The act of "deception" is just that—"deception." Therefore, in every detail, deception must be taken to the extreme, achieved with a kind of "craftsmanship"—without considering the purpose of the deception, but simply obsessing over the deception itself. This is a very typical "Baka-style" thinking pattern: this is also the reason why "Baka" enterprises gradually decline—they do not think about correcting their mistakes, but instead continue to refine the details of the mistake, firmly believing that it isn't wrong, but that their craftsmanship is still not enough.
In a world where this ideology is passed down, this thinking pattern naturally remains a mainstream of the mainstream.
Thus, the wondrous Ninjutsu "Transformation Jutsu," which could have been used in the blink of an eye during battle to decide victory through a momentary gap in space and time, has been polished to be lifelike yet extremely easy to see through. This makes it difficult to use in combat; instead, it is commonly seen in espionage for gathering intelligence, infiltration, assassination, and other such operations.
This—
Is like a person spending immense effort and money to carve beautiful openwork patterns into an axe.
So, while the axe is still an axe, it has lost its function for chopping wood. It can only be placed there as an exquisite piece of art with no practical value, only granted value for observation—and art is worthless in war.
And the Ninja World happens to be such a "chaotic era."
Art... is a plaything for prosperous times.
"Deception isn't for the sake of exquisite deception, or stubbornly making it so perfect that no one can see through it. Actually, I only need one moment."
Ino emphasized this "deception" once again. A chubby little hand reached out from the indescribable Transformation Jutsu, a finger waving before the eyes of Inoichi Yamanaka and Mrs. Yamanaka. A tender voice asked, "How many is this?"
"One."
"And this one?"
Ino extended another finger.
"Two."
"What does one plus one equal?"
Ino extended her third finger.
"Three!"
Inoichi Yamanaka and Mrs. Yamanaka blurted out, and the very next moment, they realized they had spoken incorrectly.
Ino released the Transformation Jutsu and put her small hands behind her back to "lecture" the two of them. "Jonin Inoichi Yamanaka, Chunin Yamanaka Nobuko—just now, you have already died once. When you blurted out the number three, you were already dead—your throats, or temples, or carotid arteries ruthlessly kissed by a Kunai..."
"If this were a real battle, and I wasn't a child, and we were enemies, then..."
"You have already been deceived by me. This wasn't even a Ninjutsu; it was just three fingers, just a simple one plus one. In reality, it might appear in another form, but no matter how it changes, it will achieve one purpose—your perception for a split second will deviate. This tiny deviation is enough to be fatal."
"When a blade appears before your eyes, even if you know it's fake, you will still close your eyes. At this moment, it is human sensibility and instinct that govern the person."
"Some people can manage not to close their eyes, but their hearts will still feel fear because of it, even if just for a moment—because of the existence of senses, it is inevitable that humans will be influenced by them..."
Ino pointed to her head and said, "So, do you recognize the power of this kind of thinking? Regarding the Transformation Jutsu."
Inoichi Yamanaka's heart was in turmoil. Indeed, as Ino said, this was a power brought about by "thinking"—the Transformation Jutsu was still the same Transformation Jutsu, even a crude version that would be considered a failure in school, but Ino's "thinking" gave the Transformation Jutsu a different position—it became an important means that could be applied to immediate combat because of "thinking." Its "power," in a sense, even surpassed the space Ninjutsu "Flying Thunder God." It was still deception, but it was no longer so "basic"... Inoichi dared to imagine that the "Transformation Jutsu" would definitely be played by Ino to an inconceivable degree that broke the limits of his imagination.
But he absolutely could not imagine what kind of scene that would be.
The ultimate scene Inoichi could imagine was the man who was famous for a time, the Fourth Hokage known as the "Yellow Flash," encountering the result of Ino's "Transformation Jutsu"—
The Flying Thunder God approached the enemy in an instant, and a Dango was immediately launched toward the enemy's kidney, only to miss instantly.
Not after missing, but at the same time as missing, the enemy's Kunai would slash across the Fourth Hokage's neck—
This kind of "synchronization" would be too late even for the Yellow Flash to flicker. Even if the Yellow Flash's neural reaction speed was extraordinary, "awareness" itself is delayed. This tiny delay, at the very least, would leave some non-fatal scars on a vital point. But more likely, he would die!
"The... purpose... of deception..."
Recalling the "behavioral patterns" of his colleagues, friends, and the Ninjas he had seen, Inoichi, having been enlightened, instantly felt an unbearable sense of "stupidity"—why did their "deception" have to be so obsessed with a process? Deception, lure, trap, killing move—they were all progressive layers:
Traps had to be exquisite so people wouldn't see them; deception had to be interconnected, like ants on a line that could only crawl in one direction.
If a single node was broken, the entire plan would be forced to be scrapped.
"Every step is done exquisitely, but every step is also clearly separated, like individual modules."
This should be a very fair evaluation of their behavioral patterns, simply put, a "one-track mind" way of thinking.
As expected... the "old" self was stupid to death. At this moment, he couldn't help but complain about the various combat plans and strategies proposed by Nara Shikaku, the strategist of the trio—he was truly crying at his own stupidity.
He thought to himself, "Should I take my daughter to get an IQ test? I feel like she might be even smarter than Shikaku's boy!"
Ino asked, "So, regarding the Transformation Jutsu, do you have any other questions?"
Inoichi and his wife looked at each other. Inoichi shook his head and said, "For now, I can't think of any questions."
Ino raised her chin proudly and said, "In that case, let's end today's Secret Technique teaching for now."
"Yes, it really is an incredible Secret Technique!"
Inoichi and Mrs. Yamanaka had to admit the power of the "Transformation Jutsu" Ino spoke of, and they agreed even more with the decision that this Secret Technique should only be passed down among the three of them, never letting it reach a third pair of ears.
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