"You can think of it as a type of release—no different from Earth Release or Water Release. For example, like Earth-Style Submarine Voyage..."
By using the classic, stealthy, and concealment-oriented Earth Release Ninjutsu "Earth-Style Submarine Voyage" as an analogy, Ino made Kana and Nana understand with just one sentence. Mrs. Yamanaka also understood, saying, "I see..." Such stealth-type Ninjutsu are not uncommon—any Ninja with decent proficiency in Earth or Water Release can develop them through their own understanding, without needing to be taught.
Inoichi Yamanaka then said, "Ah, I only taught you one Secret Technique, and you're becoming more and more incomprehensible... This 'Shadow Release,' hmm..."
Ino added, "It's the ultimate transformation of the same nature across the twelve principal meridians."
"Hmm..."
The ultimate transformation of the same nature across twelve meridians... So, if it's known that the resonance of the same nature across three meridians is 'Kekkei Tōta,' what should the same across twelve meridians be?
Such a thing has never appeared in the Ninja World.
"Dad, I found that this Nature Transformation, achieved through the ultimate coordination of the twelve principal meridians, is irreversible... This little snake is now essentially a mass of shadow. The reason it instinctively takes the shape of a snake is simply because it was originally a snake, and that shape is most familiar... With a little interference from me, it becomes my shape..."
Dark, non-reflective strands of hair crawled up Ino's hand again, transforming into a black peony flower.
Nana, Kana, Inoichi Yamanaka, and Mrs. Yamanaka watched the outline of the flower that appeared out of thin air, hovering above Ino's palm.
That absolute blackness made people's hearts involuntarily feel a sense of the grotesque... "The nature is irreversible—so, once this Ninjutsu is performed, the user themselves becomes a shadow..."
What does 'becoming a shadow' mean? If'shadow' is abstract, then think of it in terms of a conventional release Ninjutsu—if a Ninja performs a Ninjutsu and irreversibly turns into water, earth, or fire... wouldn't that be 'death'?
But... Ino's 'little snake maru' clearly still exists—little snake maru irreversibly turned into a shadow, yet it's still alive!
This—
Isn't this a paradox?
Inoichi Yamanaka pinched his chin, his brain working at high speed as he stared at his daughter... Since this 'paradox' appeared before his eyes, it must not be the phenomenon that's wrong, but his own understanding—or perhaps his understanding isn't wrong, but he overlooked some condition... Condition... That's it!
Condition!
It's the clan's Secret Technique.
little snake maru turned into a shadow and should have been 'dead,' but precisely because it was controlled by Ino using the Yamanaka Clan's Secret Technique—Ino herself hasn't been altered by this ultimate, irreversible Nature Transformation, so she can dominate this shadow, making it seem alive.
In fact, it probably can only last until the moment Ino can no longer maintain the clan's Secret Technique and severs the connection!
Inoichi Yamanaka then thought of Ino's Azure Flame. If the shadow were replaced with Azure Flame, and it was in that ultimate state achieved through the superposition of the twelve principal meridians, wouldn't such an Azure Flame, wielded as easily as one's own arm, be capable of incinerating everything?
It was already so powerful with just three meridians; the temperature with twelve meridians would surely be even more formidable, beyond a scale he could imagine.
Grasping the theory related to the 'twelve principal meridians,' taking the key points, and examining Chakra from a higher-level perspective—
Simply changing to another attribute was too easy for Ino, offering no challenge at all.
"Ino, try canceling the Secret Technique!"
Inoichi Yamanaka wanted to test his hypothesis.
"Okay."
Ino withdrew the clan's Secret Technique, canceling the mental projection. The black peony flower emitted a black light, the light distorting it, giving rise to wispy, smoke-like black strands, which vanished without a trace in an instant.
"Ah... it's gone..."
Ino felt a bit regretful—her little snake was just gone like that. The other end of her perception had directly disappeared.
Inoichi Yamanaka nodded and said, "Just as I thought..." Having resolved the doubt in his mind, he was in a great mood.
After breakfast, Inoichi Yamanaka stood up, said to the four of them, "Mrs. Yamanaka, Ino, I'm off to work," and headed to the Analysis Class.
Nana left soon after to supervise production. A batch of the masks made yesterday was also delivered, and Kana began handling sales. Ino, having nothing else to do, went to help man a stall. Mrs. Yamanaka found it interesting and joined in: "Watching you do this looks quite fun, count me in..."
As soon as the stall was set up, a large number of female customers swarmed around, and the sunscreen masks sold out in no time.
Because the quantity was small and there were multiple stall locations, sales were especially fast today, taking less than two hours from setup to sell-out.
Ino sighed with emotion: "The world is vast, and there's much to achieve... I'm making tens of thousands a day... Although today's stock was a bit less, we chose the higher-priced ones on purpose, producing fewer of the cheaper ones. In ten days, that's hundreds of thousands... How much does a Ninja earn from one mission? Not only is it hard work, but it's also dangerous..."
Indeed—the ultimate end of the universe must be running a stall... On the other side, at the stall managed by Mrs. Yamanaka, a tall woman wearing a button-front jumpsuit dress bought the last sunscreen mask.
The woman turned a corner into an alley, and the Transformation Jutsu on her body disappeared. She transformed into a slender, masked, one-eyed man—none other than Konoha's most popular star Ninja: Kakashi Hatake.
"Yo... really not bad, finally bought one..." Kakashi Hatake removed his black face mask and replaced it with the sunscreen mask.
He had taken a liking to this sunscreen mask at first sight—after being on a mission outside for over a month, he returned yesterday and saw women wearing this style on the street. Feeling a bit embarrassed to inquire directly, he used the Transformation Jutsu to become a woman and successfully gathered intel.
He wandered the streets for half a day yesterday with no leads, and today he happened to run into a stall... Kakashi marveled at his own luck.
A pink sunscreen mask... This damn girlish heart!
"Hmm... if anyone sees it, I'll just say I lost a bet with Guy..." Kakashi found a reason for his peculiar preference.
However, some people just can't help being talked about. Kakashi suddenly felt a sinister wind pressing down on him—a wind so familiar.
Guy!
Kakashi quickly formed hand seals, leaving behind a log substitute, while his real body was displaced three meters to the left, then he used the Body Flicker Technique to reach the rooftop.
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