Sarutobi Hiruzen frowned tightly.
He had just invested in Ryun, and now the other party fell seriously ill in the blink of an eye?
Was he just too unlucky, or was this child too fragile?
He took out the letter to examine it carefully, and his tightly knitted brows gradually relaxed.
The well-experienced Sarutobi Hiruzen immediately realized what illness Ryun had contracted.
"It's nightmare disorder."
The ninja world did not have the name 'war trauma syndrome'. The older generation of ninjas were accustomed to calling situations where someone suffered severe fright and subsequently lost control of their chakra as nightmare disorder.
In reality, this was hardly considered an illness. It was merely a manifestation of a ninja being unable to freely control the chakra within their body.
Since Konoha's establishment and the founding of the ninja academy, all children in the village with chakra had to attend school to receive the most basic training.
Even children with extremely poor talent had to spend several years at the ninja academy learning to control chakra and getting accustomed to the feeling of chakra flowing within their bodies.
Therefore, cases of nightmare disorder were rarely seen in Konoha nowadays.
Yet, Ryun just happened to meet all three conditions: having just awakened chakra, having suffered a fright, and having no one to teach him. This reproduced the illness.
Sarutobi Hiruzen put down the letter, lit his pipe, and pondered how to solve this problem.
Before Ryun exhausted his talent and could no longer write books, Sarutobi Hiruzen certainly would not let him be tormented by such a minor ailment.
Moreover, the method to cure this disorder was actually very simple. That was to find someone to teach Ryun the method of controlling chakra.
Once Ryun got used to everything, he naturally would not stimulate the chakra within his body to run wild due to emotional agitation.
The only remaining problem lay with Ryun's identity.
Ryun was not a ninja, and he was past the age for attending school. Sarutobi Hiruzen found it inconvenient to send a real ninja to teach Ryun.
That would be a waste of Konoha's precious human resources, and it also did not conform to the rule that Konoha ninjas needed to complete missions to exchange for ninjutsu.
But letting those who graduated from the ninja academy but did not even become genin, the useless trash, teach Ryun, he worried they would turn Ryun into a good-for-nothing.
While he was deep in thought, a knocking sound came from the door.
Sarutobi Hiruzen said come in, and then Nara Shikaku pushed the door open and entered.
Sarutobi Hiruzen's eyes immediately lit up.
If Shimura Danzo was Sarutobi Hiruzen's black glove, handling tasks inconvenient for Hiruzen, then Nara Shikaku was Sarutobi Hiruzen's white glove, handling private matters inconvenient for Hiruzen.
Half an hour later, Shikaku returned home, resting his chin on his hand with a worried and troubled expression.
This troubled mood did not dissipate from Shikaku's face even after Nara Shikamaru returned home from school.
Shikamaru pretended not to see anything, but Shikaku was precisely waiting for his son. He pulled his son over and started playing shogi.
They played until midnight. Shikamaru, who could not hold out any longer, surrendered, saying, "Old man, if you want to ask me for a favor, just say it directly. Don't pressure me like this, okay? Your son is still at a critical stage of physical growth."
"Brat, your father just wanted to bond with you a bit."
"Tch."
Shikamaru wore an expression of 'yeah, right, I don't believe you.' Seeing this, Shikaku stopped pretending. "Alright, it seems I can't fool you. Actually, the Hokage-sama hopes you all can help with something."
After saying this, Shikaku looked relaxed, hugged his wife, and went to rest, leaving only Shikamaru, infected by Shikaku's mood, wearing a deeply troubled expression.
Even by the next morning when going to school, Shikamaru's face still looked very unpleasant.
"Shikamaru, did you eat something bad?"
Akimichi Choji kindly inquired. Passing by, Yamanaka Ino teased, "He must have been slaughtered a hundred times by uncle at shogi again, right?"
Shikamaru shot Yamanaka Ino a glare, originally planning to say something to annoy her.
The Ino-Shika-Cho trio shared a common bond. Shikamaru, Choji, and Ino were friends who had known each other since they could remember. A bit of teasing or sarcasm between them meant nothing.
But looking at Yamanaka Ino's face, Shikamaru suddenly had a flash of inspiration.
Ino, who was already prepared to receive Shikamaru's sharp retort, was astonished to see Shikamaru mysteriously put his arm around Choji's neck and start whispering.
The two of them even turned to glance at Ino from time to time, emitting strange giggles. This instantly made Ino feel left out.
"Wait, what are you talking about? Tell me."
Ino followed them angrily. Shikamaru pulled Choji and ran, which only made Ino more curious.
All day long, Ino was distracted because of this, even losing interest in bickering with her good friend Haruno Sakura over Uchiha Sasuke.
After school, Shikamaru and Choji still maintained their mysterious demeanor. The two of them, arms around each other's shoulders, left the school directly.
Unable to bear it, Ino secretly followed them, walking together until they arrived outside the gate of Ryun's house.
By now, two days had passed since Ryun obtained Uzuki Yugao's pheromones, and Ryun's house had also changed greatly.
The original gate had been repaired and looked new. The small courtyard also had an additional canopy added, with four tables and over a dozen chairs underneath.
Over a dozen elderly people sat at the tables, sipping tea and chatting. A group of children played and frolicked outside the house door. Inside the room, Ryun was listening to a story told by an old man.
The overall atmosphere seemed harmonious and joyful, as if this place had become Konoha's home for the elderly and a kindergarten.
Choji blinked, whispering, "Will Ino fall for it?"
"She probably will. This Ryun does look a bit handsome."
Though somewhat unwilling to admit it, Shikamaru still affirmed Ryun.
Yesterday, when his father told him that Konoha had produced a graceful and elegant literary figure, only a year older than them, Shikamaru did not really believe it.
But now, seeing Ryun's face, about their age, full of composure and calm, he knew Ryun must have an unusual mindset.
The regret was that he and Choji were not interested in literature. They came here to complete the task assigned by the Hokage, which was to teach Ryun basic chakra control and ninjutsu knowledge.
Shikamaru would never do such troublesome work. What if Ryun was a fool who couldn't learn no matter what?
So he thought of a plan, intending to push this matter onto Ino.
The remaining problem was how to make Ino willingly take on this job.
Coincidentally, he already had an idea.
Hearing the sound of Ino's deliberately lightened footsteps approaching from behind, Shikamaru pretended not to hear. He said proudly, "He's going to write the Uchiha clan's deeds into a novel, even including Sasuke's brother and parents."
"If Ino knew about this, wouldn't she be scrambling to take on this job?"
Choji squinted his eyes, looking silly and cute.
But with his hundred percent trust in Shikamaru, he only needed to follow Shikamaru's lead.
So he spoke up, "That won't do. Only we two can do this job. For our allowance money... Ouch, my ear."
Ino grabbed both their ears with her hands, wearing an 'I finally caught you' expression, and said proudly, "Tell me what's going on."