Last night, he and Jiraiya had drunk a lot of wine—Jiraiya especially. He had acted out in a drunken frenzy for a while, singing and dancing before passing out cold. Only then did Hiruzen Sarutobi remember that the Letter of Repentance hadn't been written yet. Unable to wake Jiraiya, he had no choice but to take up the pen himself... Well, Hiruzen Sarutobi felt that the Letter of Repentance he wrote was quite profound. Just look at how sincere and deep his attitude of admitting fault was—
Not only did he recognize his own problems, but he also offered a sincere apology and a profound reflection... As for how he reflected—wasn't this a profound reflection? Look at how heartfelt and serious it was—wouldn't you say this attitude deserved forgiveness? This little brat actually dared to say that his, the dignified Hokage-sama's, Letter of Repentance was poorly written?
He still had to justify himself... "Hmm... This old woman thinks that Jiraiya-sama's Letter of Repentance was quite serious... From the look of him, he has also recognized his mistakes..."
He truly lived up to being an old Ninja of over sixty years. Even though he was so embarrassed he could have dug out a three-bedroom apartment in the floor with his toes, he still didn't forget that he was using the Transformation Jutsu. He delivered the words "this old woman" with perfect poise.
Ino curled her lip... This person, who used the Transformation Jutsu to hide their true form, was impossible to identify, but it was best to avoid trouble regardless.
"Mm, you're right, old granny!" Ino replied casually, pulling Nana along as she left. "Mama, I want to eat dango. Let's go buy some."
Using a casual excuse to distance herself from the Third Hokage... Ino then actually bought three skewers of dango. Two were for Nana and Kana, who liked sweet flavors, so they were coated in ketchup. Ino, however, liked spicy... but the stall didn't have any. Ino showed some disdain, but the stall owner had a solution; he ran a few steps to borrow from a Grilled Squid stall, using their spicy and sweet sauces... Nana and Kana removed their masks and took small bites of the dango. By the time they had finished one, Ino's dango was ready.
The two were at a loss for words regarding their Princess Ino's taste: Heavens, brush spicy and sweet Grilled Squid sauce on Three-Color Dango? What kind of flavor profile is that!
"Can this... actually taste good?"
The two expressed deep doubt.
"Of course, it must be delicious." She said as she ate another one, pointing with the bamboo skewer. "Next up, Grilled Squid..."
Only after leaving the dango stall and getting far enough away from the Third Hokage did Ino whisper, "That old granny just now had a problem. It was a Ninja's Transformation Jutsu... Did you two not sense it just now?"
"What, a Transformation Jutsu?" Nana and Kana were both surprised. "It was probably some brat from the Ninja Academy sneaking out to play, right?"
They instinctively thought of students skipping class at the Ninja Academy—this sort of thing was actually very common in Konoha!
Ino thought for a moment and said, "Yeah, probably." Then she turned back to Nana and Kana: "But your perception is so dull. I've already taught you how to sense things. You didn't even notice a Transformation Jutsu from that close."
"How can we compare to Princess Ino!" Kana stuck out her tongue, some sauce still sticking to the corner of her mouth, looking as cute as a kitten.
"Indeed, indeed, we simply can't compare to Princess Ino—" Nana also nodded.
Ino's "perception" ability was practically terrifying. Whether it was a Shadow Clone, Substitution, Transformation, or various other Ninjutsu, she could see through them at a glance. Even for techniques like Fire Release and Water Release, she could sense them in advance just as the hand seals were beginning, before they were even completed. This startling "perception" seemed quite unreasonable—but in essence, it was very logical, being as simple as a reverse application of Chakra.
Just as spiritual pulses vibrating through the meridians can generate Chakra to compose Ninjutsu, the opposite can also occur—
Ninjutsu can be sensed in reverse by the meridians and then traced back to the spirit.
Ino had specifically given this basic ability a very impressive-sounding name: the "Technique of Returning Light and Hearing Back"—it finally had the right vibe. Compared to her previous names, it sounded a bit more like a Ninja technique.
When explaining this principle to Nana and Kana, Ino used the example of a spider web. She said every person is like a speck of dust or a small insect on a spider web, with Ninjas being slightly larger individuals.
When a Ninja wants to release a Ninjutsu, they are effectively jumping on the spider web, which transmits obvious vibrations through the web.
At that moment, the person acting as the spider can clearly perceive the necessary information through the vibrations of the web.
A medium exists in nature—a medium that can transmit Chakra and allow Chakra to exist externally.
Or rather, a substrate.
Regarding the existence of this "substrate," it might, perhaps, be natural energy, but it also might not be. Ino's logical argument for the existence of this substrate was based on the Substitution Jutsu—if Chakra could only function within the body, then the spatial displacement of the Substitution Jutsu could not be achieved; therefore, a substrate must exist in space.
The reason she thought it might be natural energy, or might not be, was because of the description of the Ōtsutsuki Clan in the later stages of the manga!
The fact that the Ōtsutsuki Clan could cross interstellar space to plant trees all over the world implied two possibilities: if the medium was natural energy, then natural energy must exist widely and uniformly throughout the universe—this was the foundation for the Ōtsutsuki's interstellar travel; if it wasn't natural energy, it was even easier to explain—it must be an even more widespread medium... it might even be the existence of a field within space.
But:
What it actually was didn't affect this perception ability.
The cicada senses the autumn wind before it even stirs.
That is only because the cicada's wings are so thin and sensitive that even the slightest breeze allows it to feel the vibrations of the wind.
Ino's perception ability was a result of her daily practice of making her meridians flexible and training them—
Changes in other people's Chakra would be felt through the meridians and converted into vibrations, thereby producing a sense of awareness!
The only difference was that the meridians of ordinary Ninjas were too coarse and careless, making such slight touches difficult to detect—it was only when facing a fierce Tailed Beast like the Nine-Tailed Demon Fox, or powerful Ninjas like the Five Kage, that they could feel the resonance in their meridians when those figures unleashed their powerful Ninjutsu.
However—
Most of the time, this resonance occurs during the Final Radiance before death. it is the final echo a Ninja experiences when facing the truly powerful.
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