A pair of white cotton leggings, a knee-length sky-blue T-shirt dress, and silvery pale gold hair tied into a high ponytail with a two-inch-wide blue ribbon, forming a beautiful bow. Mrs. Yamanaka admired her "masterpiece" with great satisfaction... "Ino really suits a high ponytail; she looks so energetic and beautiful... This T-shirt dress is full of youthful vigor—"
"Please, I'm only five years old... If a five-year-old child didn't have a sense of youth, that would be a disaster..."
Ino complained under her breath and adjusted her ponytail with her hand—she really didn't like this high ponytail. Although it was indeed cooler, with the wind blowing chilly against her neck, she still preferred a quiet, elegant, and more mature low ponytail—whether tied in front of her chest or at the nape of her neck, both were fine.
Mrs. Yamanaka took her hand and pulled on a pair of sunscreen gloves specially made for her, which reached all the way to her armpits.
"Mhm, mhm... Hurry up and get dressed, your father is waiting for you. On such a big day, you can't let your father be late—"
Ino:...Clearly she was being fast, it was you who insisted on making her change outfit after outfit, which is why it took so long!
"Mask!"
A sunscreen mask matching the T-shirt dress was quickly placed over Ino's face by Yamanaka Nobuko. After tidying her up, she finally stopped after putting a pair of light white leather boots on her.
Ino looked pitiful and tried to bargain with Yamanaka Nobuko: "Mom, can I not wear the leather boots? My feet are so hot..."
Yamanaka Nobuko said: "No... be good and listen. As a future Ninja, you must learn to endure—this is your first lesson in endurance. Look how beautiful you are. For such a formal occasion today, you must dress formally... Ino, you don't want your father to lose face, do you..."
...Ino resigned herself to fate and raised her hands in surrender.
Originally, she thought they could leave then, but as soon as she stepped out of the living room to meet her father, she heard Yamanaka Nobuko's "Wait a minute"—the father and daughter looked at each other, waiting in telepathic understanding. At this moment, both of them deeply agreed with Nara Shikaku's catchphrase: "Women are such a drag." When this kind of trouble fell on their own heads, the feeling was particularly profound.
Yamanaka Nobuko carried a small white canvas backpack, stuffing it full of cold green tea, mangoes, bananas, biscuits, jerky, and other drinks, food, and snacks... "Water, remember to drink when you're thirsty. Mangoes, bananas, oranges, grapes, strawberries... you have to finish all of these, no leftovers..."
Ino had lines of black on her forehead, and Inoichi Yamanaka was also speechless. Inoichi said: "Dear, the first exam only lasts about two hours, it's not necessary..."
Mrs. Yamanaka glared at him: "I didn't ask you to eat it. You too, take good care of Ino... Don't get so busy at the exam site that you forget about her."
"I wouldn't, I wouldn't..."
Inoichi Yamanaka wiped away non-existent sweat. With one hand, he pulled Ino and, with a slight exertion, hoisted her onto his shoulder, letting her sit on his left shoulder and upper arm. He curved his forearm to protect her waist and grabbed the backpack with his other hand, fleeing the scene.
Mrs. Yamanaka let out a giggle and spat lightly:
"Typical!"
Once they were out of the Yamanaka Clan's gate, Inoichi Yamanaka breathed a long sigh of relief and said to Ino: "Mom is really terrifying!"
Ino felt the same and nodded: "Yeah, so scary. I originally wanted to wear that white robe with pink flowers, but Mom said it looked like a bathrobe... too frivolous and inappropriate for a formal occasion." Ino's tone was full of regret—that robe was truly comfortable—light, loose, and breathable, not restrictive or stuffy at all.
Inoichi Yamanaka thought for a moment and said: "Well, that one is indeed a bit inappropriate."
As he spoke, he performed a Body Flicker.
In an instant, Ino clearly felt Inoichi's Chakra wash over her body, carrying her through an instantaneous change of position. With just one movement, they flickered about a hundred meters away. After pausing for less than a second on a wooden utility pole, he flickered again, and then again. After three consecutive flickers, they arrived at the Ninja Academy.
Inoichi Yamanaka set Ino down and took her hand into the General Teaching Building, heading all the way to the third floor and turning into a monitoring room.
The monitoring room was filled with Ninjas wearing clean green flak jackets and neatly tied headbands... Among these Ninjas, Ino recognized a few from the Yamanaka Clan, while the rest were unfamiliar faces. Their rank—likely similar to those from the Yamanaka Clan—were all Chunin.
Inoichi Yamanaka pressed down on Ino's head and introduced her: "My daughter, Ino." Ino greeted everyone: "Hello, everyone."
"Oh, hello Ino." Facing the daughter of Konoha's intelligence chief, everyone's attitude was gentle and friendly.
"To bring a child to such an important occasion as the Chunin Exams!" Before Fugaku Uchiha arrived, his voice preceded him, sounding with a heavy sense of pressure. Indeed, Fugaku Uchiha looked very fierce; his arrival caused the entire monitoring room to fall silent. Ino turned to look at Fugaku Uchiha; this was the first time she had seen the living Fugaku Uchiha, and she only felt that this person's attitude was very unlikable.
He—was out of place with the group here.
Inoichi Yamanaka said: "I brought the child here to see the world. Ino, this is the head of the Uchiha Clan... well, Sasuke's father. Call him Uncle."
Ino followed suit... "Uncle."
"Mhm." Fugaku Uchiha gave a noncommittal grunt and said nothing more. After all, whether from a practical standpoint or his own history, he didn't have a solid "reason"—compared to Inoichi bringing Ino to observe the exam to "see the world," him taking his four-year-old son to the battlefield was the truly excessive and inhuman act.
But the fierce Fugaku Uchiha still successfully caused the group of people resting in the monitoring room to fall into a cold silence.
The air visibly stagnated, no one spoke anymore, and the atmosphere was so stifling it felt like suffocation... This lasted for a long time.
"Woof—"
A large dog, as big and sturdy as a bear with a black back and white belly, pushed open the door with a paw and walked in.
This dog had only one ear and one eye; its remaining eye flickered with a fierce light, giving off a sense of pressure no less than that of Fugaku Uchiha.
Like a bad boy, it gave a fierce yet roguish smirk, intentionally scanning the crowd with its fierce gaze before focusing its eye on Ino. With the mischievous intent of scaring a child, it walked toward Ino with a highly oppressive stride and bared its teeth—
"Woof!"
Little brat, who do you roll with? Are you scared of your Lord Dog?
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