Ino held no reverence whatsoever for the deities of the Hokage world, prompting Inoichi to advise her to be more patient.
Why are you cursing the Shinigami? We're here to make friends!
Ino realized she had indeed been too hasty and forced herself to calm down, gesturing carefully.
"Welcome, friend. How are you?"
"I am... yours. Yes, yes, you! Me! Look at my finger—pointing at me, right? Friend! I am your friend!"
"No, no, no! Not that old man below—me! I'm your friend!"
Ino waved her hands around wildly.
For a moment, Inoichi thought she was forming Hand Seals, but after watching for a while, he realized she was just gesturing—jumping around, occasionally using body language.
He clicked his tongue. This really was quite difficult. The clan records hadn't mentioned anything about a language barrier, so there wasn't much he could do to help.
The Shinigami was utterly baffled, staring at Ino with a face full of question marks, completely clueless about what she was doing.
"What do we do now?" Inoichi noticed the Shinigami in the spiritual realm glaring at him with murderous intent, so he quickly hid behind his daughter. Only then did the killing aura around the Shinigami fade. From this perspective, at least the first step of the Mind Body Disturbance Technique had succeeded.
Ino wasn't sure how to explain it either. Based on her understanding, the two of them existed in different dimensions. The Shinigami was either too cowardly—or perhaps traumatized from being beaten by Kaguya Otsutsuki—and had hidden itself away in another dimension entirely.
The words Ino spoke simply couldn't reach it. For the Shinigami to understand her, she needed to become more "yin"—more aligned with the other dimension—so they could communicate properly and possibly become friends.
Imagine an Earthling trying to chat online with an alien—neither can understand the other's language. How are they supposed to be friends? Just by sending gifts and likes? That's just a superficial friendship.
Still, Ino's wild gesturing had some effect.
The Shinigami murmured softly, but its words were completely incomprehensible to Ino—just meaningless babble. She could only observe carefully.
The Shinigami spread its arms, and in the center of its body was a faint blue humanoid silhouette—likely the soul of the Third Hokage, the sacrificial offering for the summoning. In other words, once this technique began, whether it succeeded or failed, the Third's soul had already been handed over to the Shinigami. This process was irreversible.
Floating beside the Shinigami were three other spirit bodies—likely the souls of the First Hokage, Second Hokage, and Fourth Kazekage from earlier.
This guy was killing two birds with one stone. The Third Hokage's soul was the cost, while the other three high-quality souls were just extra profit.
Right now, the Third Hokage was struggling to pull out Orochimaru's soul.
The old man was nearly exhausted, his spiritual energy too weak to make much progress.
At this point, Ino finally understood—the Reaper Death Seal had entered its final stage.
Inoichi didn't know the specifics of this technique, and there were no written records about the Reaper Death Seal in the village. However, since the Fourth Hokage had used it before, some of the witnesses still had vague memories of it.
Ino combined her own knowledge with her cheap father's input, discussing the key points of the technique and whether the Yamanaka Clan could benefit from it. After all, the Shinigami was already a friend—even if only a superficial one.
"So the Third Hokage will definitely die. What a pity, he was an outstanding ninja. To what extent can you influence the Shinigami? Could you slightly alter this deal? Is it possible?" Inoichi asked.
Ino thought carefully, then turned to face the Shinigami and began gesturing.
First, she pointed at the Third Hokage's soul: "Old man, yours."
The Shinigami tilted its head, looking at its "intellectually challenged" friend—how novel!
This old man summoned me here, and as the summoning cost, his soul belongs to me!
This strange new friend who suddenly appeared didn't seem very bright.
The Shinigami pointed at the Third's soul and nodded, indicating this soul was indeed its property.
Ino gestured again, pointing at the Third's soul, then at herself: "Old man, yours. Friend, share with me, okay?"
The Shinigami immediately shook its head—absolutely not! It simultaneously extended its right hand, meaning if you want to save this old man, you must also offer a sacrifice.
Ino was startled—the friendship level still wasn't high enough? How could you demand a friend's soul? Doesn't your conscience hurt?
She definitely wouldn't trade her own life for the Third's.
But this was indeed a good testing opportunity. Even if the Shinigami turned hostile, it wouldn't matter—this creature's intelligence, or rather its way of thinking, was completely different from humans. For Ino, her sunk cost was just a month's worth of accumulated Yin Release Chakra. Losing that bit of chakra wouldn't pain her.
Of course, her chakra reserves were vast. One month of Yin Release Chakra accumulation through her Yang Seal equaled several years' worth for an average Yamanaka clan ninja.
Finding gestures too tiresome, she mentally conjured a white paper doll in the spiritual realm and began bargaining with the Shinigami.
Pointing at the paper doll, then at the Third's soul.
First, she cut off the doll's feet—the Shinigami shook its head. Then she removed the entire lower body—still no agreement. Finally, Ino cut away most of the doll's body—both legs, one arm—leaving only a head, heart, and one arm. The Shinigami still refused.
No good—this path was completely blocked.
The Shinigami placed great importance on its sacrifices, seemingly bound by certain rules.
Ino decided to try a different approach.
Still holding the mutilated paper doll (now just a head, heart, and one arm), she gestured to her "intellectually challenged" friend.
"Old man, yours. Deferred payment—give you first, half? Most? Okay?"
The Shinigami looked at its "slow" friend, not understanding this deferred payment concept.
If it's all mine anyway, what's the point of deferring?
After sixty seconds in the spiritual realm, Ino reported the discussion results to Inoichi.
"We definitely can't keep the Third's soul. The agreement I reached with the Shinigami is to take most of his soul first, with the remainder payable later. The Third won't be able to use ninja techniques or function as a ninja anymore, and his lifespan will be extremely short. Is this really necessary now?"
Inoichi shook his head gravely. "You don't understand the political situation in the village. As long as the Third still draws breath, he wields tremendous influence over the appointment of the new Hokage. This isn't just about the Yamanaka Clan—the new Hokage's decisions will significantly impact the future direction of the Ino-Shika-Cho Formation. After this technique, how long can the Third live?"
Ino gestured with the Shinigami again, as if playing rock-paper-scissors, then answered uncertainly, "Based on my medical knowledge, with most of his soul taken away, the Third probably has about a month left to live. Maybe even less, considering his organs are already failing."
A Shinigami mask appeared in Ino's hand. "As the price for delaying payment, we'll have to offer it a new soul in return. Any soul will do—it doesn't matter whose or whether they're willing or not."