Her cheap father was still a bit worried: "Are you sure? There won't be any danger, right? Since the Third has already used the Reaper Death Seal, then we..."
Some things were hard to say even between father and daughter. If the Third was determined to die, why not just let him? Why meddle in this mess?
Ino didn't mention the Yang Seal—after all, it was Tsunade's secret technique and not something to casually share with the Yamanaka Clan.
Even through their Sensing Transmission, she lowered her voice: "I need to see this Shinigami first. After that, we might be able to attempt the Mind Body Disturbance Technique... If it succeeds, the Yamanaka Clan will stand invincible. Forever."
Only the main family line knew that beyond the Mind Body Switch Technique and the Mind Disturbance Technique lay even higher-level techniques—the Mind Body Disturbance Technique and the Mind Transfer Technique.
Inoichi quickly weighed the risks. If this succeeded, the Yamanaka Clan would gain an immense advantage.
Right now, even Ino's mental fortitude and Yin Release level weren't enough to replace a deity. The fourth stage was still out of reach, but the third stage was nearly within grasp.
Before this, they had a powerful technique but no "god" to target—how tragic!
Now was the perfect opportunity. Their target wasn't some weak Flower God but the Shinigami, a being a hundred times stronger. If the Yamanaka Clan could befriend the Shinigami, their unity would reach unprecedented heights.
What people feared most was death—the unknown beyond.
But if they could tell their clan members, "We have connections not just in this world but the next too! We have 'people' over there!"
Wouldn't that ease their fears?
This operation would be silent, unnoticed, and wouldn't provoke opposition from the Ino-Shika-Cho alliance. Inoichi quickly made up his mind—they would do it.
Ino laid out her plan. Meanwhile, Shikaku was leading several ninja clans in battle against small groups of Sound Village and Sunagakure ninjas in the distance. The fighting was fierce, at least on the surface.
Gaara tried to rally more Sunagakure ninjas, but with Orochimaru controlling the Fourth Kazekage, his influence was greatly diminished.
Half a minute later, Inoichi was injured by a Sound Ninja, prompting Shikaku and Choza to quickly send him off to rest.
With the Yamanaka Clan's elite ninjas still on the battlefield, Inoichi quietly slipped away to a secret underground base belonging to their clan.
He retrieved a Konoha-made sensory amplifier—a device shaped like a metal cap. Placing it on his head and activating it with chakra, he amplified his sensing abilities, scanning the entire battlefield. He pinpointed the locations of the Third Hokage, Orochimaru, and others before linking this information to Ino.
"I've transmitted the positions to you."
"Got it. I see them."
From this point on, Ino couldn't rely on her own sensing—she had to depend on Inoichi for guidance.
She formed hand seals and unsealed the Yang Seal she had kept locked for a month. A surge of pure Yin Release chakra erupted from her.
Cold! The moment Ino released the Yang Seal, Inoichi—still connected through Sensing Transmission—felt a bone-chilling wave of spiritual energy. His daughter's mastery of Yin Release was shockingly high.
He had only read about this level in the clan's secret scrolls—it was a sign of Yin Release's pinnacle. With this realization, he felt their chances of success had just increased by another twenty percent.
Ino focused her mind and allowed her entire body to be enveloped in Yin Release Chakra, briefly transforming into a "netherworld creature"—this was achievable.
With Inoichi's sensing ability and the accumulated Yin Release Chakra she had stored over a month, she finally caught a glimpse of the hazy figure standing behind the Third Hokage.
The reason she couldn't see it clearly was that she wasn't "netherworld" enough.
Even after using up all the Yin Release Chakra stored in her Yang Seal, she still felt it wasn't sufficient. She had no choice but to convert the Yin Release Chakra within her body, purify it using the Yang Seal, and then spread the refined Yin Release Chakra throughout her entire being.
At this point, every little bit counted.
In Inoichi's perception, his daughter was becoming less and less like a living person.
After calming her worried father, as Ino grew increasingly "netherworld," the Shinigami's form slowly became clearer in her vision.
The Shinigami had a withered face, two horns on its head, and a short blade clenched between its teeth. It wore a white robe, with six flickering Demon Fires of varying intensity floating behind it.
"I can see it clearly now. That's the Shinigami," Ino said.
Through the Sensing Transmission ability, Inoichi also saw the Shinigami and nodded in the mental world, confirming that he had seen it as well.
"I'm starting." With Inoichi's help in pinpointing the location, Ino could now cast the Mind Body Disturbance Technique on the Shinigami from a distance.
Aside from the Yin Release Chakra in her brain, all remaining Chakra was devoted to sustaining the Mind Body Disturbance Technique.
This was a genuine deity—she couldn't afford to be careless.
As Ino swiftly formed Hand Seals, Inoichi felt the room growing colder and colder.
The situation at the Yamanaka Flower Shop was even more extreme. Ino had excused herself, claiming she needed rest due to excessive Chakra consumption. Shikamaru and the others suddenly noticed a faint layer of frost forming on the ground, the nearby pipes threatening to freeze, and the indoor lights flickering erratically—as if ghosts had arrived.
The Hand Seals took a full minute to complete. Meanwhile, outside, the Third Hokage had already sealed away the First Hokage, the Second Hokage, and the Fourth Kazekage. Now, he was locked in a tug-of-war with Orochimaru. The Shinigami watched their performance calmly but suddenly sensed something and glanced toward the Yamanaka Flower Shop.
It saw nothing at first. But before it could ponder further, an overwhelmingly dense surge of Yin Release Chakra struck directly into its spiritual world.
Mind Body Disturbance Technique!
Ino felt as though she had smashed her unprotected brain against a rock. The backlash from the technique was immense—her head throbbed violently, her thoughts, memories, and consciousness shattered into fragments, spinning wildly in a timeless, spaceless void.
Inoichi, too, coughed up a mouthful of blood and immediately checked on his daughter.
Ino quickly regained her senses. "I'm fine! I'm fine! This was just a friendly gesture, not an attempt to take control. The resistance wasn't that intense… That thing absorbed my Yin Release Chakra. It took my offering—now it's my ally!"
Nearly all the Yin Release Chakra she had accumulated over a month was depleted.
Clutching her head, Ino reeled from the Shinigami's overwhelming memories. The human brain couldn't process such information, so much of it was automatically blocked, causing her to black out for roughly a fifth of a second.
After repeatedly assuring her father that she was truly unharmed, she finally assessed the results of her technique.
"How did it go?" Inoichi asked.
Ino thought for a moment: "I'm not sure whether to call this a success or failure. At any rate, it hasn't reached the level our ancestors described. Right now, me and the Shinigami—"
She struggled to find the right words.
"Let me show you."
After gesticulating wildly in the mental realm for quite some time with the Shinigami staring blankly at her without any reaction, she cursed in frustration: "Damn it, you idiot!"
The Shinigami actually responded—a rare occurrence. As she processed it, the feedback seemed to mirror her own words, something along the lines of "Damn it, idiot."