Ling didn't know Granny Zhili's thoughts. At this moment, she was receiving Orochimaru's birthday present, a dark blue box with a chrysanthemum pattern.
"The gift I plan to give Ling is a Forbidden Technique scroll, the Secret Scroll of Emptiness, a Forbidden Technique that allows one to control Ninja tools to fly. Hehe, I'm sure you'll like it."
Orochimaru brought out the Secret Scroll of Emptiness because he knew Ling was currently practicing the Flying Thunder God Technique. He wanted to see if the Secret Scroll of Emptiness combined with the Flying Thunder God Technique would become even more terrifying.
"Thank you, Orochimaru, I like it very much." Ling felt that Orochimaru was too generous. Although he had a grudge with her before, when it came to generosity, no one surpassed him.
"Hehe, I'm glad you like it. The snake in the cave also wants to see how far the young Azure Dragon can fly, Ling, and what heights can you reach?"
In his thirty-plus years of life, Orochimaru had never seen anyone more talented than Ling. Although he knew he might not be Ling's opponent in the future, he still couldn't help but nurture such an existence.
"The height of the Azure Dragon is not something a snake in a cave or a frog in a well can comprehend. This is my gift, the Wild Lion's Mane Technique and a signed copy of my Gutsy Ninja Jiraiya."
Jiraiya was as casual as Tsunade, but he also handed the gift to Ling tied with a ribbon and a bow. It seemed Jiraiya had discussed with Orochimaru and Tsunade to have a Forbidden Technique giveaway today.
"Thank you, Jiraiya-nii." Ling was very curious about the Wild Lion's Mane Technique, a Yang Release Forbidden Technique. With this Ninjutsu, no one should worry about going bald.
"Hehehe, I'm very curious to see Ling's frizzy hair after mastering this Ninjutsu, it must be very cute. But my gift is my Sealing Technique insights. I hope Ling's Sealing Technique reaches a higher level."
Uzumaki Kushina took out a bright red box and directly put it into Ling's hand, bringing Ling back to reality from her fantasy of using the Wild Lion's Mane Technique.
"Thank you, Kushina-nee, I will definitely work hard." Ling also wanted to see if the Uzumaki Clan's Sealing Technique insights were more powerful than the Sealing Technique insights Orochimaru gave her.
"Haha, Ling, this is my birthday present, three Flying Thunder God Kunai. I heard you're practicing the Flying Thunder God Technique, and these should help you practice better."
Minato took out a box, which contained three Flying Thunder God Kunai. One of them had Minato's Flying Thunder God Mark, and the other two were blank Flying Thunder God Kunai without the Flying Thunder God Mark etched on them.
"Thank you, Minato-nii, I'm currently stuck on the design of the Flying Thunder God Mark and enhancing my perception."
Ling was a bit happy. Being able to have Flying Thunder God Kunai half a month early could greatly speed up her progress in learning the Flying Thunder God Technique.
"Ling, this is my gift, a scarf I knitted myself. I hope you like it."
Rin Nohara opened the gift box, and inside was a bright red scarf, with fine stitches, made with great care, completely unlike something made in one night.
"Thank you, Rin-nee. It will definitely be warm in winter, I like it very much." Ling looked at the smiling Rin Nohara and decided to try her best to save Rin Nohara during the Third Shinobi World War.
After all, Obito and Rin were both very good people and shouldn't suffer such a fate. However, Ling currently didn't have the strength to save them from Madara's plot, so she still needed to try to delay the date of the Third Shinobi World War as much as possible.
"This is my gift, a wood carving I carved myself." When Kakashi was young, he couldn't control the sword movements of the White Fang's sword style well, so White Fang had him carve wood to control his strength. Now he had developed a wood carving skill.
This wood carving was a bust of Ling, from the time Kakashi remembered her smiling the most beautifully. Now he could only replicate less than half of the scene from his memory.
"Damn it, this wood carving clearly isn't something that can be carved in one night. Kakashi really has other intentions for Ling!" Shisui looked at this exquisite, waxed and polished wood carving, and also felt quite displeased.
"Kakashi-senpai's carving skills are too good, I like it very much, thank you, Kakashi-senpai." Ling didn't expect Kakashi to have such a unique skill. It was as if every strand of hair was hollowed out, perfectly capturing her spirit and form.
A knock on the door sounded again. Ling was curious who else would come at this time, but she still ran to open the door.
"Hiruzen-sensei!" As Ling opened the door, she saw Hiruzen Sarutobi smoking a pipe and holding a gift box. She didn't expect Hiruzen Sarutobi, despite being so busy, to remember her birthday.
"Ahahaha, Ling, you look confused to see your sensei. Although I'm very busy, I wouldn't miss my disciple's birthday. But I can only give you a gift, you all have fun."
The Third Hokage greeted the people walking out of the room. This time, he didn't use a Shadow Clone to fool Ling, but came in person.
"Quick, look, the gift I'm giving you, an Earth Release Chakra crystal. It's a trophy from my past, and wearing it can slightly increase the power of Earth Release Ninjutsu and somewhat increase Chakra recovery speed."
Inside the Third Hokage's gift box was a black braided necklace with a small, finger-sized yellowish-brown crystal hanging from it.
"How is it? Do you like it? Although it's a bit useless for Jonin-level Ninja, it can help in understanding Earth Release Chakra nature transformation."
This item Hiruzen Sarutobi gave her was obtained during the Second Great Shinobi War from an ancient Ninja clan in the Land of Earth.
"Thank you, Sensei, it's too valuable, I..." Ling didn't expect Hiruzen Sarutobi to have such a good item. In the original story, Chakra crystals only appeared once, and that was Tsunade's First Hokage Wood Release Chakra crystal necklace that brought misfortune to whoever wore it.
If Naruto hadn't had his brother-in-law sacrifice himself to avert disaster, he probably would have kicked the bucket as Shion predicted. Although it's unknown if Naruto kicked the bucket in Boruto: Naruto Next Generations, that necklace's "curse" was still very potent, lol.
"Haha, it's nothing valuable, it's just rare. It doesn't have much use itself."
The Third Hokage put the necklace in Ling's hand, and then prepared to leave to handle official business. Although there were Shadow Clones to help, he couldn't be lazy.
"Wait, Sensei, have a slice of cake before you go." Ling ran into the house, inserted the candles, lit them, made a wish, blew them out, quickly cut a slice of cake, and ran out to hand it to Hiruzen Sarutobi.
"Haha, alright, it's a very good cake. It's been a long time since I've had cake." The Third Hokage ate the cake while mumbling as he walked away.
Shisui's cake tasted very good. Although it was a big one, with Ling, Tsunade, and Kushina present, it naturally didn't last long before being devoured.
The group went to a barbecue restaurant and headed to the private room that had already been prepared. Barbecue meat was continuously brought out, and then the plates were continuously taken away, which was even more terrifying than an assembly line.
After an afternoon, Ling and her group finally spent hundreds of thousands of Ryo before finishing. After saying their goodbyes, Ling's first birthday in the Ninja World concluded perfectly.
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