As the examiners left,
Shikamaru Nara immediately went over to Ino. "Are you all right?"
Shikamaru kept his hands in his pockets, a rare note of concern in his voice.
"Shikamaru, you don't get it, do you?"
"Ino must be on her period. All girls get those."
Choji Akimichi pulled a bag of chips out of nowhere and started eating, paying no mind to anyone else.
Looks like I'm pretty smart sometimes, too.
"Help..."
Ino Yamanaka weakly stretched out her arm. Right now, she felt as if her head was about to explode.
It felt as though Yemu was about to fill her entire brain.
"This looks really serious. Choji, carry Ino on your back. I'll go get someone from the medical team!"
Seeing that Ino wasn't joking, Shikamaru grew serious.
"Let me."
Yemu Hyuga watched Shikamaru make a deliberate show of discussing it, then resignedly stood up and went over.
"Yemu? Can you treat girls' period problems?" Choji asked, chewing his chips.
He scratched his head, pondering. So Yemu even knows gynecological medical ninjutsu?
"Choji, you ***! You... your whole family's on their period!"
Seeing herself humiliated in front of Yemu, Ino Yamanaka kept cursing even though her head was about to burst.
"Manners, Ino. Where did your manners go? Did you feed them to a dog?"
Once again, Choji's blunt words struck like knives, making Ino cringe inwardly.
Yemu shook his head helplessly.
The three of them really were close.
He passed through the crowd, came up to Ino, and pressed a finger to her forehead.
Soon, a faint green glow flickered at Yemu's fingertip, beginning to restore Ino's damaged mental energy.
Feeling the cool touch against her forehead, Ino was overcome with comfort, her expression turning adorable.
It was like suddenly getting an ice pop in scorching heat. The relief was indescribable.
"Mmm~"
In the end, Ino couldn't hold it in.
A strange little moan escaped her lips.
"Qingxue, Qingxue, don't get worked up!" Hinata Hyuga fumbled helplessly, looking in alarm at Qingxue Uchiha beside her, who radiated a dark, oppressive aura.
The pen in Qingxue's hand was crushed in an instant.
Qingxue Uchiha tilted her head and narrowed her eyes slightly, a faint smile on her stunning face. "What am I getting worked up about? When did I get worked up? Why would I get worked up~?"
Qingxue Uchiha opened her eyes a sliver, looking at Ino sprawled happily over her desk nearby. The light seemed to have vanished from her pupils.
Hinata alone is enough trouble.
Wouldn't adding Ino make things even more troublesome?
Maybe I should find a chance to quietly get rid of her?
Afterward, I'll just say foreign ninja invaded.
While countless thoughts raced through Qingxue Uchiha's mind, Yemu Hyuga had already restored Ino Yamanaka's mental energy to normal.
"Thank you, Yemu." A lingering flush warmed Ino Yamanaka's pretty face.
"It's nothing. But let me remind you: don't casually use mental attacks on me again."
Yemu's gaze was calm.
After that warning, he headed back toward Qingxue.
"Ino, what exactly happened?" Shikamaru asked curiously as he watched Yemu and the two girls leave the classroom.
Judging by what had happened, didn't that mean Ino's Mind Body Switch Technique was not only ineffective against Yemu,
but could actually get her killed instead?
"That guy... Yemu is strange. Terrifying." Ino shook her head. Just recalling the eyes of that blue-and-white phantom made her mental energy fluctuate.
It even filled her with terror!
Ino's apprehension left Shikamaru silent for a moment. Still, to avoid any trouble tomorrow, he warned them, "If tomorrow's exam involves ninjutsu combat, don't hesitate if we see Yemu. All three of us run."
In truth, they already had a rough idea of what the Chunin Exams involved.
The established information was right there.
As heirs to major clans, Shikamaru and his teammates couldn't possibly lack general information about the Chunin Exams.
Neither of the other two asked why when Shikamaru warned them.
Yemu's strength spoke for itself. Completing three B-rank missions flawlessly in such a short time was enough to make anyone give him a wide berth.
That afternoon,
Qingxue Uchiha and Hinata accompanied Yemu to a weapon shop to buy weapons.
"Boss, is the long sword I ordered ready yet? It's been half a year!"
Yemu Hyuga lifted the door curtain and entered the rather old weapon-forging shop.
Apparently, the owner was a first-rate master smith from the Land of Iron.
Unfortunately, he had enemies there and could only seek shelter in Konoha.
"Young man, you have too many requirements. You want a weapon that's both highly durable and sharp. Even for me..."
Seeing that the old man was about to start boasting about his skills again, Yemu immediately waved him off. "Stop, stop. You should have finished forging it by now, right? Here's the remaining payment in gold coins. Take a look."
Yemu tossed him a bag of gold coins.
That lavish display made the old man's eyes tremble.
He must be a core member of one of Konoha's major clans. How else could he have so much money?
And he has two pretty girls with him. He must be a clan heir.
"Catch! This is the finest work of my life!"
With a proud expression, the old man tossed the prepared pitch-black long sword to Yemu.
To strengthen the weapon, he had spent a full six months hammering it over and over.
Qingxue Uchiha saw that the sword's body was pitch-black, with silver light flashing along its edge. One glance told her it could slice through iron like butter.
"Yemu, if I remember correctly, all you need to do to make a sword truly one of a kind is kill its smith. Then no more swords like it will ever appear~"
???
The old man had only just taken the gold coins in hand when question marks seemed to pop up over his head.
Especially after noticing Qingxue Uchiha's meaningful gaze, he couldn't help trembling inside.
"Qingxue, don't scare the old man."
"Your craftsmanship is excellent, sir. I'm very satisfied."
Yemu Hyuga praised him, coating the weapon in a layer of chakra. As he swung the blade, gusts of wind whistled through the air.
He had once dreamed of roaming the world with a sword, too.
Besides,
Yemu looked at the red trait he had recently acquired.
[Weapon God (red): You are the chosen agent of the Weapons of the Heavens. Every weapon in your hands is a divine weapon. In battle, you can suppress any enemy carrying a weapon within a thousand-meter radius.]
It's not even pretending anymore. This is a cheat!
Moreover, Yemu figured that if the Mangekyō Sharingan could materialize vast amounts of chakra to form Susanoo,
then could he take the opposite approach, compressing a massive amount of chakra to create a terrifying suit of humanoid battle armor?
Battle armor is a weapon, too!
After leaving the weapon shop,
Yemu mulled over his newfound idea, feeling that he really might be able to bring such a form into existence.
Just then,
Qingxue Uchiha asked with seeming casualness, "Yemu, are you close with Ino?"
"We're just classmates. How many times have you ever seen me talk to her?"
Yemu answered instinctively without giving it much thought. He was still pondering how to bring his future silver-white battle armor to life.
Oh?
Qingxue Uchiha narrowed her eyes slightly, a satisfied smile gracing her stunning face as a faint blood-red gleam quietly drifted through her eyes.
Before you continue