10 The First Stage and the Second Stage

Inoichi had never taught his daughter before, but he had taught lower-ranked shinobi under him. He knew that, at this moment, he couldn't allow his daughter to become arrogant. Although he was excited inside, he maintained a nonchalant tone.

He thought for a moment and said, "Not bad; you barely meet the prerequisite conditions for practicing the clan's secret techniques. Let's start with the Mind-Body Switch Technique today."

Ino's expression turned serious, and she sat with her hands on her knees, sitting upright.

Inoichi raised a finger and continued, "The Mind Body Switch Technique is a secret technique that allows the user to seize and occupy the target's body with their spiritual power. Once successful, victory is assured. This clan technique has obvious advantages, but it also has its drawbacks. First, it requires a special hand seal. Second, if the occupied body is harmed, the users themselves will also be harmed. Finally, the range of this technique is limited."

Worried that his daughter might become discouraged, he quickly reassured her, "Of course, these difficulties are because the Mind Body Switch Technique is just the first stage. Once you advance to the Mind Body Disturbance Technique, these issues won't be a problem."

Clearing his throat, Inoichi continued, "Let's start by practicing the first stage of the Mind Body Switch Technique, which is to focus your attention."

It was evident that he had been preparing for this day for a long time. He unsealed a scroll he carried and took out five cards from it.

What are these?

The cards were covered with numerous irregular lines, and just a glance made Ino feel a sense of discomfort as if something wanted to jump out of her chest.

She knew very well that these were just irregular lines, and there was nothing "indescribable" about them. She looked at Inoichi, waiting for his explanation.

"The Ino-Shika-Cho alliance has been around for over two hundred years, but the history of the Yamanaka clan can be traced back to the Ninshū period before the Warring States period," Inoichi said proudly. It was clear that Inoichi took great pride in his clan's history.

Was the Konoha Village impressive? The village was only sixty years old. The Senju and Uchiha were formidable, but they were no longer around. The Yamanaka were still here! This was their advantage—those who survive until the end get the last laugh.

Ino gave him an odd look, wondering what her cheap father was thinking about.

Inoichi laid out the five cards one by one. Ino immediately noticed the issue: the discomfort caused by the first card was the mildest, while the discomfort caused by the last card was the most intense.

"Without specialized training, shinobi's spiritual energy is scattered and lacks intensity. To penetrate the enemy's mental defenses, our spiritual energy must be condensed. Look at these five cards, one by one. If you can discern the central patterns and text at the center of the card, then you've passed."

Inoichi handed Ino a bowl of cool, paste-like medicine. "Apply this to your temples, then remember the incantation I'll teach you: Nourish oneself from within, calm and serene; void of emptiness, a tranquil scene. Hidden yet bright, our essence gleams; illuminate within, ascend in dreams. Below, when sealed, existence thrives; above, non-existent, where spirit thrives. The void, a vessel, offers up in flight; above, divine brightness, pure and bright."

Ino applied the paste to her temples, and two seconds later, she felt a great shock to her mind, and most of the distracting thoughts in her mind dissipated. Inoichi's mantra, spoken softly, sounded ordinary, but combined with the medicine and her current state of heightened concentration, something intangible seemed to converge within her mind.

She didn't understand the meaning of the incantation, and Inoichi didn't explain it, but Ino still gained something inexplicable from it.

She picked up the first card, where countless intricate yet simple lines converged before her eyes.

At first glance, due to visual distortion, she even felt that the lines on this card were rotating at an irregular speed.

When plagued by distractions, looking at this would be dizzying. But now, momentarily forgetting her usual antics of blaming others, deflecting blame, smashing windows, or any other mischievous acts, her mind was clear. Her gaze focused on the center of the card, and she quickly saw the answer.

She said confidently, "It's the character for 'enlightenment'."

Inoichi nodded, signaling her to continue.

The first four cards seemed relatively easy, but the fifth one was particularly difficult. Inoichi was quite nervous, while Ino squinted her eyes, wishing she had some kind of dojutsu like the Byakugan or Sharingan. She stared fixedly at the center of the card, but the more she tried to see, the blurrier things became, and her spiritual energy rapidly depleted at an alarming rate.

In less than thirty seconds, she felt a slight ache in her temples, an external manifestation of excessive use of her spiritual energy.

Inoichi reminded her, "Don't fixate on one point. When the image spins, don't resist—go with the flow."

For a full five minutes, Ino stared intently and repeated the mantra, keeping herself calm and pushing away her restless thoughts. As the medicine's effects began to wane, her spiritual energy was about to reach a critical point, and her body was about to faint, Ino finally completed the task.

Wiping the sweat from her forehead, she said, "I can see it clearly now. It's the character for 'divine'."

Inoichi laughed heartily, feeling very satisfied. His daughter's talent exceeded his expectations. It took him a month and a half to pass this stage in his youth, requiring ten days of rest after each failure to recover his drained spiritual energy. He failed three times before finally passing on the fourth attempt by inflicting self-harm, slashing his arms in several places desperately just to barely pass.

Ino seemed to have struggled to pass this test, but in reality, states like agitation and exhaustion were just self-defense mechanisms of her mind. She hadn't reached her limits. As an expert in mental manipulation, Inoichi had a keen eye for such things.

Ino also breathed a sigh of relief. She had almost given up just now.

She had misunderstood. Initially, she assumed that the Yamanaka clan's secret techniques were ultimately still ninjutsu, so she focused on adding points to the Ninjutsu attribute. But the first stage had nothing to do with ninjutsu, nor did it have anything to do with the eight attributes. Instead, it seemed to be a test of her spiritual energy and the strength of her soul.

"Rest for ten minutes, then we'll continue with the second step of training."

"Okay." Ino's cheeks and neck were drenched in sweat. Without bothering to wipe it, she sat cross-legged and entered a meditative state to restore her spiritual energy.

According to her guess, the next step would likely be an intensive training session to exploit her currently depleted spiritual energy state. This tactic was nothing new.

Ten minutes later, Inoichi brought Ino a stack of books over a meter tall, leaving Ino dumbfounded.

What was this about? She flipped through a few pages and found the content to be obscure and difficult to understand. She didn't even recognize some of the characters.

"What's this for?"

Inoichi didn't beat around the bush. "Read. Read silently and focus your attention. Don't rest tonight until you've finished these books."

Ino's eyes darted around for a moment, and she seemed to understand. The key to this stage wasn't actually the books, but to maintain sustained concentration.

At least she's an adult mentally, not a child. She has enough self-control.

Ino sat down at the desk, picked up the topmost book, and started reading from the first page.