Chapter 25: Going to Grill Fish Together
Ino Yamanaka looked at Naruto and said, "Hello, Naruto-kun! I'm Ino Yamanaka, you can just call me Ino. This is Sakura Haruno, you can call her Sakura. I heard you guys are going to grill fish together, can we bring her along?"
"Sure!"
Just as Naruto finished speaking, a boisterous voice rang out.
"You guys are going to grill fish? Count me in, I want to go too."
Naruto and Shikamaru saw it was Kiba Inuzuka. They exchanged a glance and both nodded.
Naruto smiled and said to Kiba Inuzuka, "No problem! But you'll need to buy some seasonings. I only have fish over at my place. As for seasonings and such... you know my situation in Konoha. Even if I have money, I might not be able to buy them."
Kiba Inuzuka either truly didn't catch the underlying meaning in Naruto's words or pretended not to understand, saying boisterously, "Leave the seasonings to me!"
Shikamaru smiled and looked at Ino. "You guys go buy some vegetables for grilling. We'll go prepare the charcoal. Let's meet at Naruto's Wooden Hut."
Just as Ino nodded and was about to leave, Sakura Haruno suddenly asked, "Where is Naruto's Wooden Hut?"
Ino grabbed Sakura Haruno's arm and said, "I know where the Wooden Hut is, don't worry about it. Let's go, let's go buy some vegetables."
After Shikamaru finished assigning tasks, he looked at Naruto.
"I'll leave the fish catching to you."
"No problem!"
After Naruto spoke, he looked at Hinata and said, "Let's go, the two of us will go catch the fish!"
"Okay!"
Shikamaru watched the backs of Naruto and Hinata as they left.
"I hope Naruto doesn't have any conflicts with the Hyuga Clan in the future!"
Kiba Inuzuka didn't care what Shikamaru was thinking about. He looked at Shikamaru and said, "Shikamaru, let's go! You and Choji go prepare the charcoal, I'll go buy the seasonings."
"Okay!"
Naruto brought Hinata to the vicinity of his Wooden Hut. When Hinata saw the Wooden Hutwhere Naruto was currently living, she was somewhat surprised.
"Naruto-kun lives here now?"
"Yeah! I've been living here for half a year already. It's a pity you never came by again. I was waiting for you to come and grill fish with me!"
Hinata didn't realize Naruto was teasing her and hurriedly explained in a panic.
"It's not like that! I really wanted to come to Naruto-kun's place to grill fish, but... but..."
Hinata naturally couldn't say that her father kept a very strict watch over her and wouldn't let her go out.
But Hinata couldn't bring herself to lie either. She was so anxious she was almost on the verge of tears.
Seeing Hinata about to cry, Naruto quickly said, "Don't cry! I was just teasing you! I know your family is quite strict, not free like me. Please don't cry."
As he spoke, Naruto reached out to help Hinatawipe away her tears.
Hinata stood there dazed. Seeing Naruto's hand touch her face, her whole body tensed up in nervousness, and she completely forgot about crying.
Just as Naruto finished wiping Hinata's tears, Hinata turned into a steam engine again. White mist rose from the top of her head, her face flushed red, and she fainted spectacularly.
With a slight twitch of his mouth, Narutodeactivated his Lightning Release Body Forging and caught the about-to-collapse Hinata.
"Great! This joke went too far again."
Naruto helped Hinata onto a lounge chair. After she was lying down, he activated the Lightning Release Body Forging Technique again and stepped onto the river surface to catch fish.
Ever since Naruto adapted to the Lightning Release Body Forging Technique, he had been keeping it active constantly to temper his physical body.
After catching the fish, Naruto created several Shadow Clones. He had one Shadow Clone use a small knife to clean the scales and gut the fish.
The other Shadow Clones went to catch some wild rabbits, pheasants, and the like. They couldn't just eat grilled fish and those vegetables!
By the time Shikamaru and the others arrived, Naruto had already processed thirty or forty fish.
Shikamaru's mouth twitched slightly as he looked at Naruto and said, "You caught way too many fish. I'm afraid we won't be able to finish them all!"
Naruto smiled and said, "The Akimichi Clan's appetite is famous in Konoha. I reckon this might not even be enough. Right, Choji?"
Choji nodded with an honest smile.
Kiba Inuzuka also laughed and said, "I don't think it's too many either! Akamaru and I can eat five. Right, Akamaru?"
Akamaru, on top of Kiba Inuzuka's head, barked quite cooperatively.
"Woof!"
Just then, Naruto's Shadow Clones carried out a grill.
Shikamaru looked at the grill Naruto's clones brought out in surprise and asked, "You even have one of these?"
"Self-reliance!"
After saying that, Naruto dispelled one Shadow Clone. This was to notify the Shadow Clones catching pheasants and rabbits that they could come back.
Sakura and Ino also arrived carrying some vegetables.
Ino wiped the sweat from her forehead and said, "You boys, hurry up and help! I'm exhausted."
Naruto smiled and created a few more Shadow Clones, who quickly went to take the things from Ino and the others' hands.
Shikamaru had already been somewhat surprised to see Naruto's Shadow Clones processing fish, but now seeing Naruto use Shadow Clones so skillfully dealt him a bit of a blow.
Ino, on the other hand, directly cried out in shock.
"Wow! Naruto, you're actually so amazing, being able to create so many Shadow Clones."
Naruto smiled and pointed behind the Wooden Hut. "This is nothing! Over there, there are still quite a few Shadow Clones studying theoretical knowledge!"
Hearing Naruto's words, Shikamaru, Ino, and the others all looked toward the back of the Wooden Hut in surprise.
What they saw gave them quite a shock; Narutohad created at least fifty Shadow Clones to study there.
Shikamaru looked at Naruto with a serious expression and asked, "Are you using the Multiple Shadow Clone Jutsu?! How many Shadow Clones can you create now?"
"If there's no interference, creating eighty Shadow Clones is no problem. Any more than that, and I feel a bit uncomfortable when I dispel them."
What Naruto said was an understatement. Currently, in the Spirit Spring Space, there were at least two hundred Shadow Clones practicing Chakra Precision Control and Chakra Nature Transformations.
The Shadow Clones outside were mainly studying Medical Ninjutsu and Sealing Jutsu.
Shikamaru's mouth twitched as he looked at Naruto and said, "Your Chakra capacity is a bit exaggerated."
Naruto smiled and didn't offer much explanation, but Shikamaru could probably guess what was going on.
Ino looked at Naruto with some admiration and said, "I'm so jealous of you, having so much Chakra."
Although the others didn't say anything, the envy in their eyes was plain to see.
Naruto smiled and said, "My name is Uzumaki Naruto. From my surname, you should know why I have such a massive amount of Chakra."
Ino looked at the others in confusion and found that they also didn't seem to quite understand, only Shikamaru stood there deep in thought.
"What does that have to do with your surname?"
While preparing the ingredients for the grill, Naruto smiled and asked, "Haven't you heard of the Uzumaki Clan?"
Ino, Sakura, and Kiba Inuzuka all shook their heads.