Since Inoichi Yamanaka became the head of the Yamanaka Clan, every task he handled and every decision he made was "mature and prudent." The elders and peers in the family were also extremely satisfied, considering him an excellent and suitable clan head.
Now, however, being pointed at by his own daughter and evaluated as "unqualified" made Inoichi Yamanaka's heart feel a bit hurt.
However, he really couldn't understand Ino's words:
A Clan School, placing it within the Yamanaka Clan's territory, using the Yamanaka Clan's teaching staff and materials—personally compiled by the little genius Ino—this was clearly a one-sided sacrifice. How did it become a matter of "vision"? Inoichi Yamanaka's head ached from thinking, yet he couldn't see the connection.
Inoichi Yamanaka didn't hesitate to ask his junior: "Then... what exactly is the benefit of this for the Yamanaka Clan? I really can't figure it out!"
Ino:... "Dad, were you even listening to me just now?"
Her voice was full of resentment.
"Cough!" Inoichi Yamanaka gave a dry cough. "Well, well... I just don't quite understand what you mean. Can you explain it clearly to Dad?"
Inoichi Yamanaka was full of the "troubles" that come with having a genius daughter—he was simply annoyed to death. It would be fine if it were just Ninjutsu, as he couldn't understand that anyway, but as a Jonin, he still had some say and could temporarily use his rich experience to look down on his daughter from a height. Although Ino was a genius, her knowledge of Ninjutsu was far inferior. But in terms of clan management and governance... this was a complete dimensional reduction strike in terms of thinking and vision from a "parent civilization"—not understanding meant truly not understanding, and he couldn't even find a point to refute.
"Stupid!" Ino gave Inoichi Yamanaka a roll of her eyes. Mrs. Yamanaka tried to scare her by raising her hand to hit her, but Ino quickly dodged.
"As long as people go to school in our clan and we let them stay at our home for as long as possible, day after day, year after year, they will develop a sense of belonging. Once they have that sense of belonging, isn't the result obvious?"
"A sense of belonging is something that needs time to cultivate, and it also needs the nurturing of emotions and bonds..."
"A person's life is limited. So, where a person has important memories, emotions, and length of time in their life, that is where they belong. We paid money, but what did we get? We got a group of people whose hearts are with the Yamanaka—if conditions allowed, I'd want to do this in all of Konoha... forget it, all of Konoha isn't realistic, but the entire Land of Fire is..."
"The entire Land of Fire?"
His daughter really dared to dream—if they really opened Clan Schools across the entire Land of Fire, how much manpower, resources, and financial backing would that require?
Inoichi Yamanaka didn't even dare to think about the numbers involved.
Ino said: "The most important continuation of a clan is its people. The more subordinates there are, the more prosperous the clan can become... Defining a group by bloodline is undoubtedly a very ignorant thought. Dad, did you know?"
Inoichi Yamanaka asked: "What?"
Ino said: "Only pets like cats and dogs raised by people talk about bloodlines—noble ones are more expensive, while lowly ones are worthless. The value of their bloodline is merely derived from the ornamental value given by others. Ninjas talking about bloodlines is just for that little bit of value in Ninjutsu inheritance..."
Inoichi Yamanaka said: "Ninjas—essentially, they are tools. Although many changes have occurred now, this point still cannot be denied."
Ino broke into a smile that made Inoichi Yamanaka's skin crawl, and her words were even more like the piercing cold wind of midwinter.
"But, having the power to crush them to death at any time, why should I be a tool for those vermin?"
"No, it should be them acting as tools for me—they should offer up their property, kneel and bow sincerely, and when I am kind to them, they should be grateful. When I glare at them, they should be trembling and reflecting on whether they were wrong. And in normal times..."
"They should all the more chant my name at all times, pray to me, and be grateful for the right to live that I have bestowed upon them!"
"I, who possess power, actually don't kill them—what great mercy that is. Shouldn't they be moved to tears of gratitude? They actually still try to treat me as a tool?"
Taking advantage of her young age, Ino said whatever was on her mind, speaking without inhibition—
Whoever treated her as a tool.
She'd twist their head off and kick it like a ball.
Mrs. Yamanaka gasped and said: "Ino, this idea of yours is too terrifying. How can you have such dangerous thoughts?"
Ino said: "No, I'm actually very merciful. I won't bully them even though I have power, so they should be grateful to me, praise me, and willingly give me their money—" Well, this was simply too "perfectly reasonable."
Inoichi Yamanaka was speechless and only said: "It's better not to have such strange and dangerous thoughts. There will always be someone stronger than you in the Ninja World—so, having a stable order, even if wars occur frequently, is always better than a pseudo-peace where you could be challenged and killed at any time. Since the current system is like this, there must be a reason for its existence!"
Ino rolled her eyes again... "Reason... isn't that just because Hashi was too stupid? He literally drove Little Mada into seclusion, making him so angry he wanted to leave and start a new game alone..."
Although she hadn't read the manga after the Chunin Exams... she basically knew the plot through media like short videos and fan fiction.
Senju Hashirama—this First Hokage was absolutely a disaster; except for his world-unrivaled power, he was useless.
He—nominally, he was the one who ended the Warring States chaos. In reality, however, he was the one who opened an even greater era of chaos.
This "greater" was reflected in the larger scale of war across the entire world, higher human casualties, and more concentrated and cruel combat power.
Before, there was at least no such thing as "One Country, One Village," or even the setting of the Five Great Nations. No matter how impressive one was, it was limited to small-scale brawls between small countries.
Just local wars.
Ever since Senju Hashirama created "One Country, One Village" and distributed the Tailed Beasts, the scale of war went up directly:
From brawls, it turned into a meat grinder spanning the entire Ninja World. In just 48 years, it churned three times. Consequently, the number of Ninjas and civilians who died in battle was a full 15 times the total of the Warring States era.
15 times!
It was 15 times the combined death toll of the entire Warring States period.
It was simply outrageous.
And this data was exactly the conclusion Ino reached by using collected data and calculating from some historical records left in the clan.
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