Not taking missions was impossible. This was the current working model for ninjas, unless Ino decided to defect from the village.
The learning tasks assigned by Tsunade were also quite heavy.
Ino's solution was to "commute"! She would take on missions for two days, use her vacation time to study with Tsunade, and then return to Konoha to continue being a tool once her break was over.
When the Third Hokage heard that Ino had become Tsunade's disciple, he nodded with satisfaction.
Although she wasn't a product of his "Sarutobi Tutoring," since she had become Tsunade's disciple, she could still be considered part of the Hokage's inner circle.
The Third Hokage's nose twitched slightly, and he could faintly detect the scent of alcohol. Wow, she must have had quite a bit to drink! He knew Tsunade's female disciple all too well, but he couldn't say anything about it. What could he say? That it was the First Hokage who taught her? Or that he, the Third Hokage, taught her? All he could say was, "Good! Drinking is good! It helps prevent cardiovascular diseases. That's great! Just keep drinking!" Tsunade's whereabouts were unpredictable, and Ino had already gained some reputation as a genius. To prevent Hunter Ninjas from targeting her, she needed a flexible exit permit from the village.
From now on, she wouldn't leave through the main gate or go through the usual procedures. Instead, she would exit through the Anbu Ninjas' secret checkpoint.
The Third Hokage agreed on the spot, but with one condition: she had to achieve good results in the Chunin Exams.
What exactly counted as "good results"? Ino didn't know, but since it was also the expectation of Inoichi and Rino, she readily agreed.
For this exam, and to obtain the permit to freely leave the village, she would give it her all.
At the end, the two exchanged a few casual words.
"How are Tsunade and Jiraiya doing?" the old man asked.
Ino thought seriously for a minute, which puzzled the Third Hokage. Why did such a simple question require so much thought? "...I'm not sure if it counts as 'good,' but the moment I walked in, I saw Lady Tsunade hitting Lord Jiraiya!"
The Third Hokage nodded stiffly. Yes, that's just how my disciple is. It seems you've found the right person.
The Hydrification aspect involved in the Vapor Explosion technique was ultimately incomplete. Ino had patched it up as best she could, but she could only achieve partial Hydrification. Additionally, since this technique was naturally countered by Lightning Release, her first choice for a survival skill remained Medical Ninja Techniques.
Following Tsunade's requirements, while studying the foundational theories, she also didn't give up on observing surgeries at Konoha Hospital.
Even if she wasn't directly involved, just watching from the sidelines could still provide some valuable experience.
Konoha Hospital still treated her as a minor presence—not to the point of ignoring her, but certainly not with any warmth.
She couldn't openly declare her relationship with Tsunade, and only the "eternal Genin," Yakushi Kabuto, was willing to chat with her for a bit.
Medical Ninjas were busy, and most of the time, she couldn't help much. She could only watch from the sidelines. Over time, in a hospital where the lowest rank was Chunin, the two "Genin" naturally became familiar with each other.
"Ino, are you preparing for the Chunin Exams too?" Kabuto asked kindly.
This acting genius loved to put on a show, so Ino played along.
"Yes, Kabuto-senpai, are you participating this year?" "Haha, I actually don't want to. Over the past four years, I've taken the Chunin Exams seven times. I know my limits—I really don't have much talent on the path of a ninja. But my two companions keep encouraging me, so I haven't made up my mind yet."
"Senior, you definitely can do it. When we get to the exam hall, I'll need your guidance. Just thinking about the exam makes me nervous."
"Hahaha, let's help each other. I hope we both pass the exam!"
The two of them chatted idly, not a word of truth in their conversation.
Yakushi Kabuto was mostly reading, and when he occasionally went to the operating table, he appeared very clumsy. When Ino asked him about it, he claimed that his talent was limited and that he planned to focus more on theoretical research.
Ino could only think to herself, "Yeah, right, I don't believe a word of it!"
The seemingly peaceful Shinobi World was anything but peaceful. The tranquility in the village was maintained because someone was silently bearing the burden. These ninjas might not possess earth-shattering ninja techniques, but it was precisely their sacrifices that allowed the younger generation to have enough time to grow.
Despite the efforts of the medical ninjas, one of the three injured ninjas, who was severely wounded, could not be saved.
Ino arrived too late; there wasn't even time to summon a slug.
As the body covered with a white cloth was wheeled out of the operating room, all the medical ninjas stood in silent respect. Even Kabuto, who had been reading nearby, stood up and showed a certain level of respect for the deceased.
After the body was taken away, Ino looked at Kabuto and said, "Compared to the living, I've noticed that you seem to show more respect for the dead?"
This was indeed her observation. Not just ninjas, but even the deaths of civilians and merchants would elicit a certain level of respect from Kabuto. Ino felt that there was some pretense in it, but there was also a degree of genuine emotion.
She was quite curious about Kabuto's mindset.
Kabuto pushed his round glasses up the bridge of his nose with his left hand. The lenses reflected the light, making it impossible for Ino to see his eyes from her angle.
"The more you see, the more you realize that many things are meaningless. All beings are drowning in a sea of suffering, rising and falling... Perhaps only at the moment of death can they find true meaning." As if realizing that his words might have been inappropriate, he quickly shifted his tone and resumed his gentle smile. "Actually, there's a lot I don't understand either. I've just read about it in books."
"Meaning?" Ino lowered her head and pondered for a while. The word "meaning" might sound ordinary at first, but in the context of the Shinobi World, it carried an unusually heavy weight.
Haku once said that he was a tool, and so on. But wasn't everyone else the same? Everyone was just a tool. What meaning was there in that?
The poet described a tragic environment where one joined the army at fifteen and only returned at eighty. But in the Shinobi World, it was even worse.
Kakashi started killing on the battlefield at the age of six. Ino and her peers graduated from the academy at twelve and participated in various battles, which was already later than the "fifteen-year-old soldier" in the poem. The Third Hokage, at sixty-nine, wanted to live out his remaining years in peace, but his most cherished disciple said, "No, I won't allow you to live to eighty. I will definitely kill you!" In the Shinobi World, more than half the people had mental illnesses. Ino even suspected that she herself was sick. She obsessively pursued various powerful ninja techniques, initially for survival, but was that still the case now? When she saw Takigakure Jonin Suien being blown to ashes by the Vapor Explosion, she felt no disgust or discomfort. Instead, she felt a great sense of satisfaction. She had changed, and she was sick, though not as severely as some others.
Ino, moved by her feelings, couldn't help but add a few more words: "When a person is sick, the whole world seems sick too."
Seeming to find her words particularly naive, Yakushi Kabuto retorted with a hint of mockery in his tone: "Then have you found the cause of the illness?"
Ino gave him a strange look.