"Don't worry about this for now, just take note. You two get a plan to me as soon as possible..." Having arranged the specifics, Ino returned to her leisurely "little life"—collecting various clan books and Ninjutsu scrolls, flipping through those that piqued her interest, and training her concentration by constructing mathematical and geometric systems in her mind... and so, the day passed.
One of the two secretaries, Nana or Kana, stayed behind to look after and assist Ino, while the other went out to conduct research. When one returned, the other would head out. They were so busy that the days blurred together, and even in the dead of winter, they were drenched in sweat.
It took a little over a week for the two draft plans to be stutteringly completed. After being refined according to Ino's requirements, they were submitted to the Clan Head, Inoichi Yamanaka... "Ino, is this what you have in mind?"
Inoichi Yamanaka carefully read through the two plans—one was regarding the internal Clan School, covering everything from Kindergarten and Cram Schools to adult education for the clan's Jonin, Chunin, and Genin, as well as the related resource allocation schemes.
The other was regarding external affairs, concerning the current state of education for the children of the Akimichi and Nara Clans, and some ideas for joint schooling.
The plans were written very thoroughly and thoughtfully. Upon inspection, Inoichi felt it was a great idea; the plans had undergone investigation and evidence-gathering, and the content was extremely substantial.
This was a plan that could be put into use immediately.
Ino watched Inoichi's expression, her azure eyes full of anticipation and inquiry as she nodded and said, "That's right!"
However, there were still some parts of the plan that Inoichi was dissatisfied with. "Ino... what you've said here about the resource contributions of the three clans isn't quite appropriate. Our Yamanaka Clan is providing the location and the teachers. This way, our contribution would be far greater than that of the Akimichi and Nara families. Over time, our burden will become very heavy..."
Ino's eyes widened, looking at Inoichi in disbelief... After a moment, she pointed a finger at him.
"Dad, you're an idiot!"
Inoichi was bewildered... How was he an idiot? He recalled what he had just said; it seemed, appeared, probably, didn't have any issues.
Mrs. Yamanaka, however, glared at Ino and scolded her, "How can you talk to your father like that? Have you no manners at all?"
Mrs. Yamanaka's tone was unusually stern—she could give Ino a lot of leeway and freedom to choose what she liked, but pointing at an elder and calling them an "idiot" was absolutely unacceptable.
"Nobuko... don't be angry." Inoichi didn't mind his little darling calling him an idiot; on the contrary, he found it cute... He also wanted to know "why," so he asked, "Ino, was there something wrong with what I just said?"
Ino shouted, "Of course it's wrong!" Suddenly, she seemed to think of something and looked at Inoichi with a look of disbelief: "No wonder—a Village can actually have spies sent here since childhood. You, the head of the Intelligence Division, really are busy enough..." The thick mockery in her tone was obvious to anyone.
A line of black appeared on Inoichi's forehead as he reached out, grabbed Ino by the back of her collar, and lifted the little girl up. "You dare make fun of your father?"
"It seems... what I said is true... Even a small child can be a spy. The performance of you adults is truly a failure!"
"Then, do you have any good ideas?"
"Tch—why would such a simple thing need a'solution'? A spy, especially one sent out since childhood, clearly only has a few years of connection with their own Village, yet they will go undercover in this Village for ten, twenty, or even more years... In such a long time, you are actually unable to make these spies develop a sense of belonging? Isn't that failure enough?"
Ino raised her small face, her azure eyes staring into Inoichi's eyes without backing down. Inoichi's blue eyes had a bit more gray in them; hearing Ino's words, he couldn't help but be stunned.
"A few years" versus "decades"—this was a stark contrast—yet Inoichi had to admit that every word she said was true!
He had interrogated too many spies:
Some had been in Konoha since they were four, five, six, or seven years old; the majority of their lives had been spent in Konoha.
Yet these spies didn't have a shred of belonging to Konoha, instead persistently treating this place as the "enemy."
How great and magical a force is time? It can make people forget hatred and lament the brevity of life. But those spies, on such a long timescale, still maintained their spirit day after day, year after year.
Spies—
They were a group of people with firm beliefs.
"Ino, you don't understand. Spies are a group of people who aren't afraid of death and possess firm convictions. Trying to get information from their mouths is anything but an easy task."
Ino gave a "humph," sounding like a little piglet, and said, "Dad, if you're talking about a spy who enters enemy territory as an adult, then it wouldn't be strange no matter how firm their convictions are. But what about children? Where do children get convictions? Do their convictions have anything realistic as support? Obviously not."
Ino refuted Inoichi's so-called "firm convictions." "Their convictions are built on illusions, yet you are actually helpless against such convictions that would collapse with a single push..."
"A sandcastle built on a beach doesn't even need someone to lift a hand; as soon as the tide rolls in, it will be destroyed immediately."
"They live in Konoha, yet their fortresses remain intact—hehe, the waves formed by the people of Konoha are truly powerless. Humph... Dad, do you believe it? Once our Clan School is up and running—as long as the so-called spies are children, I can win over as many as come..."
"Coming to the Yamanaka Clan School means they are Yamanaka people. No matter which Village or clan they once belonged to, in the future, they will have only one home, only one family, and only one clan they need to protect..."
"And that is the Yamanaka Clan."
Ino paused and said to Inoichi, "You can't even understand why the Clan School must be built on Yamanaka Clan land, why Yamanaka people must serve as teachers, and why we provide the Ninjutsu materials. Dad, as a Clan Head, you're clearly not very qualified... Your thinking is too narrow; you simply cannot comprehend my ideas!"
This sense of spiritual "suffocation" made Ino feel very powerless; it was a kind of intellectual isolation, being too high-level to be understood.
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