Ino chuckled twice; that was a bit difficult to respond to.
At the same time, she was carefully observing the man in front of her. The Second Mizukage had died during the First Shinobi World War, and the leader of Hidden Mist Village was now the Fifth Mizukage.
This guy should be like the Chakra Minato Namikaze left inside Naruto, merely a portion of the Second Mizukage's Chakra from his lifetime that has survived until now, thanks to special circumstances.
How it survived, Ino didn't know, but she knew the opportunity was rare. This kind of Chakra wasn't a perpetual motion machine; just like the Yin-Yang Power the Six Paths Sage gave to Naruto and Sasuke, a little less with each use.
From this perspective, Hidden Mist Village indeed paid a significant price for this operation.
Little Mustache's frustration came and went quickly. In the blink of an eye, he was acting as if nothing had happened: "You can leave. I won't teach Konoha Ninja!"
"Senior, Elder Genshi told us to come in and undergo the test."
Little Mustache exaggeratedly pouted: "Who is Genshi? Oh, I understand, you mean Gen, right? How dare such a dead last order me around? I am the Second Mizukage! No one can force me to do something I don't want to do!"
"Senior, don't you think doing this will make Hidden Mist Village go back on its word? Hidden Mist Village will never be able to hold its head high in front of other Shinobi Villages again."
Little Mustache crossed his arms, chin raised: "So what? They're the ones losing face, not me. I should have been dead for many years now. Oh, by the way, how many years have I been dead? Little girl, do you know?"
This question truly stumped Ino. Konoha Ninja generally only knew of the Second Mizukage, but they didn't know his name or what techniques he specialized in. If their own Village didn't know, let alone an outsider like Ino.
The Yamanaka Clan's intelligence capabilities also had limits. If you yourselves don't know, where am I supposed to find out?
Ino could only deduce based on the timeline she knew: "...I remember that your Four Great Shinobi Villages launched a war after the death of our Konoha's First Hokage, Senju Hashirama. You were taking advantage of the situation! I despise you. ...After that, our Second Hokage, Senju Tobirama, took over, fighting one against four and utterly defeating you. Then, the Second Hokage died in battle to cover his subordinates' retreat. Senior, you should have died at that time, taking the Second Tsuchikage with you..."
Before she finished speaking, Little Mustache exploded: "What?! I died with Mu? Nonsense, impossible! Absolutely impossible! My Water Release is unrivaled in the world. Can't you see Mu's bandages all over him? All those injuries were caused by my explosions!"
Ino's expression remained unchanged. She waited for a while, and once he calmed down, she said: "Hey, do you still want to hear? If not, I won't say anything more."
"You wait a moment!" There was a clear pause from Little Mustache. Ino suspected he could appear in multiple locations simultaneously within the genjutsu labyrinth, and he was likely asking the other few people at that moment.
People from Konoha Village couldn't possibly know this history. Naruto, Sasuke, Sakura, Choji, they didn't even know the Second Mizukage's name, let alone his life story. Shikamaru was also out of the picture; high intelligence had no correlation with extensive historical knowledge.
Haku had been with Zabuza before, with no access to such information, and Ranmaru was so young he probably hadn't even learned all his characters. The only one who might know was the shy Chōjūrō. People with his personality generally aren't good at socializing and only focus on reading. Chōjūrō was also a key development target for Hidden Mist Village, so there was a high probability he knew these past events.
Little Mustache seemed to have disconnected, standing still in a daze for two minutes before angrily cursing: "Damn it, these Hidden Mist Village idiots, what kind of people did they send in? Am I old and out of touch? These three are all men... Why do they look like this!? Is this the young generation of Hidden Mist Village now? Hidden Mist Village is doomed!"
Ino smiled smugly.
After another half a minute, Little Mustache let out an "Eh?": "There's a blond kid from your Konoha Village who looks a bit like my nephew. Is he really from your Konoha Village? What a shame, he's a hopeless idiot!"
Ino didn't speak. She didn't need to think; she knew it must be Naruto's "seeing him reminds me of my relatives" common face talent taking effect again.
If he met Little Mustache on the battlefield, it would probably lead to three or four episodes of flashbacks, wouldn't it?
Naruto was clueless, so Little Mustache's attention could only return to Ino.
Ino began to tell the story: how the Second Hokage used Edo Tensei to defeat the Shinobi armies of the four Villages, how the Second Hokage died in battle covering the retreat, how the Third Hokage took over, and how Iwagakure and Hidden Mist Village fought over spoils of war, leading to the deaths of both Village's Kage. She recounted it all.
Having been a salesperson, she could tell this history from a broader perspective. Chōjūrō at most knew some past events of Hidden Mist Village, but his storytelling ability was far inferior to Ino's.
"That's a good story. It must have been like that. My original self was truly foolish, dying for a bit of spoils of war. How annoying. However..." Little Mustache sighed heavily: "However, letting someone from Konoha Village learn my Ninjutsu is even more annoying! Do what you want, hit me or scold me, but I won't give you a test, and I certainly won't teach you! Get out."
He sat cross-legged and closed his eyes, meaning, come hit me, come scold me, I won't resist, but I will never teach you Ninjutsu, even if it kills me.
Ino had anticipated this. Perhaps the old ghost Genshi of Hidden Mist Village had already foreseen this scene.
A Chakra remnant, existing between an image and a soul, would be truly difficult for an ordinary Ninja to deal with. In this genjutsu, Little Mustache was the absolute master. If he said he wouldn't teach, he wouldn't. If this trial was deemed a failure, then she would have no choice but to withdraw. Ino had no intention of withdrawing, and she wasn't an ordinary Ninja!
"Senior, I'm going to use some methods. My apologies!"
She quickly formed hand signs, her hands moving so fast they left afterimages.
Little Mustache was initially startled, carefully recognizing her hand signs, then he sneered: "This hand sign sequence indicates strong mental energy. You want to use genjutsu on me?"
"No, it's a Secret Technique!"
This was the Yamanaka Clan's third-stage Secret Technique, Mind Disturbance Technique!
This Secret Technique was said to be able to permanently alter the thoughts of a deity, turning the target into the caster's friend, with an effect comparable to Kotoamatsukami!
Attempting to alter the thoughts of a spiritual entity is extremely difficult.
Ino's current Yin Release level and mental energy were far from that point, but similarly, Little Mustache was not a god. This disembodied Chakra remnant was completely within the Mind Disturbance Technique's range of influence.
Little Mustache could interrupt Ino's jutsu midway. Ino's mental energy was insufficient, her Yin Release level wasn't high enough, so she could only make up for it by forming hand signs bit by bit. Little Mustache's proud nature prevented him from attacking. 'I am the Second Mizukage,' he thought. 'What can a child from Konoha Village do to me? I want to see what kind of Secret Technique this is!'
There are two more chapters. I'll post them after I revise them.
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