Senju Hashirama was the reincarnation of Asura Chakra, but that was a thing of the past; with Senju Hashirama's death, the Asura Chakra fell into dormancy.
The Chakra of Ashura and Indra is passed down through bloodlines, and their reincarnations share a certain connection.
For decades after Senju Hashirama's death, the Asura Chakra showed no signs of awakening. It was only after Uchiha Madara completely passed away that Indra Chakra reincarnated into Sasuke, and Asura Chakra then reincarnated into Naruto.
Sasuke's birthday is July 23rd, and Naruto's birthday is October 10th, indicating a clear temporal sequence.
It was essentially that Madara passed away here, and not long after, Sasuke was born there. Even the Asura Chakra, which had been dormant for decades, found a host soon after.
Geese leave traces, and wind leaves sounds. Asura Chakra went to find its next host, but this doesn't mean that Senju Hashirama, or Hashirama, no longer had Asura Chakra.
This spiritual influence was always present; his soul still contained Asura Chakra, just not much of it.
Seeing Ino, he felt a natural closeness, which he attributed to a bloodline connection, but in reality, it was not.
Hashirama's plea for help made Ino very hesitant.
Befriending Ashura is actually more practical than 'befriending' the ethereal Shinigami. Those Shinigami are barely clinging to life, captured and used as tools by Ninja. Who is Ashura? The son of the Six Paths Sage! The Six Paths Sage is still observing the Ninja World from the intersection of Yin and Yang.
Ashura did reincarnate into Naruto, but Hashirama is not a common ghost in the usual sense. If she helps him, there's a high probability she'll enter the Six Paths Sage's line of sight.
She is already considered a capable acquaintance among the Konoha Village high-ranking officials. Should she take a new step and become an acquaintance and capable person in the eyes of the Six Paths Sage?
Ino repeatedly weighed the pros and cons. She absolutely had to see the Third Hokage's Dead Demon Consuming Seal; wasn't coming all this way just to see that Jutsu? She also needed to befriend the First Hokage. She quickly made up her mind, but still needed to do some concealment.
She said to Shikamaru, "I want to go help the Third Hokage, if—"
Shikamaru was first stunned, then immediately said seriously, "Go ahead. If... when they blame you, just say it was my idea. It's fine, at most they'll just scold me a bit."
He sensed that his clan was not enthusiastic about rescuing the Third Hokage, and the decision-maker in this was his father. From Shikamaru's heart, he wanted to rescue the Third Hokage; if he could save him, he definitely would.
Now that Ino was going against the clan's wishes to rescue the Third Hokage, he supported her. He made an even more direct promise: if the clan blamed her, Ino could shift the blame onto him.
Choji didn't know what they were talking about, but seeing both of them so serious, he also nodded heavily. What was there to be afraid of? Ino–Shika–Choji would advance and retreat together!
"Go, we'll handle things here." It seemed that having such an important task entrusted to him for once significantly boosted Shino's mood.
Sakura didn't know what she was going to do, she just nodded along with the others.
"Summoning Technique!"
Ino summoned the Slug Sage. This time, she controlled her Chakra output and only summoned a Slug the size of a single person.
The sudden appearance of such a strange creature startled Sakura.
"Katsuyu-sama, my body might get injured later, please heal me promptly," Ino said.
The Slug looked left and right, then spoke in a voice like a gentle older sister: "Xiao Jing, I understand. I must say, your Konoha Village is truly plagued by disasters."
That was a bit awkward to respond to, so Ino could only give a dry laugh. This was just the beginning! Just you wait! There's a long future ahead.
In the original timeline, Ino could remotely control Obito with Hinata's Byakugan. Now, with the higher-level Asura Chakra for targeting, the effect was naturally even better.
She struck a pose and told the First Hokage that she was ready.
The First Hokage was known as the God of Ninja. In terms of understanding Ninjutsu and Chakra, Orochimaru truly couldn't compare to him.
With a thought, he forcibly broke free from the control of the Edo Tensei.
Orochimaru reacted extremely quickly, immediately forming hand signs, trying to regain control of the Edo Tensei. He had given the First Hokage very limited power and had always been very cautious and careful. With just two seconds, he could regain control.
However, he was ultimately a step late. Using the Mind Body Switch Technique, Ino used the Asura Chakra's targeting to project her consciousness into the First Hokage's Edo Tensei body.
"Child, my power is limited right now, and I need to fully resist the Jutsu's control over me. I'm entrusting my body to you." The First Hokage and Ino quickly divided their roles, one handling internal matters, the other external.
Orochimaru was also decisive when he discovered the First Hokage had escaped his control.
Like a snake, he forcibly slithered out from the Third Hokage's staff shadow, then leaped up, a special Kunai appearing in his hand. He intended to modify the Jutsu in the First Hokage's brain; he wasn't going to play any mental resistance games, just a direct reboot.
The distance between them rapidly closed. When the gap was only five meters, the First Hokage's eyes reopened.
The foundation of Steam Impurities Explosion is the Clone Technique, while the essence of Edo Tensei is the Summoning Technique.
The First Hokage's reawakening was essentially his soul being summoned back by the Summoning Technique.
Edo Tensei requires a living person as a vessel for the soul. In Ino's examination, the body's own quality was very poor. She couldn't tell who the host was at this moment, nor did she care.
The original host's consciousness, Hashirama's consciousness, and Ino's consciousness were like nesting dolls, one inside the other.
After accommodating Hashirama's soul, this body possessed six Chakra natures: Fire, Wind, Lightning, Earth, Water, and Yang. The Yin nature was absent, which she speculated was due to the First Hokage's Yang Release being too strong.
This body also had Wood Release Chakra. Theoretically, after taking over, like Orochimaru taking over Sasuke's body, the original body's Bloodline Limit could be used. However, Wood Release relies on Asura Chakra, and they were currently in a nesting doll state, plus this was a relatively complex matter.
Ino was essentially in a state of "the body understands, but the brain doesn't yet." No matter how strong her aptitude for Ninjutsu, she couldn't learn Wood Release in one second.
Facing Orochimaru, who was aggressively rushing towards her, she could only use her own Ninjutsu first.
If Yamato could use Water Release and Earth Release, the First Hokage naturally could as well.
"Water Release: Water Severing Wave!" Ino took a deep breath, and then a high-pressure, silver stream of water, like a water gun, shot towards Orochimaru.
Second Hokage: "???"
Third Hokage: "???"
Orochimaru was still thinking about how to modify the Jutsu in the First Hokage's head. Caught off guard, he didn't even have time to dodge the Water Severing Wave when it reached him. The stream of water pierced a hole straight through his eyebrow, and then Ino smoothly swiped, taking out a third of his head.
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