Time quickly arrived at the afternoon.
Shiranui Genma, Namikaze Raidō, and the strangely named Ibiki Morino had not eaten lunch. The three of them were bodyguards for the Fourth Hokage. Unfortunately, the Fourth Hokage died after only one year in office, and the three of them became like children without a mother after just joining him. As 'former officials,' they had worked hard to prove themselves over the years, expending a lot of effort to regain the Third Hokage's trust.
Using the lunch break, the three of them diverted all the water from the arena into the Naka River. Afterwards, they found a thick layer of sand still remaining at the competition site, left behind by Gaara and the Ichibi. There was no other way, they had to continue clearing it! The three of them began moving sand again.
By the time Ino, who had been drinking all morning, rushed back to the competition site, they had just finished. The three of them were covered in dust and grime; the senbon Shiranui Genma held in his mouth even had a hint of earthy smell, making him look quite disheveled.
Ino leisurely sat on the contestant stands, waiting.
First up would be the third and fourth place match, which was Naruto and Gaara's. Only after that would be the match to determine first and second place.
According to previous custom, the top three automatically qualified as Chunin. As for which other Genin would be promoted or not, that was entirely up to the leaders' discretion.
If they said you were capable, you were capable, even if you weren't.
If they said you weren't capable? Then you probably truly weren't.
In the original timeline, Tsunade only had Shizune as a close confidante. She returned to the Village as Hokage with a heavy heart and encountered Shikaku and Shikamaru, father and son, who came to 'report on work' in the Hokage's office. She understood the meaning of Ino–Shika–Choji and immediately promoted Shikamaru to Chunin.
Shikamaru was indeed excellent; he was more like a Ninja than the unreliable Naruto or Sasuke, who had already effectively betrayed the Village at that time. But were others not capable? Was Shino not capable? Was Neji not qualified to be a Chunin?
It can only be said that there was a lot of room for manipulation in the Chunin promotion process.
Ino had now obtained the Chunin promotion qualification, so she had nothing more to worry about.
In the eyes of many transmigrators, this Chunin Exams was a plot watershed, a kind of prologue. But from the perspective of the Village's normal promotion procedures, this was originally supposed to be a regular Chunin Exams.
You brought in Jinchuriki and the Sannin, and even used Edo Tensei on the First Hokage and Second Hokage. This was you raising the stakes; a normal Chunin Exams doesn't have this much drama.
It's impossible for the Village to immediately reward you with an S-Rank Ninjutsu if you take first place, right? There has never been such a precedent. It's just a Chunin; why would you need an S-Rank Ninjutsu? Normally, a newly promoted Chunin receiving a C-Ranked Ninjutsu would be considered a great reward. Does Ino care about a C-Ranked Ninjutsu?
She sat there, holding a white porcelain sake bottle, slowly pouring and drinking by herself.
"Ino, drinking is not good for your health," Hinata softly reminded her from the side.
After becoming Tsunade's disciple, Ino was now completely uninhibited. Got a problem? Blame Tsunade!
What's wrong with drinking? If I can kill people, why can't I drink? It's already good enough that I haven't written 'Gamble' on the back of my clothes.
She said indifferently, "Just a little occasionally, it's fine."
Hinata was quite worried. Was that "a little"? You've been drinking since noon, and I'm still paying for the alcohol.
Even now, Hinata could almost see the bar owner's strange gaze, roughly meaning,'So young, yet drinking so much?!'
She felt quite wronged; it wasn't her who drank, yet she couldn't explain.
Ino suddenly slapped her thigh and laughed, "From now on, when we go out to eat, you focus on eating, and I'll focus on drinking. We'll be the 'Drinking Buddies' team... *Mmmph*?"
Hinata quickly covered her mouth and looked around, finding that no one was paying attention to them. She then let out a sigh of relief. Oh my, the name 'Drinking Buddies' team was too awful.
She lowered her voice and whispered into Ino's ear, "You still have to compete with...with Sasuke-kun later."
Ino removed Hinata's hand from her mouth and said carelessly, "It's fine, it's just Sasuke. He can't beat me."
To be honest, she was a bit tired now. The Great Exploding Water Colliding Wave didn't consume much, but the most exhausting part was drawing the Ichibi's Chakra using the Great Water Prison Technique.
The Tailed Beast's Chakra was indeed difficult to extract, especially dense. Without using all her Chakra and exerting all her strength, she couldn't draw it at all. No wonder the Akatsuki Organization had such a hard time extracting Tailed Beasts.
After the nine Shadow Clones dispersed, the fatigue all concentrated on her main body, and she was a bit tired.
Drinking was just for relaxation, and also to run Yang Release Chakra to speed up her body's recovery.
The effects of Indra Chakra were not yet apparent, but she was already feeling a bit of the Asura Chakra's physical recovery ability.
If a normal Ninja's recovery speed was 1, then with Asura Chakra, the recovery speed was 1.5. After Ino created Yang Release Chakra, Yin was born from Yang, which could also restore her mental energy.
Ino used the opportunity of drinking to suppress the Yin Style Chakra in her body and create Yang Release Chakra.
She hadn't used the Water Transformation Secret Technique to separate the alcohol, so as the alcohol took effect, she felt a bit dizzy.
"Um, can I lean on your shoulder for a bit? I'll rest and be fine soon." She acted first and reported later, simply tilting her head and falling asleep on Hinata's shoulder.
She was tall, Hinata was short, and they were close together, so the angle of leaning was a bit awkward. Coupled with Hinata's overly ample chest, Ino, feeling dizzy, was about to slide down from her shoulder. Hinata quickly cradled her head on her lap.
Ino found it comfortable and didn't resist, falling into a deep sleep.
Not far away, Sasuke was expressionless. He had basically heard their conversation from beginning to end and naturally heard Ino's dismissive remarks. He was annoyed, but also felt uncertain.
It was just past one in the afternoon, and at their age, it was precisely the time when one felt sleepy. The artificial lake at the site had been drained by digging trenches, but the moisture was still present. When evaporated by the sun, that dampness made it even easier to feel drowsy.
Sasuke couldn't help but yawn twice. Sakura, beside him, kept shaking her shoulder, implying that he could lean on her, or even lie on her lap.
Sasuke pretended not to understand her hint, forcing himself to stay awake and endure.
Hinata, smelling the alcohol on Ino, also felt a bit sleepy. Her head bobbed as she dozed off, not even noticing when Naruto entered.
Gaara had slept for several hours, and the Five Elements Seal still hadn't been undone, but his spirits were much higher than before.
He was not a Ninja who couldn't fight without a Tailed Beast. In the original timeline, after the Akatsuki Organization extracted the Ichibi, he could still serve as the Kazekage. When facing Uchiha Madara, he indeed appeared weaker than the other four Kage, but that was mainly due to his young age. In reality, his Ninjutsu talent, hand seal proficiency, and Chakra control ability were very high.
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