Tsunade and Shizune were doctors, not murderers. If the Spiritual Transformation Technique resulted in death every time it was practiced, they would go insane.
Ino didn't have this problem. The Yamanaka Clan's Secret Technique had a method for returning to the body. She couldn't reveal the training methods of her clan's secret techniques to Tsunade and Shizune, but she could achieve a similar effect.
By borrowing the Yamanaka Clan's Secret Technique, she could compensate for the missing parts of the Spiritual Transformation Technique. After successfully completing this technique, she could even reverse-engineer a method for the soul to return that aligned with the Spiritual Transformation Technique. At that point, things would become much simpler.
Ninja techniques originally stemmed from Ninshu. The Sage of Six Paths and Ashura's Ninshu wasn't about fighting and killing. It was normal for people to learn bits and pieces and then borrow from each other.
With the most dangerous hurdle cleared, the rest became much easier.
The core of the Yamanaka Clan's Secret Technique was the "communication" skill obtained from the Sage of Six Paths, which is now known as the Mind Body Switch Technique. This technique served as the foundation for a series of subsequent secret techniques.
Strictly speaking, this was a technique passed down by the Sage, making it inherently superior to the original Spiritual Transformation Technique.
However, the core of the Mind Body Switch Technique lay in the word "switch." This technique wasn't meant for combat, so if the target was injured, the user would also suffer. Ultimately, when the Sage taught this technique to the Yamanaka Clan, it wasn't for them to engage in reckless violence.
The core of the Spiritual Transformation Technique lay in the word "transformation," allowing one's chakra to become a soul, ignoring distance, and taking over and killing the enemy.
This technique eliminated the flaw of the Mind Body Switch Technique, where both the target and the user would suffer injuries. It truly became a ninja technique for killing without a trace.
Spiritual transformation, flight without distance limitations, and returning to the body—these were the three major steps in the process.
When it came to specific details, such as how to mobilize chakra and perform hand seals during practice, Tsunade, Shizune, and Ino were also conducting research. Future generations might not be inferior to their predecessors, and the original Spiritual Transformation Technique might not be 100% correct. They continuously made adjustments.
According to the requirements of Kato Dan's secret technique, the first spiritual transformation was crucial. The body, mind, and external assistance all needed to be perfected. Tsunade hadn't rested for three days, constantly adjusting the elixir formula she had completed.
Ino, on the other hand, wasn't in a hurry. The Spiritual Transformation Technique was rated as an S-rank ninja technique and was still incomplete. She wouldn't recklessly practice it—caution was more important than anything.
Minato Namikaze's Rasengan only flourished when it reached Naruto's hands. Kakashi's Lightning Blade also started as Chidori, evolving into a powerful killing move after more than a decade of refinement.
Ino wasn't in a rush at all. Having mastered the Yang Seal, she already had a way to deal with the Shinigami.
Over the past month, she had been living an incredibly fulfilling life.
Drinking and gambling aside.
Through Tsunade's personal guidance, she had solidified her foundation in ninja techniques, body techniques, genjutsu, sealing techniques, and medical ninja techniques. Since graduating, she had been relying on attribute points to improve, but her actual foundation was still based on what she learned at the Ninja Academy and from the Yamanaka Clan.
The Yamanaka Clan's knowledge was extensive, but they were limited by their perspective, ultimately falling short of a Kage-level powerhouse like Tsunade.
Tsunade's teachings elevated Ino from a high school level to a university level. The improvement in her perspective and understanding was completely different from before.
"Teacher, I'll head back to the village now, alright?"
Tsunade, while studying the prescription, waved her hand impatiently, "Go back, hurry up. Next time you come, remember to bring me some sweet bean jelly from Sweet Chestnut Sweetness."
Shizune raised a hand, "Me too, me too!"
The beautiful senior sister, after getting familiar, also showed her goofy side, leaving Ino speechless.
The pet pig Tonton beside them also happily made a "puyo puyo" sound, indicating that it wanted a gift too!
Ino actually wanted to talk about how Tsunade succeeded as Hokage after the Third Hokage's death.
From her observations, Tsunade was absolutely unwilling to become Hokage. What good was it? It was exhausting, and during battles, you had to be at the forefront.
If you did well, people would say you were the granddaughter of the First Hokage, it was expected. If you did poorly, they would criticize you, saying you disgraced your ancestors.
Ino's own background was already solid enough. Whether she had a teacher who was Hokage or not didn't matter to her.
On the contrary, if Tsunade became Hokage, it would attract too much hostile attention towards Ino. You're the Hokage's disciple, so you should charge ahead! Today, she would be sent to investigate Akatsuki, tomorrow to capture the masked man. Would she even survive?
Tsunade treated her well, and she just wanted her to be happy.
The position of Hokage was a hot potato. Instead of exhausting herself, it was better to let Tsunade continue to live her carefree life.
But these things hadn't happened yet, and she didn't know where to start.
After bidding farewell to Tsunade and Shizune, there were still two days left before the final Chunin exam.
On the way, she hesitated whether to detour to the Sound Village to cause some chaos and then blame it on Danzo?
After careful consideration, she abandoned the plan.
Too dangerous!
Even though Orochimaru had already impersonated the Fourth Kazekage and gone to Konoha, the seriously ill Kimimaro was probably still at home.
Ino wanted to pick on weaker opponents, not face a Body techniques expert who would fight to the death.
If someone like Kimimaro decided to go all out, ordinary people couldn't handle it, and Ino couldn't guarantee that everything would be seamless. This was completely different from dealing with ordinary people like Dango.
If the blame wasn't shifted and things backfired, it would be troublesome.
Stealing Orochimaru's experimental records and subjects would indeed bring great benefits, but the Sound Village was too dangerous, so this option had to be abandoned.
Ino hurried along, searching patiently in the Land of Rivers, between the Land of Wind and the Land of Fire, where their Team 10 had dealt with Raiga Kurosuki.
The Fourth Kazekage was coming to the Hidden Leaf Village with his guards for an official visit, not a sneak attack. After entering the Land of Fire, he would be escorted by Konoha ninjas, so he definitely wouldn't take any remote paths.
Ino used Shadow Clones to search along several main roads, asking shops along the way, and determined the route of their group in the Land of Rivers. Then, in a relatively remote valley, she found the body of the Fourth Kazekage.
Orochimaru hadn't done much to cover up the scene. The bodies of the Fourth Kazekage and his two guards were blatantly displayed there.
From the traces at the scene, it was a close-range sneak attack. The Fourth Kazekage was severely injured almost immediately and didn't last long before being killed by Orochimaru.
This Kage died in such a humiliating way.
The Fourth Kazekage's heart had been removed, perhaps kept for the preparation of Edo Tensei.
His face was completely gone, leaving a bloody, mangled mess where his features should have been. The Kage Robe and hat that symbolized his status as the Kazekage had been taken, along with his ring and other identifying tokens. Just by looking at the corpse, it was hard to imagine that this was the Fourth Kazekage.