The Fourth Hokage had long been dead, and whether he never made mistakes in battle was something Ino couldn't verify.
Inoichi raised three fingers: "Overall, your performance in the battle was decent, but there were quite a few mistakes. The most serious ones can be boiled down to three points. First, your fundamentals are weak. Did your Kunai and Shuriken throws actually inflict any damage on the enemy? You wasted Ninja Tools and stamina for nothing."
Ino fell silent. How could she respond? Her throws hadn't harmed Sasuke, but then again, Sasuke's Ninja Tools hadn't hit her either, right? The two of them had thrown a bunch of tools at each other, only to end up missing completely. Both were masters of "drawing the outline."
It wasn't that their throwing skills were poor. After all, Ino had put a lot of effort into Kunai throwing after her transmigration, and Sasuke had been training rigorously since childhood.
The reason neither of them hit the other was mainly due to a lack of real combat experience. They had been practicing on stationary targets—wooden posts with bullseyes tied to them. Hitting the bullseye without even looking, ten out of ten times, was normal. But in a real fight, where both sides were moving rapidly, it was a different story.
Both of them were fast. Ino's speed was rated at 5, and she estimated Sasuke's speed to be around 5-6 as well. Their speeds were roughly the same.
Using techniques honed on stationary targets to hit moving ones was something seasoned fighters could do based on experience and feel. But for inexperienced newcomers like them, they had to factor in wind speed, angles, predicting the opponent's movements, and a host of other variables. Naturally, neither of them hit the other. In the end, it all came down to a lack of real combat experience.
Ino acknowledged this issue. She needed to keep practicing.
Inoichi continued, "The second problem is that you're too arrogant. You had already locked down the battle by using the Mind Body Switch Technique to take over his body. Why did you have to turn it into some kind of guessing game? Battle isn't a game!"
At this point, Inoichi's tone had become quite stern.
What could Ino say? She couldn't explain the Pot Point situation, so she had no choice but to admit her mistake.
"You don't understand the Uchiha clan. If you had done thorough research, you'd know that their Kekkei Genkai is extremely famous in the ninja world. Many people covet it. Without some tricks up their sleeves, the Uchiha clan would have been wiped out long ago! The spiritual energy attached to their Sharingan is very peculiar. Often, they leave hidden traps in the soul. Using the Mind Body Switch Technique to take over their body is extremely dangerous. This is your third and most critical mistake. You didn't do any prior investigation, lacked intelligence support, and rashly engaged in battle. You were too careless and nearly lost the fight."
Inoichi looked at her with a mix of disappointment and frustration, as if her actions had let him down.
Ino was speechless. Didn't you tell me to fight in the first place? Did I really need to gather intel to fight Sasuke? Isn't he just a one-trick pony with his Great Fireball Technique?
She silently grumbled to herself, but she had to admit that she had indeed been careless. As a result, she got backstabbed by Indra's Chakra.
"This battle was a valuable lesson for you. Don't be so reckless anymore. You're not a child. Once you graduate, you'll be out on missions. If your mistakes lead to the death of your teammates, you'll regret it for the rest of your life. Sigh, Ino, think carefully about this."
After finishing his words, Inoichi left the room with a heavy expression. However, his steps lightened by the time he reached the front yard, and by the time he stepped out of the house, his face was beaming with joy.
In front of numerous elite ninjas and the Shadow of Fire, his daughter had defeated Uchiha Sasuke with sheer strength. While there were indeed many issues exposed during the battle, victory was still victory. In the ninja profession, results often mattered more than the process. The fact that his daughter had defeated Uchiha Sasuke was undeniable.
He was elated! Proud! Yamanaka Inoichi, who had been a mediocre ninja for half his life, now saw that his daughter seemed destined to surpass him.
Ten minutes later, he took advantage of his work duties to find his two old comrades, Nara Shikaku and Akimichi Choza. "My daughter defeated the genius of the Uchiha clan. Isn't that amazing? When we first went to the battlefield, we weren't as good as her, right? Come on, let's skip work today and go for a drink!" Meanwhile, Yamanaka Rino gently comforted Ino with a few soft words, then picked up her bag and changed her clothes. She had made plans with the wives of the Nara and Akimichi families to go to the hot springs, where they could casually chat about their daughters and sons. This seemed like a perfectly reasonable thing to do.
Ino, unaware of her parents' series of boastful actions, was deeply hurt by the childish guessing game during the battle. However, no one suspected anything. Such behavior might seem incomprehensible to adults, but for a twelve-year-old, it was perfectly normal. The differences between her current self and the previous Ino were all covered up by this act of feigned foolishness.
She sighed.
If possible, she didn't want to be a ninja at all. Living a life of constant danger, always on the edge of a blade, and being a loyal worker for Konoha? No thanks!
Unfortunately, in this world, if you didn't move forward, you would fall behind. Konoha was too dangerous, and without strength, she might not even survive until the Infinite Tsukuyomi.
"That grandson Shikamaru, don't let me catch you!" she muttered as she picked up the scroll Shikamaru had written, studying it word by word.
When it came to matters of life and death, she couldn't afford to be careless.
The battle between Ino and Sasuke was just a topic of conversation for the students of the Ninja Academy, and it would be forgotten in a few days.
At most, Naruto, Kiba Inuzuka, and a few others might train a bit harder.
However, the impact on the village's higher-ups was rapidly intensifying.
Danzo had sought out the Third Hokage early in the morning.
"Hiruzen, I believe the Water Prison Technique has greater potential," Danzo said.
The Third Hokage removed his hat, revealing his aged face with liver spots, and calmly waited for Danzo to continue.
Danzo's words were as ruthless as ever: "Your Water Release is stronger than mine. Don't tell me you haven't thought of it. Besides trapping enemies in small-scale battles, the Water Prison Technique has another important function—suicide! If a ninja carrying crucial information is captured by the enemy, they can use the Water Prison Technique on themselves to destroy the information. To prevent the enemy from extracting information from their brain, our ninjas can also destroy their brain along with their body. A single kunai and an exploding tag can solve everything."
Danzo emphasized, "Hiruzen, this technique is highly valuable and worth implementing on a large scale. In the past, we have lost too many personnel in intelligence operations, and the village's secrets and ninja techniques have been leaked this way. The Water Prison Technique can perfectly solve this problem."
He paused, "We should enforce the Water Prison Technique by command. All ninjas who can use Water Release must learn and master it. When the final moment comes, they must end their own lives to ensure that the village's intelligence is never leaked!"