Ino pondered silently. Isn't the Mind Body Switch Technique just a C-rank ninja technique? Is it really that difficult? Does it take three to five years to master? She hesitated. If it truly took three to five years to cultivate the Yamanaka clan's secret technique, 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 Ōtsutsuki at seventeen and getting married at nineteen, she only had five years of training time. If she spent five years practicing a family secret technique with little future prospects, by the time of the Infinite Tsukuyomi, she would only be waiting to win by default.
After carefully going over Inoichi's words twice in her mind, she suddenly realized she had misunderstood. Inoichi, her cheap father, was sparing with his words and hadn't been clear. When he mentioned the family's secret technique, 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.
Inoichi looked at her seriously, and she nodded firmly, showing her determination.
To play the part fully, she even muttered softly, "I must defeat Hinata."
Ino quickly pushed the door open and left, leaving the father and daughter sitting cross-legged on the floor in the room.
"The name of the family's secret technique is the Mind Body Switch Technique. In the village's assessment, its difficulty level is C-rank, making it a genuine middle ninja-level technique. But..." Inoichi paused.
"...but they don't know that this assessment is not accurate. The Mind Body Switch Technique is the foundation of all the Yamanaka clan's secret techniques, and its difficulty is not something a C-rank technique can encompass."
Ino nodded. A family's secret technique was the foundation of the clan. No matter how strong the sense of belonging to the village, they wouldn't hand it over.
She even suspected that the Ino-Shika-Chō trio might have only reported the names of their techniques, marking them as C-rank during the census, and that was it.
Inoichi continued, "There are some derived techniques in the family's secret arts, but we won't talk about those today. I'll only discuss the main part. Our family's secret techniques start with the Mind Body Switch Technique and have four stages. My talent and capacity are insufficient, my aptitude is dull, and my will is weak. Currently, I've only reached the second stage, which is completing the training of the Mind Body Disturbance Technique."
Hearing the word "capacity," which was portrayed in a twisted manner in the Shadow of Fire, Ino felt a shiver.
No way? Does our family's secret technique training also test "capacity"? Do I still have a chance to be a filial daughter? Inoichi didn't seem to intend to test her "capacity" on the spot, which made her breathe a sigh of relief.
She voiced her confusion, "Four stages? What are the two stages after the Mind Body Switch Technique and the Mind Body Disturbance Technique?"
Having spoken more, Inoichi was no longer as nervous as he was at the beginning of the conversation with his daughter. To increase Ino's enthusiasm for learning the secret techniques, he naturally mastered the art 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 family's secret techniques, starting from the Mind Body Switch Technique up to the fourth stage, can correspond to the current C-rank, B-rank, A-rank, and S-rank techniques."
The Yamanaka clan's secret techniques can reach S-rank? Ino felt that tonight's father-daughter conversation had touched upon her knowledge blind spot.
"What are the names of the latter two stages of the secret techniques?" she asked.
Shikaku smiled gracefully, keeping her in suspense: "I'll tell you when you complete the Mind Body Switch Technique."
Ino: "..."
Shikaku coughed lightly: "The Mind Body Switch Technique is the foundation of everything. C-rank ninja techniques correspond to the difficulty level of a Middle Ninja, and they are extremely challenging to learn. Our clan's secret techniques are at least half a level higher than that, Ino. Be mentally prepared."
"Mm-hmm." Shikaku 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 circulated and is 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, placed her left hand over her right, forming the "Mi" hand seal, and focused all her attention on Shikaku.
"Sense!"
After the fusion of two souls, her spiritual energy had surged significantly. Combined with her dedicated training, Shikaku immediately felt a massive wave of spiritual energy assaulting his mind.
Ino's spiritual energy was scattered, floating and insubstantial, lacking the means to concentrate. Even though its quantity was much greater than an average person's, it still couldn't breach the defenses of a master of mental control like Shikaku.
"Not enough, increase the power."
"Push harder, your spiritual energy can't harm me yet, push!"
"Is this all you've got? At this rate, you won't be able to defeat the heiress of the Hyuga clan. Push harder!"
Ino was speechless. She had only used Hinata as a pretext to learn her clan's secret techniques. Now, to fuel her competitive spirit, poor Hinata was being brought up again.
She understood Shikaku's intention and gritted her teeth, imagining Hinata as Kaguya Ōtsutsuki, desperately drawing spiritual energy from the depths of her soul, and launched a tidal wave-like assault on Shikaku's mental defenses.
This was the first time Shikaku had to withstand 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, in terms of quantity, it had already surpassed his own.
It's important to know that spiritual energy is incredibly difficult to enhance postnatally. In the current ninja world, there aren't very effective methods to boost spiritual energy; it's largely innate.
Shikaku clenched his fist, elated!
The Ino-Shika-Chō alliance was indeed a bond of sincere camaraderie, but within the three families, there was also a competitive relationship, with a hierarchy to be established.
The Yamanaka clan, not to mention, had been the team leader for over a century. Now, due to various reasons, their position within the alliance had been steadily declining.
The Akimichi clan, full of seemingly unambitious, honest, and simple-minded individuals, actually had their own subtle ambitions.
The 14th generation "Butterfly," Akimichi Torifu, was a disciple of the Second Hokage, Senju Tobirama, with a glorious military record and a far-reaching reputation. If he hadn't died during the Nine-Tails' attack, Akimichi Torifu would undoubtedly be on par with Shimura Danzō, Mitokado Homura, and Utatane Koharu, serving 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 family, known as the "Boar," had been in decline for too long. Today, Inoichi finally saw a glimmer of hope for resurgence in Ino.