Ino picked up a piece of dried tofu with her chopsticks and took a bite. "Mmm... Mrs. Yamanaka's cooking is getting better and better; the flavor is just right..."
"Watch your manners, who are you calling 'Mrs. Yamanaka'?" Nobuko Yamanaka ladled soup into two small bowls and placed them in front of Ino. "Drink slowly, in small sips. I just brought it out, it's still hot. Our Ino, even if she doesn't become a Ninja in the future, could live a comfortable life just by opening a restaurant..."
Inoichi Yamanaka took a sip of soup and chimed in casually, "She won't become a chef and cook for others. Look at her, she's not even willing to cook more often at home."
Inoichi Yamanaka made a subtle jab—hoping his daughter would pick up on her old father's subtext and cook a few more meals in the future.
"That's because... even if I don't become a Ninja, I'll be a merchant. I'll sell sunscreen masks, clothes, and things like that all over the Ninja World. I'll command Nana, Kana, and the others to break new ground and expand my business empire. How happy would that be? Why would I open a restaurant? Cooking every day is so tiring, and the kitchen fumes are heavy. After a few years, I'd turn into a haggard old woman..."
Ino wasn't falling for it.
Inoichi Yamanaka:... "Fine, so you're afraid of becoming a haggard old woman, but you're okay with your mother becoming one?" Mrs. Yamanaka, showing no sportsmanship, reached out and pinched Ino's cheek.
Ino:... A line from Chef Fan inexplicably popped into her head: 'Hard to guard against!'
... The family of three ate their meal, chatting and laughing softly, and finished in no time. Mrs. Yamanaka deliberately ordered Ino to clear the plates and utensils from the table and wash them in the kitchen. Ino didn't want to get her hands dirty—the grease and leftovers on the plates and utensils were sticky and felt unpleasant, so she casually condensed a stream of water.
The water flowed at high speed between the dishes. The strong but controlled force washed the plates and bowls clean; one touch, and she could feel the smooth texture of the glaze.
Ino clapped her hands and left the kitchen... "Done."
"Mm, good... Come here, Ino. Starting today, I have decided to formally teach you the Yamanaka Clan's Secret Techniques—"
Whenever the clan's Secret Techniques were mentioned, Inoichi Yamanaka felt a bit stifled. He had long wanted to teach all the Secret Techniques to his daughter, but several times now, Ino hadn't really wanted to learn... Other people's children begged to learn every day, but in his case, it was a struggle just to pass them on.
"The Yamanaka Clan's Secret Techniques are a type of... Forget it, I won't explain the principles to you; you can figure them out for yourself later."
"The first Secret Technique is Sensory Perception. The seal is this... it's called Lin. It's one of our clan's Secret Technique hand seals. When the Rin Seal is formed, body and mind are both stabilized, subduing the spirits of heaven and earth, and descending into the Samadhi of the Three Worlds. Thus, one can listen to the Three Realms..."
This time, Inoichi didn't give Ino any chance to refuse and went straight into explaining the clan's Secret Techniques.
While explaining the Secret Technique, his hands formed a 'Lin' seal!
This seal looked inexplicably familiar to Ino.
Lin!
Thinking once, then twice, the memories regarding the 'Lin' seal suddenly exploded... This was clearly the 'Kuji-in'. There are nine characters in the 'Kuji-in' in total: 'Lin, Bing, Dou, Zhe, Jie, Zhen, Lie, Qian, Xing'. Anyone who holds this mantra can ward off all evils.
The memories of these seals were a bit distant; it was from her 'previous life' when she was a child, competing with her aunt to see whose hands were more flexible—
Only back then, she didn't know this thing was the 'Kuji-in', nor did she know what use it had.
It wasn't until the novel 'Shrouding the Heavens' appeared online that he saw the 'Nine Secret Words' inside. Afterwards, out of interest, he looked up information and learned that this thing originated from 'Baopuzi', and later became widely spread within Buddhism, even used by Ninjas... Thinking of this, Ino couldn't help but look at Inoichi... Well, Ninjas indeed use it—their family is using this very thing... "The second Secret Technique is Mind Communication. This technique is also based on the Rin Seal; perceive, then connect and transmit."
As for how to perform the 'connection', that involved the 'third Secret Technique'... "The third Secret Technique, Mind Body Switch—that is, through our spiritual power, we invade the opponent's body and take control of their actions. Look closely at this hand seal as well—Xing!"
Inoichi's hands were shaped like a trumpet, palms facing outward; it was a not-very-strict, non-standard 'Xing Seal'.
Xing!
The last seal of the Kuji-in.
Lin and Xing.
One at the head.
One at the tail.
Inoichi said, "Perception and Mind Body Switch are the most fundamental training contents of our clan's Secret Techniques. They require a firm will and a clear goal—you must be able to control your own spiritual energy. And the ability to establish a mental network like Mind Communication is built on this foundation. Once you're familiar with them, it will come naturally..."
Then he spoke of the Ninjutsu that allowed the Yamanaka Clan to occupy irreplaceable positions in the Intelligence Analysis Class and the Torture Force—
Mind Reading.
"Mind Reading is another application of Mind Body Switch and Perception. By invading the target's spiritual world, one can read their memories..."
Ino gave an "Mm" and curled her lip, saying, "Alright, I've finished listening to the Secret Techniques. Really, why the rush? I'm only 5 years old. If you count by months, there are still 15 months until I'm 6. You're making it seem like the clan's Secret Techniques can't be sold..."
Inoichi was speechless, thinking to himself, 'If it weren't for the fact that Akimichi Choji and Nara Shikamaru have both learned their Secret Techniques and have been practicing for over a year, would I be this anxious?'
He said aloud, "You see, these clan Secret Techniques aren't hard to learn, right? Just four Secret Techniques and only two hand seals, and the hand seals are much simpler than standard Ninja seals. Especially the Xing seal, you just make a gesture like this..."
Ino listened, speechless... This thing might be'simple' for her, but if it were any other child, learning it would be a nightmare.
The reason a 'Secret Technique' is a 'Secret Technique' is, first, it requires oral instruction and personal guidance, and second, it truly has very high requirements for the person, making it very difficult to learn.
If this stuff were truly simple, it wouldn't be'Secret' anymore... However, the Secret Techniques involve the Kuji-in... So, if these Kuji-ins are formed together, would something different be discovered? This was definitely worth a try—perhaps this is a system completely different from the Twelve Earthly Branches hand seals... Ino thought about this even as she lay down to sleep.
But idle thinking was useless, so she simply sat up, cleared the stray thoughts from her mind, took a deep breath, and tried the Kuji-ins from her memory one by one.
She had just seen the Rin Seal and was very familiar with it; she had also just seen Xing, and it was very simple. But the other seven were a bit blurry because they were from so long ago. She stumbled through her memories and tried many times before she managed to remember them one by one.
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