Ninja Pot Shadow

She sighed softly. Although she didn't know how long Sakura's enthusiasm would last, she still reached out and took the ribbon in the face of Sakura's determined gaze.

After saying what was on her mind, Sakura turned to leave.

Ino called out to her, "Wait a minute, wait for me, don't go, I'll be right back."

Five minutes later, Ino returned and gestured for Sakura to kneel down.

Sakura instantly became furious. What are you trying to do?!

"Kneeling is fine, there should be some sense of ceremony. Never mind, you can squat."

Unsure of what she was going to do, Sakura hesitated for a moment before squatting down.

Seeing that the height was about right, Ino swiftly placed a straw hat on Sakura's head.

"You think returning the ribbon is enough? Don't be ridiculous! The bond between us can't be broken with just a few words. Broad forehead, this is my favorite straw hat. Remember what you said today, return it to me when you reach the pinnacle of your life, when you surpass me!"

Ino poked Sakura's forehead with her right index and middle fingers together: "Judging from your expression earlier, you seemed to want a duel with me? You're far from good enough, maybe next time!"

With a pleasant laugh, Ino left the garden with light steps, leaving Sakura completely bewildered behind.

Sakura rubbed her forehead first; the poke had been quite hard, and it felt strangely familiar. Who had poked her like that before? ...

She belatedly noticed the straw hat on her head, and then felt something was amiss inside. She turned the hat over and was surprised to find a scroll with the character "water" written on it.

Sakura opened the scroll. This time, she recognized the handwriting; it was Ino's own. Upon closer inspection, she discovered that the scroll contained methods for developing water-style chakra nature transformations. At the end of the scroll were some of Ino's insights and experiences.

“Ino, you…” Knowing that the scroll in her hand was absolutely worth a fortune to a commoner ninja, Sakura sensed the complex emotions within it. She remained silent for a long time until ten minutes later when she finally broke down.

"Who gives a girl a straw hat?! And a tattered one at that! That wretched boar! I'm so angry!"

Despite saying it was a tattered straw hat, she carefully put it away. She wanted to prove herself and surpass this guy, and then, as promised, return the straw hat to him!

……

Ino left alone, observing her surroundings the whole way, looking for any opportunities to cause trouble and gain a chance to make money. When she passed a shady spot, she suddenly stopped.

A young man stood in the shade of a tree, and bowed to her upon seeing her.

"Miss."

"Brother Feng." Ino didn't put on airs as a member of the main family and nodded politely in return.

The newcomer was Yamanaka Fu, a ninja from Root and the deputy of Konoha advisor Shimura Danzo.

Judging from their surname, they are from a mountain tribe.

Yamanaka Fu is nine years older than Ino. According to Inoichi, Yamanaka Fu has the strength of a Jonin. Danzo's other deputy, Aburame Torune, has a low profile. Yamanaka Fu is the second-in-command of Root, second only to Danzo, a typical figure with real power.

"The battle between Young Lady and Uchiha Sasuke was very exciting, and Lord Danzo was very satisfied. This is your reward." Yamanaka Kaze succinctly explained his purpose and handed Ino a scroll with the character "Wind" written on it.

This time, Ino didn't pretend to be a newbie. Instead, she said in a very formal tone, "Please thank Lord Danzo for me. My father always told me that only Lord Danzo could lead everyone to make Konoha great again."

Kakashi was already a Jonin at twelve years old, so it's not surprising that Ino is saying some mature things now in this world full of killing.

The two were ten years apart in age, and their strength was vastly different. Aside from official business, there was nothing to say. Yamanaka Kaze nodded slightly and disappeared into the shade of the trees.

Ino didn't cause any trouble; she simply turned a corner and went home.

They just gave you the scroll to learn from, and you went off to wander around without even looking at it? Not being able to learn is a matter of comprehension, but not learning at all is a matter of attitude. When Ino's strength is weak, you must show respect to Danzo.

Back home, Rino Yamanaka was cooking. Ino greeted her and then went back to her room.

Inside the room, she opened the scroll Danzo had given her. As expected, it was a learning scroll for practicing wind-style chakra nature transformation.

Judging from the handwriting, these are likely some of Danzo's own thoughts and reflections.

Danzo's act of sealing the bridge was indeed stupid, but that was mainly because he had never used the Reverse Four Symbols Seal before. He had no experience using this one-time technique, didn't know that the skill's wind-up was so long, and didn't expect that Obito Uchiha and Sasuke Uchiha's Mangekyou Sharingan were both overpowered. They easily dodged it with a backflip, and the bridge sealing ended up becoming a big joke.

In fact, Danzo was quite strong. His Wind Release ninjutsu was enough to cut through Susanoo, making him a Kage-level powerhouse.

The Yamanaka family has collected many ninjutsu scrolls and learning scrolls, but a Kage-level ninja wouldn't be captured by Konoha. Even with the same chakra nature transformation, a Kage-level ninja and a Jonin will approach the issue from different angles.

The scroll given to Ino by Danzo was very precious to her.

However, she has no plans to develop wind-style chakra for the time being. Besides water-style chakra, she has a higher affinity for earth-style chakra. Developing a second or third chakra nature is a bit too early for her. She plans to continue to study water-style chakra in depth.

Chapter 30 Shikamaru and Choji's Homework

After dinner, Inoichi looked very serious, and Rino Yamanaka also lost the joy she had felt during the day when chatting with Shikamaru's mother and Choji's mother. She silently cleaned up the dishes without saying a word.

Judging from their expressions, for a moment, Ino even thought that one of them had a terminal illness, or that she herself had a terminal illness!

After Haiyi realized that he and his daughter could communicate normally, and that his daughter did not fall into problems like being in love or having unrequited love like ordinary girls, their family was transforming into a traditional family with a strict father and a kind mother.

I don't read books on "How to Communicate with Your Daughter," as I often play the role of a strict father.

Ino was quite accepting of this. There was no need for a grown man to be so careful with his words, afraid that something might upset his daughter. She thought it was better for him to be more normal.

Inoichi coughed and asked, "What are your thoughts on experiencing such a high-intensity battle for the first time? You've rested for two days now, have you reflected on this battle? What will you do if you encounter a battle like this next time? Ino, have you thought about it?"

In fact, Inoichi was quite satisfied with his daughter's performance. In their first battle, many people are trembling and dare not move. It is common for Sakura to not attack, defend, dodge, or run away, but just stand there shouting "Naruto" at the top of her lungs.

Many ninjas have a terrible first battle, unable to even unleash half of their full strength.

What about Itachi Uchiha? Wasn't he quite magnanimous? Itachi was also quite bewildered when he killed someone for the first time.

Twelve-year-old Ino could not compare to five-year-old Uchiha Itachi, but female ninjas generally did not perform as well as male ninjas when they first went to the battlefield.

Women are too sensitive, and they naturally have some resistance to scenes of bloodshed and death battles. There are very few female ninjas who have achieved high levels of skill and are active on the front lines of battle for a long time. At present, neither Tsunade nor the Kage has been promoted. At this point in time, the only person in the entire ninja world who has become a Kage is Mei Terumi from Kirigakure.

The fact that female ninjas can settle down to manage household chores after marriage is due to both environmental and personal factors.

According to Inoichi's original estimate, Ino had higher overall strength, but her mentality was not as good as Sasuke's, whose entire family had died, so the chances of her losing were very high. Unexpectedly, she actually won!

He was happy inside, but he couldn't say it out loud. His expression was extremely serious, and he kept a straight face, hoping that his daughter would have a clear understanding.

Do you know how many mistakes you made in the fight?

"...I know a little bit."

Ino nodded. Her original imagined enemy was not Sasuke, but she had secretly conducted some simulations of battle.

According to her plan, she would start by using the Fog Concealment Technique to cover the enemy's vision, then use the Water Prison Technique to control the enemy, and finally use Water Wave or Mind Transfer to finish them off. She had simulated this approach many times in her mind, aiming for a simple and brutal method. At the time, she thought it would be fine, but in practice, it was not the same as she expected.

There are too many unexpected factors in a battle, and as the fight went on, she herself became confused!

“I wasn’t calm enough in battle. My strength is actually higher than Sasuke Uchiha’s, but I missed many opportunities. Hmm…” She lowered her head and thought for a moment: “My fighting spirit is not as good as his. I don’t have the courage to fight to the death, so I often seem hesitant.”

Hai nodded: "Very good. I am very happy that you can recognize your shortcomings. As a student who has not yet graduated, you have already done well to this extent. However... you are the heir of the Yamanaka family and have received the family's resources for training. Therefore, we cannot hold you to the standards of a ninja academy student."

Ino didn't argue, but listened attentively.

Haiyi took out two scrolls under her strange gaze.

"You know very well about our alliance with the Nara and Akimichi families. The three of us fathers have already fulfilled our mission. The 15th generation Ino-Shika-Cho trio wasn't glorious, but they didn't disgrace their ancestors either. The future belongs to you. We've treated your battle with that Uchiha kid as homework, and we're having Shikamaru and Choji write down their thoughts. Want to see what they wrote?"

Since you've brought it out, you obviously want me to see it.

"I want to," Ino nodded.

Hai handed her a scroll, and she first picked up the scroll with the character "食" (food) written on it, which was written by Akimichi Choji.

The scroll contained very little information, and Choji, being lazy, wrote each character in a very large font.

Ino glanced at it briefly. The fat Choji's academic performance wasn't strong, but it wasn't weak either; it was at least at an average level. In the scroll, he first analyzed the mistakes and shortcomings of Ino's battle, such as insufficient strength and lack of stamina. Then he turned to himself, saying that he also needed to strengthen his training and so on.

Overall, this summary is fairly standard, without any major flaws, but it also lacks any standout features.

Ino put Choji's scroll aside and picked up Shikamaru's.

"Huh?!" As soon as the scroll was unfurled, she felt as if a "well" character had appeared on her forehead.

Good heavens, Shikamaru, who always says "it's so troublesome" and "it's too troublesome," has a scroll that is ten meters long when unfolded, covered with dense writing.

It's just involution, right? Why is there so much resentment? The number one lazybones in the world actually wrote so many words?!

Shikamaru begins his analysis by noting that Sasuke tied wires to his kunai and that Ino used a substitution jutsu to dodge them.

She listed twelve major mistakes she made in the battle, as well as forty-five minor mistakes, with countless small errors.

Ino's face was as black as the bottom of a pot. She read ten lines at a glance, constantly unfolding the scroll to read the text at the end. The whole scroll was about her shortcomings in battle, except for the last sentence written at the end of the scroll: "I definitely can't beat Sasuke. I will use words to mock him and lure him into a trap."

Ino looked at the back of the scroll—that was it!

When he wrote about himself, he wrote a single, light sentence. But when he wrote about Ino, he wrote a long, detailed account, tens of thousands of words, making it seem like he was writing a thesis.

She flipped to the beginning and read it carefully, word by word.

She watched for half an hour without being disturbed by Haiyi and Rino.

To be fair, Shikamaru's analysis, as a future Hokage advisor, is sound.

Ino has a lot of tolerance. If she does something wrong, she will correct it next time if others point it out. It's nothing.

She just felt...

"Do you think Shikamaru's analysis is too harsh?" Inoichi asked.

Ino shook her head and then nodded: "Anyone can talk a good game. I'll arrange for Uchiha Sasuke and Shikamaru to fight, and then I'll write the post-battle summary. I reckon he'll be better than me... Hmph, it's not that I'm petty, I'm broad-minded and never hold grudges... But I still feel so angry! I just feel that people aren't machines, it's impossible for them to consider all the factors in a battle. Is there such a person? Someone who never makes a single mistake in a battle?"

"Have."

"...Huh? Who is it?"

The Fourth Hokage.

Chapter Thirty-One: Danzo's Advice

Ino couldn't verify whether the Fourth Hokage, who died long ago, never made a mistake in battle.

Haiyi held up three fingers: "Your overall performance in battle was not bad, but you made many mistakes. The three most serious ones are: First, your basics are too poor. Did your kunai throws and shuriken throws cause any damage to the enemy? You were just wasting your ninja tools and stamina."

Ino fell silent. What did she mean by that? Her throw didn't hurt Sasuke, but conversely, Sasuke's ninja tool throw didn't hit her either, right?

The two threw a whole bunch of ninja tools at each other, but neither of them managed to hit the other...

They are all masters of outlining.

It's not that their throwing skills are bad. After Ino traveled through time, she spent a lot of time and effort on kunai throwing. Sasuke, on the other hand, has been practicing hard since he was a child.

Neither of them hit the other, mainly because they lacked practical experience. They usually practiced shooting at fixed targets, with a target tied to a large wooden stake. They didn't even look at it. It was normal for them to hit the bullseye with one shot and hit it ten times out of ten. But in a real battle, when everyone moves quickly, it's a different story.

Both sides were very fast. Ino's speed was 5, and she estimated that Sasuke's speed was also around 5-6. The two were about the same speed.