Inoichi Yamanaka was very dedicated to the "educational endeavors" within the clan, and the Yamanaka Clan meetings were frequent because of this. Discussions continued even after the New Year and lasted until the summer.
During this period, which lasted nearly a quarter of a year, Ino completely perfected her "Transformation Jutsu"—though this technique no longer resembled the original "Transformation Jutsu" at all; it could truly be called an independent, new Ninjutsu.
As soon as this new Ninjutsu was executed, a layer of bright, seven-colored radiance would cover the body's surface, like a layer of mist, shrouding the body's outline. It was as if mist had formed a human shape, with seven colors flowing across the body, changing constantly, making it impossible for the eyes to focus on the form.
The flowing light would attract attention, preventing focus. The broad coverage, furthermore, made it impossible to clearly see the specific movements—
Even just standing there.
She seemed to be constantly moving.
And this bright, flowing color had another function, which was—
Concealment.
Like a chameleon, it could make this layer of radiance merge with the environment, creating an effect of invisibility.
Ino named this Ninjutsu "Clear Wind and Hidden Clouds." It sounded poetic and picturesque, yet equally un-Ninja-like.
"Clear Wind and Hidden Clouds'... a one-hand sign Ninjutsu..." Inoichi Yamanaka scanned the scroll, then attempted to form the hand sign and execute the technique.
The result was that he tried again and again but simply couldn't execute the Ninjutsu; every attempt resulted only in the Transformation Jutsu. No matter how strange the resulting transformation was, it didn't change the fact that what he executed was not "Clear Wind and Hidden Clouds," but merely the Transformation Jutsu. He could transform into a flowerpot, flowers, or grass, but he couldn't achieve that cloud-like uncertainty.
The scroll clearly explained the principle of the Ninjutsu, yet... he just couldn't execute it.
"It's because of the understanding of Ninjutsu..."
Inoichi Yamanaka vaguely grasped the root cause.
"Un-sign!"
Ino formed the hand sign with both hands.
Immediately, seven-colored clouds and mist spread out over her body, the seven colors shifting like clouds rolling and unfurling. The humanoid cloud-mist made it impossible to look directly at her; staring for just a few moments induced a feeling of dizziness and vertigo.
Inoichi Yamanaka closed his eyes, took a deep breath, shook his head vigorously, and then opened his eyes again to look at Ino, who was covered by the Clear Wind and Hidden Clouds technique.
How terrifying this Ninjutsu was! If he hadn't seen it with his own eyes, he absolutely wouldn't have understood its horror.
After rubbing his eyes again, Ino had vanished. Looking closely, she hadn't truly disappeared; the color covering her body had simply changed to match the floor. Of course, this camouflage wasn't perfect; the disguise she formed lacked distinct floor patterns, merely presenting a blurry shape and the same color.
This camouflage wasn't perfect—but in reality, it didn't need to be so perfect—Inoichi Yamanaka immediately thought of the Stone Ninja.
The Stone Ninja have a large-scale stealth Ninjutsu, something like camouflage, which seems to have a similar effect.
If—
What was demonstrated before was the value in individual-to-individual confrontation. But the concealment shown now revealed the immense value of this Ninjutsu in collective combat and warfare.
In war, using camouflage invisibility to move and maneuver silently, reaching any desired location without the enemy knowing—this was absolutely terrifying. A specialized force could determine the outcome of a war.
Inoichi Yamanaka said, "The difficulty of this Ninjutsu seems a bit too high." Since he couldn't learn it, it was clear that it would be even harder for others.
Then, Inoichi Yamanaka, who was quite "humble enough to ask," retracted his statement—this Ninjutsu was actually not that difficult:
He systematically went through all the kindergarten textbooks compiled by Ino, read ahead, and studied the theory of "Meridian-Strings" from the beginning, especially the mathematical models derived and hypothesized by Ino on the application level—it was identical to vibration theory, utilizing a set of musical concepts, including notes, intervals, and scales, without exception.
Ino heavily cited terminology from string music in this area, embedding corresponding mathematical principles to form a methodology concerning meridian vibration.
How a single meridian vibrates, what sound that vibration produces, and how it forms a piece of music expressed through Chakra... Inoichi Yamanaka was fortunate that he wasn't completely clueless about musical instruments, and the method of treating the meridians as strings was also easy to practice.
Experimenting with note after note, determining the central note and the scale, an entire meridian would consequently become smooth.
After successfully mastering Clear Wind and Hidden Clouds using this method, and using it as a comparison, Inoichi Yamanaka observed a certain fact about himself.
It turned out that the "Transformation Jutsu" was merely one extremely special note within this system.
After putting it into practice, Inoichi Yamanaka realized even more the urgency of establishing the "Clan School"; he had to convince the clan members quickly.
Once Ino finished the first draft detailing the relationship between Chakra and music, Inoichi Yamanaka immediately took the draft to open a clan meeting.
This clan meeting was quite comical—
A group of adults, each holding a kindergarten early education textbook and a music book, were ordered by the Clan Head to read them carefully, word by word. The meeting would officially begin only once they had finished reading and understood the material. If they hadn't finished, they had to keep reading right there until they were done.
This time, everyone felt Inoichi Yamanaka's determination. Even though they were utterly confused, they still read seriously... However, they seemed unable to fully understand... especially the book involving music. "Inoichi, what does this mean?" an elder in the clan asked with a worried expression, looking at the children's textbooks. "We've discussed the Clan School issue long enough... Inoichi, the Clan School costs too much; it's really unnecessary."
The elder paused, then offered another reason: "Look at major clans like the Uchiha and Hyuga; they don't have Clan Schools. Why should we..."
Inoichi Yamanaka shook his head and said in a low voice, "If this were before, that would indeed be a major reason—but things are different now. Ino has shown me a fact through her actions."
"What fact?"
"If we are unable to learn these things, if the Clan School does not provide centralized, efficient instruction. Then in the future..."
Inoichi Yamanaka stated an extremely serious reality.
"Every single member of our clan will be unable to learn the Ninjutsu created by Ino—not a single one!"
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