"Father!"
Shimura Keiko slowly stepped forward and knelt beside the middle-aged man, greeting him respectfully.
That was right. This was her father-in-law, the current head of the Shimura Clan, Shimura Danzō, known as the Shadow of Shinobi!
Without saying a word, Shimura Danzō read through the Body Strengthening Technique before him while attempting to practice it.
Three years ago, when his son had taught Shimura Keiko that E-Rank body-strengthening technique, he had obtained a copy from his daughter-in-law. Over the past few years, he had practiced it whenever he had spare time.
Though it did little to improve him, it was better than nothing. It could regulate his body and heal old injuries.
With that foundation, practicing this D-Rank Body Strengthening Technique was much easier, and he quickly got the hang of it.
Not long afterward, a faint sound like muffled thunder came from within Shimura Danzō's body. It was the Tiger-Leopard Thunder Sound Body Refining Method created by Shimura Kentei.
Of course, the name merely sounded impressive. In truth, it used chakra to control the vocal cords and produce special sound waves that vibrated the body's internal organs.
Sound waves came in three types: ordinary sound waves, infrasound waves, and ultrasonic waves.
Ultrasonic waves could shatter solids, while infrasound could use resonance to harm soft tissues, such as the internal organs of the human body.
Some people's motion sickness was even related to infrasound.
"Not a bad secret technique!"
After practicing the Tiger Leopard Thunder Sound for a while, Shimura Danzō gave it a favorable assessment.
Although such a short period of practice brought him almost no improvement, so little that it could be ignored, as long as he persisted over the long term, several years of training would surely greatly enhance his physical fitness. Its rate of improvement would not be inferior to those taijutsu-type shinobi who trained beyond their limits year-round.
Moreover, this was a rare secret technique capable of strengthening the body as a whole. It could even train fragile internal organs. Its value, difficulty of development, and risks far surpassed ordinary ninjutsu.
From that perspective, his son was absolutely a monster.
If the boy's face had not borne a fifty-percent resemblance to his own, he would have doubted whether the boy was really his son.
"What is he doing downstairs?"
He looked at his daughter-in-law, Shimura Keiko, curiously wondering what gave his son the confidence to defeat every graduate.
There were a full three hundred Ninja Academy graduates this year. The weakest had reached Genin level, and some geniuses from shinobi clans had even attained Chunin-level strength.
Even some Jonin who had not mastered large-scale ninjutsu would have to avoid the edge of such a lineup. His son's physical strength was decent, but only decent.
"Gentei is making armor downstairs, an astonishing set of armor. I guarantee it will leave you stunned, Father!"
Shimura Keiko replied with a smile. She was quite looking forward to the armor her young man was making.
Although she had seen the complete blueprints, they were not the real thing. She imagined the finished product would be even more stunning.
"A set of armor could indeed raise his strength somewhat!"
Shimura Danzō nodded slightly. He understood that this was probably his son's trump card.
As for his daughter-in-law's claim that it was astonishing, he did not take it to heart. It was merely a suit of armor. No matter how astonishing it was, how astonishing could it really be?
Having lived through the Warring States Period, what had he not seen?
He had even owned a suit of armor in his youth, but that sort of thing had long been phased out of mainstream shinobi use. Few people still used it.
He was also quite reassured and satisfied with his son. After all, not just anyone could write those Yellow Volumes at the age of six based on a few history books and biographical novels. His son was so mature at such a young age; what was there for him to worry about?
"Copy and organize this body-strengthening secret technique as soon as possible!"
After saying that, Shimura Danzō rose and headed outside.
"Father, if you have time, please go to the Ninja Academy in five days. Gentei will surely want you to witness the graduation ceremony that belongs to him alone!"
Seeing her father-in-law preparing to leave, Keiko hurriedly spoke.
This was a good opportunity to ease the relationship between father and son. It could not be missed.
Shimura Danzō paused, said nothing, and continued walking away.
"Did he agree or not?"
Keiko tugged at her hair. The relationship between her young man and her father-in-law gave her a terrible headache.
Being the young mistress of the Shimura Family was not easy!
"Forget it. I won't think about it!"
Unable to figure it out, Shimura Keiko decisively gave up. Then she noticed an ancient scroll on the low table.
"This is... the crest of the Death Rhyme Clan from the Land of Rice Fields!"
She picked up the scroll and examined the strange symbol on it. She quickly matched it to the crest of a shinobi clan she had seen in records of the ninja world. It was the crest of the Death Rhyme Clan of the Land of Rice Fields.
"It seems Father still cares a great deal about that little brat!"
Keiko covered her lips and chuckled. She understood that her father-in-law must have specially obtained this ninjutsu Inheritance Scroll from the Death Rhyme Clan.
"I heard that Death Rhyme Clan shinobi don't need hand seals. They can use certain musical instrument ninja tools to release sound-based ninjutsu. I wonder how that works."
Curious, Keiko unfolded the ninjutsu scroll and examined the sound-based ninjutsu recorded within.
This was the secret technique inheritance of the Death Rhyme Clan, and it was extremely complete. Her father-in-law had clearly put a great deal of effort into this.
The Death Rhyme Clan might not have been a top-tier shinobi clan, but it was still second-rate. Obtaining their Inheritance Scroll would not have been easy.
"This is what a ninjutsu scroll should be like. It's far more concise than the junk you wrote, little brat!"
As she read the Inheritance Scroll in her hand and compared it with the insanely oversized scroll written by her young man, Keiko felt that the little brat was truly an utter freak.
Who wrote over a million words for the training method of a mere D-Rank secret technique? Just reading it once took several days.
Yet before long, Keiko decisively changed sides.
"What kind of garbage is this? What my young man wrote is much better!"
She slammed the Death Rhyme Clan's Inheritance Scroll onto the table. Keiko felt that this thing was not meant for people to read. It was written in such an obscure and mystical way that even with her ninjutsu attainments, she found it extremely difficult to understand.
"Young Mistress, this is the intelligence Young Master asked me to gather. Please pass it on to him!"
At that moment, Shimura Genma entered and handed a scroll to Shimura Keiko before decisively turning and leaving.
"Lady Tsunade!"
Curiously opening the intelligence scroll, Shimura Keiko was greatly surprised after reading its contents.
It was intelligence regarding Tsunade's movements within the village, with several key points specially marked.
"What does that little brat want with information on Lady Tsunade?"
Her beautiful eyes narrowed slightly, and danger glinted within them.
She felt that her young man might be cheating on her behind her back.
Though she did not want to admit it, Tsunade was indeed more alluring than she was. Her looks were not inferior, but her figure lagged far behind. Their chests were not even in the same league.
"It's so late, and you're still not asleep. Be careful you don't get dark circles!"
Night had fallen. Shimura Kentei emerged from the basement after a full day of work and found that his fiancée was still awake. She was even enthusiastically wiping the Bright Silver Spear with a cloth.
This woman had not slept for two days. Even a night owl was not this fierce.
"Lady Tsunade is beautiful, isn't she?"
Shimura Keiko picked up the mirror-like spear blade and looked into the eyes reflected upon it, smiling coldly.
"She's quite pretty, but what does that have to do with you?"
Shimura Kentei blinked in confusion. He did not understand why this woman had suddenly brought up Tsunade, that big Fat Sheep. The two had no interaction at all.
Shimura Keiko flung the intelligence report on Tsunade from the low table at him and demanded, "What are you looking for Lady Tsunade for?"
"Was this intelligence delivered by that kid Genma? He works pretty efficiently!"
Shimura Kentei took the report and opened it. Approval appeared on his face. That little brother might be somewhat of a scammer, but his work efficiency was high.
He had ordered the boy at the Ninja Academy to investigate Tsunade's whereabouts. He had not expected results so quickly.
As expected of an Elite Class graduate!
"Be serious and answer the question!"
Shimura Keiko questioned him again. Today, she was determined to get to the bottom of this.
"I'm looking for her to be my squad leader teacher!"
Shimura Kentei was even more puzzled. He did not understand what was wrong with this young lady today. She was acting completely abnormal.
"Why are you looking for her? I'm a Jonin now too. I'm qualified to be your squad leader teacher!"
Keiko felt even more displeased. She did not like her young man interacting with other women, especially women with bigger chests than hers.
"If you can get the Scroll of Seals from that old man, the Hokage, then I have no objections!"
Shimura Kentei rolled his eyes irritably. This woman truly overestimated herself. Did she think she could compare herself to that big Fat Sheep?
The two of them were not even on the same level, all right? Getting close to that Fat Sheep could save him many years of effort!
"You're looking for her because of the Forbidden Jutsu in the Scroll of Seals?"
Keiko was startled. She had truly not considered that before, but now that she thought about it, Tsunade was indeed a good teacher, perhaps the best of this generation. Even Orochimaru, the academic genius, could not compare to her.
After all, she had the entire Senju Clan behind her!
"To be precise, I want all the inheritances of the Senju Clan. If I get the chance, I even want to use Tsunade to get in touch with Mito and see whether I can obtain some Fuinjutsu inheritance from the Uzumaki Clan."
Shimura Kentei had no intention of hiding this. His upcoming plans required this woman's cooperation, so it was better to explain things in advance. But then he suddenly realized something. He leaned his head toward his fiancée until the tip of his nose nearly touched her delicate, fair nose, and a wicked smile curled across his lips.
"You're jealous!"
"I'm not!"
"You're definitely jealous!"
"I'm not!"
"You're one hundred percent jealous!"
"I'm going to sleep!"
Unable to outargue him, Shimura Keiko stood and returned to her room.
"This young lady has grown up too!"
Shimura Kentei grinned wickedly and sighed before sitting down to carefully examine the intelligence scroll in his hand. Based on the few key points marked above, he swiftly identified an ideal location.
"I hope that Fat Sheep doesn't beat me to death!"
After refining the next stage of his plan in his mind, Kentei rubbed his chin. He was not completely confident. If anything went wrong, he would be in trouble.
That Fat Sheep's fists were not easy to take!
"No, I need to find an accomplice to share the firepower!"
His mind raced as he considered suitable candidates to take the blame. The first person who came to mind was his own father.
After all, that was the most famous Pot Kage in Naruto!
However, he quickly rejected that option. His old father was not someone he could order around, much less ask to do something like that.
If he truly asked his old father, he would probably be hung up and whipped with Seven Wolves before the plan could even begin.
"Perhaps I can ask that senior!"
Another candidate quickly came to mind, a perfect scapegoat and tool.
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