Looking at the Kushina before her, identical to her appearance from back in the day, Rie couldn't believe her eyes.
And after the disbelief came intense panic.
As the wife of Inoichi, the 'Ino' of the Ino-Shika-Cho, Rie of course knew who Kushina was.
With her image, absolutely no one in Konoha would dare to make this kind of joke.
Not to mention anything else, so many of Minato's friends, so many of his old subordinates, were still alive!
Just look at the connections that naturally came to Naruto once he officially left his weak period… Shikamaru's stance towards Naruto was always friendly from start to finish.
Therefore, the current Kushina must be the result of someone's malicious interference!
Immediately, Rie wanted to call for her husband, Inoichi.
But before she could open her mouth, Rie remembered that Inoichi was out on a mission today. Currently, only the idle-at-home Ino and herself were at the flower shop.
And her earlier reaction had already exposed herself!
'It's over!'
Instantly, Rie's face turned ashen. She silently berated herself inwardly: 'I used to be an Elite Chunin, how could I be so easily readable?'
'I'm done. I was going to get my daughter into trouble too!'
At this moment, Ino happened to walk out.
Looking at her mother who had frozen after being called out, Ino was very puzzled: "Mom, what are you doing? Are these your friends?"
Ino looked strangely at the young-looking Kushina before her.
Kushina looked like she was just in her early 20s, but Rie was now almost forty. How could she have such a friend?
Looking at Ino, Rie showed a smile uglier than crying: "Ino... Ino, Mom is chatting with friends. You go back inside first..."
"Be good, listen to me. And... didn't your Dad go out to buy soy sauce? Go see why he hasn't come back yet?"
Rie's voice trembled slightly as she spoke.
And her demeanor made it obvious to anyone that something was wrong!
Not to mention the one talking to her is the highly intelligent Ino from the original work.
In an instant, Ino drew a kunai and stood in front of Rie, looking guarded as she looked at the group: "Who are you? What do you want? I warn you, this is Konoha, not a place where petty thugs can act recklessly!"
With Ino's words, an immature but resolute killing intent emanated from the young girl's body!
And looking at her daughter, Rie's eyes also grew firm, preparing for battle!
Seeing the suddenly wary pair, Sora and the others were first stunned, then suddenly smiled.
For people of their strength level, Ino's bit of killing intent was like a three-year-old child in front of them babbling about hitting you.
Towards Ino, everyone just found her cute.
Looking at the mother and daughter before her, Pakura glanced at Sora, her eyes asking whether to 'capture' this mother-daughter pair.
For her, such a thing was very simple.
"Forget it." Sora shook his head, looked at Kushina, and let her handle it.
Kushina stepped forward two paces, a helpless smile on her face: "Heh, Rie, don't be afraid. I really am Kushina!"
Kushina looked at the Ino before her: "Is this your and Inoichi's daughter, Ino? Uh, is she called Ino? I remember you told me that name back then!"
"She's indeed called Ino." Hearing Kushina's words, the vigilance on Rie's face slightly lessened...
Her name was Yamanaka Rie, and her daughter was Yamanaka Ino. They didn't sound like names a mother and daughter would have, they sounded more like sisters.
But this was indeed something Rie had wanted. She had always wanted a younger sister, but unfortunately didn't have one. So she gave the younger sister's name to her daughter, which could also be considered fulfilling her dream.
And for this matter, in the very beginning, she had only told Inoichi and a few close female friends like Kushina.
Now hearing this secret shared between close friends, Rie also relaxed a little.
She patted Ino's shoulder and looked at Kushina somewhat hesitantly: "You really are Kushina? But aren't you..."
She didn't finish the words that followed.
This wasn't out of fear, but because she suddenly thought: 'What if Kushina was in some legendary ghostly state and would disappear if she realized she was dead?'
So, after letting her thoughts go wild for a while, Rie decided to let Kushina prove it.
"How can you prove it?" Rie looked at Kushina.
"This should prove it, right?"
Kushina raised a hand. A golden chain grew from her hand and extended before Rie.
"Adamantine Sealing Chains..." Looking at the chain before her, Rie's expression turned solemn.
She carefully reached out and touched the Adamantine Sealing Chain. Instantly, the Chakra within her body fell into stillness, as if encountering a natural predator.
Feeling this familiar Chakra-sealing effect, Rie finally believed Kushina's identity.