Ino's speed has always been high; in fact, it could be considered her strong suit.
The original Ino never really trained seriously; her mind was always on Prince Charming or her best girl friend, so it's hard to say what she was thinking about all day.
After Ino transmigrated, her training in speed was only moderate, yet she could fight Uchiha Sasuke, who diligently trained, to a draw in close combat. What does this indicate? It shows that her body inherently possessed great speed.
The 5 points in 'Speed' are mostly an innate, primitive attribute of the body, a treasure bestowed upon descendants by that Bandit King ancestor. We truly don't have a Bloodline Limit, but we're naturally fast runners! In times of war, the Nara Clan has wisdom, the Akimichi Clan members all look harmless, and the Yamanaka Clan has survived to this day because their specialty is speed! Isn't that right? The moniker 'Yamanaka Wild Boar' isn't for nothing!
Ino estimates that if she trains diligently for some time, with a woman's agility combined with her genetic gift, her speed could increase to 6 or even 7.
In the future, 'Speed' will definitely need to be increased to 10, but the timing for these points is crucial.
Unless one is dead, no matter how fast one runs, they can't escape the Infinite Tsukuyomi. You can't just run all the way to the moon, can you? Let's not dwell on that.
When Pain comes to Konoha, she can run away early. As soon as she sees him floating into the sky, ignore his nonsense and just run! There's a 60-70% chance she can escape.
Orochimaru's Konoha Destruction Plan was actually not very dangerous; in fact, it was quite safe. Many of Konoha Village's high-level combatants barely even made a move during that battle.
Might Guy wanted to assist the Third Hokage, but Kakashi held him back, claiming, 'We must believe in Hokage-sama.' The result was two Kage-level powerhouses standing back-to-back, making random gestures with a few Otogakure grunts, while watching the Third Hokage use the Dead Demon Consuming Seal.
The fifteenth generation Ino–Shika–Choji also appeared in the mid-to-late stages of the Konoha Destruction Plan to play a minor role. Good heavens, three Jonin with rich combat experience, relying on their inherited Secret Technique and skilled cooperation, actually contended with a few Sunagakure soldiers for a long time, fighting to a stalemate. Can you believe it?
The other Hyuga Clan and Aburame Clan members, including many Root Ninja under Danzo, didn't even move. The Konoha Destruction Plan was practically a solo act by Orochimaru and the Third Hokage. Ino estimated that when the time comes, she'll emulate the spirit of the fifteenth generation Ino–Shika–Choji, team up with Shikamaru and Choji to casually fight some grunts, and that will count as participating in the battle.
'Speed' is very important, but it's not an essential attribute at this stage. Maxing it out before Pain arrives is sufficient.
Her body has entered puberty, and her strength, physique, and speed, all aspects of her physical quality, are improving slightly every day. Using Pot Points to add to these attributes now would be a bit wasteful.
6 points in 'Chakra' is also barely enough. Kakashi has 6 points, and she remembers Asuma should have 7. In this battle, if she hadn't been backstabbed by the Indra Chakra, her Chakra would have been completely sufficient. Drinking potions at home every day, plus the natural growth of puberty, she feels her 'Chakra' should still grow a bit on its own.
'Speed' and 'Chakra' are not urgent at the moment.
'Water Release' is currently Level 1. With more practice, it can still advance another level. This is also not urgent.
The maximum value for basic attributes is 10 points, while the maximum level for elemental Ninjutsu is Level 5.
Level 1 corresponds to a Genin, Level 2 to a Chunin, Level 3 to a Special Jonin, Level 4 to a Jonin, and Level 5 to a Kage. Here, advancing from Level 2 to Level 3 requires 2 Pot Points, from Level 3 to Level 4 requires 3, and from Level 4 to Level 5 requires 4.
If Ino were to raise 'Ninjutsu,' 'Chakra,' and 'Hand Seals' to 10, and 'Water Release' to Level 5, the power of her Water Release would probably be comparable to the Second Hokage's. Of course, 'comparable' here refers only to Water Release. The Second Hokage practiced Water Release more often to counter the Uchiha Clan's Fire Release; in battle, he primarily relied on Flying Thunder God to kill enemies.
Advancing 'Yin Release' from Level 2 to Level 3 requires 2 Pot Points, and advancing 'Ninjutsu' from 7 to 8 also requires 2 Pot Points. Ino weighed these two options.
'Yin Release' and mental energy are directly related to the success rate of her clan's Secret Technique, Mind Disturbance Technique, and later the Mind Body Switch Technique. In her opinion, the Mind Disturbance Technique, which uses one's own mental energy to interfere with, modify, and long-term influence the will of a powerful living being, is already comparable to Kotoamatsukami.
Kotoamatsukami is a Genjutsu of the Mangekyo Sharingan, requiring immense mental energy, and has an extremely long cooldown time. The Mind Disturbance Technique also requires an incredibly large amount of mental energy; 99.9% of the Yamanaka Clan members cannot achieve this level.
Ino has 'seen' the intensity of Indra Chakra. Frankly, she believes that even if she diligently trains Yin Release and adds points to reach Level 5, the accumulated mental energy would still not be enough to achieve the level of Mind Disturbance. Humans have limits; how can a human control a god? Is she supposed to tell Inoichi, 'Dad, I'm not human anymore!'
It seems that the only way out is to find a good friend and then personally kill them to obtain massive mental energy.
Ino doesn't want to become mentally ill. The method she thought of was to rely on Ninjutsu.
She set her sights on Kato Dan's 'Spirit Transformation Technique.' This technique should be able to significantly boost mental energy and is very compatible with the Yamanaka Clan's Secret Technique. However, Kato Dan died many years ago, and as his clan's Secret Technique, the Village does not have the Spirit Transformation Technique recorded. To learn this technique, she would have to find a way through Tsunade and Shizune later on.
If Tsunade and Shizune don't have the Spirit Transformation Technique, she'll have to resort to the most troublesome method: try Edo Tensei and have Kato Dan teach her personally.
After some deliberation, Ino invested two Pot Points into the 'Ninjutsu' area. The two Pot Points converged into a powerful energy, increasing her 'Ninjutsu' from 7 to 8.
In just an instant, she felt that her understanding of Ninjutsu, her inspiration when learning Ninjutsu, and the power when casting Ninjutsu had all increased to varying degrees.
When she fought Sasuke earlier, the reason Wild Water Wave could suppress the Great Fireball Technique in a short period was not only due to the elemental advantage, but Ino's higher 'Ninjutsu' stat compared to Sasuke was also a key factor.
Now that her 'Ninjutsu' has gone from 7 to 8, if Sasuke were to use the Great Fireball Technique on her again, her Wild Water Wave would instantly overwhelm his.
'Ninjutsu' 8 is already very high in the Ninja World. Yakushi Kabuto, before leaving Konoha Village, was roughly at this level.
After adding the points, she felt she had new ideas for the several Ninjutsu she had already mastered. At this point, her skill level made learning Jonin-level Ninjutsu effortless. She planned to find an opportunity to talk to Inoichi about learning the Shadow Clone Technique.
She wouldn't need to create too many Shadow Clones; four would be enough. Then, one could practice Taijutsu, one could practice Secret Techniques and Yin Release, one could practice Water Release, and one could practice hand seals. Her weaknesses would quickly be remedied.
---------------------------------
If you'd like to read the next 40 chapters in advance, you can support me on Patreon.
I regularly post chapter previews there, so you'll always be up-to-date and won't have to wait too long.
👉 patreon.com/SolyuraMT
And if you enjoy the story, don't forget to give me a Power Stone. Your support really motivates me to continue translating!