Kabuto was incredibly serious about things that interested him, to the point of being meticulous.
Ino, moonlighting as a historian, continuously borrowed ancient texts from the Yamanaka Clan, Nara Clan, and Akimichi Clan for research. Ninja clans valued Ninjutsu, but paid little attention to historical knowledge.
These books were real, but whether their records were true was another matter; there were many contradictory accounts. Kabuto didn't mind, spending every day sifting through old papers, searching for what Ino had dubbed "historical truths."
The Six Paths Sage, Indra, and Ashura had all become mythological legends.
Anything concerning the Sages Eye or the Sage's Body, Ino copied out, bundled up, and gave to Kabuto for research.
As an outstanding student representative, Ino received a D-Ranked Ninjutsu mission from the Konoha Ninja Academy in late June, three days before the Chunin Exams. She was to teach the younger students about the difference between a Ninja and a student.
The Academy also approached Hyuga Neji and Uchiha Sasuke, but both declined, citing busy training schedules.
Only Ino came to the Ninja Academy to teach a group of students.
After a pep talk, the students started to cheer, asking her to perform a Ninjutsu on the spot.
In this situation, she certainly couldn't bring out Fat Ino to perform Steam Impurities Explosion. These students hadn't carried rice sacks and couldn't grasp the true meaning of 'art is an explosion' yet.
Neither Water Severing Wave nor Water Formation Wall were suitable for performance, so she publicly used a C-Ranked Ninjutsu, Water Release: Wild Water Wave.
Even a C-Ranked Ninjutsu, which she now looked down upon, was actually equivalent to the learning difficulty of a Chunin.
After the pep talk ended, Moegi clung to Ino's arm and wouldn't let go, occasionally showing off to her little companions, Konohamaru and Ise Udon.
"Look how amazing my big sister is! Isn't she much better than your big brother Naruto, who's full of dirty thoughts?"
Konohamaru respected Naruto, but he didn't dislike Ino. Asuma was Ino's Jonin squad leader and Konohamaru's biological uncle, so there was a connection between them.
"Ino-neechan, did you really become Lady Tsunade's disciple?" Moegi asked.
Ino glanced at her. This wasn't a secret, but she hadn't advertised it, so how did Moegi know?
Moegi immediately sold out her companion: "Konohamaru told me."
Konohamaru then sold out his village elder grandfather: "My grandpa told me."
Moegi was incredibly excited, chattering away with questions about Tsunade.
Questions like whether Lady Tsunade was strict in her teaching, or if Lady Tsunade was beautiful.
All sorts of gossip, barely stopping short of asking how many boyfriends Lady Tsunade had.
Ino praised her large-chested teacher, claiming that drinking and gambling were just slanders from outsiders.
"Ino-neechan, can you take us to practice Shuriken?" Moegi asked with an expectant look.
After thinking for a moment and realizing she had nothing else to do, Ino, at Moegi's repeated pleas, followed the three of them to the training ground to teach them how to throw Shuriken.
"To throw Shuriken, you must master two techniques: throwing speed and throwing accuracy. This requires a lot of practice. You're currently using stationary targets, but later you can try moving targets."
Ino first rattled off a lot of theory, which left the three of them dizzy. Her Shuriken throwing wasn't as good as Sasuke's or Tenten's, but it was up to standard, more than enough to teach three children.
"Shuriken are mostly used for probing. If you don't know the enemy's information, then throw Shuriken to probe." Ino picked up a Shuriken, and without looking, threw it behind her: "Like this!"
With a crisp clang, her Shuriken was blocked by a blonde woman with a large Ninja fan in her hand.
The blonde woman said irritably, "Is this how you treat guests in Konoha Village?"
Ino glanced at the other party's forehead protector and retorted without backing down, "Do people from Hidden Sand Village like to hide and eavesdrop?"
"I wasn't eavesdropping! Is any of this worth eavesdropping on?" The blonde woman put away her Ninja fan and said, "I heard about you in Sunagakure, the genius of the Yamanaka Clan. Now that I see you, you're truly undeserving of the reputation, just a mediocre person playing Ninja games with children."
"Huh? You're the Fourth Kazekage's eldest daughter, right? Are you 18 or 28 this year? So old and still coming to the Chunin Exams, tsk tsk, how pathetic. Your Ninjutsu talent must be exceptionally poor, so bad that it shames your clan, and you've never dared to show it to anyone, have you?"
When it came to comebacks, Ino had never been afraid of anyone.
Temari, the princess of Sunagakure opposite her, was fuming with anger.
What the hell was with 18 or 28? She was only 15 this year!
She raised her Ninja fan, intending to continue her attack.
This time, it was her younger brother Kankuro who pulled her back and gestured for her to look the other way: "Why are you so impatient? Calm down!"
Both of them turned their heads simultaneously.
Gaara, with short red hair and the character 'love' on his forehead, stood on a treetop with a large gourd on his back, staring at them expressionlessly.
"Gaara," Temari whispered, as if afraid that a louder sound would awaken some monster.
Ino extended her left arm, shielding Konohamaru and the other two, signaling them to retreat, while she looked at Gaara in the tree.
The Jinchuriki of the One-Tail Shukaku, the future Fifth Kazekage.
Having beaten the Seventh Hokage and the Sixth Mizukage, Ino now felt an inner thrill when it came to bullying Kage who hadn't fully matured. She couldn't pinpoint where this emotion came from, only assuming it was a rebound from long-term suppression.
She gazed intently at Gaara, a hint of battle intent showing in her eyes. The other party seemed surprised: "You're not afraid of me? Do you want to die?"
"I heard your sand defense is invincible? How about taking one of my moves? Water Release: Water Orb Jutsu!" Ino formed hand signs, and over a dozen translucent water bubbles appeared out of thin air. These seemingly childlike water bubbles floated in the air, drifting towards Gaara under her guidance.
Though described as drifting, their speed was not slow.
This Water Release: Water Orb Jutsu, which Ino had deduced from Steam Impurities Explosion, was not much different from the original.
Gaara merely glanced at the flying water bubbles. Is that all? They seemed unremarkable.
The spherical water bubbles flew towards Gaara, sunlight hitting them and creating dazzling, colorful reflections.
Gaara looked down on them inwardly, but he still defended. With a thought, a seamless sand shield immediately formed in front of him, blocking the water bubbles.
"Huh?"
As the water bubbles hit the sand shield one after another, he immediately realized something was wrong.
The sand touched by the water bubbles was almost out of control. No matter how he tried to manipulate it, this part of the sand could not return to the shield.
He carefully distinguished it and quickly discovered the anomaly: these bubbles were less like water and more like oil. His sand shield was being permeated and disintegrated by this oil.
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