Shikamaru Was Shocked: You Gave It to Her?

Night.

Having received news from Shikamaru, Sasuke and Naruto eagerly awaited Shinki's return.

Naruto clenched his fist excitedly and asked, "Sasuke, tell me what the result was? I really want to go see it right away!"

Sasuke wore a knowing look on his face. "You should know the answer from the fact that Shinki hasn't returned for so long. (◔◡◔)"

Naruto suddenly realized, "I see! Shinki didn't come back so late because he took Ino to eat Ino Ichiraku Ramen!"

Sasuke: "..."

"Naruto, thank goodness you're so oblivious, but Hinata takes the initiative and likes you." Sasuke patted Naruto on the shoulder and said with a sigh.

Just as the two were talking, the doorknob creaked open and Shinki pushed the door open and entered.

Two large faces suddenly appeared right in front of me!

Shinki stumbled in fright and said irritably, "What are you two doing waiting at the door in the middle of the night instead of sleeping?! (ꐦ ಠ 皿ಠ)"

Sasuke and Naruto didn't answer Shinki's question, but instead gave him a meaningful look: (๑❛ᴗ❛๑), Ծ ̮ Ծ

Upon seeing this, Shinki instantly understood, but he deliberately kept the result a secret, leaving the two of them to their curiosity!

Soon, Shinki took a shower and went upstairs.

Sasuke and Naruto stood at the bottom of the stairs, somewhat puzzled by Shinki's thoughts.

"No, I'm too curious! I have to go to the Shinki's room and ask!" Naruto, whose curiosity was extremely strong, felt an unbearable urge to ask!

He had just taken a step when Sasuke stopped him, saying, "Wait a minute. Shinki is also a slow learner when it comes to emotions. Maybe he doesn't want to reveal it so soon... Give him some time."

Naruto thought Sasuke's words made sense and looked surprised, "Aren't you curious?"

Sasuke: "I'm so curious! <(￣3￣)>"

Inside the room.

Shinki was playing the game absentmindedly, but the image that kept appearing in his mind was Ino's smiling face...

"I don't know if my choice was right..." Shinki said.

In the mountains and forests of the Land of Fire.

After discovering that the airship had been moved, Qing prepared to search the surrounding area thoroughly.

Shortly afterward, in a Border Town, he learned that the airship that had crashed on the Land of Fire Border had been taken back to the Konoha Research Institute by the Sixth Hokage, Shinki...

Qing was completely devastated at this moment! (*꒦ິ⌓꒦ີ)

"Lord Naijin Commander told me to find the Important Cargo being transported by the airship... and incidentally, to deal with everyone who had seen the airship..."

What do we do now?

"The entire Konoha knows about the airship. Am I supposed to kill everyone in this village?! (｡í _ ì｡)"

"Even the Sixth Hokage... I can't beat him! ꒦ິ^꒦ິ"

"Fortunately, the Important Cargo that Lord Naijin mentioned haven't been discovered by the Hokage. I'll go look for them first..."

The next day.

The Hokage's Office.

Shikamaru subtly inquired about what happened last night.

However, Shinki maintained a mysterious expression throughout, revealing not a single word.

Even the usually rational Shikamaru was on the verge of a breakdown. "Stop hiding it, just tell me..."

"Don't worry, I'm very tight-lipped. Tell me, and I absolutely won't tell anyone..."

Shikamaru only said half of what he meant.

"Click!"

The door to the Hokage's Office was pushed open, and Ino, entered.

"Oh, Shikamaru's here too. I'm here to bring some snacks to Shinki... ( ˝ᗢ̈˝ )" Ino greeted him with a smile.

Shikamaru, who grew up with Ino, noticed that Ino was exceptionally radiant today...

That's strange!

After putting down the snacks, Ino, considering it was Hokage's work hours, didn't linger and left after saying goodbye.

Inside the room, a bewildered Shikamaru, thinking of Shinki's silence and Ino's joy, had a bold guess forming in his mind!

"Could it be... that you gave it to her?! (≖╻≖;)" Shikamaru asked cautiously, afraid of stepping on a landmine.

To this question, Shinki smiled and said, "She insisted."

Shikamaru was shocked. "You really gave it to her?! ヽ( ຶ▮ ຶ)ﾉ!!"

Shinki pouted. "I already told you, it was her insistence. ┐(´-`)┌"

Shikamaru: "Even if she insists, you can't just give it to her so readily, especially since you two are only..."

Recalling Ino's happy expression, Shikamaru's next words caught in his throat.

It's not appropriate for me to say much about other people's private matters.

However, judging from Ino's performance today, this isn't necessarily a bad thing.

Shinki seems like a reliable person...

I never imagined that something like that could change a woman so much. Maybe one day I could be with Temari...

Shinki noticed Lu Han's expression growing increasingly strange and asked, "What are you thinking? What I gave Ino was a promise." →_→

Shikamaru gave him a knowing look. "You don't need to say anything, I understand! (◍ ´꒳` ◍) I read it in a book, promising to marry her in the future, men always say a few silly things after they're done... But Shinki, you can't let Ino down..."

Shinki waved his hand. "What is all this nonsense?! (ー_ー)!!"

"Last night I briefly described my thoughts to Ino, telling her that I do like her, but I haven't thought about marriage or anything like that yet..."

"Then Ino asked me for a promise, and I told her that she was my first choice for my future wife..."

Shikamaru: "So, it really was just a promise? (꒪⌓꒪)"

"Wait a minute, Shinki, you've never been an indecisive person, why...?"

Shinki had already guessed what Shikamaru was about to say, and raised his hand to stop Shikamaru: "I am not from the same world as you."

Upon first hearing this, Shikamaru assumed Shinki was just showing off. "Yes, yes, your strength is indeed on a completely different level from ours..."

Shinki did not refute this, but simply lowered his head and continued to silently revise the documents.

Shikamaru voluntarily left the Shinki 'Hokage's Office, and closed the door behind him.

"Click--"

The very moment the latch was engaged.

Shikamaru seemed to sense something, his eyes widened, his heart trembled, and goosebumps rose all over his body!

A terrifying thought crossed his mind.

"No, not a world."

Inside the Office, shortly after Shikamaru left, Anbu member appeared and knelt respectfully before Shinki's desk. "Lord Hokage, I belong to the Border Patrol Squad. We discovered a suspicious person in the Northwest Border Forest and found these things around him..."

As they spoke, the Anbu presented a robot head.

Shinki looked closely and realized that this thing was the head of the Mechanical Puppet he had encountered next to the airship yesterday!

"How is that person now?" Shinki asked.

The Anbu replied, "When we found him, he was unconscious in a crater that appeared to have been created by Ninjutsu. A powerful Chakra fluctuation was emanating from his body. We didn't dare to make any rash moves and immediately reported to the Hokage's Office, awaiting the Lord Hokage's decision."

"You did a good job." Shinki stood up and took down the Hokage Haori hanging on the rack. "Lead the way!"