Hanare

Ino wasn't particularly embarrassed about having her intentions exposed. She scratched her head and said, "Well, you see… I've heard that Kakashi-sensei and Lord Jiraiya have a good relationship, and Lord Jiraiya and Lady Tsunade are, um, close friends. So, I was hoping Kakashi-sensei could put in a good word for me with Lord Jiraiya."

Currently, Konoha's influence over Tsunade was minimal. If the village were to formally request Tsunade to take Ino as her disciple, Tsunade would likely ignore it. The only way was to leverage personal connections. Ino's brief encounter with Jiraiya wasn't enough to warrant his help, but if Kakashi were to speak on her behalf, things would be different. Kakashi held significant respect in the eyes of both Jiraiya and Tsunade.

Becoming Tsunade's disciple was one thing.

Learning the Vapor Explosion technique was another.

This technique was far more difficult than Ino had anticipated. For instance, foundational skills like Hydrification and Oilification needed to be reverse-engineered from the existing Vapor Explosion or modified and adjusted to suit her own ninja techniques.

The technique consisted of four steps: creating a Water Clone, Chakra Water Transformation, Oilification, and the final cyclic explosion. Currently, Ino could only complete the first step of creating a Water Clone. The second step, Chakra Water Transformation, required extensive practice. She estimated that with more effort, she might achieve partial Hydrification. However, Oilification was extremely challenging. Little Mustache had provided very little guidance on this aspect, and trying to deduce the true Water Release: Oil Transformation from existing knowledge was a daunting task.

So, she turned her attention to Jiraiya. Jiraiya was highly skilled in using fire and oil, and she hoped he could offer some foundational guidance.

She wanted Kakashi to formally recommend her to both Jiraiya and Tsunade. Kakashi was the disciple of the Fourth Hokage, the son of the White Fang of Konoha, and not only inherited the legacy of his predecessors but was also a bearer of the Will of Fire. He was akin to Shanks in One Piece—a man of great influence.

Ino needed his influence now.

Inoichi thought for a moment, then picked up a document handed over by the Anbu and flipped through it. "The kunoichi Hanare from the Lock Village in the Land of Keys… Hmm, you don't need to get involved in this matter. Leave the rest to me."

After Ino left, Inoichi sought out Morino Ibiki, who was in charge of interrogations, and emphasized the subtle connection between the captured kunoichi and Kakashi.

Ibiki was indeed strict and impartial, but he wasn't a fool.

He didn't know Kakashi would become the Sixth Hokage in the future, but he knew that in the current village, with the Three Legendary Sannin gone and the Fourth Hokage deceased, Kakashi was practically the pillar among the younger generation of ninja.

As a close confidant of the Third Hokage, he was also aware of many of the Third's thoughts. Kakashi was very close to the position of Hokage.

If Kakashi truly had some interest in this kunoichi, and if she ended up losing an arm or an eye due to excessive torture, it would be hard to remedy later… No question about it, he would escalate the issue.

Ten minutes later, the kunoichi Hanare's file landed on the desk of the Third Hokage.

The Third Hokage also found the situation quite tricky. More often than not, it wasn't so much Kakashi's reputation at play as it was the legacy of the Fourth Hokage. The Fourth Hokage and his wife had sacrificed themselves to save the village, and everyone owed them a debt of gratitude. Naruto, due to the Nine-Tails sealed within him, had hardly enjoyed any of these benefits. In a way, both disciples and sons were similar in this regard. Most of these intangible debts of gratitude had fallen onto Kakashi's shoulders.

He pondered for five minutes: "Bring this kunoichi here. I'll speak with her personally."

"Yes, Hokage-sama."

The next day, while casually eating ramen, Naruto turned his head and saw Kakashi walking side by side with the kunoichi Hanare on the streets of the Hidden Leaf Village.

Their demeanor wasn't exactly intimate, but it certainly wasn't unfamiliar either. "Pfft—!" Naruto sprayed noodles out of his nostrils, earning a glare from the shop owner, Teuchi.

"Sorry, sorry!" Naruto didn't bother explaining, hastily dropped some money, and rushed out to join the onlookers.

On the way, he ran into Sakura, who had just come out of the Yamanaka flower shop, and Sasuke, who stood coldly in the middle of the bridge. The three of them, with a gossipy mindset, stealthily followed the pair. Soon, Ino, Shikamaru, Choji, Hinata, Kiba, and Shino also joined the tailing.

Eventually, even kids like Konohamaru and Moegi tagged along.

Ahead were Kakashi and Hanare, occasionally chatting and laughing, while in the shadows, behind corners and trash bins, a large group of people were hiding! In the Hokage's office, the Third Hokage was also observing the situation through the Telescope Technique.

Standing beside him were Danzo and Inoichi.

The old man coughed, dispersing the chakra from the crystal ball.

"The Lockfront Village has placed a technique in this kunoichi's right eye, Inoichi. If you were to use your Mind Reading Ability on her, she could use this technique to reverse-read the information in your brain. Your decision to report this was very wise."

Inoichi also felt a bit of fear now. Who would have thought that this kunoichi named Hanare would have a reverse-spying technique in her eye? Losing village intelligence was one thing, but if the Yamanaka Clan's Secret Techniques, Elixirs, and oral traditions were lost, Inoichi wouldn't be able to face the ancestors of the Yamanaka Clan even in death.

In the entire Hidden Leaf Village, only the Third Hokage likely had the capability to detect this technique sealed within her eye.

Ino's actions couldn't be considered as saving the Yamanaka Clan or the village, but looking back now, Inoichi felt that his daughter's luck was truly remarkable, as if aided by the gods. Danzo asked with a sinister tone, "Lockfront Village? Such a small ninja village dares to spy on the Hidden Leaf? Hiruzen, do you intend to continue tolerating this?"

The Third Hokage took a puff of his pipe and replied evasively, "Hanare said she has never returned to the Lockfront Village. The village is worried that their spies might be captured and reveal the village's location, so they never allow them to return. They've been wandering outside for years and have no idea where the village is. I believe Hanare is telling the truth."

Danzo couldn't help but let out a cold laugh. This Lockfront Village actually dared to provoke the Hidden Leaf!

They are truly bold. Konoha has tens of thousands of ninjas, and they could crush this small Ninja Village like squashing a bug. Aren't they afraid? Yet, they guard their own village's elites as if they were thieves, sending the chosen elites away from the village and their families at a very young age to undergo training. Then, they are sent to various Ninja Villages to gather intelligence, but they are never told the location of their own village, only given a vague hope. It seems their courage is pitifully small.

Danzo left with a single remark, "Hmph, I'll have the Root ninjas gather intelligence," and departed alone.

Meanwhile, Team 7, Team 8, and Team 10 gathered together under the pretense of celebrating Kakashi and Hanare's long-awaited reunion, enjoying a barbecue meal.

Naturally, Kakashi was the one treating everyone.

Over the years, he had completed numerous missions, eliminated many ninjas, and had little personal expenses—he was wealthy! Seeing that someone else was footing the bill, Asuma was unusually cheerful, constantly calling out to the owner, "Bring more barbecue! Bring large plates of barbecue!"