Yin Release Chakra Boost

As the sun sank in the west, the school day ended in the late afternoon. Instead of heading straight home, Oshima went directly to the Hokage Office.

During his final comments, Oshima had clearly received a message from the Anbu: "Lord Hokage summons you." So as soon as class was over, he hurried off to meet the Hokage.

After entering the Hokage Building, Oshima walked down the corridor leading to the Hokage Office. He could clearly sense shadows shifting slightly in certain places, only to settle back into stillness at once.

The hidden Anbu were quietly verifying the visitor's identity.

Oshima pushed open the Hokage Office door and saw the Hokage handling official business. Lord Hokage was deeply focused, so Oshima quietly dropped to one knee and waited for his orders.

"Ah, Oshima, you're here. Stand up. You're no longer Anbu. You're just an ordinary Ninja Academy teacher now." The Third Hokage smiled faintly and motioned for Oshima to rise.

After a brief exchange of pleasantries, the Third Hokage got to the point.

"How do this batch of students seem to you?"

Oshima replied seriously, "They're excellent. A few of them even have the potential to become Jonin. Hatake Kakashi is very strong—he's nearly ready to graduate."

"What surprised me most was Uchiha Lihuo. That boy is almost as strong as Kakashi. But considering he's from the Uchiha Clan, I suppose it's no surprise."

"Of course, Sarutobi Asuma is quite good too. His ninjutsu and taijutsu are exceptional...(eight hundred words omitted here)"

"All right, all right. Stop praising Asuma. I know what he's like." Sarutobi Hiruzen said this, but he could barely suppress the smile tugging at his lips.

"Uchiha Lihuo certainly has a way of making an impression. We should keep an eye on him."

Oshima nodded repeatedly.

After Oshima left, the Hokage fell into deep thought.

"Mind-Body Decapitation Technique, Shadow Clone Technique, hand seals so fast that even I can barely follow them, and taijutsu that's improved by leaps and bounds... Uchiha Lihuo, are you a genius, or...?"

At that, Sarutobi Hiruzen summoned an Anbu under his direct command.

"Bring Orochimaru here. Have him look into Uchiha Lihuo."

Meanwhile, the scene shifted back to Lihuo.

When they arrived at the Dango Shop, Kakashi knew the dango here had to be good. The place was packed with customers, and the line stretched right outside the door.

"There are so many people. Will we still have time to train after we get our dango?"

At Lihuo's words, Kakashi didn't reply. Instead, Lihuo called into the shop, "Uncle Asahi, three skewers of Three-Color Dango, sweet ones!"

"One skewer is enough for me."

"Oh, right, I forgot about you. Make that four, Uncle!"

Hearing Lihuo's voice, the middle-aged man working frantically inside immediately broke into a smile.

"Coming right up, Lihuo!"

Before long, a little girl about Lihuo's age ran out.

"Brother Lihuo, here's the dango you ordered."

"Hehe, thanks, little shop manager!" Lihuo said with a grin.

Seeing Lihuo's smiling face, Kakashi felt a little strange. In all his previous encounters with Lihuo, he'd only seen him looking eager for a fight. He'd never seen him so friendly.

As if noticing Kakashi's question, Lihuo handed him a skewer of dango and explained, "The owner's beloved cat went missing a while ago, and his whole family was frantic. They were about to post a mission at the Mission Office when I happened to come by to buy dango, so I helped them find it."

"How were you able to find it?"

Lihuo popped a dango into his mouth and savored it. "You idiot. The Uchiha Clan is closest to the Ninja Cats. I know everything going on in the cat world, from top to bottom."

"After I found the cat, the owner gave me a free dango voucher to thank me. I thought the name sounded bad, so I changed it to 'Skip the Line and Buy Dango Directly' voucher."

Suddenly, Lihuo and Kakashi heard a series of impassioned shouts.

"Before Lihuo gets here, I'll walk all over Konoha on my hands! If I can't do it, I'll do a thousand push-ups!"

There was no need to ask who the shouter was. It was Might Guy, the very person Lihuo and Kakashi had come to see.

"Guy, over here!" Lihuo spotted his friend and happily called him over.

The moment Guy saw Lihuo, he sprinted over and bear-hugged him without a care for appearances.

Kakashi's eyes narrowed. "He's fast!"

"Bro, you're finally here! Training is so boring without you."

"You came just in time. I haven't touched this skewer of dango yet. It's yours."

"A training buddy suddenly appeared and presented a heartfelt gift beneath the early autumn sunset. This is youth!"

Lihuo hurriedly stuffed the dango into Guy's mouth. Otherwise, Guy would embarrass him enough to make him want to dig a hole and hide.

"Kakashi, this is my training partner, Might Guy."

"We've met before."

"Right? I'm sure you'll become great friends and grow into excellent ninja."

"But he can't even use ninjutsu."

Suddenly, a clear female voice cut in, as melodious as a songbird.

"Look at his hands and feet. They're covered in marks from training, aren't they? He must work incredibly hard. With his determination, he could very well become an outstanding ninja someday."

"If you don't believe me, the Ninja Academy's supplemental admissions list will be posted soon. You can check it then. The old Hokage wouldn't let someone talented go to waste."

The three of them looked toward the voice. It belonged to a girl wearing the Nara Clan's clothes. Her hair was tied up high, revealing her fair neck. Her face was lovely and sweet, and the dark hair falling along either side gave her a lively air.

The girl was standing in line, holding an empty Three-Color Dango skewer.

Lihuo recognized her at once. She was the "human alarm clock" from that morning, the girl who'd dozed off in class. Out of politeness, Lihuo introduced himself.

"Hello, I'm—"

"Uchiha Lihuo. I know. I watched your match with Hatake Kakashi."

"Mm. This is Might Guy, a good friend of mine."

The girl smiled gently, her big eyes curving into adorable crescents.

"It's nice to meet you. I'm Nara Lumiao."

Noticing the empty Three-Color Dango skewer in her hand, Lihuo asked casually, "Are you still in line?"

"Yeah. I bought one skewer and thought it was delicious, so I'm going to get another."

"I have another skewer here. I haven't eaten it. If you don't mind..."

Before Lihuo could finish, Lumiao snatched the dango from him and devoured it.

"Thanks," Lumiao mumbled through her mouthful.

That was all four skewers of Three-Color Dango gone, yet Lihuo had only gotten to eat one. He couldn't help wincing at the loss.

I guess not everyone in the Nara Clan is smart. Some of them are gluttons, too.

But Lumiao's next question made Lihuo break into a cold sweat.

"Back then, when your Shadow Clone failed to land a hit, why didn't you retreat? Why did you risk getting it dispelled just to touch Kakashi's head?"

That was a crucial question.

"I could understand the rest of the match, but why did you touch his head?"

"And shortly after that, you used Lion Combo. If you had that kind of speed, why didn't you use it from the start?"

Lihuo's heart skipped a beat at her questions. He looked at Lumiao, who still had sugar from the Three-Color Dango stuck to the corner of her mouth, her big eyes full of confusion.

But to Lihuo, it felt like a murderer watching Conan piece together the clues. A sense of danger rose within him. His eyes darted around, and in a moment of desperation, he came up with a desperate solution.

"It's just a weird habit of mine," Lihuo said stiffly. As he spoke, he gently touched Lumiao's head. "You could say it's a special quirk of mine."

The moment he heard the system notification, he quickly pulled his hand away, afraid of making her uncomfortable.

Lumiao was taken aback for a moment, then smiled. "Not everyone gets to touch my head. Since you gave me dango, I'll let it go this time."

With that, she headed toward the Nara Clan Grounds, eating her dango as she went.

Lihuo breathed a sigh of relief and checked his reward.

"Ding! You touched the head of a C-rank ninja: Nara Lumiao. Choose one of the following rewards."

"50,000 yen"

"Basic Chakra Control"

"Yin Release Chakra Boost"

When he saw the last option, Lihuo's eyes widened.

"I guessed right!"

Choose "Yin Release Chakra Boost"!