Without waiting for Ino's response, the First Hokage formed a hand seal, and she suddenly lost control over his body—her Mind Body Switch Technique had been forcibly dispelled.
Through the connection established by the Secret Technique, she returned to her own body.
"Ugh! Cough, cough, cough—!"
The moment she regained consciousness, she realized her injuries were far worse than she had thought. Orochimaru's Flying Sword had dealt more damage than expected.
A deep gash ran across her neck, making it difficult to even speak. Blood had seeped into her windpipe, and every cough caused fresh blood to spurt from the wound.
Her neck, shoulder, and right leg—injuries covered her entire body. Seven or eight slugs were diligently healing her with Senjutsu Chakra, their green glow enveloping her from a distance.
"Hmm? Little Ino, why has your recovery rate suddenly improved?" Katsuyu asked gently.
Had it? Recovery wasn't something reflected on her stat sheet, but she still glanced at it out of habit.
Her "Intelligence Stat" under the Eight Ninja Rules had increased slightly—from 7 to 8. This was likely due to Tsunade's training over the past month, as well as the Second Hokage's earlier guidance. It meant her perspective had broadened, and her knowledge had deepened.
As for skills, her Yang Release had taken a massive leap—jumping straight from Lv1 to Lv3.
"It must be Lord First's doing," she murmured, answering Katsuyu while also speaking to herself.
At the final moment of the Mind Body Switch Technique's release, she had faintly heard the First Hokage laugh. The God of Shinobi had deemed her Chakra reserves too low, so he had separated a portion of his own Chakra from his soul and given it to her.
The First likely hadn't given it much thought—he simply believed this Chakra was harmless to Ino, free of personal imprints, and something she could naturally absorb. To him, it was merely a senior's gift to a junior.
But what he didn't realize was that the Chakra she could so easily absorb was none other than Asura's Chakra—the foundation of the Sage Body!
Compared to a true reincarnation of Asura, the amount she received was minuscule. But unlike the "messenger" role, this Chakra had fully merged with her, becoming an inseparable part of her being. In terms of purity, it far surpassed the diluted Asura's Chakra that Yamato and Danzo had painstakingly extracted from Hashirama's cells.
Danzo had no knowledge of Asura—he simply believed Hashirama's cells were the key to Wood Release and immense regenerative abilities.
When Asura reincarnated, he took away 99% of the Chakra. After the First's death, his soul carried away another 99% of the remaining Asura's Chakra. The tiny traces of Sage traits Danzo and others scavenged from Hashirama's cells were barely enough for their reckless experiments. That they managed to produce a Yamato was nothing short of a miracle—the Asura's Chakra content in those cells was practically negligible.
What they achieved couldn't even be called a Sage Body. But now, with the First's gift, Ino had gained something equivalent to 1% of a Sage Body.
There was another benefit—the previous requirement of Ninja Skill 10, Stamina Stat 10, and Earth, Water, and Yang Release all at Lv5 for Wood Release had been completely lifted. Now, all she needed was a single Pot Point to unlock Wood Release.
Feeling that things weren't so simple, Ino focused her mind on the panel and studied it carefully. She noticed that the character between "earth" and "water" wasn't "wood" but faintly resembled the character for "flower."
What the hell was Flower Release?
Upon closer inspection, she realized this Flower Release seemed like a divergent path with the same destination but a different starting point. She could only allocate two points here, reaching up to lv2, before returning to the original path. The conditions of Ninja Skill 10 and Stamina Stat 10 still needed to be met to progress further. The endpoint, unsurprisingly, would still be Wood Release.
Currently without any Pot Points at hand and eager to observe the Third's Reaper Death Seal, Ino had no time for detailed research.
Coughing intermittently, she suddenly noticed that pollen from the Advent of a World of Flowers had already enveloped over half the village. Shikamaru and Sakura were also coughing.
Shikamaru complained between coughs, "Ugh... this pollen is so weird... no idea who's responsible for this."
Sakura, with her weaker constitution, had flushed skin and was coughing too violently to speak.
Ino quickly signaled to Katsuyu, but the slug didn't understand. Resorting to her lv3 Yang Release, she applied Medical Ninja Techniques while mobilizing her body's recovery power to fully treat the wound on her neck.
As soon as she regained her voice, she began shifting blame: "I recognize this technique! This is the First Hokage's... no, there aren't any trees here... this must be the First Hokage's Wood Release: Advent of a World of Flowers!"
Adopting a know-it-all tone, she lectured the others: "The First Hokage's signature techniques were Wood Release: Advent of a World of Trees and Wood Release: Advent of a World of Flowering Trees. This current technique evolved from those two. Advent of a World of Trees, Advent of a World of Flowering Trees, Advent of a World of Flowers—just think about it, these techniques are clearly related!"
Choji, with his thick neck and strong digestive system—a true glutton—was barely affected by the pollen. He asked curiously, "So you're saying all this pollen was created by the First Hokage?"
Ino immediately sealed her conscience with a "Five Elements Seal" and dramatically explained: "Didn't I use the Mind Body Switch Technique earlier? I saw it clearly—this is definitely the First's technique. Only he could perform Wood Release at this level. Tsk tsk, truly impressive..."
With the blame successfully shifted, she noticed the energy in her "black pot" rapidly increasing.
Instructing them to wear masks, maintain ventilation, and wash hands frequently, Ino warned that inhaling too much pollen could be deadly.
As pollen density increased in the air, she quickly retrieved several masks from the flower shop for her friends and prepared a solvent to temporarily stabilize Sakura's condition.
The villagers would have to fend for themselves—she simply couldn't attend to everyone.
Gazing into the distance, she saw the Third Hokage had resolved to eliminate Orochimaru once and for all. This problem had to be solved—if allowed to continue summoning the First Hokage, Second Hokage, and Fourth Kazekage periodically, the Hidden Leaf Village would be doomed.
Today, someone had to sacrifice—and as Hokage, that duty fell to him.
His gaze sharp as a blade, he stared fixedly at Orochimaru while rapidly forming Hand Seals. The Second Hokage, lying on the ground awaiting bodily repair, was sealed first. Now the sealing was targeting the First Hokage.
Ino used her Sense ability, but even with 1% of her Sage Body, she couldn't spot the Shinigami's trace.
Could you only see this guy after signing a contract with the Reaper Death Seal?
It seems the Shinigami was scared off by Kaguya Otsutsuki. That old thing is actually hiding to this extent—making friends with Him is such a hassle.
After some thought, Ino realized she had to activate the backup plan.
This was when she needed to rely on her clan.
Using her Sense ability, she located Inoichi and, through Sensing Transmission, whispered a few words to him.