Chakra swirled the water into the air, forming a faint white mist that covered an area of a hundred meters, and Ino's figure disappeared from Sasuke's sight.
The Jonin watching and the Third Hokage who had just arrived reacted indifferently; they all knew that the Yamanaka Clan had accumulated a large number of Ninjutsu, mostly from hostile Ninja Villages like Hidden Mist Village and Iwagakure.
Hidden Mist Technique was merely a D-rank Water Release Ninjutsu that even a Genin could learn, so it was nothing new.
The Ninja Academy students, however, found it very shocking. In this era, Ninja did not have the habit of writing all their life's learning in scrolls they carried, only for enemies to loot their bodies and learn from them.
Most civilian Ninja could only learn Transformation Technique, Body Replacement Technique, and Clone Technique at the Ninja Academy, commonly known as the Three Body Technique.
Those with talent would be recruited into Anbu by the Hokage, where they could learn Body Immobilization Technique, Body Flicker Technique, and Invisibility Technique, which were called advanced Three Body Technique.
Besides these Ninjutsu, the best option for the remaining civilians was to join the Medical Corps to learn Medical Ninjutsu, or join the Cipher Corps, Intelligence Corps, or Interrogation Corps to learn corresponding professional Ninjutsu.
Apart from these avenues, it was difficult for civilian Ninja to access more Ninjutsu. Many civilian Ninja who had not participated in the Third Shinobi World War had never even heard of the Hidden Mist Village Ninjutsu Ino was currently using.
Sasuke had also never seen the Hidden Mist Technique. His Sharingan had awakened on the night of the Uchiha Clan massacre, but it was an unconscious awakening. Its proper awakening was during his fight with Haku, so he did not have his Sharingan active at this time.
He looked left and right, his brows furrowed. The mist was so thick that he had no idea where Ino was.
The students watching couldn't help but whisper. Naruto, holding his head, was confused and asked Sakura beside him, "Um, are they..."
Sakura's eyes were wide, trying to help Sasuke find Ino's location. Naruto's sudden question annoyed her, and she punched him, "Shut up! Be quiet!"
Sasuke had quite a few fangirls, and many girls shared her sentiment. A group of them racked their brains, all wanting to help Sasuke defeat the great demon king Ino.
The children of several Ninja clans were all thinking. Kiba quietly asked his Ninja dog if it could find Ino's location in the dense fog, while Shino Aburame conversed with the parasitic insects inside him.
They all had ways to break through the Hidden Mist Technique.
Hyuga Hinata activated her Byakugan and quickly found Ino's location.
Sasuke was temporarily helpless against the dense fog. After the initial few seconds of discomfort, he calmed down. He hadn't been attacked immediately, and he estimated that this Ninjutsu affected both friend and foe; if he couldn't see Ino, Ino probably couldn't see him either.
His footsteps were light as he slowly moved towards the edge, hoping to get out of the dense fog's coverage. Even if he couldn't get out, he couldn't stand still and be a target.
Inoichi, watching the battle, laughed and said, "Haha, this Uchiha Clan child is actually quite good. He's calm and has a clear combat strategy. This response is perfectly fine."
Shikaku knew his old friend's thoughts and quickly took over the role of hype man, "Ino is also very good. She knows how to make reasonable use of the terrain and Ninjutsu. Although the dense fog obscures vision, combined with her perception abilities and the Yamanaka Clan's Secret Technique, victory is without suspense."
Inoichi waved his hands repeatedly, "No, no, she's still far from it. This child's aptitude and willpower are not good enough. Alas, it's worrying me to death."
While the Jonin chatted idly and the students looked bewildered, Ino, through her perception abilities, had already "seen" Sasuke, who was stealthily inching towards the edge of the dense fog like a thief.
The Hidden Mist Technique had a major flaw: both friend and foe lost their vision, which was very troublesome.
Perception Ninja's attack methods were always weak. Even if they found an enemy in the dense fog, it was difficult to achieve a fatal blow. Notifying teammates? That would definitely expose their own position, which was completely suicidal.
A month ago, Ino discovered that the Hidden Mist Technique combined with the Yamanaka Clan's perception abilities and Mind Body Switch Technique was a perfect match. The Hidden Mist Technique obscured vision, perception abilities found the enemy, and Mind Body Switch Technique could tell companions the enemy's location, after which they could attack!
Now she didn't have teammates, but she possessed the ability to deliver a fatal blow.
Ino leaned against a tree, shifting her weight backward, then extended her arms horizontally, forming a "heart" hand sign, aiming it at Sasuke.
"Ninja Art: Mind Body Switch Technique!" Her body leaned against the big tree as if she had fallen asleep, while her Chakra, carrying her will, shot towards Sasuke like an invisible arrow.
Before the crisis arrived, Sasuke had a momentary premonition of danger. He subtly shifted his body, thinking it was a Shuriken, Kunai, or something similar.
If it were the basic Mind Body Switch Technique, it would have missed, but fortunately, Ino's Yin Release had been strengthened to level two, making the Ninjutsu more flexible. It made a slight turn and hit Sasuke from the side.
"Bang!"
Sasuke felt his mind go blank, then realized a powerful consciousness suddenly invaded his brain, like a bandit, pushing him aside and gaining control of his body.
This was the Yamanaka Clan's Secret Technique?!
Suddenly encountering such a bizarre event, even though he always prided himself on his calm mind, he was still a little flustered at this moment. After all, he was only twelve years old.
Without any mental preparation, control of his body was gone.
He wanted to counterattack, to resist, but he had no corresponding means.
Calm down, calm down, he kept encouraging himself, but if there was no way, there was no way.
"Get out!"
"You get out of here!"
"Ugly woman! Get out!"
He roared desperately in his mind, but Ino ignored him and instead focused on studying the Uchiha Clan's Bloodline Limit.
Whether it was the Sharingan, or the later Mangekyo Sharingan and Rinnegan, they were essentially a form of extreme spiritual energy represented by Yin Release.
In essence, there was no difference between the Sharingan and the Yamanaka Clan's Secret Technique; both originated from nothing, with spiritual energy as their source, a form of Yin Release.
The difference was that the Uchiha Clan had the bloodline of the Ōtsutsuki alien, while the Yamanaka Clan did not. Their ancestors were bandits, pure Blue Planet natives. Even if the Yamanaka Clan developed Yin Release to its extreme, with incredibly powerful spiritual energy, they could not develop the Sharingan; it simply wasn't in their genes.
"What exactly are you doing?! Get out of me!" Sasuke was furious, but in reality, he was already a little panicked.
"Don't rush, don't rush, I'm just curious, is your spiritual energy really this strong?" Ino didn't mention the Sharingan, worrying that Sasuke would explode on the spot. She wanted to seize the opportunity to stall for a bit, to see what level of spiritual energy the Uchiha Clan had inherited from Indra. This was an important reference for her future "friendship" with the Shinigami, Evil Gods, and Enma.