"By the way, what is Ino-neechan's goal?" Moegi asked seriously.
Ino's gaze drifted into the distance: "It should be to become an excellent Female Ninja like Lady Tsunade."
Boasting is also a common trait among many Ninja, and Naruto-kun constantly saying, "I'm going to be Hokage," is a prime example.
You must find a goal, let those around you know your ambition, regardless of whether it's reasonable or not; that's just how Konoha Village is.
If Ino wanted to reach a higher position, she had to establish a suitable and defensible persona early on, letting those around her, including but not limited to her parents, teachers, and friends, know her aspirations.
Tsunade was one of her few choices.
Konoha's Sannin were all excellent teachers; Orochimaru's help to Sasuke was evident to all. Although Jiraiya's teaching of Naruto-kun seemed like a sham – "I won't teach Wind Release Chakra Nature Transformation, I won't teach Sage Mode, I won't teach Tailed Beast Transformation" – he just focused on the basics. In reality, he indeed filled in Naruto-kun's flimsy foundations, and without those foundations, there would have been no later accumulation and explosive growth.
Tsunade also taught Sakura-chan with dedication. Despite being so busy as Hokage, barely having time to drink, she still made time to train the weak Sakura-chan into a capable Female Ninja.
Taijutsu, Sage Mode, Spirit Transformation Technique, Medical Ninjutsu—these are all things Ino lacked and could theoretically learn from Tsunade.
In the original timeline, Ino also apprenticed under Tsunade, but she didn't manage to learn much, missing a good opportunity. Now, Ino tells everyone that she aims to be like Tsunade, so when she eventually seeks to become her disciple, it won't seem abrupt.
Moegi nodded like a pecking chick: "Mhm, I also want to take Ino-neechan as my goal and become an outstanding Female Ninja like Lady Tsunade!"
She didn't say, "Tsunade is our family's relative," which left Ino a little disappointed, but it was normal. The family ties between them were likely very distant; not only would children not know, but adults probably wouldn't either. The Third Hokage allowing her to play with his grandson likely meant he considered them ordinary Ninja families and didn't associate them with the Senju Clan at all.
If the secret of them being descendants of the Senju Clan were exposed, Danzo would have already moved to capture them; why wait until today?
This big secret should not have been exposed.
Their relationship could be slowly developed; Ino was not in a hurry.
She tested Moegi's Chakra affinity with Chakra paper, and sure enough, the little girl's strongest affinity was also Water Release, followed by Earth Release, exactly like Ino.
Considering that Moegi would become the Jonin leader of the seventeenth Ino–Shika–Choji in the future, Ino even wondered if this little girl was also related to her? If there was no family connection, why would she be chosen to lead the next generation of Ino–Shika–Choji?
Seeing that their Chakra natures were exactly the same, Ino decided to increase her investment.
She gave Moegi a scroll containing her own learning experiences with Water Release Chakra Nature Transformation. The Mist Transformation Technique and Water Prison Technique were provided to her by the Yamanaka Clan, and even though many people knew them, due to clan regulations, she couldn't teach them to outsiders. However, her personal learning experiences were different; those were her own. She had given one to Sakura-chan that day, and now she would give one to Moegi as well.
Ino immediately rose to the position of big sister in Moegi's heart. This learning scroll was clearly more advanced than the Sexy Jutsu, no matter how you looked at it, right? She had decided on this big sister!
"Goodbye, Ino-neechan! Come play at my house when you're free!"
"Goodbye, Moegi, study hard!"
The week-long holiday quickly ended.
The graduating Genin were about to have their team assignment briefing.
At 8:30, Ino arrived at the academy.
"Did your Shadow Clone come today?" Shikamaru asked her listlessly.
"How could it be? My main body is here. Isn't today the team assignment briefing? Sending a clone would be disrespectful to the Jonin leader."
Asuma Sarutobi, the Third Hokage's son, was assigned to lead their generation's Ino–Shika–Choji; Inoichi had told her this news long ago.
Both for public and private reasons, Ino had to send her main body; this was basic etiquette.
There were still thirty minutes until the 9:00 briefing, so she sat quietly in her seat, waiting.
"Sasuke-kun?!" Sakura-chan pushed open the door and walked into the classroom, rushing towards Sasuke immediately.
Naruto-kun, as usual, stood up and tried to attract Sakura-chan's attention with clumsy antics.
Now, without Ino and Sakura-chan arguing, there were still many Sasuke fangirls in the class, with several girls circling Sasuke as if competing for his favor.
Naruto-kun was infuriated by Sasuke's popularity with women. He leaped onto Sasuke's desk, glaring down at him. Both their eyes held killing intent.
Sakura-chan saw Naruto-kun challenging her Prince Charming and angrily threw a punch at Naruto-kun: "You idiot Naruto-kun, get away from Sasuke… Ah! What, what is this—"
Naruto-kun screamed as his left arm was shattered by Sakura-chan's punch. Blood, muscle, and bone splattered everywhere like a fountain, with some even splashing onto Sakura-chan's face and clothes.
She was completely stunned. How could this happen?
Did she have such immense strength? Her voice trembled; she knew she had caused a huge disaster but didn't know how to fix it, only mechanically repeating: "Naruto-kun, I'm sorry, I didn't mean to, I really didn't mean to—"
Sakura-chan was filled with anxiety, watching Naruto-kun glare at her menacingly. In just an instant, Naruto-kun's hair turned from yellow to red, and his usually somewhat mischievous eyes now held immense authority.
Naruto-kun's eyes widened, and he said to her, word by word: "Get out!"
"Listen to me, let me explain…"
"Get out!"
Sakura-chan's eyes were filled with tears, and she instinctively looked for Ino. In her mind, Ino might have a way to solve the current problem.
Ino? As she thought this, she realized something was wrong. Where was Ino?
She looked around again, and the more she looked, the more she felt something was off. There were simply too many suspicious points around her.
Recalling the knowledge taught in class, she judged that she must have fallen under a Genjutsu.
Currently, in the class, the only person capable of learning Genjutsu and then deliberately using it to prank her… she could only think of one person!
"Ino! I won't forgive you! Ahhhh—!"
With a final glimmer of hope, Sakura-chan closed her eyes and forcefully channeled the Chakra within her to form hand signs: "None of this is real, it's a Genjutsu, it must be a Genjutsu! Release! Release! Release it for me!"
The world of Genjutsu receded like a tide. Sakura-chan opened her eyes and found everyone looking dumbfounded.
She immediately spotted Ino with a strange expression in the crowd: "Ino, I'm going to kill you! Huh? What are you all looking at?"
Sakura-chan sharply turned her head and realized that when she dispelled the Genjutsu, she had knocked over a desk, and on that desk stood an annoying pest named Naruto-kun.
The desk was knocked over, the annoying pest lost his balance, his center of gravity shifted forward, and just like that, he ended up face-to-face with Sasuke, perfectly stable together.
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