Both Ino and Shikamaru were smart enough to know that discussing this matter between themselves was futile. When it came to the distribution of interests, they had to involve their respective families to mediate.
Ninjas didn't engage in production or commerce. Despite possessing formidable combat skills, for various reasons, wealth was controlled by the daimyo of the country. They could only take on missions day after day, earning meager fixed incomes.
Even today, the ninja profession remained strictly hierarchical.
Not all ninjas could use "Water Release," "Fire Release," or "Earth Release" techniques in battle. Most low-ranking ninjas simply didn't have the means to learn such jutsu, as they were largely held by the major ninja clans and the village's upper echelons.
At the Ninja Academy, students learned the Three Body Technique. After that, they relied on kunai and shuriken for close combat, used exploding tags for ranged attacks, and smoke bombs for cover. When their stamina ran low, they consumed soldier pills from the Akimichi family. If they were hospitalized, they used medicinal herbs from the Nara family. And if they died, their families would buy a bouquet of flowers from the Yamanaka family's flower shop. This was the norm.
Low-ranking ninjas had low incomes, high expenses, and a high mortality rate. Once housing rentals became widespread, it easily led to wealth disparities and conflicts within the village.
Shikamaru, despite his high intelligence, was limited by his age and couldn't fully grasp the issue of wealth disparity. He only had an intuition that something was off and needed to think it through more carefully.
Ino also felt that her offhand remark as an "expert" wasn't entirely reliable, so she didn't delve deeper into the topic.
The ultimate goal of the Ninja Academy was still to train ninjas. Teacher Iruka was responsible for both theoretical and practical lessons, and he taught at a rapid pace. By the time Ino and Shikamaru exchanged glances, he had already moved on to the next problem.
"This problem states: Ignoring air resistance and using the formulas for uniform horizontal motion and uniformly accelerated motion, Ninja A stands on a tree 7 meters high and throws a shuriken at Ninja B on the ground. Let's calculate the initial velocity of the shuriken."
Teacher Iruka was quickly working through the problem on the podium. The weather wasn't hot, but he was already breaking into a fine sweat. Copying from the textbook would have been an easy choice, but this diligent teacher insisted on calculating it himself, only to end up confused.
"45.22 m/s?" Iruka looked at the blackboard, then stiffly glanced at the textbook in his hand.
He realized that the answer in the book didn't match his own calculation!
So, who was wrong? Teacher Iruka was utterly embarrassed, while the students remained indifferent—some were sleeping, others eating, some petting dogs, and others simply daydreaming. The classroom suddenly fell silent, and the sound of Choji munching on snacks became conspicuously loud. He stopped eating and looked around curiously, his gaze lingering on Ino and Shikamaru for a couple of seconds each, as if asking them what was going on.
The eerie silence lasted for more than ten seconds. Just as Teacher Iruka was about to redo the problem, the classroom door was flung open, and Mizuki-sensei hurriedly ran to his side, whispering a few words into his ear.
The next second, Iruka rushed to the window and looked toward Hokage Rock.
His actions prompted many students to follow suit, craning their necks to see what was happening outside.
Ino, too, casually joined the onlookers.
She glanced at the third Hokage's face on Hokage Rock. Hmm, an old man with two rather cartoonish wide noodle tears hanging below his eyes, adding a touch of playfulness to his otherwise kind expression. Next time Konohamaru writes an essay titled "My Grandfather, the Village Chief," he should gain quite a bit of insight. However, it seemed like a bit too much paint was used for the wide noodle tear under the left eye. She'd have to be more careful next time.
The graffiti on the first, second, and fourth Hokage's rocks was a mess. A star here, a red lip there. It didn't seem so bad when she saw it last night, but now it looked terrible—far worse than what she could have drawn. As Ino silently critiqued the Hokage Rock, Teacher Iruka was trembling with anger.
"Naruto! It's you again! How many times have I told you not to scribble on the Hokage Rock?" "Hahaha!—Come and catch me if you can, you idiot!"
Naruto Uzumaki, with his black goggles, spiky blond hair, blue eyes, and orange jacket, had no idea that someone had been hiding in the shadows last night. After he finished his graffiti, they had used the Transformation Technique to mimic his appearance and added a few more strokes.
Seeing Teacher Iruka charging at him furiously, Naruto didn't think twice. In three quick steps, he bolted to the door, instinctively sidestepped out of the classroom, and sprinted toward the school gates, his legs spinning like a windmill, kicking up a cloud of dust.
"Class, study on your own!" With that, Teacher Iruka dashed after him.
"Study time" was essentially playtime. Whether they were top students or slackers, the entire class erupted in cheers. Some even shouted their thanks to Naruto from afar.
Naruto Uzumaki, Kiba Inuzuka, along with the chubby Choji and Shikamaru, were the class's infamous "gang of troublemakers." They were often pulled aside for scolding and punishment, but through it all, their friendship grew. In Naruto's heart, filled with hostility and a desperate need for acceptance, these three were his only friends.
At that moment, Kiba was particularly excited. As a taijutsu expert, he was the fastest. He leaped to the window like a monkey, cupped his hands around his mouth, and shouted at Naruto, who was about to run out of the school, "Naruto, you nailed it!"
His ninja dog, Akamaru, perched on his head, barked twice in agreement.
Hearing the cheers from his classmates, Naruto, now a hundred meters away, flashed a bright smile. Had he finally earned their recognition? All these years of effort had finally paid off. Great! As he ran, he waved his arm vigorously toward the classroom, as if to say, "Don't mention it, it's my pleasure!"
"How boring," Shikamaru muttered, scratching his ear and tilting his head to the side as he went back to sleep.
Choji, the chubby one, tore open another bag of snacks and started munching away, oblivious to everyone else.
Ino had no interest in chatting with the two of them. Seeing the joy on Naruto's face as he ran, it seemed he didn't mind taking the blame. She picked up a book, pretending to flip through it, but beneath her bangs, her right eye blinked twice, activating a faint golden panel unique to her, checking her latest gains.
In the center of the panel, a cartoonish black pot was finally filled with energy. With a thought, a golden orb she called a "Pot Point" slowly rose from the pot.
Becoming stronger by shifting blame sounds easy, but it's actually quite difficult.
First, you need to stir up trouble. Then, you have to find someone to take the blame. Most importantly, you can't expose yourself. For a 12-year-old girl with limited means, this is an extremely challenging task.
Over the past three months, including today, she has succeeded six times and failed twice. Both failures were discovered by the village's Anbu Ninjas. Once, she managed to get away by acting cute, and the other time, she relied on her influential father and the fact that breaking someone's window wasn't a big deal, which allowed her to pass smoothly.
Now, she has finally found the most reliable scapegoat for this stage—Naruto Uzumaki! And now is the time to reap the rewards.