I, Ino, Rely Solely on My Efforts, Plus Some Buffs!

The black pot occupied the center—that was the core. To its right was a pentagon with the characters for fire, wind, lightning, earth, and water written clockwise from top to bottom. In the central area of the pentagon, there was a circle divided into black and white halves. The upper half had a white background with the black character for "Yang," while the lower half had a black background with the white character for "Yin."

The five characters on the pentagon corresponded to the five chakra nature transformations. Ino didn't know any of them yet. As for the "Yin" and "Yang" characters, she couldn't discern whether they related to "Yin and Yang attributes," "Yin-Yang power," or "Yin-Yang release." She just knew it was high-level stuff.

At this stage, obtaining Blame Points was still quite difficult. Since Ino doesn't currently have much need for chakra nature transformations and hasn't noticed any obvious changes on the interface, she shifted her attention to the left of the black pot.

There was an octagon, with each corner corresponding to one of the eight attributes of a ninja: Ninjutsu, Taijutsu, Genjutsu, Intelligence, Strength, Speed, Chakra Capacity, and Seals.

Each attribute has a maximum value of 10 and if she could reach a total value of 70 or more, she would have the basic survival ability.

At that time, she definitely wouldn't be able to fight against Madara, as the power gap would be too large. Ino estimated that her best outcome would be to survive until Infinite Tsukuyomi, cheer alongside the Allied Shinobi Forces, and then lie down and wait for Hagoromo to give Naruto his power-up.

When facing Pain, she was 60% confident she could escape, and when facing Orochimaru, she wouldn't lose, for sure.

Despite having repeatedly examined the attribute panel over the past three months, she still scrutinized it carefully, not missing any details. The panel records showed that before crossing over, Ino's original attribute values were: Ninjutsu 5, Taijutsu 3, Genjutsu 3, Intelligence 4, Strength 1, Speed 5, Chakra Capacity 4, and Seals 5, with a total score of 30.

Now her current values were: Ninjutsu 6, Taijutsu 3, Genjutsu 3, Intelligence 6, Strength 2, Speed 5, Chakra Capacity 5, and Seals 5, for a total of 35.

Three months of training her perception abilities, combined with learning basic knowledge, had increased her Ninjutsu slightly. Various practical exercises in class and after school had also increased her Strength a bit.

Soul fusion boosted her Intelligence by 2 points and her overall Chakra Capacity by 1 point.

Out of a total score of 80, she currently stood at 35. Her aptitude wasn't weak, but it was far from strong.

Ino has thought a lot about where to allocate her attribute points. It would be a big mistake to distribute them evenly. Without further hesitation, she put the freshly acquired "Blame Point" into the "Ninjutsu" area, increasing it from 6 to 7. The moment the "Blame Point" was invested, her understanding and application of Ninjutsu experienced a significant improvement.

What level does an attribute value of 7 represent in the Shinobi world? Comparatively, individuals such as Konoha Village's Jōnin Yuhi Kurenai, especially Tokubetsu Jōnin Mitarashi Anko, Gaara, and Kankuro from Sunagakure Village, and the exiled ninja Haku, have an understanding of ninjutsu approximately at this level.

If one categorized the basic attribute value, it would range from 1 to 2 for academy students, 3 to 4 for Genin, 5 to 6 for Chūnin, 7 to 8 for Jōnin, and 9 to 10 for Kage. Similarly, the total attribute value would be 8 to 16 for academy students, 17 to 32 for Genin, 33 to 48 for Chūnin, 49 to 55 for Tokubetsu Jōnin, and 56 to 64 for Jōnin and above that would be Kage. However, this classification is not entirely accurate as Genin, Chūnin, Jōnin, and even Kage titles are more about professional levels rather than strength levels, and numerical values can only serve as a rough reference.

With Ino's current total attribute value of 36, she comfortably fits within the Genin category, but she would struggle significantly as a Chūnin, essentially being at the bottom level with too many weaknesses. Her weaknesses were too pronounced for dangerous missions—being caught alone would have meant certain death. For the time being, she planned to retain the title of "Konoha Genin" and operate at this level for some time.

Ino rested her head on the desk, recalling the few ninjutsu techniques she had mastered. Occasionally, new applications for them come to mind. This level of innate talent boost felt like being reborn, carrying immense value. It took her quite some time to calm down her excitement.

She couldn't give up on Naruto, but considering the timing, there wasn't much time left before Iruka would officially acknowledge Naruto. At that point, Naruto definitely wouldn't deface the Hokage Rock with graffiti anymore. 

As her mind raced, Ino mentally went through several potential scapegoats. She knew that she couldn't give up on Naruto, but she needed to prepare a new scapegoat as soon as possible.

Meanwhile, Iruka and Naruto's chase continued in the village, a scene that had become commonplace for everyone. It was only 10:30 in the morning after self-study, so it was not possible to go out for lunch.

The next class was physical education, with separate classes for boys and girls. 

The boys followed Mizuki-sensei to train their physical fitness, running around the field like wild donkeys. 

The girls, on the other hand, accompanied a bespectacled teacher named Suzume to learn some skills typically associated with women. These included flower arranging, tea ceremonies, cooking, sweeping, and window cleaning.

"Pure, righteous, and beautiful! Girls, follow me!" Suzume-sensei enthusiastically chanted her slogan before leading the girls to the flower garden to learn flower arrangement.

For twenty minutes, they did flower arrangements, then twenty minutes of cooking, and the last twenty minutes were spent on cleaning.

"Ino. Ino, don't you like Teacher Suzume?" Hinata Hyuga, who looked weak and easy to bully, asked Ino in a hushed voice during a break from cleaning the windows.

As soon as this topic came up, Ino's frustration flared.

She gestured around and said, "In a sixty-minute class, the first twenty minutes are spent weeding."

Hinata's voice was barely audible, sounding like a mosquito buzzing, as she said, "It was for learning flower arrangement."

Ino almost let out a curse but held it back.

"In the middle twenty minutes, we cooked for these staff members."

Hinata looked around nervously, her voice even quieter, "It was for learning to cook."

Pointing at the window in front of her, Ino said, "And the last twenty minutes are for us to clean. Once we're done, it's perfect timing for the staff to have their meals. How convenient for them, right?! This kind of class shouldn't even exist. We're Shinobi, not housewives!"

In Ino's view, the school was using them as free labor to save money. They called it "training," but what kind of skills could be developed by sweeping floors and cleaning windows every day? Water Release: Great Cleaning Jutsu?

Ino was very dissatisfied with this so-called "exercise" that was just free labor. The overly enthusiastic Teacher Suzume seemed to believe that women were naturally inclined to enjoy housework and being protected by men. She often lectured many female students on how to behave after getting married, and unfortunately, many of the girls listened with great interest. Hinata, who was with Ino, was a typical example.

Hinata was timid and wouldn't even dare to speak loudly, let alone question the teacher or the school. She nervously pressed her index fingers together, unsure how to respond.

Facing challenges as a Shinobi, Ino was prepared to face any opponent, but to become a housewife? That was not even on her radar.

Right now, all she wanted was to improve herself as much as possible and live until the Boruto era.