Ninja Pot Shadow

"I've passed on my location to you."

"Okay, I see it."

Ino will be unable to use her sensory abilities and will have to rely on Inoichi to locate her.

She immediately formed hand seals, breaking the Yang seal that had been sealed for a month, and a large amount of extremely pure Yin attribute chakra burst forth.

Cold! The moment Ino opened the Yang seal, through the transmission of perception, Inoichi felt a bone-chilling cold in his spirit. His daughter's Yin Release level was unbelievably high.

He had only read about this level in the family's secret scrolls. It seemed to be a sign of mastering Yin Escape. Thinking about it this way, he felt that the success rate of the matter had increased by another 20%.

Ino can concentrate her mind and let her whole body be enveloped in Yin-attribute chakra, briefly transforming herself into a "being from the underworld"—this is possible.

With the help of Inoichi's sensory abilities and the Yin chakra she had accumulated over a month, she finally saw the blurry figure behind the Third Hokage.

The reason you can't see clearly is because she's not dark enough.

She used all the Yin-attribute chakra within the Yang Seal, but it still wasn't enough. So she converted the Yin-attribute chakra within her body, purified it using the Yang Seal, and then spread the purified Yin-attribute chakra throughout her entire body.

At this point, every little bit helps.

In Haiyi's perception, his daughter was becoming less and less like a living person...

After calming down her adoptive father, Ino found herself in an increasingly eerie situation, and the figure of the Grim Reaper gradually became clearer in her vision.

Death's face was withered, with two horns on his head and a short knife in his mouth. He was dressed in a white robe, and six will-o'-the-wisps of varying strengths appeared behind him.

“I’ve seen it clearly, that’s Death,” Ino said.

Through his ability to sense and transmit, Haiyi also saw the Grim Reaper. He nodded in the spiritual world, indicating that he had also seen it.

"I'm starting." With Inoichi's help in locating the target, Ino can remotely cast the Mind Confusion Technique on the Grim Reaper.

Apart from the Yin-attribute chakra in the brain, all the remaining chakra was used to support the Mind Disorder Technique.

This is a genuine deity, so she couldn't afford to be careless.

As Ino rapidly formed hand seals, Inoichi felt the room growing colder and colder...

The situation at the flower shop in the mountains was even more exaggerated. Ino said that her chakra was too depleted and went back to her room to rest. Shikamaru and the others then discovered that a thin layer of white frost had suddenly formed on the ground, the water pipes next to her were showing signs of freezing, and the indoor lights were flickering, just like a ghost had appeared.

This hand seal took a full minute to form, while the Third Hokage outside had already sealed the First Hokage, the Second Hokage, and the Fourth Kazekage, and was currently playing a tug-of-war with Orochimaru. The Shinigami watched their performance quietly, then suddenly had a premonition and glanced in the direction of the mountain flower shop.

He saw nothing, and before he could even think, an extremely abundant Yin attribute chakra struck his mind directly.

The art of disrupting the mind and spirit!

Ino felt as if she were hitting a rock with her brain that had no skull to protect it. She suffered a huge backlash from the Mind Disorder Technique, and her head was throbbing with pain. All her thoughts, memories and ideas were fragmented and spinning rapidly in a place without time or space.

Hai also coughed up a mouthful of blood, and he quickly asked his daughter.

Ino quickly regained her senses: "It's okay! I'm fine! This is just making friends, not taking over. The other party's resistance wasn't that fierce... This guy absorbed my Yin attribute chakra and took my benefits, so he's my friend!"

The Yin Release chakra accumulated over a month was almost completely depleted.

Ino clutched her head, stunned by the overwhelming memories of the Grim Reaper. The human brain cannot process such information; much of it is blocked by the brain, causing her to faint for about a fifth of a second.

After repeatedly assuring her that she was indeed alright, she finally began to check the results of her spell.

"How is it?" Haiyi asked.

Ino thought for a moment: "I don't know if this counts as a success or a failure, but it didn't reach the level described by our ancestors. Now I'm facing death..."

She was a little unsure how to describe it.

"I'll show you."

Ino danced around in her mental world for ages, but Death just stared at her without saying a word. Frustrated, she cursed, "Damn it, you idiot!"

A rare response came from Death's side. She considered it carefully, and it seemed that the other party had also said something like "Damn it, idiot"...

Chapter 174 Death and His Mentally Challenged Friend

Ino had absolutely no reverence for the gods in the Naruto world, so Inoichi told her to be patient.

Why are you cursing Death? We're here to make friends!

Ino realized that she was indeed being impatient, so she could only patiently gesture.

"Welcome, friend. How are you?"

"I am... yours, yes, you. I am, look at my finger, pointing at me, right? Friend, I am your friend!"

"No, no, no! It's not that old man down there, it's me! I'm your friend!"

Ino gestured for a while.

For a moment, Haiyi thought she was forming hand seals, but after watching for a while, he realized she was making hand gestures, jumping and hopping around, and occasionally using some body language.

He clicked his tongue; this was indeed quite difficult. The family records never mentioned the language barrier, so there was nothing he could do to help.

The Grim Reaper looked on with a puzzled expression, wondering what Ino was doing.

"What should we do now?" Haiyi noticed that the Grim Reaper in the spiritual world was staring at him intently, as if he wanted to kill him. He quickly hid behind his daughter, and the killing intent on the Grim Reaper dissipated. From this perspective, the first step of disrupting the mind and spirit was a success.

Ino didn't know how to explain it either. According to her understanding, it was because the two sides were in different dimensions. The Shinigami was too cowardly, or perhaps he was so scared of Kaguya Otsutsuki that he hid in another dimension.

Ino can't hear what the other person is saying at all. If she wants the other person to understand her, she has to be even more gloomy, to another dimension, so that they can communicate normally and have a chance to be friends.

An Earthling and an alien are chatting online, but neither can understand what the other is saying. How can they be friends? Can they just rely on tipping and sending gifts? This is just a superficial friendship.

Ino's random gestures had some effect.

Death murmured softly, but Ino couldn't understand a word of it; it was like some meaningless babbling. She could only observe it carefully.

The Grim Reaper opened his arms, and in the center of his body was a pale blue humanoid phantom, which should be the soul of the Third Hokage, who was offered as a summoning sacrifice. In other words, as soon as this technique began, whether it succeeded or failed, the Third Hokage's soul was handed over to the Grim Reaper long ago. This process is irreversible. Three spirit bodies floated beside the Grim Reaper, which should be the First Hokage, the Second Hokage, and the Fourth Kazekage from before.

This guy is killing two birds with one stone. He went on a business trip, and the Third Hokage's soul was the cost, while the remaining three high-quality souls were the extra income.

The Third Hokage is currently pulling at Orochimaru's soul.

The old man was almost physically exhausted and his mental energy was too weak, making it very difficult to pull him along.

At this point, Ino understood that the Reaper Death Seal had entered its final stage.

Inoichi didn't understand the specific mechanism of this technique, and there were no written records in the village related to the Reaper Death Seal, but it was a ninjutsu used by the Fourth Hokage after all, and those who experienced it firsthand had some impression of it.

Ino, combining her memories, discussed the key points of the technique with her adoptive father, exploring whether the Yamanaka family could profit from it. After all, the Shinigami were already friends, and even if they were just friends on the surface, they were still friends...

"So the Third Hokage is definitely going to die... What a pity, he was an excellent ninja. How much influence do you have over the Shinigami? Can you influence this deal a little? Can you do that?" Inoichi asked.

Ino thought about it seriously for a moment, then faced the Grim Reaper and began to gesture again.

She first pointed to the soul of the Third Hokage: "Old man, this is yours."

Death tilted his head, looking at his "mentally challenged" friend. How novel!

This old man summoned me through spirit communication, and in return, his soul was his own!

This new friend who suddenly appeared out of nowhere doesn't seem to be very bright.

The Grim Reaper pointed to the Third Generation's soul, then nodded, indicating that this soul was his own.

Ino gestured again, pointing to the Third Hokage's soul, then to herself: "Old man, your friend, can you share some with me?"

Death immediately shook his head, "Absolutely not!" At the same time, he stretched out his right hand, meaning, "You want to save this old man? Then you must also offer a sacrifice."

Ino was startled. This level of friendship was still not enough. How could you ask for your friend's soul? Doesn't your conscience hurt?

She certainly wouldn't risk her own life for the sake of three generations.

However, this is indeed a good opportunity to test things out. Even if the Grim Reaper turns against her, it doesn't matter. This guy's intelligence, or rather his way of thinking, is different from that of humans. Moreover, for Ino, her sunk cost is only the Yin attribute chakra she has accumulated for a month. Even if she loses this amount of chakra, she won't feel bad.

Of course, she has a lot of chakra. The amount of yin-attribute chakra she accumulates in a month using the Yang Seal is equivalent to several years' worth of chakra accumulated by an ordinary mountain clan ninja.

Finding the gestures too tiring, she imagined a white paper figure in her mind and then began to bargain with Death.

He pointed to the white paper figure, then to the souls of the three generations.

She first cut off the paper figure's two feet, but Death shook his head. Then she cut off the entire lower body, but Death still refused. Finally, Ino cut off most of the paper figure's body, including its two legs and one arm, leaving only a head, heart, and one arm. Death still shook his head.

No, this path is completely impassable.

Death places great importance on its sacrifices, and it seems that some kind of rule governs it.

Ino decided to try a different approach.

She continued to gesture with the paper figure, which consisted of only a head, a heart, and an arm, towards her "mentally challenged" friend.

"Old man, here's yours. Deferred payment, I'll give you half, more than half? Is that alright?"

Death looked at his "mentally challenged" friend, not quite understanding the meaning of this delayed payment.

Since it's all mine, what's the point of this delay?

Sixty seconds later, Ino recounted the results of their discussion to Inoichi.

“We definitely can’t keep the Third Hokage’s soul. My discussion with the Shinigami has led to the conclusion that we should take most of his soul first, and pay the rest later. The Third Hokage can no longer use ninjutsu, can no longer be a ninja, and his lifespan is extremely short. Is it necessary for us to do this now?”

Inoichi shook his head solemnly: "You don't understand the situation in the village. As long as the Third Hokage is still alive, he will have a huge influence on the appointment and removal of the new Hokage. Not only the Yamanaka family, but the new Hokage is very important to the future development of the Ino-Shika-Cho trio... After this surgery, how long can the Third Hokage live?"

Ino then gestured to Death as if playing rock-paper-scissors, before saying uncertainly, "Judging from my medical knowledge... with most of his soul taken away, the Third Generation probably has about a month left to live, maybe even less, since his organs are basically failing."

Ino produced a death mask: "As the price for the delayed payment, we also have to pay Him a new soul. Whose soul is fine, whether it's voluntary or not doesn't matter..."

Chapter 175 Shiro's Decision

The matter of the soul is easy to handle. The Yamanaka family has never been good people from the beginning. Now that the village is like a battlefield, they can just kidnap an enemy ninja and hand him over to the Grim Reaper. They have no psychological barriers to doing this.

Regarding the matter of the three generations, when the matter of Hai came to a head, he hesitated again.

If given a year or two, the Yamanaka family could support Danzo's rise to power. At that time, Danzo would take over the Anbu, and some of his Root ninjas would come out into the open. The Yamanaka family would take over the remaining Root ninjas, and everyone would get what they wanted, resulting in a win-win situation.

That won't work now. There's not enough time. Danzo's reputation is too bad. A month isn't enough. Will the Yamanaka family have to find another target at the last minute?

The selection of the new Hokage, the interests of the Yamanaka family, and the interests of the Ino-Shika-Cho trio are all intertwined. Inoichi is self-aware; he is just an intelligence chief and lacks a global perspective and decisiveness. At this time, he needs Shikaku's wisdom.

At least on this matter, the Ino-Shika-Cho trio need to reach a consensus.

"Wait a moment, let me discuss this with your Uncle Lu Jiu."

“...Okay, Death has a different concept of time than us, but...I can't delay for too long.”

Ino started gesturing wildly at Death, trying to buy time.