Wok Shadow Ninja

Chapter 335: Shira

The desert night was unusually cold. After relieving himself, Choji didn't return to the house but stared blankly at the moon above.

The fat boy didn't quite understand what a "circle" was, but he knew he was drifting further and further away from Ino and Shikamaru. The village had sent him out basically as an add-on; the main force was still Ino and Shikamaru. It didn't make much difference whether he was there or not.

What could he do?

He had tried, but this was his natural level.

He was closest to Shikamaru, but lately, Shikamaru had been too busy to hang out with him.

After realizing his own lack of ninja talent, Shikamaru chose to follow the old path of the Nara family: no matter who became Hokage, no matter who came to power, the Nara family would always be the Hokage's assistant.

He had to study history, culture, geography, religion—all aspects of knowledge. If Shikamaru's effort in the Ninja Academy was a 1, now it was 100.

Shikamaru was working so hard, not to mention the King of Grinding.

Ino had already far surpassed her peers. Many people now described the current Ino with the same words used for Kakashi back in the day. Both were in a league of their own among their peers, making everyone else look like a bunch of retards.

Six hand seals in a second, one-handed seals, using Wind, Fire, Water, and Earth Release, and now even Wood Release. Ino had a ton of abilities. Choji really wanted to emulate her, but he just wasn't cut out for it.

The saying "a golden phoenix flew out of a wild boar's nest" had become a common view in the ninja world. There was a hint of contempt in the words, but more of envy. Everyone wished the golden phoenix had flown out of their own doghouse, chicken coop, or rabbit hutch.

Many people were so resentful that they could only eat a couple more pig trotters to satisfy themselves.

Thinking of pig trotters, the fat boy's nose twitched. He looked left and right. He seemed to smell roasted rabbit!

The aroma was far away, but when it came to food, his nose had always been very sharp. He was sure he wasn't mistaken.

After thinking for a moment, he followed the direction of the scent.

Who's not sleeping in the middle of the night? It can't be Ino and Shikamaru secretly eating good food without me, right?

You can call me stupid, you can call me fat, but you can't sneak off to eat without me! Absolutely not!

The fat boy followed the smell and, upon getting closer, only saw an extinguished fire and some food scraps.

"Sigh." After walking all this way, he was hungry again. He sat down on the ground, sighing with a heavy heart.

He hit his own head hard. He was really being paranoid. How could Ino and Shikamaru sneak out to eat at night? His lack of confidence was getting worse.

He stood up and started walking back. Suddenly, he noticed a dark figure standing not far away.

The fat boy, whose reaction speed was only slightly faster than Naruto's, finally realized the problem. He was a bit far from the camp. Was there still time to call for support?

"Hey, don't be nervous. I mean no harm. You're the one who suddenly broke into my resting place." A young man walked out of the shadows. He was tall with well-proportioned muscles. He pointed to the extinguished fire and then had the fat boy look at the tent in the cave behind him.

The young man relit the fire, then took out a whole roasted rabbit. He looked at the fat boy's size, tore off half, and threw it to him.

"Hungry? I could hear your stomach growling from a distance."

The fat boy fumbled to catch the roasted rabbit. He was indeed hungry. The Akimichi clan's secret techniques had extremely high resistance to poison; they could withstand most toxins. His intuition also didn't sense any malice from the young man. He sat down on the other side of the fire and began to devour the roasted rabbit.

"You're not from around here, are you? People from the Land of Wind aren't as fat as you," the young man asked.

Choji was a ninja, after all. After spending so much time with Ino and Shikamaru, he had some skill in making up stories.

He casually fabricated the identity of a wandering ninja.

The young man asked seriously, "You're really not a Konoha ninja?"

The fat boy had an expression that said, "I don't understand what you're saying."

"Hahahaha—" The young man shook his head and chuckled lightly. "Relax, relax. It doesn't matter to me whether you're a Konoha ninja or not. I'm not a Sand Village ninja. By the way, my name is Shira. Little brother, what's your name?"

"Uh… Big Brother, hello. I'm Choji Akimichi."

Choji chatted with Shira for a while, and as they talked, he poured out the frustrations in his heart. The two hit it off very well.

He just had two companions who were dazzlingly outstanding. Shira was much more miserable than him.

Shira was a lot like Konoha's Might Duy and Rock Lee. He couldn't use ninjutsu or genjutsu and could only practice taijutsu day after day.

In Konoha, the Third Hokage had relaxed the admission requirements for the Ninja Academy. Even without ninjutsu or genjutsu, one could become an excellent ninja.

The Sand Village didn't have such an enlightened leader. Shira was excluded from the ninja system at a very young age. He encountered countless scornful looks and discrimination and could only live alone in the Gobi desert, painstakingly honing his taijutsu.

After hearing Shira's story, Choji felt a great deal of empathy. "...Actually, I don't know any ninjutsu either. I just can't learn it. No matter how much I practice, I can't get it right."

He really admired Ino. Wind, water, fire, earth—releasing all kinds of ninjutsu, sealing jutsu, and genjutsu, the scene was just so cool to think about! He heard from his dad that Ino had mastered hundreds of ninjutsu, while he, apart from his family's secret techniques and the Three Basic Jutsu, couldn't even use a single proper ninjutsu. The gap between them was just too big.

Before, he had an advantage in taijutsu, but now Ino's taijutsu had also rapidly improved. Apart from strength, there was nothing he could beat Ino in anymore.

Shira nodded gently. "Is that so? A talented and hardworking companion? Meeting such a person is indeed a very painful thing, but you don't need to be discouraged. I'm a few years older than you, and I can only tell you that you only have one life. It's meaningless to lament the misfortune of your birth. Those happinesses and misfortunes are all part of your life…"

He patted the fat boy's shoulder lightly. "Believe in yourself. Don't be defeated by reality. Stick out your chest, take a deep breath in, and a deep breath out. As long as you're not dead, nothing can knock you down!"

Shira's words weren't very persuasive; they sounded dry. But Choji still saw hope in him. At least I still have my family's secret techniques, right? This guy in front of me can't use any ninjutsu at all! In comparison, I'm not the most miserable one!

Actually, Rock Lee was also a role model, but Lee's personality, looks, and hairstyle were too bizarre. The two of them just didn't click.

Shira was different. He was several years older and looked quite handsome.

"Big Brother Shira, how can I become as confident as you?"

His question was very abrupt. Shira hesitated for a moment before saying, "What I said about holding your head high, sticking out your chest, and taking deep breaths wasn't just to brush you off. It's actually a method I use in my training. I don't know if this training method is suitable for you, but you can give it a try."

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