Ino, acting as a "bridge," took on the task of communication. Ashura lightly tapped her forehead, wrapping his words in Chakra and sending them into her spiritual body.
What exactly was said? She had no idea. It seemed that only when she saw Indra would this Chakra automatically unravel.
This was essentially a messenger's job. After Ashura disappeared, she walked out of the dark space and returned to Naruto's mental world. When she looked back, the staircase that had led downward was no longer visible.
Naruto's mental world was truly lively. Maybe next time she should bring a set of mahjong tiles? The messenger's job was utterly uninteresting, but Naruto could charge the Nine-Tails rent. Since she, as the "bridge," facilitated communication between the brothers, it seemed only fair to collect a "toll."
Ashura's Chakra, Indra's Chakra—those who used it swore by it.
Entering Naruto's body was relatively easier. It was like a bustling courtyard where everyone came and went freely. Contacting Indra, however, was more troublesome. He was a bit tsundere, often erasing her memories on a whim, and it was largely uncontrollable, depending entirely on his mood.
Ino shook her head, feeling that this task was not easy.
Delivering messages depended on fate. Thinking of what had happened earlier, she followed the water pipe to continue searching for Naruto.
"Naruto? Where are you? If you don't come out, I'm going back."
"I'm really going back now."
"Not a single ghost in sight. How boring. Release!"
She shouted the word "Release" loudly but didn't actually act. Instead, she observed her surroundings.
It turned out that the Nine-Tails wasn't a fool either. It disappeared as soon as she said so. Ino's usual tricks to fool children didn't work here.
"I'll be back," she said, leaving the words behind as she released the Mind Body Switch Technique and returned to her own body.
Opening her eyes, she saw Choji standing in front of her, holding a Kunai.
"What's going on? It sounds like there's a fight?" Ino asked.
She stood up and looked outside.
Well, it was indeed lively out there.
The Sound Ninja trio had somehow found their way here. The two sides couldn't see eye to eye and immediately started fighting.
Naruto and Ino were unconscious inside the cave, with Choji protecting them. Sasuke, Shikamaru, and Sakura were the ones engaging in battle.
Sasuke had beaten Dosu to a pulp, even knocking his mouth askew. Shikamaru, who had been trained by Ino for over half a year, was much stronger than in the original timeline and had also thoroughly beaten the guy with three "death" characters written on his body. The only one still fighting was Sakura and the Kunoichi from the Sound Village.
Sasuke and Shikamaru were both measured in their attacks. The two Sound Ninja were covered in wounds, but none were fatal.
Ino glanced at Sakura's fight and felt that her help wasn't needed at all.
She turned her attention back to Naruto.
After some thought, she said to Choji, "There might be some changes in my body later. Don't worry, and don't touch me. I can control the process, and the Hydrification Technique can heal any external injuries." Choji didn't understand why she said this but nodded heavily to show he understood.
Ino glanced at her panel. Ashura's Chakra was indeed the most crucial. With it, just like when she had taken over Haku's body before, her panel finally displayed the necessary conditions for Wood Release.
Haku's Ice Release has a specific ratio of Water and Wind Chakra, while Wood Release is even more complex.
Wood Release is the combination of Earth Release and Water Release, which is a Kekkei Genkai, not a Kekkei Tota formed by the mixture of three types of Chakra. However, before Earth Release and Water Release are combined, Yang Release Chakra must first be added to both the water and the earth. Strictly speaking, Wood Release is the fusion of Water Release Chakra infused with Yang Release Chakra and Earth Release Chakra infused with Yang Release Chakra, with a ratio of four parts water to six parts earth.
The required attributes are Ninja Skill 10, Stamina 10, Yang Release lv5, Water Release lv5, and Earth Release lv5. It takes a full five maxed attributes to unlock Wood Release.
Currently, she only meets the condition of Ninja Skill 10. The remaining attributes are Stamina 8, Yang Release lv1, Water Release lv4, and Earth Release lv2, which are still far from sufficient.
Ino nodded to Choji and once again used the Mind Body Switch Technique to enter Naruto's body.
This time, she came prepared. As soon as she entered the mental world, she began to shout.
"I'm not good with words," Ino started with an opening line, then continued, "But I know you're there, right? I know you, Nine-Tailed Demon Fox!"
For now, she couldn't mention anything about Kurama and had to stick to the term "Demon Fox."
"You can't stop me from coming in, so naturally, you can't stop me from leaving. What's the point of throwing a tantrum and making Naruto unconscious? Does it make you feel better? Can you break free? Or do you just feel better by killing Naruto? You know why I'm here, but what about you? Pretending not to be home? Avoiding me?"
Ino pointed at the air and scolded, "What's the use of this? Do you think your actions are mature? Let me tell you, your behavior is childish! Extremely childish!"
It seemed that the word "childish" had angered the Nine-Tails, as a faint, fiery red figure began to appear on the wall near Ino.
The Nine-Tails was still firmly sealed, and this was just a trace of Chakra that had leaked out due to the confusion between the Five Elements Seal and the Four Symbols Seal. For the Nine-Tails, this was nothing more than a drop in the ocean.
It transformed into a blurry, blood-soaked figure with claws bared, towering as high as a mountain, trying to intimidate Ino.
Ino secretly formed the "Release" hand seal with one hand while pointing at it with the other, "You call me childish, but you're the one acting like a child. What's the point of turning into this? Trying to scare me? Do you think I was born yesterday? If you have the guts, come and hit me!"
The Nine-Tails was furious. Wasn't saying "come and hit me" just as childish? Ino heard a sharp, grinding roar in her ears, and then she realized that her Mind Body Switch Technique had succeeded. She had gained control of Naruto's body.
In less than a tenth of a second, she felt the body filled with an overwhelming amount of Chakra. The sheer volume of Chakra was unimaginable, and unlike human Chakra, the Nine-Tails' Chakra was highly corrosive. Due to its intense heat, it was burning Naruto's skin, muscles, and bones.
Naruto, thanks to his Uzumaki lineage, had a strong natural recovery ability, which balanced out the burning effects of the Chakra. However, Ino didn't possess such a recovery ability.
The drawback of the Mind Body Switch Technique is that if the target is injured, the user's body will also suffer the same damage. Therefore, this technique is usually used for support and rarely in combat.
The Nine-Tails seemed to be aware of this technique or had figured out its weakness. By exploiting the connection established through the technique, it used Naruto's body to inflict burns on Ino's body.
Filled with malicious glee, it wanted to see how this sharp-tongued woman would handle the situation!