Water Release: Water Severing Wave

Are the Lord of Fire Daimyo and the Lord of Water Daimyo plotting a rebellion? Ino wasn't particularly concerned. After all, if the sky were to fall, there would be taller people to hold it up. Knowing that they were secretly scheming something was enough for her to keep in mind.

This matter was of great value, but if she were to expose it now, the benefits and scale of the outcome couldn't be guaranteed. She needed to play it safe.

The thin samurai couldn't be left alive. She snapped his neck, threw the body into the sea, and let the currents carry it away. Clean and efficient, leaving no trace.

After cleaning up the scene, Ino returned to the bridge builder Tazuna's house.

She handed the snacks to Choji and decided to practice on the four fish she had just bought.

All four fish died under her treatment.

The first step in mastering Medical Ninja Techniques was truly difficult. Ino handed the dead fish to Choji. "Let's have grilled fish for dinner tonight," she said.

After dinner, while everyone was still around, Ino took the opportunity to ask Asuma about the Water Dragon Bullet technique.

"Asuma-sensei, do you think there's something wrong with the sequence of my hand seals for the Water Dragon Bullet?"

"Asuma-sensei, can the Water Dragon Bullet attack distant targets? How far can it reach?"

"Asuma-sensei..."

She bombarded him with questions, leaving Asuma utterly confused. "I'm a Fire and Wind Release ninja, and you're asking me about the Water Dragon Bullet? I'm not even as skilled as you in Water Release," he thought to himself.

Ino went on for a full ten minutes about the Water Dragon Bullet, then glanced sideways at the Sixth Hokage, who was rolling his eyes.

"Kakashi-sensei, when I practice the Water Release: Water Severing Wave, I always struggle to control the water pressure accurately. Could you please use the Earth-Style Wall to help me test its power?"

Kakashi was no fool. He immediately realized that his freeloading of the Water Dragon Bullet technique had been exposed.

It wasn't that he had intentionally stolen the technique. It was just that he happened to pass by the training ground that day and saw the water dragon soaring into the sky. Out of habit, he took a closer look.

The Water Dragon Bullet simplified by the Second Hokage was a work of art compared to the ordinary version. Not copying it would have felt like a waste of the Sharingan Obito had given him.

Compared to the Second Hokage's genius, his own addition of four dog heads to the Earth-Style Wall was embarrassingly low-tier.

"Heh heh heh..." Kakashi laughed awkwardly. "No problem."

The Land of Waves was simply too small, and there were few buildings on the island. Ino had just learned the "Water Release: Water Severing Wave," and she felt an itch to cut something with it.

But there was nothing on the island worth cutting.

Cutting trees? Cutting houses? Neither seemed appropriate.

She decided to follow the spirit of the Second Hokage and use Water Release to cut through Earth Release.

A B-rank Water Severing Wave was best tested against a B-rank Earth-Style Wall. And the only person on the island who could use the Earth-Style Wall was Kakashi.

"Earth Release: Earth-Style Wall!" The two of them went outside, with Asuma following shortly after. Kakashi quickly formed three hand seals and slapped the ground, causing a thick earthen wall to rise from the earth. The most eye-catching feature was the four dog heads in the center of the wall. Ino wasn't sure if this made the wall harder than the ordinary version, but she was about to find out. The Second Hokage's Water Severing Wave was different from the widely circulated Water Release techniques he had later modified. This was a Water Release technique he had created himself.

Easy to learn but difficult to master. Anyone can spit water, but to apply enough pressure to water-based chakra to cut through an Earth-Style Wall, or even the roots of the Divine Tree, was no simple feat.

If we're talking about roughly mastering this technique, it can be rated as a B-level without a doubt. However, if one wants to possess sufficient lethality, both talent and diligence are indispensable, and the difficulty of learning it is at least A-level.

Ino gathered water attribute chakra in her mouth, using hand seals to increase the pressure. After reaching her limit, she spat it out at the earthen wall in front of her.

The wall was only pierced to a depth of one finger, and the cut extended less than half a meter before the energy was exhausted.

"Water Release: Water Severing Wave!"

"Water Release: Water Severing Wave!"

Ino used "Water Severing Wave" more than ten times in a row. This technique didn't consume much chakra, and with her current chakra reserves, such consumption was negligible.

To fully master this ninja technique and enhance its power, there's only one way: practice! At this moment, Naruto, Sasuke, and Sakura also came out to watch. Ino didn't intend to keep it a secret. Under Naruto's somewhat peculiar gaze, she brought her index and middle fingers together, crossed her hands into a cross, formed the "Ren" seal, and in one breath, created nine shadow clones. Including her original body, ten Inos continuously released Water Severing Waves at the earthen wall.

Debris and water flew everywhere. Kakashi increased his chakra output, reinforcing the earthen wall once more, and then moved to the side.

Naruto, with his hands behind his head, squinted his eyes, examining Ino's nine shadow clones.

He was utterly confused, not understanding why Ino had created so many shadow clones. After some thought, he asked the good students Sakura and Sasuke, but didn't get an answer, so he had to ask Kakashi. Sakura and Sasuke also wanted to know the answer, so they pricked up their ears to listen.

Naruto asked curiously, "Kakashi-sensei, what is Ino doing? Why is she creating so many shadow clones?"

Scratching his head, Kakashi of course knew the answer, but felt it unnecessary to tell them at this moment, as it would only add pressure. But Naruto was the type to dig to the bottom of things; the more you didn't tell him, the more he wanted to ask.

"Alright, alright, actually this isn't much of a secret, hmm..." Kakashi weighed his words: "Naruto, you can also use the Shadow Clone Technique, right? You know that every time you dispel a shadow clone, you gain the experience and memories that the clone acquired after separating from the original body, right?"

Naruto looked blank, and Kakashi knew he didn't understand, so he had to explain in more detail: "Actually, this is a very unconventional training method. It uses the fact that shadow clones possess chakra and that the clones' memories can return to the original body to accelerate training."

Naruto's foundation was too weak, and he was still very confused. Sasuke understood and was shocked: "There's actually such a method?! So, creating one shadow clone can double the speed, and creating ten can increase it tenfold?!"

With his Sharingan officially awakened, he thought he had already surpassed Ino, but now hearing that Ino's training speed was ten times that of a normal person, he was completely unsettled.

Kakashi chuckled dryly: "It's not exactly ten times that much. Some ninja techniques still require the original body to train personally..."

Naruto finally understood and was overjoyed: "Kakashi-sensei, can I also train like this? Can I create a hundred! No, two hundred, no, five hundred shadow clones!"

Kakashi smiled without saying a word, while Naruto ran off into the distance, shouting excitedly. In one breath, he created two hundred Shadow Clones. It wasn't that he couldn't make more, but the space around Tazuna's house was limited, and any more would have been too crowded.

"Huh? What are you up to?" Shikamaru, who had been napping in the shade of a tree, was suddenly pushed aside as Naruto noisily rushed over to create his clones.

Naruto ignored him. The two hundred Shadow Clones raised their hands in unison, cheering, "Let's start training! Two hundred times the speed!"

Half a minute later, the two hundred clones looked at each other, all realizing the same problem: they had the clones, and plenty of them, but what were they supposed to practice? It seemed like they didn't know anything!