Hinata and Rino were extremely close. Now, Karin had found another way, forcefully recognizing Inoichi as her father, leaving Ino speechless. "You must be trying to sandwich me! This is so hard!"
She quickly read the letter.
The core message in Inoichi's letter was simple: stop doing missions and come back to the Village for a banquet.
Two days later, Ino returned to the Village. Inspired by Asuma and Yuhi's marriage, Gekkō Hayate and Yūgao Uzuki, the true protagonists of the entire Naruto anime, also entered the halls of matrimony.
Having been gravely injured by Baki previously, even though Ino promptly summoned Slug for healing and saved his life, Gekkō Hayate's body could no longer endure front-line combat.
Jiraiya transferred him to the Konoha Academy to teach students Konoha-Style Swordsmanship. Ninja who had already graduated could also go to him to learn.
This martial art, whether called swordsmanship or blade techniques, seemed simple, and in reality, it was simple, but to use it well was truly not easy.
Konoha-Style Swordsmanship was easy to learn but difficult to master.
If a major war broke out, wouldn't it be better for every Ninja to use Konoha-Style Swordsmanship than to just clash with Kunai?
When using a Kunai, it was mostly based on experience and eyesight—stabbing, thrusting, and slashing, just a few moves back and forth. Ordinary Ninja used it without any system. Now, this Konoha-Style Swordsmanship was at least a systematic martial art.
Gekkō Hayate became a Taijutsu instructor.
Yūgao Uzuki also left Anbu, transitioning from a covert to an overt role, taking over Gekkō Hayate's previous Special Jonin position.
Many Ninja were getting married these days.
Even the incredibly reserved Kakashi wanted to put the "advanced" knowledge he learned from icha icha paradise into practice. Urged by Minato Namikaze, he was going to marry Ari.
Ino returned to the Village specifically to attend his wedding.
There were still a few Hatake Ninja, but Kakashi was accustomed to being low-key. His marriage was a personal matter, and he didn't want a grand celebration.
The wedding was attended only by Jiraiya, Tsunade, Minato Namikaze (wearing a mask), a few colleagues like Might Guy, his students Naruto and Sasuke, Ino and their other acquaintances, and neighbors from his vicinity. No one else was invited.
Minato offered no explanation, merely suspecting that the Masked Man would try to disrupt Kakashi's wedding. Several skilled Ninja, including Ino, were hidden in ambush. However, the wedding concluded smoothly without any disturbances. Perhaps the only ripple was Might Guy getting drunk and acting out.
The Masked Man never appeared, making Minato's suspicions uncertain once again.
Soon after Kakashi's wedding, Minato left the Village to investigate the Masked Man.
In addition to various miscellaneous missions, Ino self-studied some biology, genetic science, and mechanical engineering.
She combined the "back brace" she obtained from the Land of Snow—the Chakra armor—with the gelel stone.
The Chakra armor of Nadare Rouga and Fubuki Kakuyoku stimulated acupoints in the limbs and liver respectively. While these stimulations indeed brought a significant boost to Chakra, they also placed strict demands on the wearer.
According to the difficulty of opening the Eight Gates, the Gate of Opening, Gate of Healing, and Gate of Life are the three auspicious gates, usually opening relatively smoothly. The Gate of Death, Gate of Shock, and Gate of Harm are the three ominous gates, extremely difficult to open, and a slight mistake can lead to death. The Gate of Limit and Gate of View are considered neutral gates, with moderate difficulty.
The Chakra armor from the Land of Snow also followed this principle.
Ino's main research subject was the Chakra armor used by the female Snow Ninja Fubuki Kakuyoku. This armor stimulated the Gate of Limit at the spine, which was of moderate difficulty, and provided a moderate amount of Chakra and a moderate increase.
Originally, lacking energy, the Chakra armor could only be controlled by Ninja using their internal acupoints, which had significant drawbacks.
Now, with the gelel stone providing Chakra, combined with the Chakra armor from the Land of Snow, it could certainly bring a considerable boost to a Ninja's individual strength.
The importance of the spine is beyond doubt. Stimulating the Gate of Limit, a crucial acupoint, could significantly increase Chakra in a short time and effectively enhance the user's speed.
"In martial arts, speed is king"—this saying also applies in the Ninja World.
After creating the new product, Ino found someone to test it.
Tenten, who had low Chakra, wished to further improve her speed, and was eager to embrace new things, came knocking.
"Is this it?" She looked at the Y-shaped device, which resembled overalls, from front to back.
The Snow Ninja's Chakra armor was worn over clothing and required the wearer to have a corresponding physique to activate its amplification effects. Ino's design was worn directly against the skin. Theoretically, anyone could use it, with energy provided by the gelel stone, and it would not put a heavy burden on the body or Chakra pathways.
This new Y-shaped Chakra armor, which perfectly conformed to the spine, was named "Sandevistan Type 1!"
Her design didn't involve human modification, making it a very healthy prosthetic device. Tenten found the name a bit strange but still put it on as requested, then experienced it firsthand.
Her own Chakra communicated with the gelel stone, which then activated the Sandevistan.
The device continuously discharged electricity to stimulate acupoints in the body, briefly achieving the effect of opening one of the Eight Gates.
"Wow!" Tenten felt her entire body filled with power, her body so light it felt weightless.
"Attack me."
"Alright, be careful!"
Tenten delivered a powerful roundhouse kick from the side towards Ino's head. Ino swiftly retreated, dodging with a side flip. Tenten, light on her feet, kicked three times in quick succession at Ino's head, chest, and lower abdomen, which Ino blocked by sidestepping or raising her arm. Then, Tenten reached into her waist pouch with both hands and, firing left and right, unleashed a rain of Ninja tools.
Ino didn't have a technique like Rotation; she merely drew Akisui and blocked with her superior reaction speed.
The storm of thrown weapons lasted for three minutes before Tenten, panting, stopped her attack.
"Are you alright? How's the effect?" Ino whispered.
Tenten, with her hands on her knees, then gave a thumbs-up in a very Team Guy fashion, indicating the effect was excellent.
After two more combat tests, Tenten gradually adapted to the sudden surge in speed, and Ino obtained relatively accurate numerical data.
The Sandevistan Type 1 provided a limited increase in Chakra, but its effect on speed was extremely noticeable.
Ino's current Ninja eight-point stats were all very high. Tenten's speed was significantly lower than hers before, but after activating the Sandevistan Type 1, the gap was narrowed.
This was essentially equivalent to increasing "Speed" from 6 to 7.
Ino also tried it herself; the increase was negligible. It seemed it could only boost levels below 7. Beyond that threshold, more in-depth body modifications would be required.
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