Ino maintained the Mind Body Switch Technique hand seal as she stood up from her hiding spot while trembling slightly.
"Alright Ino, stand down," Shikamaru sighed, scratching his head. "Like I said, we Genin shouldn't rely on force to subdue an opponent like this. What a drag."
"Shikamaru, shut up! You keep questioning him, I'll cover you..." Ino hissed, sweat beading on her forehead.
"Little girl," Makoto turned around slowly, his eyes bored. "Can't you understand human language? You don't actually think your Mind Body Switch has any real deterrent power against me, do you?"
Makoto spoke while walking toward Ino.
"You... stay back!" Ino shouted, her voice cracking.
She maintained her aim, but her confidence was crumbling.
Behind Makoto, Shikamaru—who was being completely ignored—felt cold sweat trickling down his back.
He debated whether to use the Shadow Possession Jutsu.
Though Makoto appeared to have his back turned with multiple openings, given the pressure he exerted and the confidence he displayed, if Shikamaru used the technique and it proved ineffective, it would only earn his displeasure, making the problem-solving more troublesome.
'If I attack and miss, he stops talking and starts fighting, that's a bad outcome.'
After a split-second calculation, Shikamaru decided against it.
'He's goading her' Shikamaru realized. 'Ino's psychological endurance is nearing its limit. Once he gets close enough, she'll panic and fire.'
'This is a test. Let's see how strong he really is.'
"Mind Body Switch Technique!"
Just as Shikamaru predicted, when Makoto took another step, Ino snapped.
She couldn't handle the pressure.
WHOOSH.
Her energy surged, launching from her body like an invisible missile, aiming straight for Makoto's consciousness.
The Mind Body Switch is a high-risk, high-reward jutsu.
In direct combat, it's usually trash because the travel time is slow and leaves the user's body defenseless.
But if it hits? It's game over.
(Like in the Fourth War, when Ino controlled Obito Uchiha twice to deflect a Ten-Tails bomb. Or when she locked down the Gold and Silver Brothers. When it works, it works.)
However, the technique has a fatal flaw: Shared Pain.
If the controlled target gets stabbed, Ino feels it.
It's basically a reverse voodoo doll.
So once you land it, your teammates can't just beat the target to death, or they beat you to death.
"INO!" Shikamaru shouted, feigning surprise as she fired.
Ino's body went limp instantly.
Her head lolled back, and she collapsed into her seat like a puppet with cut strings.
"Did it succeed?" Shikamaru stared.
If the jutsu failed, the spiritual energy would bounce back, and Ino would wake up gasping.
But she was comatose.
That meant her soul was inside Makoto.
'Success?' Shikamaru frowned.
It can't be this easy.
"What success?" Makoto stopped walking.
Makoto turned around and walked back to Shikamaru under his bewildered gaze.
"Shall we continue talking?"
"..."
Shikamaru's jaw dropped.
"Where's Ino? What did you do to her?"
Shikamaru glanced at Ino's unconscious body, his expression turning grave.
"Just letting her rest for a while," Makoto smiled faintly. "I'll release her once we finish our conversation. Think of it as... collateral."
...
Inside Makoto's Mindscape.
At this moment, within Makoto's consciousness space, Ino was pinned to the ground by Makoto's hand, unable to move.
A massive, spectral hand—manifested by Makoto's willpower—was holding her down against the cold, dark ground of his mindscape.
"Let me go!" Ino struggled, kicking and thrashing.
After struggling fruitlessly for a while, Ino could only lie helplessly on the ground.
This situation was unprecedented.
Her father, Inoichi, had never mentioned this. Usually, if a target resists, it's a mental tug-of-war. You push, they push back. If they are too strong, you get ejected.
But this?
Makoto didn't just block her; he absorbed her intrusion and locked her in a cage of his own making.
It meant his mental energy and chakra control were so vastly superior to hers that the Mind Body Switch was essentially a delivery service for a hostage.
'I'm trapped,' Ino realized as panic setting in.
Then, she noticed something weird.
She raised her arm to wipe sweat from her forehead.
Huh?
She froze.
Ino carefully looked at her arm. 'Why had it become so long?'
Confused, she struggled to sit up slightly—Makoto's spectral hand was pinning her stomach, so her upper body could move a bit.
She looked down at herself.
WHAT THE—?!
Her legs were long and shapely. Her waist was snatched. And her chest...
When did her legs become so long? And why was her chest so big? Like, Tsunade-level significant.
'Did I stuff a watermelon in my shirt? When did this happen?'
After lying dazed for a moment, Ino recalled her father's teachings about the Spiritual World.
In the mindscape, your appearance is determined by your self-perception.
But if the host's will is absolute, they can reshape the intruder's appearance based on their own perception.
Ino looked at her outfit.
It was a stylish, revealing purple crop top and a long skirt with a slit up the side.
It was incredibly fashionable.
'Wait,' she realized with a start. 'This isn't how I see myself, This is how HE sees me.'
'He sees me as... an adult?'
It was as if she had fast-forwarded ten years.
She looked exactly like her future self in the Boruto era—the confident, beautiful matriarch of the Yamanaka clan.
'Why?' Ino blushed furiously. 'I've never met him before. Why does he have such a... detailed image of my future growth?'
'And why is the outfit so cute?'
...
Outside the Mindscape.
Makoto sat back down looking relaxed.
"Actually," he said to Shikamaru, "I'm the new generation 'Dream Fulfillment Master'. I uphold the philosophy of helping people achieve their potential."
"Hanabi wants to protect her sister and become strong. I gave her a path, didn't force her. I just offered a choice."
"Do you think I'd believe that?" Shikamaru scoffed. "And as I said, the Hyuga have their own methods. Can you really teach her better than her own clan?"
"Whether you believe me or not is irrelevant," Makoto shrugged.
"Shikamaru, you have a brilliant mind. But I don't agree with your lack of ambition."
"Actually, I could leave right now. I have what I came for. But I just had an idea. A small experiment."
Makoto leaned forward, staring intently at the lazy genius.
"I'm going to help 'fulfill your dreams' too."
"Don't joke around," Shikamaru rolled his eyes. "Do you even know what my dreams are? I don't have any."
"Oh, really?" Makoto smirked.
He began to recite, ticking points off on his fingers:
"Goal 1: Become an ordinary ninja."
(He become the Hokage's advisor and basically run the village).
"Goal 2: Make some casual money."
(He inherit the clan and manage complex politics).
"Goal 3: Marry an average woman who's neither beautiful nor ugly."
(He marry the Princess of the Sand Village, who is terrifyingly beautiful and definitely not 'average'.)
"Goal 4: Have two children. The first being a girl, the second a boy."
(He have one son who is exactly like him, and he love him to death.)
"..."
After hearing Makoto's words, Shikamaru stood frozen in place.
'What is going on?'
Even a mind reader shouldn't know these things.
These were his deepest, most private "old man dreams" that he only mumbled to himself while watching clouds.
'How does he know?'
'How does it feel like he understands me better than I understand myself?'