Yamanaka household.
"Come on, open it! This is an ultra-cool gift your Uncle Satoru prepared for you."
Satoru sat across from little Ino, watching her with an excited expression.
Before little Ino was a palm-sized, exquisite gift box.
It was precisely the gift Satoru had carefully prepared.
Inoichi Yamanaka and Ino's Mom smiled as they watched the two of them.
Little Ino rubbed her hands, glancing at the strange uncle; she still remembered how Satoru could conjure her favourite flowers at any time last time.
"I'm opening it."
With hands clasped together in silent prayer, and a hint of anticipation, Ino slowly opened the gift box.
What greeted her eyes was a fluffy gift lining.
Her small hands pushed aside the fluff, and the gift finally revealed its true form.
The true form was revealed, but little Ino's face fell.
She was utterly speechless, because inside was a figurine woven from bamboo, shaped like Satoru.
And the figurine's hand was placed on the head of a small Ino figurine, connected.
It gave off a déjà vu feeling of an older brother patting her head.
"Uncle Satoru, this is your ultra-cool gift?" Little Ino was displeased.
She had expected some beautiful flowers or something, not this kind of toy.
She gave Satoru a scornful look.
Inoichi Yamanaka and Ino's Mom laughed from the side, not expecting Satoru's gift to be so unique.
"Ino, you mustn't talk like that. This is your Uncle Satoru's birthday gift for you; don't be rude," her Mom admonished.
Little Ino pouted: "Hmph, but… but… this gift is too abstract. I don't like it at all."
"Little Ino, I don't have such low taste.
Don't underestimate this figurine; this is a Ninja Tool personally crafted by Uncle Satoru."
Satoru said proudly.
Ninja Tool?
Inoichi Yamanaka raised an eyebrow. When did you learn to make Ninja Tools? How come I don't know?
Little Ino looked at him confusedly.
"Watch closely. When you grow a bit older and can refine your Chakra,
all you need to do is input Chakra into it."
Satoru formed a hand seal and infused Chakra into the figurine.
Immediately,
The figurine came to life.
To the surprise of little Ino's family, the two small figures on the figurine became like real people, just a bit small.
And the little figures could even smile.
Suddenly,
The little Ino figurine spoke: "Uncle Satoru is the handsomest man in the world."
The Satoru figurine: "Little Ino is the cutest girl in the world."
This repeated a few times.
After the Chakra was consumed, it reverted to a figurine.
"..."
Little Ino was utterly speechless.
Ino was the cutest girl in the world, but Uncle Satoru was not the handsomest man.
Shameless strange uncle.
Inoichi Yamanaka also gave an awkward smile, a true Ninja Tool…
"How about it, isn't it cool? Once you learn Chakra refinement,
You'll be able to hear the handsomest uncle in the world talk to you every day."
Satoru was serious, seemingly very satisfied with his gift.
Little Ino, at her mother's urging glance, put the figurine away: "Hmph, I'll take it then, but don't give me this kind of thing again next time."
Although she said that, it was a gift after all, so she still planned to keep it well.
However, she would never take it out to look at it.
Too shameless.
Satoru was very satisfied, and at the same time thought of Uchiha Sasuke. That kid must be inseparable from the little Itachi figurine by now.
...
Uchiha Clan territory.
Uchiha Sasuke looked at his brother, who had flicked his forehead and then left for another mission, with a displeased expression.
He took out the little Itachi figurine Satoru had given him from his bag.
"Stinky big brother, always going on missions, not playing with me.
Watch me tickle you."
Sasuke flipped the figurine's foot and used his small hand to continuously tickle its foot, seemingly as punishment for his brother not playing with him.
And the little Itachi figurine was already polished smooth from being played with so much.
It was often handled.
"The bad uncle's craftsmanship isn't bad. I'll ask Mom for money to buy a few more then.
But where does the bad uncle live?"
Sasuke thought of that bad uncle. How nice it would be if he made him a bunch of brother figurines.
...
A few more days passed.
As time went on, Ayame's belly grew larger and larger, and Satoru started to slack off at work.
He spent most of his time working with Shadow Clone, while his main body stayed home with Ayame.
As his body grew stronger and his mental energy accumulated, his Chakra reserves grew stronger and stronger, and working with Shadow Clone was no longer an issue.
According to his perception, his Chakra reserves were only about a quarter less than Hiruzen's.
This also allowed him to develop techniques, or train, with greater efficiency.
His strengthening speed accelerated.
It's no wonder that after the Twelve Strongest Ninja in the original work grew up, their strengthening speed significantly increased; it was because their bodies had matured, their mental accumulation was sufficient, and their Chakra would increase.
More Chakra meant training could last longer.
Until a bottleneck was reached.
Of course,
Slacking off, of course, had to be reported to the Hokage; he was a successor of the Will of Fire.
The Analysis Team and Barrier Development Team were also important positions,
So naturally, he couldn't just use Shadow Clone to perfunctorily handle them.
If he were discovered, it would negatively impact his reputation, so he chose to openly tell Hiruzen Sarutobi.
"My wife's belly is getting bigger and bigger, and I need to accompany her. I'll use Shadow Clone for work.
You don't have any objections, do you?"
That was roughly the meaning, but he still spoke very tactfully.
Sure enough,
Hiruzen Sarutobi, upon hearing this, didn't dare to utter a single word and honestly approved it.
Hmm,
The real situation was that his old man's eldest daughter-in-law was also due around the same time, so he was very understanding.
He approved it as soon as he heard it.
Moreover, with Satoru's ability, even a Shadow Clone could perform the Analysis Team's work very well.
...
Satoru left a Shadow Clone to accompany Ayame, while he, according to his habit, walked towards Training Ground 98.
A day without practice makes ten days empty; he understood this principle.
Therefore, he never slacked off in his cultivation.
...
Hiss, rustle!
"Hey, will he come?
You didn't make a mistake with the intelligence, did you?"
At Training Ground 98, in the nearby bushes, three little brats were squatting, with a dog beside them, peeking mischievously at the training ground outside.
"Impossible, I got full marks in my intelligence class, there's absolutely no mistake.
He comes here to practice every day, and I heard he's been playing music often these days too."
"Hmm? A Ninja, does he want to be an artist?"
"Whether he wants to be an artist or not, we must punch him in the face."
"That's right, it's all his fault that Iruka-sensei learned that Ninjutsu."
"Let's stick to our plan. We must act cute and cuddly.
This is children's psychology that I specifically studied in the library just to beat him up.
That way he'll lower his guard against us, and we'll give him a good beating."
"Okay, I'll rush up and ask for a hug, then seize the chance to hit him in the face, and you guys step on his feet."
If Iruka were here, he would know that these were brats from the second-year class of the Ninja School, with a third-year leading them.
At this moment, they were discussing how to deal with Satoru.