At noon, Kuro Maru mooched a big meal at the Yamanaka household—two fresh, raw chickens. Unlike humans, dogs and cats are actually more accustomed to raw food; it's more delicious, whereas cooking it makes it lose its texture. After lunch, he served as a pillow for Ino and took a peaceful nap. When Shikamaru arrived in the afternoon, he just rolled his eyes and continued sleeping... "Sigh... finally free. It's still peaceful here." Shikamaru was a bit afraid of dogs, especially one with such an unusual size like Kuro Maru—a dog that grew like a bear, was one-eyed, and wore an eyepatch; it definitely didn't look like a good, friendly dog.
He stayed far away from Kuro Maru and lay flat in another direction, letting the sun shine on his body and face, then took a sunscreen mask out of his pocket and put it on.
Life was complete.
After heavy training, coming here to listen to Ino play the piano and basking in the sun while half-asleep was simply wonderful.
Ino played the piano casually, "ding-dong-ding-dong," with various melodies coming naturally. She was also immersed in the music, combining notes freely and randomly... sometimes it was a piece of music, sometimes it just became a meaningless, effortless act—just sliding naturally from one note to another, free and leisurely.
Breaking free from the constraints of tangible rules while remaining free without overstepping basic principles, one would forget themselves within it, unaware that it was already sunset and dusk.
Ino sighed, "Time really flies."
"Sigh, time really flies!" Kuro Maru also looked up at the setting sun. "Ino, I should head back too. If I'm any later, Tsume will definitely stew me—I just hope that girl Hana doesn't secretly snitch on me."
A dog's life is hard... so difficult... "Sigh, have to go home again..." Shikamaru had a miserable look on his face as he waved goodbye to his friend. This person and dog actually walked off with the tragic air of a hero heading to a final battle.
Ino:... A week after the second stage of the Survival Trial Exam, the Revival Round officially began. Ino didn't buy a ticket; instead, she went with Yamanaka Nobuko and Inoichi Yamanaka, bringing along her two secretaries, Nana and Kana, to the best and closest seats reserved for the examiners. By the time the family arrived, the stadium was already packed with people.
The "family members" of the Uchiha Clan and Inuzuka Clan were also here, under a sunshade in front of a building with golden tiles.
Visiting this place for the first time and seeing that golden-tiled background for the first time, Ino took a good look at it—
This was a feng shui treasure land that would host the major event of the future battle between the Sandaime and Orochimaru.
"Ino, Ino, what are you looking at?"
Sasuke ran over and asked.
Ino brushed him off casually, "I'm looking at those tiles. They're so golden. I was thinking how great it would be if they were made of real gold..."
Sasuke:... "Hahaha, you idiot, how could tiles be made of gold?"
The spiky-haired brat Kiba, holding a small white dog, pointed a finger at Ino and laughed heartlessly.
Ino took a deep breath... not getting angry. She thought to herself, "Just like Kuro Maru said, he's not likable at all."
Then, Kiba received an iron fist of motherly love. "What nonsense are you talking about? You idiot actually have the nerve to call someone else an idiot?"
Kiba bared his teeth in pain.
Ino covered her face with one hand with a "smack," truly unable to watch... how brutal. Kiba is just a child; is such violence necessary? Should she be glad she was born into the loving Yamanaka Clan?
According to Kuro Maru's "leaks," it seemed the Inuzuka family had always been like this; it was practically a "tradition." When Tsume was young, she was just as tough and bratty as Kiba.
Kuro Maru even shamelessly claimed—"It was Kiba who corrupted me. You know, I used to be a good dog..."
Well... Ino felt that this statement should be taken with a massive grain of salt—she couldn't rule out the possibility that Kuro Maru was actually the one who corrupted Inuzuka Tsume when she was little.
On the rostrum, the other attendees were the four elders of Konoha and four Jonin leading teams from other villages.
Inoichi Yamanaka and Inuzuka Tsume sat on either side of Uchiha Fugaku, indicating that Uchiha Fugaku was the lead for this round.
When the time came, Uchiha Fugaku stood up and stepped forward with a solemn expression. The innate aura of ferocity he possessed naturally spread out, reaching every corner of the venue, making the noisy stadium fall silent in an instant.
The familiar "killing intent" control... yet it seemed a bit "different"—only the point of "difference" was too vague and hard to judge.
Rin, Pyo, Toh, Sha!
Ino formed the hand seals openly.
Her heart was as calm as water as she focused her perception on the Chakra, not letting her attention wander for a moment. Then, she identified "Uchiha Fugaku" as the target, established a connection, and locked on—
That "different" aspect suddenly became clear and distinct!
Sharingan!
It was the Sharingan.
The meridian system of Uchiha Fugaku's eyes became clear and distinct, and some of the Sharingan's mysteries were presented to Ino's perception—the reason it was only "some" was because Uchiha Fugaku was only using "some" of its secrets.
The structure of the Sharingan was somewhat different from ordinary eyes—firstly, it actually possessed ten pupils—one in the center as the main pupil, and another nine on the outer ring, which were falsely closed. Due to being closed for a long time, they had grown together and were usually unnoticeable. However, the existence of the meridians could not deceive anyone.
At this moment, Uchiha Fugaku had three pupils spaced 120° apart, opened in sequence and rotating around the main pupil.
That fierce aura of his was released through these four pupils; the main pupil released it continuously, while the other three sub-pupils were rotating.
During the rotation, the Chakra was sliced like segments, forming individual portions that appeared continuous but were actually discontinuous.
The high speed of that rotation made these small portions dense, and the internal mechanism of the eye amplified this density.
Fierce!
Ino took a deep breath, feeling like she had discovered something extraordinary.
She seemed to know why the Uchiha Clan's Genjutsu was so powerful and why they were immune to Genjutsu—it clearly had to do with the sub-pupils.
When casting Genjutsu, the sub-pupils sliced the Genjutsu Chakra into segments. When the victim tried to break the Genjutsu by disrupting their Chakra, they only broke one segment, while the subsequent ones continued to be released—a whole Genjutsu would be broken if interrupted, but this segmented kind only had one part broken while the rest followed one after another, making the Uchiha Clan's Genjutsu almost impossible to break.
When under a Genjutsu attack, the sub-pupils would similarly slice it, naturally cutting and breaking the opponent's Genjutsu.
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