Yamanaka Household "Iâm home, Dad!"
Ino cheered as she returned, greeting her father first.
"You come back and only look for your dad? Seems like your mom has lost her place in your heart!" Inoâs mother gave her a "loving" smile.
Ino shrank back and quickly forced a flattering grin.
"Mom, youâre the best!"
"Thatâs more like it!" Her mother poked Inoâs forehead lightly. "How was training today? Didnât cause any trouble for your teacher, did you?"
"Mom, my dearest mom!" Ino clung to her motherâs arm, whining dramatically. "Do you really think Iâm that unreliable? Oh, Mom, you donât love me anymore!"
"Speak properly!" Pinching her daughterâs cheek, Inoâs mother sighed and called toward the back room, "Inoichi, come take a look at your precious daughterâsheâs ignoring me again!"
"No way! I love Mom the most!" Ino quickly glanced inside, relieved to see her father wasnât there.
"Ino, am I really that scary?"
Yamanaka Inoichiâs voice came from behind, startling Ino into whirling around.
Seeing her fatherâs displeased expression, Ino put on her most flattering smile. "No, no! Dad, youâre the most handsome! I couldnât wait to bask in your glorious presence!"
"Those words warm my heart. Ino, youâre truly my treasure!" Pleased by his daughterâs praise, Inoichi beamed.
"And what about me?" Inoâs mother interjected, a hint of jealousy in her tone.
"Youâre my super treasure!"
"Eww... you two are so sappy!" Ino rubbed her arms dramatically and gave an exaggerated shiver. "At my age, I shouldnât have to witness this level of mushiness."
"Ino, I didnât quite catch that. Was someone saying they needed to go on a diet? Maybe skip dinner tonight?" Inoâs mother unleashed her ultimate weapon â dinner ban.
"Nooo, Mom! My dearest, most loving mom! You wouldnât bear to starve your precious daughter, right? Right?" Ino scrambled to butter her up.
"Alright, you two, go water and fertilize the flowers in the back. Weâll eat once youâre done!"
"Yes, maâam, Mother!"
"Yes, maâam, dear wife!"
"Alright, alright, enough fooling around. Get going, both of you!" Inoâs mother waved them off, unable to hide the smile on her face.
Inoichi quickly led his daughter to their flower greenhouse. One watered the plants while the other added fertilizerâworking in tandem, they finished quickly.
"Ino, how was training today?" Inoichi was quite invested in his daughterâs progress.
In the shinobi world, strength was everything, even for a girl like Ino.
"Of course, I did great!"
Ino expertly sprinkled waterâno, more like misted it. Some flowers needed droplets on their petals to bloom brighter, while others required water at the roots for better absorption.
The variety here would normally be troublesome to handle, but Ino had grown up with these flowers. The knowledge was ingrained in her bones.
"Good. What did your teacher focus on today?"
"Hmm, we practiced taijutsu all day. Good thing I finished my training before coming homeâotherwise, instead of these soft little hands, youâd see bruised and bloody ones." Ino smirked. "Shikamaru wasnât so lucky. He didnât finish, so Hikari-senpai wouldnât let him heal his hands."
"Taijutsu, huh?" Inoichi frowned slightly.
Ino nodded. Since Hikari hadnât forbidden her from sharing, she saw no issue telling her father.
"Itâs a special kind of taijutsu. Hikari-senpai said that while the Ino-Shika-ChÅ combo is powerful, if weâre ever separated, our survival chances drop. So, taijutsu becomes our lifeline."
"After training today, I can say his techniques are really strong!"
Now, Inoichiâs curiosity was piqued.
As far as he knew, Kamizuki Hikari was just an ordinary, unremarkable chÅ«ninâa gate guard at best. If he really had skill, why hadnât he shown it before?
"What kind of taijutsu? Show me."
"Sure!"
Ino glanced around. The greenhouse was filled with flower racks, nothing particularly useful for a demonstration. Finally, her eyes settled on the cobblestone path.
"Watch closely, Dad!"
"Haaah!"
With a shout, Ino swung her small, delicate fist at the ground.
"Waitâ!" Inoichiâs warning came too late.
But instead of a loud impact, the strike landed silentlyâas if her fist had hit nothing at all.
"Check it out, Dad! Not bad, right?"
Ino pulled her fist back, revealing a five-centimeter-deep imprint in the ground. She was pretty satisfied with her performance.
Inoichi set down the fertilizer and crouched to inspect the mark.
If this werenât his own garden, and if the girl before him werenât his daughter, heâd have suspected the dent was pre-made.
"How... did you do that?" He was genuinely stunned.
Most taijutsu in the shinobi world emphasized raw power and explosive force. A punch from Maito Gai, for example, wouldâve shattered the ground in a wide radius. That kind of technique wasnât for everyone.
The HyÅ«gaâs Gentle Fist targeted chakra points, but its destructive power was limited. The HyÅ«ga could produce elite jÅnin, but none had ever reached Kage-level.
"I just... punched?" Ino grinned at her fatherâs astonishment.
For the first time, she was the one amazing him.
As a daughter, it felt incredible.
"So, Dad, if this punch landed on you, could you take it?"
Inoichi eyed the imprint, then his own body, and shook his head. "If this hit a vital spot, Iâd be one step from death."
"See? Even you admit it! Hikari-senpai might be annoying, but heâs no joke."
"Ino, donât neglect your clan techniques. Your uncle Yamanaka FÅ« recently contributed two new secret jutsu to the family. You should learn them."
(Yamanaka FÅ«: I contributed "willingly" for the clanâs sake. No one "forced" me! Absolutely not!)
"No problem, Iâll practice them when I have time."
"That wonât do. The Mind Body Switch Technique is our clanâs foundation!"
"Geez, Dad, youâre so naggy!"
-----
Read 40+ advanced Chapters on my P@treon.
[email protected]/KakuzuTL Follow current novels on freewe(b)novel.c(o)m