Her mother hurried to comfort her. "You know your father has a duty to protect the village, so of course he's busy. It's understandable that he can't always eat with us. If you become a ninja one day, Ino, it'll be the same for you!"
Ino Yamanaka stopped making a fuss and nodded as if she understood, though she still looked glum.
Her mother knew Ino was too young to understand, no matter how much she explained. She simply smiled and began eating, saying nothing more.
Meanwhile, the atmosphere in the study upstairs was far more tense. "Lord Itachi, tell me. What's happened?"
Uchiha Itachi did not even sit down. "I need to tell Lord Hokage something important. But you know how it is—there's no telling where Lord Yin will be on any given day. Please help me contact him."
By the end, his voice was full of helplessness. Inoichi Yamanaka's expression nearly crumpled.
He agreed at once, but inwardly, he was in a panic. All he could do was pray that Lord Hokage would not be busy with anything particularly private when his technique reached him. Otherwise, he might be in for a terrible fate.
Despite his worries, this was no time to hesitate. Inoichi Yamanaka quickly prepared his technique.
As one of Konoha's outstanding Jonin, Inoichi Yamanaka specialized in mind-control Ninjutsu. He could also probe others' thoughts for information, making him an idol to intelligence ninja across the Shinobi World.
Uchiha Itachi had come to ask him to use the Mind Transmission Technique to contact Uchiha Yin, saving them the time it would take to search for him.
Still dressed in his house clothes, Inoichi Yamanaka sat cross-legged on the floor, his face utterly solemn. It was a serious sight, yet somehow it looked absurdly funny...
Uchiha Itachi,