Ino pondered to herself, wasn't the Mind Body Switch Technique just a C-level ninja technique? Was it really that difficult? Did it take three to five years to master? She hesitated. If it really took three to five years to practice the Yamanaka Clan's Secret Techniques, it would indeed be a waste of time. Among the Konoha 12, except for the three from the previous generation, the other nine were all twelve years old this year. Calculating from Naruto defeating Kaguya Otsutsuki at seventeen and getting married at nineteen, she only had five years of training time. If she really spent five years practicing a clan secret technique with little prospect, by the time of the Infinite Tsukuyomi, she could only wait to win by default.
After carefully going over Inoichi's words twice in her mind, she suddenly realized that she had misunderstood. Yamanaka Inoichi, her cheap father, was sparing with his words and didn't explain clearly. When he mentioned the clan's secret techniques, he was referring to a whole set of techniques, not just the Mind Body Switch Technique.
"I want to learn it."
She quickly made up her mind. Her attributes were already several points higher than the original Ino's, so there was no reason she couldn't learn it.
Yamanaka Inoichi looked at her seriously, and she nodded heavily to show her determination.
To play the part fully, she even muttered softly, "I must defeat Hinata."
Yamanaka Rino soon left the room, and the father and daughter sat cross-legged on the floor.
"The name of the clan's secret technique is the Mind Body Switch Technique. It is rated as a C-level technique in the village, which is a well-deserved middle ninja level technique, but..." Inoichi paused.
"...but they don't know that this rating is not accurate. The Mind Body Switch Technique is the beginning of all the Yamanaka Clan's secret techniques, and its difficulty is not something a C-level technique can cover."
Ino nodded. The clan's secret techniques were the foundation of a clan. No matter how strong the sense of belonging to the village was, they wouldn't hand them over.
She even suspected that the Ino-Shika-Cho trio might have only reported the names of their techniques, and when it came to statistics, they just reported a C-level and that was it.
Inoichi continued, "There are some derived techniques in the clan's secret techniques, but we won't talk about those today. I'll only mention the main part. Our clan's secret techniques start with the Mind Body Switch Technique and have four stages in total. My talent and capacity are insufficient, my aptitude is dull, and my will is weak. I have only reached the second stage, which is completing the practice of the Mind Disturbance Technique."
Hearing the word "capacity," which was portrayed in a twisted way in the Shadow of Fire, Ino felt a shiver in her liver.
No way? Does our clan's secret technique practice also test "capacity"? Do I still have a chance to be a filial daughter? Yamanaka Inoichi didn't seem to intend to test "capacity" on the spot, which made her breathe a sigh of relief.
She asked her question, "Four stages? What are the two stages after the Mind Body Switch Technique and the Mind Disturbance Technique?"
Having spoken more, Inoichi was no longer as nervous as he was when he first communicated with his daughter. To increase Ino's enthusiasm for learning the secret techniques, he naturally mastered the skill of painting a grand picture.
"Currently, the ninja world's criteria for judging ninja techniques are not accurate, but roughly speaking, based on the difficulty of learning, our clan's secret techniques, starting from the Mind Body Switch Technique, can correspond to the current C-level, B-level, A-level, and S-level techniques up to the fourth stage."
The Yamanaka Clan's secret techniques can reach S-level? Ino felt that tonight's father-daughter conversation had touched on a blind spot in her knowledge.
"What are the names of the latter two stages of the Secret Technique?" she asked.
Inoichi smiled gracefully, teasing her a bit: "I'll tell you when you master the Mind Body Switch Technique."
Ino: "..."
Inoichi coughed lightly: "The Mind Body Switch Technique is the foundation of everything. C-level Ninja Techniques correspond to the difficulty level of Middle Ninja, and they are extremely challenging to learn. Our Clan Secret Techniques are at least half a level higher in difficulty, Ino. Be mentally prepared."
"Mm-hmm." Inoichi pointed at himself: "Use your sensory ability to perceive me. Let me see the strength of your spiritual energy."
Sensory ability isn't a Secret Technique; it's widely known and one of the few abilities that can slightly enhance spiritual energy. Ino had been training her sensory ability for the past three months since her transmigration. Now, she closed her eyes, formed the "Mi" hand seal with her left hand above her right, and focused all her attention on Inoichi.
"Perceive!"
After the fusion of two souls, her spiritual energy had surged significantly. Combined with her dedicated training, Inoichi immediately felt a massive wave of spiritual energy assaulting his mind.
Ino's spiritual energy was scattered, superficial, and lacked control. Even though its quantity was far greater than an average person's, it still couldn't breach the defenses of a master of mental control like Inoichi.
"Not enough, increase the intensity."
"Push harder. Your spiritual energy can't harm me. Use more force!"
"Is this all you've got? At this level, you won't be able to defeat the heiress of the Hyuga clan. Put in more effort!"
Ino was speechless. She had only used Hinata as an excuse to motivate herself to learn the Clan Secret Techniques. Now, to fuel her competitive spirit, poor Hinata was being brought up again.
She understood Inoichi's intentions and clenched her teeth, imagining Hinata as Kaguya Otsutsuki, desperately drawing spiritual energy from the depths of her soul and launching a tidal wave-like assault on Inoichi's mental defenses.
This was the first time Inoichi had to defend against his daughter's spiritual energy, and he had to admit, he was a bit stunned.
He never expected his daughter's spiritual energy to be this strong! While there was still a significant gap in quality, the quantity had already surpassed his own.
It's worth noting that spiritual energy is incredibly difficult to enhance after birth. In the current ninja world, there are no particularly effective methods to boost spiritual energy—it's largely innate.
Inoichi clenched his fists, elated!
The Ino-Shika-Cho alliance was indeed a bond of genuine camaraderie among the three clans, but internally, there was also competition to determine the hierarchy.
The Yamanaka Clan, for instance, had been the leader of the alliance for over a century, but due to various reasons, their status within the alliance had been steadily declining.
The Akimichi Clan, full of seemingly easygoing and honest individuals, actually had their own subtle ambitions.
The 14th generation "Butterfly," Akimichi Torifu, was a disciple of the Second Hokage, Tobirama Senju, and had a glorious military record and widespread fame. If he hadn't died during the Nine-Tails' rampage, he would undoubtedly have stood alongside Shimura Danzo, Mitokado Homura, and Koharu Utatane as a senior advisor in the village.
The "Deer" was even stronger.
The current head of the family, the fifteenth generation "Deer," Nara Shikaku, is the leader of the Jonin squad in Konoha Village. His reputation as a brilliant strategist resonates across the nations. When the Fourth Shadow of Fire was appointed and the Third Shadow of Fire returned to power, Nara Shikaku, along with the three village elders, held the authority to recommend and vote for the new Shadow of Fire.
The Yamanaka Clan, known as the "Boar," had been in decline for too long. Today, Inoichi finally saw a glimmer of hope for resurgence in Ino.