It's no wonder Hagoromo was surprised, given the nature of this maneuver.
Hagoromo originally planned to have Naruto practice the first stage until he could perform the actions while distracted before coming to the game.
But Naruto, on his own, skipped this step entirely.
By skillfully utilizing the five fingers, each performing its own function, one can achieve Chakra flow control and burst the water sphere.
"Well, when we were learning Chakra control, didn't you tell me to use Chakra Threads to control a spinning top?" Naruto, scratching his head with an embarrassed expression.
"So?" Hagoromo asked, equally puzzled.
After all, Naruto completed the training relatively quickly back then.
It seems there are no problems.
"Um, one day I used five spinning tops, and the Chakra Threads got all tangled up. At the time, I didn't think that just breaking the Chakra Threads would solve the problem."
"I only remembered it at the end, and just as I created the Shadow Clones, one of Shadow Clone suddenly thought of this and used this method."
Naruto's face flushed slightly; after all, this embarrassing incident was truly shameful.
Hagoromo couldn't help but marvel once again at Naruto's wildly imaginative thinking.
Anyone with a modicum of sense wouldn't try to use the same method to control Chakra flow because of this.
And it actually worked!
"Alright, since you've gone this far, let's just use the rubber ball to maintain the rotation."
Hagoromo immediately had Naruto train like a ball, and also explained to him what the goals were for this stage.
Controlling rotation and shape is possible, and can only be done with one hand.
After giving his instructions, he told Naruto to go and train on his own.
"Sasuke, you did well." Hagoromo looked at Sasuke beside him.
After all, Sasuke accomplished the first stage of Fire Release Nature Transformation in less than a day.
"Yes, teacher," Sasuke replied shyly, after all, his successful transformation was achieved through a clever trick.
"Your second stage is to use Nature Transformation of this pot of water to make it boil."
Hagoromo casually placed an iron pot into Sasuke, but after thinking for a moment, she still said something.
"Find a shady spot during training to avoid heatstroke again."
"Yes, teacher." Sasuke nodded quickly, picked up the iron pot, and walked away.
Seeing Sasuke like this, Hagoromo couldn't care less about anything else.
After all, he only had less than an hour to prepare, and now that Naruto and Sasuke had delayed him considerably, he had to go back and pack up before setting off.
After giving some instructions to his disciples, Hagoromo left immediately.
--
At the Konoha Gate, Hagoromo presented the proof to the two Konoha gatekeepers.
After confirming the situation, Hagoromo immediately disappeared in a Body Flicker Technique.
Left behind, Kotetsu Hagane remarked, "It's been a long time since I've encountered such a polite Anbu."
After all, they had been busy with many missions lately, which meant that when they were guarding the gate, they often encountered people like Kakashi who would simply hand over their credentials with Kunai.
Izumo Kamizuki, standing to the side, put away his certificate and slapped Kotetsu Hagane with annoyance. "Stop dawdling, there's a ton of registration to do."
"Hey, hey, coming right away," Kotetsu Hagane replied quickly.
Hagoromo, with masks on their faces, leaped and flew through the forest.
Hagoromo paid no attention to the scenery along the way, after all, she was traveling alone this time.
Naturally, there was no need to worry about whether teammates could keep up, so as soon as she left the village Hagoromo immediately set off at her fastest speed.
Since we've had this experience before, we only need to determine the general direction.
The following day at noon, a woman dressed in Hagoromo uniform of Anbu appeared at the border between the Land of Rice Fields and the Land of Fire.
Standing on a large tree, Hagoromo Yi began to confirm the location of the guard post.
"Oh? Found it!"
After a while, Hagoromo finally found the location of a watchtower nestled in the dense forest.
With a somersault and a leap, Hagoromo quickly headed towards the target.
Hagoromo's visit here wasn't just about obtaining intelligence from the border; more importantly, it was to deliver essential supplies to the ninjas stationed here.
Border guards rotate approximately every year, while supplies are replenished by the village every few months.
Before leaving the village, Hagoromo had already gone to the supply depot to collect about ten small scrolls.
After all, there are many ways to transmit simple intelligence information, so there's no need to send someone specifically to collect it.
As she drew closer to the location, Hagoromo's brows furrowed involuntarily.
Something's not right. Logically, when he entered the border guard post area, someone should have come out to verify his identity.
However, until now, Hagoromo has not detected any trace of anyone.
Are the people at the guard post really that lazy?
Hagoromo shook her head. Logically, that shouldn't be the case, since it was someone personally sent by the Hiruzen.
It's impossible for someone to do such a thing.
With that in mind, Hagoromo prepared to sneak into the nearby dense forest and activate her ability to sense the ground more accurately by touching the ground with her fingers.
Suddenly, Hagoromo felt a sharp pain in her heart.
He instantly Body Flicker Technique away from his original spot.
The next second, dozens of snake shadows burst through the spot where Hagoromo had just stood and coiled together.
Hagoromo ignored him and instead looked at a patch of grass not far away.
Just now, if it weren't for that subtle fluctuation of Chakra...
He had no idea that someone was lurking so close to him.
"Hehe, I didn't expect there would be such a little mouse."
"And, he's a sensory ninja?"
Emerging from the tall grass, a figure with long black hair, dressed in a moon-white outfit, and with a purple hemp rope wrapped around its waist, stepped out.
He exuded an aura that made Hagoromo feel as if she were being watched by a venomous snake; his golden vertical pupils seemed to have spotted some interesting prey.
Hagoromo's eyes narrowed slightly. What a joke.
I've run into Orochimaru here!
"Interesting..."
Orochimaru's gaze, sharp as if he were sizing up prey, was fixed on Hagoromo. His voice, slightly hoarse, rang out, "It seems you know who I am?"
As he spoke, Orochimaru's golden vertical pupils became increasingly chilling.
Murderous look!
Hagoromo gritted his teeth, and his Chakra involuntarily erupted—a natural bodily reaction.
Fortunately, the terrifying killing intent was broken free by the burst of Hagoromo's Chakra.
"Oh?" Orochimaru was clearly surprised that Hagoromo had broken free of his killing intent, and unconsciously stuck out his smooth tongue to lick his lips.
"You have the old man's aura about you, which means you're someone who's in frequent contact with him."
Hagoromo ignored him as he slowly formed several hand seals before straightening up and speaking slowly.
"Senior brother, you don't need to use your senses exactly like a snake."
Before he finished speaking, Hagoromo's figure emitted a golden glow and charged towards Orochimaru like a heavy cannon.
When facing Orochimaru, the only option is to use your strongest technique; as for running away...
Unless Flying Thunder God or Kamui, who can escape the snake's pursuit!