. Don't worry about the lives of the villagers. The greater the destructive power of the Ninjutsu, the safer you will be. Stall for time and wait for our rescue. Remember?"
Ino nodded quickly.
She was now definitely a Human Tailed Beast, a mobile natural disaster. As long as she wasn't instantly killed, once she unleashed her Ninjutsu, the destructive power would be immense. Sunagakure and the Land of the Moon had already suffered greatly because of her.
After Jiraiya finished with the official business, he looked left and right, lowering his voice to discuss private matters: "That young man approaching you last time was certainly not accidental. If, and I mean if, you encounter him outside the Village again, also have Gamabunta reverse summon me. I will personally handle this matter."
Jiraiya clasped his hands together: "Please!"
What else could Ino say? She could only agree.
Gamabunta looked quite capable, but he was too young and had no combat ability whatsoever.
Like Kakashi's summoning dog, Pakkun, he could also speak human language, so there was no communication barrier.
Ino eyed Jiraiya askance. You want to find your "son," but you give me such a combat-incapable guy.
Jiraiya said with a worried face, "To investigate the toad clan's affairs, Sage Fukasaku is very busy, so only these little guys have nothing to do. Actually, there's also Gamariki, but he's even more unreliable. I can only call Gamabunta. Anyway, the key is you, right?"
"Right, right, I understand."
Jiraiya quietly slipped away. This matter of finding a "love child" needed to be kept from Tsunade, or at least he felt it should be kept from her for now.
Kiba and Xiao Huan's cat-dog rivalry continued. Akamaru, one dog, fought seven cats, truly a "one versus seven"!
Shikamaru was resting with his eyes closed nearby, and Choji was eating frantically.
Ino, without a word, handed Gamabunta over to Shikamaru to look after.
Izumo Kamizuki and Kotetsu Hagane were now working inside the Hokage Building. She wasn't familiar with the two new Ninja guarding the gate, and it wasn't like before; the two gatekeepers weren't worth her effort to befriend. She occasionally played with the kittens, patiently waiting for Kiba and Huan, this pair of rivals, to argue to a conclusion.
The mission required them to depart today, but the exact time didn't matter.
Ino had only played with the cat for two minutes when she saw Sakura rush over.
Sakura wanted to ask her to escort Kakashi's eight Ninja dogs to a Ninja dog hospital not far from the Land of Fire for treatment.
"No way! I'm already in a lot of trouble here, so don't add to it!" Ino flatly refused. What kind of chaotic mess was this? Didn't you see I was busy?
Sakura stood with her hands on her hips, glaring at her, puffing out her cheeks.
Seeing that Ino showed no signs of budging, Sakura summoned the eight Ninja dogs.
"Achoo!" All eight Ninja dogs were sick, and even Pakkun, whom Ino was most familiar with, was sneezing constantly.
The largest pug, Bull, was even lying directly on the ground, looking listless.
"Do you see it?" Sakura asked her.
"What?"
"They've all been made miserable by your pollen!"
Ino: "???"
Upon closer inspection, she realized that was indeed the case.
The respiratory tracts of all eight Ninja dogs were affected by pollen to varying degrees. As the saying goes, once Ninjutsu is released, it cannot be taken back. As the caster, she didn't have any good treatment methods for pollen. The Yamanaka Flower Shop had medicines for human pollen allergies, but none for dogs.
Sakura pulled out her trump card: "Kakashi-sensei will pay."
"Why didn't you say so earlier?!"
Ino felt that issuing a bill of one billion for Kakashi's treatment was inappropriate, but a few million or tens of millions would be fine. After all, Kakashi was a dog lover.
This matter was somewhat Ino's fault. She asked for the address of the pet hospital and found that it wasn't too far, at most requiring her to escort them along the way.
The team was already chaotic with a large number of cats and dogs, plus a toad. Adding eight more Ninja dogs wouldn't actually be a big problem.
"...Alright." She nodded and agreed.
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