Tsunade Can Hear My Inner Voice

6:00 PM, Training Ground 10

Kamizuki Hikari blew the whistle, signaling the end of the day’s training.

"Alright, that’s enough for today. Shikamaru, don’t forget to prepare some medicinal herbs when you get home and deliver them to Chōji and Ino later. Whether you charge them or not is up to you!"

Shikamaru shakily raised his hand, tempted to give Hikari the middle finger as a token of his "respect".

Unfortunately, his fingers were in so much pain that they refused to obey. His legs, too, were sore and numb, screaming at him to quit.

"No need to be polite today. Just head home early. And remember—arrive on time tomorrow!" Hikari pressed Shikamaru’s hand back down, ignoring the pained grimace on his face.

"Think about Chōji. If you two can complete the first stage, you’ll be able to train with him! Right now, you’re stuck here while he’s over there training separately. What does that tell you?"

’It tells me we’re the dumb ones, obviously. What else?’

Speaking of which... where was Chōji?

Shikamaru glanced in the direction where Chōji and Tenten had gone, a sense of unease creeping up on him.

Could it be that Chōji’s situation turned out worse than theirs?