To Tsunade and the others, Ino sat motionless in front of the real waterfall, but in her spiritual world, it was a different, surreal scene.
She remained seated in her original spot, with the blue sky and lush green grass still before her. Then, under her gaze, a familiar figure emerged from the waterfall.
The blonde woman wore a purple sleeveless crop top and mesh Ninja pants. Her skin was fair, and her expression was slightly arrogant.
This Ino who walked out of the waterfall had over ninety percent similarity to her, with the only difference being her eyes.
They were a pair of purple Rinnegan.
This Ino even waved her hand at the air, conjuring a tin staff out of nowhere. Her body trembled, and behind her, seven Truth-Seeking Orbs, filled with domineering energy, appeared.
Ino, who was sitting in her original spot, was first stunned, then let out a sigh of wonder: "...Good heavens, is my future path really this wild? Did I become an immortal?"
Immortal Ino smiled faintly, "What do you think? I am you, aren't all these your dreams? I've achieved my dreams, the future world belongs to me, and of course, it also belongs to you. Come, merge with me, join me, become a higher-level me."
Ino stood up, supporting herself on her knees, and patted away the non-existent dust from her body: "That sounds pretty convincing. Alright, not bad at all, you absorb me then."
Immortal Ino stood still.
Ino looked at her: "Why aren't you moving? Can't you move, or do you not know how to move? I've never even seen an immortal; those are all figments of my imagination. Who are you trying to scare by turning into this?"
"I want to experience it, I want to see the scenery from a higher place." The illusory things on Immortal Ino's body quickly disappeared. When she returned to her normal state, her eyes were filled with madness. She fiercely pulled out a Kunai and stabbed it at Ino's throat: "So you must die!"
With a crisp 'clang', Ino, also wielding a Kunai in a reverse grip, blocked the attack.
Having already discovered that Ninjutsu couldn't be used in the spiritual world, she lowered her center of gravity and swept her foot towards the opponent's ankle. Catching a glimpse of a flash of fire from the corner of her eye, she quickly retracted her move and rolled to the side, feeling a heavy push on her shoulder, followed by a 'bang' sound.
"My lady, times have changed." The Ino opposite her had transformed, holding a cross-shaped spear in her left hand and a firearm in her right. The earlier flash of fire had come from the gun's muzzle.
"Times haven't changed!" Ino used Yugito's combat techniques, leaning back, supporting herself with her left hand, and delivering a series of kicks to the opponent's abdomen.
The Ino opposite her retreated two steps, hastily threw away the firearm, and swung the cross-shaped spear with one arm, intending to unleash a powerful attack on her.
Ino scoffed, instantly rushing into the opponent's embrace, grabbing her throat with her left hand, pinning her against a rock wall, and then repeatedly stabbing her in the chest and abdomen: "You're such an idiot, I wouldn't use this kind of long spear! Do you even have a brain?"
The opponent vanished into black smoke, but less than a minute later, she reformed. This time, the madness in her eyes turned into arrogance, the kind of look Sasuke used to give Naruto in the early days.
"Ah—behold my Genjutsu, Kyoka Suigetsu!"
Ino shouted, "What amazing Genjutsu!" while clamping the head of this fake Ino between her legs and twisting it forcefully to the side.
The fake Ino used "Thirty-Six Worldly Desires Wind," but was met with a fierce kick to her crotch, followed by a throat-slit.
After reforming into a human shape, the fake Ino started shouting "Ultra Instinct" again, then Ino grabbed her by the hair, delivered a fierce knee strike to her face, and then, holding her head, twisted her hands, breaking her neck with a 'crunch' sound.
Ino absolutely refused to admit that these chuunibyou characters were her dark side. She believed that her dark self was too obsessed with power, and as a result, because her main body didn't even know the concepts of these moves, she could only shout a move's name. As for how to use the specific move? Sorry, the main body didn't know either!
Each time she defeated a fake Ino, she felt her spiritual energy become a bit purer. This increase wasn't significant, but it made her feel lighter, as if layers of burdens had been shed.
She was purified, and the fake Ino also seemed to be fighting with less burden.
Seven emotional avatars, representing arrogance, rudeness, pride, negativity, vanity, jealousy, and cowardice, were defeated. These emotions would still arise in the future, as she was a living person, not an emotionless immortal. But for now, Ino's heart was free of these emotions.
She calmly watched the waterfall, awaiting her eighth opponent.
An Ino, shrouded in thick black aura, emerged from behind the waterfall.
Just one look, and she knew this one was not simple, definitely not like the previous few jokers. The moment she saw this one, Ino knew the emotion it represented: the malice in her heart, absolute malice, towards people, towards the Village, towards the system, towards the entire world.
"Do I have such strong malice towards the world? I thought I was usually quite gentle."
Malicious Ino extended a finger, pointing at her: "Hypocrisy. You've worn a mask for too long, you don't even dare to face your true self. I despise you."
Never mind hypocrisy or not, defeating you is all that matters! Ino had a very precise premonition: nine is the extreme, but the last bit of negative emotion in her heart could not be completely removed. Defeating eight fake Inos would mean she had completed this journey of heart-refinement.
"Swish swish swish," she continuously threw three Shuriken. Even in the spiritual world, imagining these things required Chakra. She didn't conjure a nuclear bomb, but instead used the most basic Ninja methods to test.
Malicious Ino opened her mouth wide, and a massive malice, like a black hole, created a suction out of nowhere. Not only the three Shuriken, but even the entire spiritual world distorted with it.
Ino concentrated her Chakra in her right fist, then leaped high, smashing a meteor-like punch towards Malicious Ino.
A large hole was punched into the ground, and the aftershocks spread out in a spiderweb pattern. Malicious Ino's black-hole-like ability was interrupted, and she retreated. Ino twisted her waist and swung her arm, elbowing her in the chest.
Malicious Ino dodged to the right, but Ino had already anticipated her response. She lunged forward, her shoulder colliding with Malicious Ino's face.
Malicious Ino embraced her like a lover, then opened her mouth wide. Countless fangs seemed to be within, and she bit into Ino's shoulder. The fangs pierced through skin and muscle, and after her teeth clamped down, she shook her head, tearing off a large chunk of flesh from Ino's shoulder.
Ino endured the piercing pain, pressed her feet firmly, and they tumbled to the ground like rolling gourds.
She imagined the ground beneath her feet was the hardest metal in the world, then grabbed Malicious Ino's head and slammed it repeatedly against the ground.
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