These days, there aren't many things that can pique Choji's interest. In the original timeline, after seeing Ino bring Sai into the family by marriage and take over Root, and Shikamaru marry Temari, the beauty of the Sand Hidden Village, Choji quickly followed suit by marrying Karui, the beauty of the Cloud Hidden Village. However, love played a relatively minor role in this decision. The primary reason was to maintain the balance of power within the Ino-Shika-Cho Formation alliance. In truth, Choji has little interest in women.
He dislikes conflict even more—he never has liked it. What he enjoys most is eating!
He usually doesn't voice his opinions, simply going along with whatever Ino and Shikamaru decide. But when he does speak, both Ino and Shikamaru must give him the respect he deserves.
Shikamaru, who had been planning to go home and rest for a few days, hesitated for a moment. He glanced at his nearly empty wallet and nodded slightly, agreeing to the plan.
Ino had a similar thought. She still owed a few people a trip to Sweet Chestnut Sweetness for some sweet bean jelly, and the reason for the delay was simple: she was broke!
Eating at home didn't cost anything, but she couldn't just stay home all the time. Socializing was necessary, and treating others to meals was inevitable.
Unfortunately, Ino's social circle consisted of people with particularly large appetites. Most of Ino and Shikamaru's pocket money ended up being spent on feeding Choji. To keep up with his appetite, they had to stretch every penny, and even that wasn't enough.
Originally, they had planned to go hungry for a few days and then mooch off Asuma. But since Mizuki was willing to step up and treat them, they weren't going to hold back!
"Hinata! Come with me tonight! Why are you blushing? We're just going out to eat—what are you thinking about?"
"Kiba? You're coming too? Great, that's the spirit!"
"And, uh… who else? Oh, right, Shino, you're coming too."
Without much effort, the six of them arranged to go out for barbecue with Mizuki that evening.
"Sakura, you're coming too, right?" Ino spotted her wide-foreheaded classmate from a distance and casually called out to her.
"Huh?" Sakura pointed at herself, surprised. Ino's little group was known to be quite exclusive.
Truthfully, after her friendship with Ino had sunk, Sakura hadn't made a single friend during her years at the academy. She wanted to join them.
Sensing her hesitation, Ino added, "We're all ninjas now. We might end up on missions together in the future. It's rare for Mizuki-sensei to treat us, so come along!"
Mizuki was already struggling to keep a smile on his face.
Sakura's gaze wandered, her eyes flickering toward Uchiha Sasuke, who stood with his hands in his pockets, his expression cold, as if he were about to leave alone. Then she looked back at Ino, silently asking if she could invite Sasuke to join them. Ino didn't mind at all. After all, she hadn't been the one to lose that day, and she wasn't the one footing the bill tonight. What did she have to worry about?
"Sasuke, come with us."
Sasuke looked at her expressionlessly and coldly replied, "I don't have time."
"Sasuke-kun, we're all classmates. Come with us…" Sakura seemed to want to persuade him, but Sasuke had already found out about that "Sasuke's Youth Story" book. He was now filled with disgust for the women in the village. Women were so annoying! They would only slow him down on his path to revenge.
He let out a disdainful "hmph" and walked away without another word.
Shikamaru wanted to invite Naruto, but today Naruto had failed the Clone Technique exam and was utterly dejected. Forget about eating barbecue, even if they invited him to eat ramen now, he wouldn't be able to stomach it.
Since Sasuke wasn't going, and Naruto wasn't going either, Sakura hesitated for a moment and also declined the invitation.
"Forget it, let's just go eat by ourselves," Ino said, not too bothered by the failed attempt to expand their little group. Watching them gather their friends, Mizuki's expression stiffened, but he maintained a basic smile. How much could a few kids eat? As long as his plan succeeded, this small expense would be nothing.
After seeing off Ino and the other six with a smile, Mizuki excused himself by saying he still had official business to attend to and returned to the exam hall, where he happened to run into the dejected Naruto.
In the evening, Mizuki, as agreed, called over his fiancée, who was also a teacher at the school, Tsubaki. The two had recently gotten engaged, and this was considered a joint invitation to treat them to a meal.
Choji arrived first, followed by Hinata, Shino, Kiba Inuzuka, Shikamaru, and finally Ino.
Ino was wearing a purple sleeveless jacket and purple pants, with fishnet kneepads and elbow pads. Her ninja forehead protector hung at her waist. Except for not exposing her abdomen or navel, her outfit was essentially the same as what she wore during her Chunin days.
She had been taking medicine regularly, and with the recent significant improvement in her Yin Release level, her spiritual energy was driving her physical energy, causing her Chakra to grow at a slow pace.
Currently, her "Stamina" stat was still at 6, but she estimated that with her persistence and the effects of puberty, it wouldn't be long before it increased to 7.
Because the clothes were designed to be form-fitting, Ino's outfit made her look a bit more mature.
Compared to when she first crossed over, her cells were now filled with energy, and with moderate physical training, she had grown significantly taller, and her body curves were now noticeably defined.
Of course, she still couldn't compare to Hinata. The two had once bathed together in a hot spring, and if Hinata were to let go of her hands, those "mystical treasures" would float up on their own. Was this really a twelve-year-old girl? Even the busty ladies at the tavern would shed tears of envy.
Shikamaru glanced at Ino and frowned. He didn't understand—wasn't this just a barbecue outing? Why was she dressed as if she was going into battle?
Ino had already prepared an answer for his question: "We're ninjas of the village now. Ninjas should always be ready for battle. Look at those Chunin and Jonin teachers—aren't they always prepared for combat?"
There was no fault in her logic, and Shikamaru couldn't find any flaws in it. He could only conclude that Ino was taking things way too seriously! Even eating barbecue had become a competition now. Are you even human?
Teacher Tsubaki was very gentle and had taught them for two years, so they were all familiar with her.
After exchanging a few pleasantries, they started eating.
The foundation of Chakra lies in the 130 trillion cells within the body. Absorbing energy directly from the outside world is Sage Mode, something that no one in the ninja world except Jiraiya, that pervert, could achieve. Normal ninjas could only rely on their own bodies to produce Chakra, and the way cells replenished energy was basically through eating.
Ino wasn't at the level of a glutton, but her appetite had grown significantly compared to when she first crossed over.
"Thank you, Mizuki-sensei and Teacher Tsubaki. I'll dig in first!" Ino didn't stand on ceremony. After a brief expression of gratitude, she immediately started eating.
Choji was furious. If he couldn't outperform her in exams, could he really lose to her in eating too? He gave Mizuki a perfunctory greeting, picked up his chopsticks, and began eating.
Next was Shikamaru. The Ino-Shika-Cho Formation must advance and retreat together! If his teammates were eating, it would affect their unity if he didn't join in.
Kiba Inuzuka and Shino Aburame also didn't hold back. Except for Hinata, who politely inquired about Mizuki and Tsubaki's engagement to keep up appearances, the other five people and one dog were all eating heartily.