Faced with Jiraiya's question, Tsunade could not be bothered to respond. Orochimaru, however, spoke up with an explanation.
"Our bodies possess a certain ability to adapt and evolve. For example, muscles and bones become stronger after suffering a certain degree of damage. That is why some taijutsu-focused ninja undergo overload training, including weight training.
But this kind of strengthening inevitably leaves behind many hidden injuries that are difficult to heal. Even the Senju Clan, with their powerful vitality, can only reduce such damage rather than eliminate it completely.
Once or twice is nothing, but if it happens too often, it can easily lead to disability or even sudden death. It is essentially overdrawing the body."
"Kentei!"
The explanation was simple and straightforward, so Jiraiya naturally understood it. He looked seriously at Shimura Kentei.
He greatly appreciated this unofficial disciple of his and naturally could not stand by and watch him head down a crooked path.
Yet Shimura Kentei merely nodded calmly in agreement, even offering a more detailed explanation.
"Senior Orochimaru is right. Our muscles are made up of muscle fibers. The number of these fibers is determined at birth, but training can make them thicker.
During overload training, these muscle fibers suffer severe damage. Once they repair and heal, they become even stronger and thicker.
Furthermore, muscles contain myoglobin. It is where our bodies store oxygen for respiration. Through training, myoglobin increases significantly, which in turn increases the number of capillaries transporting and supplying oxygen within the muscles. Together, these make the muscles fuller and more powerful.
At the same time, training requires large amounts of protein to better repair damaged muscle fibers. Combined with sufficient rest, this cycle gradually makes the muscles stronger and stronger.
Bone strengthening works similarly. After repeated damage, our bodies automatically increase their calcium structure. Bones become denser, harder, and more resilient. But that has little to do with our Shimura Family's Body Strengthening Technique.
Our Shimura Family's Body Strengthening Technique is not so extreme, nor is it so quickly effective. It requires years of cultivation, turning the technique into the body's instinct and strengthening the body nonstop, twenty-four hours a day.
Perhaps it only improves a little each day, but the accumulated results become quite considerable. It also causes almost no damage to the body, and even if it does, it can be gradually repaired.
If Teacher Tsunade had not seriously injured me this time, I would not have taken the opportunity to deepen my training. Since I was already badly injured, I could not exactly waste the chance."
Only by explaining things clearly could he fully display the effects and value of this Body Strengthening Technique, using it as leverage to gain more benefits.
"Is that so?"
Jiraiya looked suspiciously at Tsunade. He did not know much about this field, but it sounded rather reasonable.
"Ahem. Rest well. I'll come again tomorrow to help with your training."
After clearing her throat, Tsunade quickly left the hospital room.
It really did not sound good for a teacher to beat her student into the hospital. Though there was a reason for it, it was still her fault.
"Teacher Tsunade, how much strength did you use in that last punch?"
Seeing Tsunade about to leave the room, Shimura Kentei spoke up. He wanted to know just how great the gap between himself and Tsunade was.
"About thirty percent. It was equivalent to one of my attacks back when I was an Elite Jonin!"
Tsunade answered casually before quickly leaving the room.
"That's pretty discouraging!"
Shimura Kentei gave a bitter smile. He understood that he was still far from a true powerhouse. Even wearing that battle suit, he could still be beaten to death. At most, he could go head-to-head with an ordinary Jonin.
Still, that was not bad. After all, he was not even thirteen yet and still had plenty of room to grow.
"Strengthening oneself bit by bit?"
Orochimaru, standing nearby, became thoughtful and interested again.
Though he did not particularly like such a gradual and slow method of cultivation, that did not stop him from being interested in it. If he could obtain it and study it, it would certainly be greatly beneficial to him.
"Orochimaru!"
Seeing the growing heat in his friend's eyes, Jiraiya warned him.
Such a secret technique was undoubtedly the foundation of the Shimura Clan. There was no way it could be leaked. If Orochimaru truly got any ideas, Shimura Danzō would definitely kill him, and chaos would inevitably break out within the village.
This was an absolute taboo that could not be touched, not even by Orochimaru.
"Kentei, get some proper rest. I'll come again tomorrow."
The clarity returned to Orochimaru's golden snake eyes. He licked his lips and said he would return on time tomorrow before turning and leaving.
He also understood that he absolutely could not use any means to obtain a ninja clan's inherited secret techniques. Otherwise, even his teacher might not be able to protect him.
However, he could use this opportunity to glimpse some of the secrets behind that boy's Body Strengthening Technique. It was somewhat skirting the line, but it should not be a major problem.
"You should not have let them help you cultivate the Body Strengthening Secret Technique!"
After Orochimaru left, Jiraiya looked worriedly at his unofficial disciple.
He knew very well that this disciple's relationship with his father, Shimura Danzō, was not particularly good. He had even heard that the two had gotten into a conflict.
If that Body Strengthening Secret Technique was leaked today, Kentei would certainly be punished. With Shimura Danzō's cold and ruthless nature, who knew how he would punish Shimura Kentei?
"Thank you for your concern, Teacher Jiraiya, but it's fine. My father was the one who instructed me to do this."
Shimura Kentei naturally shifted the blame onto his father and smiled.
Though he was very wary of the great Sage of the Toads at Mount Myōboku, he had a favorable impression of Jiraiya.
"Danzo instructed you to do this?"
Jiraiya's eyes widened. He could not understand it.
Was Shimura Danzō really that generous?
"Our Shimura Clan's foundation is limited. Pushing the Body Strengthening Secret Technique to its current stage has already reached our limit. To develop it further, we need more knowledge and materials."
He spoke helplessly, and this time, he truly was helpless.
During the Warring States Period, the Shimura Clan had only been a second-rate ninja clan. Their inheritance spanned merely several centuries, far inferior to top clans like the Senju and Uchiha, whose legacies stretched back thousands of years. Their foundation was limited.
Over the past few years, he had practically emptied the family's reserves in this area through Sister Keiko, yet he had only developed the Body Strengthening Secret Technique to D-Rank.
Of course, that was mainly because the Shimura Clan had not conducted much research into physical enhancement. Most of their efforts had gone into studying Wind Release ninjutsu.
Continuing to research and develop the Body Strengthening Secret Technique through the infinite resurrection ability of his replicas would be too difficult. He could only find ways to acquire more related materials, such as the Senju Clan's secret Monster Strength Technique.
That was also one of the main reasons he had performed so conspicuously during the assessment. He believed it would attract quite a few interested parties.
"Danzo has set his sights on the Senju Clan?"
Jiraiya was once again shocked. This was not good news.
"Not just the Senju Clan. The other clans in Konoha, including you, Teacher Jiraiya, are all within our consideration. But we will only conduct fair exchanges, with both sides willing. There will not be any conflict.
If they do not wish to trade, we naturally will not force them."
"Me too?"
Jiraiya blinked innocently, not quite understanding what Shimura Danzō might value in him.
After all, all his abilities came from his teacher, Sarutobi Hiruzen. Even if Danzo had his eye on some ninjutsu Jiraiya knew, he should go directly to his teacher instead.
"My father has always admired the sage art power possessed by the First Lord. The Three Great Sage Lands of the ninja world all possess sage art inheritances. As the current contractor of Mount Myōboku, Teacher Jiraiya, you should have the opportunity to come into contact with sage art cultivation."
Shimura Kentei frankly revealed his goal. Though he was wary of Mount Myōboku, he also deeply coveted the sage arts they possessed.
For one thing, Mount Myōboku's sage art was incredibly effective at improving a ninja's physical abilities.
In the original story, after Uzumaki Naruto initially mastered sage art, he once lifted a gigantic stone frog over ten meters tall. At three tons per cubic meter of stone, that thing must have weighed over a thousand tons. It was simply ridiculous.
Of course, Uzumaki Naruto himself was also insanely powerful, but Mount Myōboku's sage art could indeed greatly enhance one's physical abilities.
He had long coveted such sage art.
"Mount Myōboku's sage art does not belong to me, so I cannot pass it on. Besides, their sage art cultivation has extremely high requirements for chakra reserves. Even my current chakra reserves only meet one-tenth of the standard."
Jiraiya shook his head slightly. He did not believe Shimura Kentei could cultivate Mount Myōboku's sage art, mainly because his chakra reserves were far too low, even lower than those of an ordinary Genin.
That amount of chakra was not even enough to meet the standards for signing a contract with Mount Myōboku, much less cultivating sage art.
"It needs to increase tenfold!"
Shimura Kentei was speechless. Jiraiya's chakra reserves were considered quite good. Though he was not Chadunla, he could at least be considered Chajinla. In terms of chakra alone, he was not much worse than Sarutobi Hiruzen.
Yet even he needed ten times more chakra to reach the threshold for cultivating Mount Myōboku's sage art. This showed just how difficult Mount Myōboku's sage art was to cultivate, and also how absurdly powerful Uzumaki Naruto was.
"You don't need to reveal the specific cultivation method, Teacher Jiraiya. Just share some of your experiences after mastering sage art, and cooperate with a little research."
Shimura Kentei stated his goal. He did not particularly care about Mount Myōboku's specific sage art cultivation method. Having it would be better, but lacking it was no big deal.
"If it's only my own experiences, then there shouldn't be a problem."
After thinking it over, Jiraiya felt there was nothing wrong with it and agreed. As for cooperating with research, he did not take it seriously.
Over the years, he had lost count of how many experiments he had assisted Tsunade and Orochimaru with. He was used to it.
"Sister Keiko, please bring the cultivation scrolls for the E-Rank and D-Rank Body Strengthening Techniques."
Seeing Jiraiya agree, Shimura Kentei called out to his fiancée, Shimura Keiko, who was standing guard nearby.
Shimura Kentei was serious about this. Though it might seem like a loss to teach the Body Strengthening Techniques he had developed to outsiders, they might earn big, but Master Kentei would never lose out. In fact, he would make a massive profit.
Besides, he would only directly teach these low-rank secret techniques at this stage. Once he developed high-rank secret techniques in the future, he would not teach them so easily unless they could offer something that truly interested Master Kentei.
As long as he remained absolutely ahead in secret technique development, what did it matter if he gave them techniques that had already been eliminated or were about to be eliminated?
They were destined to trail behind them and choke on dust. What future could they possibly have?
Once every member of the Shimura Clan was comparable to Six Paths Madara, what could the others possibly do?
Of course, those were merely secondary considerations. The main reason for spreading this Body Strengthening Secret Technique was to prepare for dealing with Six Paths Madara and even the Otsutsuki Clan. In the original story, only sage arts and taijutsu had shown themselves capable of opposing Six Paths Madara, Otsutsuki Momoshiki, and others. Might Guy had even nearly kicked Six Paths Madara to death in one blow, almost ending everything right there.
Otsutsuki Momoshiki and the others were the same. Ninjutsu was fundamentally ineffective against them.
As the saying went, those without long-term plans would face immediate worries. He had to prepare in advance, and Jiraiya, who possessed the aptitude to cultivate sage art, was worth investing in heavily.
He was even considering whether his two unofficial teachers, Jiraiya and Tsunade, could use the Eight Inner Gates Formation. If the future battle situation truly became unfavorable, he could have them activate the Eight Gates Formation and perish together with the enemy.
Though he was thinking such outrageously treacherous thoughts about deceiving and betraying his teachers, Shimura Kentei remained completely expressionless. As the Son of the Pot, his acting skills and scheming were naturally not lacking.
"Teacher Jiraiya can also use this injury to cultivate the Body Strengthening Technique."
This was an investment. Once Jiraiya mastered Mount Myōboku's sage art, it would be time to reap the rewards. At the same time, cultivating the Body Strengthening Secret Technique could help Jiraiya grow stronger faster and reach the threshold for sage art cultivation sooner.
Shimura Keiko said nothing. She swiftly returned to the Shimura Clan and soon brought back the cultivation scrolls for the Body Strengthening Technique.
Although she had focused on the Body Strengthening Technique for internal organs these past few days, she had continuously used Shadow Clones to organize the other cultivation techniques. She had already finished sorting them all out and had the family print them.
As for how the Shimura clansmen would cultivate them and who would be qualified to do so, that was not her concern. Her father-in-law would handle those arrangements.
"Your Body Strengthening Technique is divided into ranks?"
Jiraiya used his hair to spread open the cultivation scroll for the E-Rank Body Strengthening Technique. As he read it, he curiously asked the question.
"At present, we have only developed E-Rank and D-Rank Body Strengthening Techniques. The D-Rank Body Strengthening Technique is more complicated and rather lengthy, so it will take a long time to read and understand. You can start with the E-Rank one.
Oh, and Teacher Jiraiya, please do not pass these Body Strengthening Secret Techniques on to anyone else in the future. I hope you can understand that."
After giving a brief explanation, Shimura Kentei offered a warning. He was counting on these two Body Strengthening Secret Techniques to trade with Konoha's ninja clan factions!
This was where the benefits of being the Pot Kage's son showed. At the very least, he did not have to worry about being robbed after the fact. In the current ninja world, no one could play dirty better than his father!
Well, except Black Zetsu!
Meanwhile, Jiraiya looked at the E-Rank Body Strengthening Technique cultivation scroll, then picked up the scroll marked D-Rank Body Strengthening Technique and opened it. He discovered that it was a Sealed Item Scroll.
Without thinking much about it, he circulated his chakra and unsealed the Sealed Item Scroll.
Shimura Kentei was horrified when he saw this and hurriedly tried to stop him, but it was already too late.
"Don't!"
Bang!
"Ah!"
A pig-slaughtering scream rang throughout Konoha Hospital, making many doctors and patients shudder.
A proctologist was examining a hemorrhoid patient when the miserable scream startled him. By accident, he shoved his entire hand inside, prompting another pig-slaughtering scream.
Before you continue