Chapter 61: Might Guy

Days flew by one after another and in the blink of an eye several months passed ... For Shikamaru, this time was filled with training and learning new techniques. Being a student of the Hokage himself proved to be very useful, even though the old man did not devote much time to the guy. In fact, Shikamaru did not see the Hokage more than a few times a week. Hiruzen was quite busy and was rarely able to check on Shikamaru's progress or help him master the techniques. But, such times were still, though not often. The rest of the time, Shikamaru read various scrolls and studied knowledge in the archive that was inaccessible to ordinary Genin. After all, now, one of his duties was sorting through the mountains of documents, most of which were completely uninteresting reports. It's a pity that the guy didn't manage to get access to the secret scrolls, it upset him a little. Although, if he tried, there was a chance to read them. Naruto somehow succeeded ... Shikamaru was still wondering how he was able to bypass the Anbu.

But, even with all this, the guy was able to learn a lot, and working with the help of shadow clones can easily facilitate all the work ... Lately, Shikamaru only relied on them. True, unlike the same Naruto, such huge reserves were not available to the guy, even though he had Uzumaki's ancestry. Of course, the guy's current chakra reserve even surpasses the Chūnin and is quite close to the level of the Jonin, but he is definitely still far from the Bijuu carrier.

Mostly the days passed quickly ... After learning a few more techniques and celebrating his birthday, Shikamaru returned to the restaurant business. Now he could afford a couple of clones, and that helped a lot. Shikamaru was ready to expand, but he was visibly annoyed by the supply problems. Although the situation in the Land of Fire was stable, robbers still existed in the face of ordinary people. Since the village itself, in fact, does not produce products, it was necessary to receive goods from other places, from other villages. True, a couple of times, the caravans were robbed, which of course was problematic. Losses are always frustrating, so Shikamaru seriously considered hiring genin to keep the transport safe. Basically, many of those who run their businesses in the villages did so ... It's also good that the apostates were not interested in disrupting such cases. There is no money to protect against them, tasks of at least B-rank are an expensive pleasure for ordinary merchants.

Dealing with the next report, Shikamaru exhaled a long breath and lit a cigarette ...

The guy was sitting in a small office, not particularly decorated, but not empty either. The office had a wide writing desk, lined with papers, as well as several scrolls and an ashtray heavily filled with ash and cigarette butts. There was a bookcase not far from the table and a couple of paintings hung on the wall. Shikamaru himself was seated on an easy chair ...

Throwing his legs on the table and exhaling smoke, the guy said with displeasure:

"I don't like it, that bastard Gato is creating a lot of problems. Too much he inflates the interest on the maritime trade. First, the ship from the Country of Honey was robbed, and now the tax is too high, this bastard is playing with death ... Hmm, since the supplier in the Country of Tea turned out well, this will expand the range, '' exhaling smoke, Shikamaru chuckled: `` Never I would have thought that I would be the news of such things. Although, I must confess, the risks are quite big. - Recently, Shikamaru began to trade not only for his restaurant, but also to expand the village's market. It has proven to be profitable and generate significant income. It's just that, again, this is a risky business and you can notably burn out because of the types like Gato ... The vacuum of power of countries and hidden villages affects completely. Yes, and being a six-year-old kid of a deal to conclude that hemorrhoids. Fortunately, he was a shinobi and the transformation technique solved many troubles ...

"Okay, it's time to get out of this kennel. I wanted to talk to Guy today ... It seems like he finally returned from the assignment "- spreading the papers in their places, Shikamaru got up and slowly left the office. After walking along a not very long corridor, the guy went into the kitchen, where a couple of his clones and an inconspicuous old chef worked. With a curt nod to him, Shikamaru walked out into the main hall, filled with nearly a dozen people.

The premises of the restaurant were quite large, ten tables and seats for almost thirty people. Lots of dishes and a rich menu. In addition, prices did not bite, and the product itself was a complete novelty not only for the village of the Hidden Leaf, but in general for the whole world. Shikamaru has tried a lot in the past, and bringing it over here was a smart decision ... and a very simple one too. After all, cooking does not require the knowledge of an engineer or something else like that. Unfortunately, he could not bear much, as he simply did not know the ingredients. The same was true for many technologies ... Of course, in some things he was sure, just now was not the time for that.

With the pleasant ringing of a bell, Shikamaru left the restaurant and walked out onto the busy Konoha street. The restaurant was located near the center of the village, so it was always very crowded ...

Since Shikamaru wanted to meet Might Guy, there was only one way - to attend his training. This weird guy trains constantly and is often very tough. Only sometimes he goes out, either on assignments, or on another argument with Kakashi. But even then everything ends with training. Shikamaru has seen these two in his restaurant more than once and often everything ends the same ... Of course, only if Guy himself loses. He loves to give himself terrible punishments for losing. Although, Shikamaru usually admired his spirit and his seriousness in training. He himself loved to practice, just not to such an extent, he also observed the measure. He has already gone overboard with weights once, so he is more sensible about it now.

Yesterday Shikamaru saw Guy at the Hokage's residence after he completed an A-rank task, so now, he must be at home. Therefore, without much haste, Shikamaru quickly reached the right place.

Stopping outside a large house with a wide patio and a small dojo nearby, Shikamaru immediately knocked on the door. Guy's house was quite ordinary for the village of List, and he was on the outskirts of the village. True, this only made it better. The fresh air and quietness were very helpful in training, Shikamaru knew this firsthand.

"Hmm, not answering ... Maybe he is training, although who knows ..."

After knocking again, Shikamaru involuntarily remembered training with Avie. More precisely, the last workout. At that time, the girl was calm as usual, or rather, she tried to be like that ... Still, Shikamaru can piss off her. But at the same time, she was noticeably softer and really tried to help. True, by that time, it was not so important, Shikamaru had mastered taijutsu well and was quite tolerable with her in battle. Now, remembering this beautiful blonde, the guy involuntarily smiled.

"She's probably on a mission now ... I think we should meet her sometime. Well, yesterday I promised Ino to help with throwing kunai, so this is a good chance. That time she left pretty quickly, and I didn't even have time to say thank you ... "- about to knock again, Shikamaru suddenly stopped, catching a familiar sound out of the corner of his ear. Someone ran, and rather quickly ...

After a couple of seconds, a click was heard from the back of the door, and the door was opened by a tall man in green overalls and orange striped stockings. Might Guy, he was dressed as he always was, only without his Chūnin vest. Thick eyebrows and a potty hairdo, and of course his famous bright smile. Guy had not even had time to see who was in front of him, when he smiled contentedly and greeted:

- Wow ... Hi guy. Are you lost or are you to me?

"I'm Gai-sensei to see you, I wanted to fight! Shikamaru clenched his fist and bowed slightly.

- Oh ... - the man widened his eyes in surprise and looked appraisingly at Shikamaru: - Hmm, I see, you are not so easy ... Where did you buy the weighting materials? If that old swindler from the Aburame quarter, then throw them away before it's too late, - the man thought again, stroking his chin: - Hmmm, wait ... You said fight?

- Uh ... Well, yes. They say you are the strongest Taijutsu master in the village, even the teacher speaks well of you. So I wanted to show you my ability and get your Gai Sensei assessment!