Chapter 44: Fireworks, Summoning Jutsu, and Targets

Special thanks to Florin and SVDDXNLY for joining the patreon. These chapters are dedicated to you! You know what time it is... Double Release!!

Natsuro and Ino were walking together on the street.

"So it really is you, Natsuro. I almost didn't recognize you at first." Ino said, sneaking a glance at him. He looked especially handsome today, probably because he had dressed up for the New Year.

"Well, you recognized me anyway." He responded with a bit of helplessness.

Although he had agreed to this outing because of his mother, he didn't actually have any romantic feelings for Ino. As he had mentioned before, she was simply too young. The thought of having any romantic inclinations towards her made him feel a bit guilty.

"Is there anything you want to do or eat?" Natsuro asked.

"Um, that..." Ino pointed at a takoyaki stand. She had wanted to eat some, but her family wouldn't let her. Now that Natsuro was asking, she mentioned it directly, looking at him with anticipation.

"Wait here, and I'll go buy it for you." he said, noticing the long line at the stall. He then headed towards the end of the queue.

Ino found a bench nearby and sat down, resting her chin in her hands as she watched him waiting in line. A smile spread across her face.

He looked so handsome after dressing up, and he was so talented too. The most important thing was that he didn't seem to pay much attention to other girls, only to her, right?

The girl became lost in her delightful fantasies, her cheeks flushing.

If he knew what Ino was thinking, he would tell her she was overthinking it. If they hadn't met at the flower shop before, he would probably treat Ino the same as any other classmate.

But since they did know each other, ignoring her wouldn't be appropriate. Natsuro wasn't making any exceptions; he generally paid attention to people he knew.

The issue was, among the people he knew, the only girls were Ino and Hinata. He had gotten to know Hinata a bit when Naruto was being bullied. However, given Hinata's personality, she would never approach him on her own, and she was entirely focused on Naruto, making it even less likely she would seek him out.

This led to the current situation, where it seemed to Ino that he only paid attention to her among all the girls.

The stall owner was quick with his hands, and despite the long line, it didn't take long before Natsuro returned with a box of takoyaki to find Ino, who was still lost in her thoughts.

"What are you thinking about? You seem so out of it." he asked, tapping Ino's head to bring her back to reality.

"Nothing, nothing at all." Ino said, blushing. She would never tell him that she had been thinking about him. She took the takoyaki and, excited by the smell, immediately tried to put one in her mouth with a skewer.

"Careful, it's hot." Natsuro warned, but it was already too late.

Ino had burned her mouth and was now blowing on the hot food, trying to cool it down without spitting it out.

He was speechless. "Take your time; no one is going to take it from you."

Ino nodded, and after the takoyaki in her mouth had cooled, she began to eat. Her eyes lit up with delight at the taste, and she turned to Natsuro, remembering what he had said.

"Aren't you going to have some, Natsuro?"

"I don't eat that kind of stuff." Natsuro replied.

"Oh, okay. How much was it? I'll pay you back."

"No need, it's just takoyaki. I can afford it." he said, not intending to take her money. It wasn't expensive.

"But... I should still give you something. My mom gave me some money. Look." Ino insisted, showing him her small wallet, which was filled with cash. He was surprised; she seemed to be a little rich girl.

Still, he didn't want her money. "Consider it my treat. I'm not going to take your money. Don't overthink it, just enjoy your food. The fireworks should start soon, and I'll take you to a good spot."

"Alright." Ino eventually agreed, putting her wallet away and continuing to eat her takoyaki in small bites.

Meanwhile, he was thinking about where they could go to watch the fireworks. Luckily, he had explored many places as a child and, after a moment of thought, remembered a good spot near where he usually trained.

"I'm done." Ino said after a while.

"Here, wipe your mouth." he said, handing her a napkin he had taken from the stall.

Ino realized that her mouth was probably covered in oil and blushed. She quickly took the napkin and wiped her mouth.

"I found a good spot. Follow me closely.", he said standing up and heading towards their destination.

"Oh, okay." Ino nodded and followed behind him.

The two of them were not very noticeable in the crowd, and several times, people cut between them, almost causing Ino to lose sight of Natsuro. If this continued, they might get separated.

In the end, Natsuro decided to hold Ino's hand as they continued forward, making it less likely that someone would cut between them.

Ino looked at their clasped hands, her face turning red, but a smile tugged at her lips.

Soon, he led Ino to a less crowded spot. The area was elevated and not far from the main street, so they would have a good view of the fireworks. Although the place wasn't very crowded, a few people had already claimed spots.

Apparently, others had the same idea. He nodded in acknowledgment and found a patch of grass where they could sit.

"Ino, after the fireworks, we should head back." He suggested.

"Okay." Ino agreed, feeling quite content. She nodded at his suggestion.

Just then, a beam of light shot into the night sky, and the fireworks began, lighting up the night with a dazzling display. Ino's attention was fully captivated, her eyes sparkling with joy.

Natsuro also watched the fireworks. In his previous life, he often saw fireworks during festivals as a child, but as he grew older, the ban on fireworks and firecrackers made them a rare sight.

Seeing such a brilliant display now, he couldn't help but watch for a while. Then, he shifted his gaze back to Ino, who was intently watching the fireworks.

To be honest, Ino's round face still had a bit of baby fat, making her look quite cute. He felt a slight urge to poke her cheeks, but the action seemed too intimate, so he restrained himself.

He remembered that in his past life, he had wanted a daughter, preferably one who would never grow up. After all, little girls were the cutest things ever, especially if they were obedient.

There were many benefits to having a daughter who never grew up. She would always be her father's little princess, and there would be no worries about her growing up and bringing home a boyfriend.

But alas, no one stays little forever. Plus, in his past life, he hadn't even had a girlfriend, so thinking about these things seemed pointless.

"What are you thinking about?" Ino asked, noticing that Natsuro was staring at her, curious.

"Oh, I was just thinking how nice it would be to have a daughter like you someday." He replied absentmindedly.

Ino's face turned even redder, but she also felt a bit puzzled. Why would he think about having a daughter? Why not a girlfriend?

"Alright, let's go back." Natsuro said, realizing that the fireworks had ended.

"Okay." Ino nodded. As they walked through the crowd again, she took the initiative to hold his hand. Even after they left the crowd, she didn't let go.

----

After the New Year, on the training grounds, Natsuro continued his training as usual.

While training, he couldn't help but think about what happened back then—how after they had walked out of the crowd, they had forgotten to let go of each other's hands, leading to both Shinai and the Yamanaka couple seeing the scene.

As a result, he had to face Inoichi's murderous gaze, along with Yamanaka's wife and his own mother's satisfied looks.

Especially Shinai, who had been looking at him with an expression that seemed to say, "I didn't expect this from you, well done."

The key issue was that he couldn't really explain it away. How could he say that it was Ino who initiated holding hands? And that she didn't let go? Natsuro couldn't bring himself to say that, so he remained silent.

However, he recalled Ino's face turning red at the time. Could it be that she really had such thoughts?

After pondering for a while, he thought it was quite possible—characters in the Naruto world were often too mature for their age, but that might be related to the short average lifespan of ninjas. After all, the average lifespan of ninjas was so short that if they followed the late marriage and childbearing trend of his previous world…

Then, the number of people in the ninja world would probably be significantly lower. After all, many ninjas died on the battlefield at an age where, in the previous world, they wouldn't even have married yet. How could that work?

However, even so, six years old was still too early, wasn't it?

Natsuro sighed. Although he had a good impression of Ino, whether now or in the original story, and found her to be quite cute, cute was cute—he truly had no interest in a six-year-old Ino.

She was so young, what interest could he have? From his perspective, older sisters were still more suitable, but unfortunately, his current body didn't allow it.

It seemed he would have to take things one step at a time.

He soon completed his physical training for the day, then sat down beside the training grounds. Lightning flickered across his body, as he continued to use Lightning Release to massage his muscles. His body's resistance to electricity was also getting stronger and stronger.

This also caused the arcs of electricity around him to grow larger.

He estimated that if another ninja were to use Lightning Release ninjutsus to attack him now, he would be able to resist quite a bit of the damage. And his resistance to electricity was still increasing, which was somewhat terrifying. Although there was definitely a limit, once he reached that limit, it would likely be very difficult for pure lightning-based non-physical attacks to break through his defenses.

After the Lightning Release massage, he continued to deepen his practice in the Void Meditation State.

Currently, when he entered the Void State, he not only observed the chakra within his own body but also tried to sense external things. As for what he was sensing—of course, it was the Flying Thunder God kunai. Natsuro had given one of these kunai to his mother to carry.

In his perception, that kunai was constantly moving, which was exactly the result he wanted. If the kunai didn't move, he wouldn't be able to confirm whether he could sense a moving kunai, even though his mother's movement range was small, it was still enough.

As for why he gave it to her—well, Natsuro could only entrust it to her. While it might have been more effective to attach it to a cat or dog, there was a risk they might damage the kunai. And strapping such a specialized kunai to a cat or dog would be too conspicuous and would surely be noticed by passersby. Although he could immediately use a summoning jutsu to retrieve it, what if it got damaged? That would be a real headache.

So, to test a moving kunai, the only option was to place it with her.

After completing his sensing practice, he also wrapped up his proficiency training in the Void State. He opened his eyes quickly and bit his thumb, simultaneously forming hand seals at lightning speed. In the next moment, after several seals were completed, he pressed his hand onto the ground.

"Summoning Jutsu!"

Far away in the restaurant, Shinai felt a lightness on her leg in that instant, knowing that the kunai had been summoned by Natsuro. Her expression didn't change as she continued her work.

Meanwhile, he looked at the kunai in front of him, satisfaction evident on his face. As expected, by relying on the residual perception from the Void State, even though he hadn't fully established a connection, the Summoning Jutsu was successfully performed, and the kunai was successfully summoned.

Of course, if he had used the previously bound technique, he wouldn't have needed to know where the kunai was to summon it. But he preferred this method of relying on perception rather than the binding of the technique, as it allowed him to gauge the depth of the connection and the strength of his perception.

He decided on a small goal: before school starts, he wants to reach the point where he can sense the specific location of the kunai and summon it without needing to be in the Void State!

Next, he continued to channel his chakra into the kunai, repeatedly deepening his connection with the specially crafted weapon.

After leaving enough chakra for massaging both Lee and his mother, Natsuro stopped. Feeling the increasingly clear presence of the kunai, he smiled with satisfaction. If he continued at this pace, he was confident that the Flying Thunder God technique would be fully within his grasp.

However, since testing the Flying Thunder God seemed to be going smoothly, it was time to think about the next steps. He couldn't let the Flying Thunder God occupy all of his attention.

At present, he had basically mastered chakra shape transformation, and he had even attempted a mini version of the Rasengan, which was passably powerful and seemingly successful, and he didn't even need the help of a Shadow Clone.

Of course, this version of the Rasengan was non-elemental.

So next, he would attempt to integrate wind-nature chakra into the Rasengan. Lightning-nature might be more challenging, but it was also worth a try. And... the study of nature transformation should also be put on the agenda.

The road ahead is long and full of challenges!