Chapter 318: Mind Transfer Technique: Second Stage
"Are they going to use the Double Lariat again? But the current situation doesn't really suit it. The massive size from the Expansion Technique would weaken the power of the combination technique."
Standing behind the Raikage, Darui, his right-hand man and the future Fifth Raikage in the Boruto era, stroked his chin as he gave his assessment.
Darui was right. The core of the Double Lariat lay in striking simultaneously from both front and back.
But for a giant-sized target, the distance between front and back became too great. Attacking from both sides at once would weaken the technique, reducing it to two separate Double Lariat strikes rather than a true combination.
Despite being called a "blade", the Double Lariat functioned more like a blunt-force attack.
Its real target was the bones within the human body.
This made it fundamentally different from piercing-type Lightning Release techniques like Chidori or Hell Stab.
However, against a large, bulky opponent, its effectiveness would degrade into something closer to a piercing attack.
A strike with the elbow would hit nothing but layers of fat, never reaching the bone.
But if the goal was to penetrate the fat, then using a piercing-type technique directly would be more effective.
The two below, Ino and Sakura, were clearly not fools, they understood this as well.
So from the beginning, they had no intention of using the Double Lariat.
Besides, the technique was far too lethal. Against weaker opponents, they could still control their strength and aim to knock them unconscious.
But against these two evenly matched opponents, especially with one being an Akimichi clan member specializing in taijutsu and possessing exceptional physical durability, even if the opponent slimmed down, it would still be impossible to control the force precisely.
Too light, and it wouldn't knock them out. Too heavy, and it might kill them outright.
That was the downside of such killing techniques.
Fortunately, they had other combination techniques.
"Ino, I'll leave it to you."
Sakura stepped forward, swinging her fists to block Akimichi Rianko's attacks.
The core operation of this combination technique lay with Ino.
Sakura played a role, but hers required no complex execution.
That was actually quite normal.
Why was it that in Team 7, when Naruto and Sasuke worked together, Sakura often felt like a third wheel?
The root cause was that Naruto and Sakura's attributes overlapped to some extent.
Sasuke specialized in mechanics, developing new Technique and possessing a wide range of techniques.
Naruto specialized in raw stats, his left punch dealt high damage, his right punch dealt even higher damage, and occasionally he would throw in a Rasengan for good measure.
As for Sakura, she also relied on raw stats, with no real techniques, and her stats didn't even match Naruto's.
From this, it was clear that while Sasuke's academic intelligence might not surpass Sakura's, his talent in ninjutsu development far exceeded both of them.
After all, he was the reincarnation of Indra's chakra, the one who pioneered hand seals and the very concept of ninjutsu.
Sakura might score higher on written exams and in raw intelligence, but she had no talent for developing ninjutsu.
This time, the combination technique was entirely conceived by Ino.
Just as Shiromo had once recommended Ino to Tsunade, saying that the Yamanaka clan's Mind Transfer Technique required precise control, and Tsunade's entire skill set, including medical ninjutsu, super strength, the Byakugō Seal, and Creation Rebirth, also required precise control.
Training one would naturally improve the other; neither would be neglected.
Thus, even though both were Tsunade's disciples, Sakura and Ino, like Naruto and Sasuke, had diverged into two distinct types.
One was stat-based, the other skill-based.
Ino made her move!
"Mind Transfer Technique!"
Without hesitation, Ino used her clan's secret technique on Akimichi Rianko.
The previous exchanges had already proven that in their opponent's combination, Akimichi Rianko was the main damage dealer.
As long as she was neutralized, the Sarutobi clan member would be far less threatening.
"This is a two-person match. Even if you control her, what can you actually do?"
Seeing her teammate suddenly stop attacking, Sarutobi Amane was startled, but quickly regained her composure.
Without another ninja's cooperation, the Yamanaka clan's Mind Transfer Technique could only control an opponent for a limited time.
She couldn't stab herself with a kunai, that would just injure herself as well.
She couldn't surrender either.
In a two-person match, both teammates had to surrender simultaneously for it to count.
So Sarutobi Amane didn't need to do anything at all. She just had to stall and wait for Ino's consciousness to be forced out by her teammate.
But was that really all there was to it?
To everyone's astonishment, after taking control of Akimichi Rianko, Ino immediately began forming hand seals again, using the giant hands of her host body to perform a familiar technique.
"This is…"
"Mind Transfer Technique: Second Stage!"
The speed was so fast that most people couldn't even react.
Only Sakura, as her teammate, understood what Ino had done.
The moment Ino activated the second stage of the Mind Transfer Technique, Sakura had already charged forward, fist raised.
Her target was neither Sarutobi Amane nor Akimichi Rianko.
It was… Ino herself!
Bang!
Ino was sent flying with a single punch.
At the same time, Akimichi Rianko, who had lost consciousness, coughed up a mouthful of blood. Her awareness snapped back to her original body, and before she could even say a word, she fainted.
This was the effect achieved by Ino, using the properties of the Mind Transfer Technique combined with the immense strength and precise control she had developed through medical ninjutsu training.
The weakness of the Mind Transfer Technique had been explained long ago during the Chūnin Exams.
After taking control of an enemy, allies could not attack that target.
Because any damage dealt to the controlled enemy would also be inflicted on the Yamanaka user.
It was essentially the reverse of the Dead Demon Consuming Seal.
And based on this property, Ino developed the Mind Transfer Technique: Second Stage.
After entering the enemy's body, she used precise chakra control and sustained chakra output to make the enemy's body perform the Mind Transfer Technique again.
This time, the target was her own original body.
As a result, both consciousnesses transferred from the enemy's body back into her own.
At that moment, the technique's property activated again.
Attacking her own body would cause the damage to be mirrored onto the enemy.
With Sakura's punch, Ino was severely injured.
If that punch had been delivered directly to Akimichi Rianko, her massive physique, sturdy body, and Expansion Technique would have absorbed much of the impact.
But when it landed on Ino, the damage was transferred proportionally.
Akimichi Rianko immediately lost consciousness.
And due to the severe injury, her awareness returned to her own body as well.
The connection of the Mind Transfer Technique was broken.
Without even retracting her fist, Sakura instantly shifted from a punch to an open palm and began using medical ninjutsu to treat Ino.
She also stimulated Ino's philtrum to wake her up.
Once Ino regained consciousness, she immediately began assisting Sakura, using medical ninjutsu on herself.
Unfortunately, their training time was still too short. Their chakra reserves hadn't built up enough yet, so they couldn't activate the Byakugō Seal and use Creation Rebirth.
Otherwise, recovery would have been instantaneous.
(End of this chapter)