Chapter 24: The Young Generation of Ino-Shika-Chō

Chapter 24: The Young Generation of Ino-Shika-Chō

Wolves were pack animals. When one learned something new, the rest quickly followed. Since Grey Wolf had awakened his chakra and become immune to Yataro's genjutsu, his training had improved significantly over the past few days. Even without ninjutsu, simply having chakra greatly enhanced physical abilities—it was the difference between an ordinary human tripping while running and a ninja moving like they were flying.

Seeing Grey Wolf's progress, the other two wolf pups started imitating him. Surprisingly, within a week, they also awakened chakra one after another. Kazama had originally expected only one of them to become his ninja beast—now, he had three times the surprise.

The only problem? He was running out of names.

He had settled on "Grey Wolf" long ago, and naming the female one "Red Wolf" was easy enough. But what about the last one?

After much thought, he gave up and went with "Black Wolf." Since all three would eventually grow up to be somewhat dark-colored anyway, the name worked well enough.

With their chakra awakened, the three wolf pups were officially contracted as Kazama's summoning beasts. Naruto and Kiba watched in envy, especially Naruto. At least Kiba had Akamaru to rely on, but Naruto? He was still living off government rations—even if he had a summoning beast, he'd probably starve it.

With the pups awakened, it was time for training—learning how to coordinate, ambush, and follow orders. This wasn't just a hunter's playstyle anymore; Kazama was practically a beast tamer at this point.

Unlike in games, where a captured beast could be used immediately, real ninja beasts were living creatures. They had intelligence and emotions, and if they died, there were no respawns. Kazama refused to treat them as expendable tools.

That meant training—lots of it.

The process was exhausting, filled with constant problems, adjustments, and frustrations. There were times Kazama just wanted to lie down and rest, but watching his five small beasts push themselves forward, how could he, their master, do any less?

As training intensified, a new problem emerged—one Kazama couldn't fix immediately.

Communication.

The battlefield was chaotic. Ninjas had deception and strategy, making command-and-control even trickier. In training, he could simply shout orders, but in a real fight, that would give away his position and reveal his tactics.

Simple commands were fine—wolves could understand basic signals. But complex strategies? Even if they were intelligent, they weren't human. Coordination errors happened even among human teammates, let alone ninja beasts.

Kazama deeply envied the Yamanaka Clan, specifically their telepathic communication techniques. If he could learn their abilities, he could issue commands remotely without revealing his position—the perfect synergy for his style.

But how could he get their secret techniques?

His deal with the Inuzuka Clan had worked because of the old man's reputation and Kazama's insightful suggestions. But the Yamanaka mind techniques were even more closely guarded secrets.

According to his knowledge of the original story, even Ino Yamanaka only learned telepathic communication much later. Whether it was a family secret or a personal development, it was still a high-level technique. Trying to replicate his Inuzuka deal here wouldn't be so easy.

But giving up? Not Kazama's style.

If he wanted something, he'd keep pushing until he hit a dead end. First, he needed advice from the old man.

"You want to learn the Yamanaka Clan's long-range communication techniques?" The old man frowned, deep in thought.

"As far as I know, the Yamanaka Clan specializes in sensory ninjutsu, but I've never heard of them having such a technique. Where did you even hear about this?"

Kazama had no good answer. He quickly made something up to brush past the question.

Meanwhile, Naruto, the self-invited freeloader, was getting bolder. The last time, he had brought Kiba with him. This time, he had brought three more people—it was like he had turned Kazama's treehouse into an all-you-can-eat buffet where he never had to pay.

Kazama was about to kick them all out until he heard their introductions.

"Hello, I'm Yamanaka Ino. Sorry for the intrusion!"

"I'm Nara Shikamaru."

"I'm Akimichi Chōji."

Kazama immediately changed his attitude.

This wasn't just any group of kids—this was the next generation of the Ino-Shika-Chō trio.

Naruto's social skills were truly remarkable. It made sense, though—outgoing people tended to make friends easily, and Naruto was as outgoing as it got. Even if someone didn't become his best friend, it was hard to dislike him unless they already hated him from the start.

Kazama brought out his best cooking skills, preparing a barbecue feast, hotpot, and freshly squeezed fruit juice. Ino-Shika-Chō ate to their heart's content, while Naruto acted as the designated eating buddy.

"Ino, let me ask you something. Does your clan have a technique for long-distance communication? Like wireless radio, but even further?" Kazama casually brought up the topic.

At this young age, none of them had much sense of secrecy. As long as he didn't ask for the core techniques, they had no reason to hide anything.

"We don't," Ino sighed, disappointed.

"Why do you ask?" Shikamaru, always sharp, asked back.

Kazama wasn't trying to hide anything. These were future powerhouses, so building a strong relationship meant being honest.

Kazama clapped his hands.

With a poof, his five summoned beasts appeared around him.

"It's for them. Since I don't specialize in ninjutsu, my combat style will rely heavily on my ninja beasts. But you know how it is—when you have multiple team members, the hardest part is communication. If I had a technique that let me talk to them remotely, our coordination would improve dramatically. No risk of exposing myself, and our teamwork would be seamless."

"Wow! Cute puppies! Cute bear! Cute little squirrel!" Ino's eyes sparkled, completely captivated by the sheer adorableness of the animals.

"Uh… those are wolves," Naruto corrected, clearly jealous but unable to afford pets himself. He tried to ruin Ino's mood, but she ignored him completely.

"I see," Shikamaru nodded. He had his answer and didn't press further.

Meanwhile, Chōji didn't care about anything except the food.

"Delicious… delicious!" His chopsticks moved like lightning, devouring the rich hotpot broth so quickly that the once-spicy soup was turning into plain broth.

Kazama watched in silent horror as his precious hotpot became weaker and weaker with every bite.