Clan’s Secret Techniques

"I'm home." Ino dropped her bag and left her shoes at the entrance before stepping inside.

It was an ordinary family scene. Inoichi, her father, sat earnestly reading a book titled "How to Communicate with Your Daughter," occasionally furrowing his brow in thought. But as soon as Ino entered, the head of the Analysis Team in Konoha's Intelligence Division quickly slid the book under the cushion and grabbed a newspaper from the table, pretending to read it.

Ino's mother, Yamanaka Reino, was calmly preparing dinner.

After changing into clean clothes, Ino went to help, and soon dinner was ready. The family, adhering to the tradition of not talking while eating, sat quietly around the table and finished their meal.

Reino began to clear the table, while Inoichi hesitated to speak several times, seemingly wanting to have a casual conversation with his daughter to show his care, but the inherently quiet man didn't know what to say.

The lack of conversation wasn't due to the butterfly effect brought by the transmigration, but because father and daughter were simply inept at communicating to begin with.

The Nara family faced a similar problem. Nara Shikaku, the renowned strategist, had no idea how to communicate with his son, Shikamaru, whose IQ was off the charts. With a lack of common topics, they often resorted to playing Shogi to pass the time.

At least they could still play Shogi. The Yamanaka clan's problem was more severe.

Usually, at this time, Ino would casually announce, "I'm going to study" or "I'm going to practice chakra control," before retreating to her room. Her parents would then offer a word of encouragement, and the day would be over.

But today was different. Ino was still a bit excited about her "Ninjutsu" value of 7. This level of understanding and talent meant learning low-rank ninja techniques would be easy.

"Um…" She hesitated.

Inoichi immediately looked over, speculating in his heart, but still maintaining a smile on the surface, as if encouraging his daughter to speak her mind.

Ino scratched her head. "Well, today, I sparred with Hinata, the heiress of the Hyuga clan. Her Taijutsu skills are incredible. It seems like it's a clan technique. Do we have anything similar in our clan?"

The Yamanaka clan didn't have any inherited Taijutsu techniques. And with Yamanaka Inoichi being such a refined and quiet man, seeing him shout something like "Konoha Whirlwind" would just be completely out of character.

What Ino was interested in were their clan's secret techniques. Initially, she was told she could start learning them after graduating. However, today, after playfully sparring a few rounds with Hinata, she realized that despite having higher attribute values, she lacked corresponding techniques and had zero advantage in combat. Now, she was eager to learn her clan's secret techniques as soon as possible.

Among the four kunoichi of Konoha 12—Sakura, Ino, Hinata, and Tenten—in the original timeline, Ino was basically the weakest, appearing the most useless, making the Yamanaka clan's secret techniques seem overrated.

However, the Yamanaka techniques aren't as weak as they seem. Facing Obito Uchiha, who had the Rinnegan in one eye and the Mangekyou Sharingan in the other, along with possessing Hashirama's cells and being connected to the Ten-Tails, the Ino from the original timeline could use her clan's secret techniques to momentarily daze him. With the support of the Nine-Tails' chakra, she could even take control of Obito. It should be noted that, at this point, Obito was considered to be beyond Kage level by many fan power-scaling standards. For the Yamanaka clan's techniques to restrain him was no small feat.

Previously, Ino didn't learn them because her "Ninjutsu" value was too low. If her learning progress was slow, she wouldn't appear talented enough, affecting her future study plans.

Only after gaining sufficient confidence did she bring it up today.

Inoichi was somewhat surprised. He knew his daughter was talented but lazy and lacked perseverance. While he could physically discipline a son, it wasn't appropriate for a daughter. As the head of analysis, he had worried a lot about this. Today was the first time his daughter had taken the initiative to propose learning something.

Initially, he was slightly puzzled by her change in attitude, but after hearing Hinata's name, he felt he understood. Friends often compete among themselves. Such things were indeed very normal.

As the one managing all village intelligence, he was well aware of Hinata's caliber. Defeating her wouldn't be difficult.

After a moment of contemplation, he said, "Our family isn't renowned for taijutsu. We excel in mind-related ninjutsu. If you want to surpass the Hyuga clan's heiress, it's not hard. But it will require time and effort. Can you persevere through it?"

Inoichi Yamanaka wanted to know how determined Ino was this time and whether she could persevere for more than three days.

He was afraid of hurting his daughter's self-esteem, so he carefully chose his words: "Your willingness to learn indicates that you're truly growing up. As your father, I'm pleased. However, I need to warn you—no, perhaps 'caution' is a better word. Our family's secret techniques are much more challenging and dangerous to practice compared to ordinary Taijutsu and Ninjutsu."

He also gave an example: "Actually, the Nara clan and the Akimichi clan also have secret techniques, but their techniques are relatively simple, and their effects aren't as good as ours."

Inoichi didn't mean to belittle his old comrades. In the Ino-Shika-Cho alliance lasting over two centuries, the Yamanaka clan often took the leading role.

The Akimichi clan charged in, the Nara clan trapped enemies, and the Yamanaka clan delivered the decisive blow. This was the modus operandi of the "Ino-Shika-Cho" trio.

In terms of clan secret techniques, the Yamanaka's were the most difficult to master with the most bizarre effects, placing extremely high demands on the practitioner's talent, insight, and willpower.

Even after countless refinements by predecessors minimizing the dangers, mastering the Yamanaka techniques still carried significant risks.

"Our clan's secret techniques require immense willpower, patience, and an unwavering heart. You may need to practice this technique for three to five years to master them. Ino, are you prepared?" Inoichi asked with a serious tone.

Ino inwardly pouted. Her father really didn't know how to sugarcoat things. He was so straightforward. Wasn't this the kind of blunt talk that discouraged the original Ino?

Clearly aware of the difficulty of family secret techniques, why hadn't she been told to start practicing earlier? Children might not understand the consequences, but shouldn't adults? Inoichi probably doted on the original Ino too much.

If Ino had started practicing the clan's secret technique early, how could she possibly have been evenly matched with Sakura during the Chunin Exams? What could Sakura do before taking Tsunade as her master? Nothing at all.

She asked the key question: "It takes three to five years to practice our clan's secret technique?"

Inoichi didn't say a word and just nodded.