Level 5 Yin Release was incredibly effective. Since she had already been seen through, Ino no longer concealed herself.
Her Three-Tomoe Sharingan stared at the Nine-Tailed.
If Sasuke's Three-Tomoe Sharingan could suppress the Nine-Tailed's arrogance, Ino naturally could as well.
Using her Sharingan to forcefully suppress it while simultaneously manipulating its mind with the Mind Disturbance Technique, the Nine-Tailed gradually calmed down before her.
Regardless of whether it was Yin Kurama or Yang Kurama, they were one entity. Ino could clearly feel that the bridge of friendship she had built with the Nine-Tailed using Mind Disturbance also had another branch, connecting to a very distant, yet extremely familiar place.
Without a doubt, that place was definitely Shinigami's Different Space.
When the Mind Disturbance Technique ended, she looked at Yang Kurama. He had his arms crossed, eyes slightly closed, and head held high, looking quite disdainful. However, the joyful wagging of his tail behind him showed that his attitude was now completely different from before.
Ino had always worried about Yin Kurama tearing her apart once she obtained it. Now, with a bit of goodwill as a foundation, future matters would be much easier to handle.
"I won't control you for Naruto, and you won't expose my Sharingan. How about it? Is this a promise between friends?"
"Hmph, you humans always like to play these boring tricks! This old man won't say anything, not even if you beat me to death."
Ino smiled.
Dealing with the tsundere Nine-Tailed was actually very easy: show him your strength, then give him a little respect, and the matter would be resolved smoothly.
Once Naruto stabilized at the three-tailed state, Ino stopped provoking him.
The various scenes in the genjutsu earlier were indeed a bit heartbreaking.
Like Sasuke preparing to force himself on Sakura, only for Sakura to secretly enjoy it, turn the tables, and shatter Sasuke's kidney with her butt.
Like Sasuke being unfaithful and Sakura forcibly confiscating his 'tools of the trade'.
Like Sasuke and Sakura getting together, and then Sasuke being run over and killed by a donkey cart driven by Ino.
Like Sasuke and Sakura getting together, and then Sakura getting a terminal illness.
Dozens of versions of such bizarre scenarios were played out.
Seeing these strange scenes, Naruto's heart was broken.
Ino told him to get familiar with the Three-Tails state of the Tailed Beast Cloak. Once he mastered this state, they could talk about upgrading.
Naruto obediently went to the side to practice.
Ino also began her own training.
After pushing the Wood Release responsibility onto Tsunade, she gained two Pot Points. Should she add them to Level 4 Wood Release? She still needed one more point. Should she add them to Ninja Eight Skills? It seemed many attributes needed to be added, there were too many choices, and for a moment, she didn't know which one to add.
After repeated deliberation, she invested the Pot Points into the Lightning Release Chakra area.
It was simply too difficult to develop the remaining Lightning Release Chakra with her own abilities.
Lightning Release countered Earth Release, and was countered by Wind Release. Her Earth Release was Level 5, and Wind Release was Level 4, both very high levels. To develop Lightning Release Chakra in such a mutually counteracting situation, from the 'cracks' so to speak, would require a lot of time and effort, making it not worth it.
Using Pot Points directly was the easiest way.
Anyway, it was just one point.
Lightning Release was activated, and then she invested another Pot Point, upgrading it to Lightning Release Level 2.
Now she possessed seven Chakra natures: Wind, Lightning, Earth, Water, Fire, Yin, and Yang.
She secretly thought, the next time she saw Kakashi and Sasuke, she would copy their Lightning Blade and Chidori! Kakashi had freeloaded so many Ninjutsu from her, this time she definitely had to get her money's worth.
Orochimaru was conducting experiments in a laboratory outside the Village.
The equipment in the laboratory was not paid for by the Village's accounts; Jiraiya had personally paid for all of it for him.
In addition to Anko Mitarashi, Yamato, and Root Ninja who were openly monitoring him, Jiraiya had also arranged for Konan to monitor Orochimaru before he left the Village to gather materials.
In reality, he made the two monitor each other.
Orochimaru and Konan were naturally incompatible; their relationship was extremely poor, making it almost impossible for them to escape together.
His soul had returned, and most of his Chakra had also returned, so Orochimaru had been very well-behaved lately, at least he appeared to be.
He finished a day's experiments, cleaned the experimental equipment, and Konan watched him coldly before turning and returning to her room to rest.
Orochimaru picked up a book and read it carefully. No one noticed a dark blue, rough-skinned toad covered in bumps on its back, crouching at his feet.
The toad's skin matched the color of its surroundings, making it very difficult to spot even at close range.
Orochimaru discreetly handed a test tube to the toad, and the toad opened its mouth and swallowed the test tube.
Orochimaru said with interest, "This is Jiraiya's cells that I promised to provide to you. This is the fifth time, and our transaction is now complete."
He paused, "Although it's a transaction, I still want to remind you traitors of Mount Myōboku that this kind of cloning is meaningless; the success rate is simply too low."
The toad showed a rather human-like expression, somewhat like mockery: "The technology we possess far exceeds the limits of your imagination. The truth is, we have already succeeded, and we are not traitors. We are merely offering a new interpretation of the Great Toad Sage's prophecy."
Orochimaru licked his lips: "Whatever, I'm no longer interested in those things anyway."
The toad stepped into the darkness. Before leaving, it looked back and said, "We can save you. You know our power. Behind us stands a true deity, not a prophecy, not an illusory savior, but a great god. Our leader will answer all your questions, the secret of the Rinnegan, the secret of the Tailed Beast, the ultimate secret of this world. Compared to us, the Akatsuki Organization is just a slightly larger ant."
Orochimaru seemed somewhat swayed, his expression changing twice, but in the end, he waved his hand: "I am no longer who I once was. Finding the answers through my own strength, I think that would be more interesting. You may go."
The toad snorted: "You will regret it."
Ino trained with Naruto. A week later, she received news that Jiraiya was hospitalized.
In the original timeline, Jiraiya suffered two serious injuries: once from being beaten by Tsunade, and once from being hit by Naruto's half-Tailed Beast transformation during training.
Now, he also suffered two serious injuries: once from being beaten by Tsunade, and the other time also from being beaten by Tsunade!
After learning the whole story, Ino was equally furious.
What kind of person is this!? You dump your work on me and go out to seek pleasure?
Despite her displeasure, she still stopped the fuming Tsunade. Shizune and Tonton also tried to persuade her.
Ino hugged Tsunade's waist: "Teacher, don't get agitated, please don't get agitated. It's not the first day you've known what kind of person he is. If you hit him again, you'll really kill him!"
Shizune gave a forced smile and held Tsunade's arm: "Yes, Lady Tsunade, please give Hokage-sama another chance. He was just confused for a moment…"
Tonton made two "Puu-puu" sounds from the side.
Being seriously ill and hospitalized was actually just an act of feigning pity. At the Jonin meeting the next morning, Ino saw a bruised and battered Jiraiya.
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