The commotion in the hospital did not last long. At first, they really thought it was an enemy attack, but when the ninjas arrived at the scene, they discovered that there had been no casualties. They turned Moriyue's hospital room upside down and still found nothing suspicious.
In the end, they could only classify the explosion as an "accident." Maybe some careless idiot had dropped an Explosive Tag. As long as no one had died or been injured, it was fine. Besides, those were ordinary people's hospital rooms. Even if a few had died, there was nothing to mourn over.
Moriyue cooperated with the investigation by the katana-wearing ninjas with a solemn expression. The young nurse stood beside him as well. She whispered something into the ears of several ninjas, and they nodded, their gazes toward Moriyue gaining a hint of amusement.
"Oh? A volunteer? Pretty lucky—you actually survived." The dark-skinned, blond ninja whistled at Moriyue. If nothing unexpected happened, Moriyue would soon undergo an assessment. Anyone who had survived that kind of forbidden jutsu experiment ought to serve Kumogakure.
After changing out of his shredded clothes, Moriyue did not care what these people thought of him. He casually found a seat in the corridor and began recalling what specialties Kumogakure had.
"I definitely need to learn forbidden jutsu. Orochimaru is very skilled in that area, but it's not time to get involved with him yet. I haven't heard of Kumogakure having any famous forbidden jutsu, but its swordsmanship and Nintaijutsu are pretty renowned. I can practice those."
What Moriyue most wanted to learn were the Eight Inner Gates and high-destructive-power techniques like Tengai Shinsei. Unfortunately, that would not work. Might Guy might not teach him, and he could not learn ninjutsu anyway.
"Hey, kid, stop spacing out. You okay? If you are, come with us for a test." The blond ninja rested both hands behind his head, looking uninterested in everything, like a salted fish that had completely given up.
Hearing that somewhat familiar lazy tone, Moriyue finally noticed that the blond guy before him looked vaguely familiar. His voice also sounded familiar—distinctive, even.
Looking closely, those dead-fish eyes, that troublesome expression, that ninja with I want to get off work written all over his face... wasn't this Darui?
It was just that this future Fifth Raikage only wanted to finish what he had to do, then hurry off and slack around.
"A test? What test?" Moriyue was utterly confused and did not understand what Darui meant by a test. However, Darui and the others had no intention of explaining. They simply hooked Moriyue's arms over their shoulders and carried him away.
Moriyue felt rather embarrassed being carried out like that as a grown man standing six feet tall. He struggled hard, wanting to get down and walk himself, but he had still underestimated the physical prowess of Kumogakure's ninjas.
"Stay still. What are you in such a hurry for? We'll test you once we get outside." Darui glanced at Moriyue impatiently. Moriyue was not the only person to survive a forbidden jutsu. Whether he could cross into the ranks of ninjas was still uncertain.
Upon hearing that, Moriyue stopped struggling. Test, forbidden jutsu—combining those keywords, he guessed that this test was meant to determine how strong he was. Ordinary people who survived forbidden jutsu experiments gained immense power and became qualified to be glorious ninjas.
Darui had not lied to Moriyue. The group soon arrived at a raised platform made of stone. The square platform looked much like a boxing ring, except there were no guardrails around it, and it stood over thirty feet above the ground. Yet the ninjas merely leaped lightly and easily brought Moriyue up with them.
After stretching lazily, Darui tossed the sword at his waist aside. Turning around, he rummaged through his pouch, pulled out a file, compared the photo to Moriyue's face, then read the relevant documents within.
"Forbidden Jutsu: Life Burning. By burning the user's life force, it can grant powerful explosive strength and greatly enhance physical durability. After each use, the user enters a weakened state for at least five minutes. It is recommended to combine it with muscle-activating Nintaijutsu and swordsmanship to decide the battle in an instant. Evaluation: An extremely inefficient forbidden jutsu with severe side effects, a short duration, and extremely low potential."
After reading the information in the file, Darui paid even less attention to Moriyue. He had thought someone extraordinary had appeared, but it was merely the most ordinary Life-Burning Forbidden Jutsu. This could be called the lowest-grade and most basic forbidden jutsu. Although many improved versions had emerged later, none of them had particularly good results.
The reason was simple: no matter how well you improved it, what was the point if you died before you could use it? Those mad scientists had good ideas and added many other effects to the Life-Burning Forbidden Jutsu, but they were practically never seen in actual combat.
The most common real combat scenario went like this:
Civilian A activated the Life-Burning Forbidden Jutsu!
Civilian A felt filled with strength! Strength +80
Civilian A charged forward! Fighting spirit +30
Civilian A won! Honor +30
Civilian A entered a weakened state. Lifespan -10
Civilian A died.
It was not that Darui looked down on Moriyue; that was simply the truth. This forbidden jutsu was meant to create expendable soldiers. He had also heard from the young nurse that Moriyue had become an experimental subject while on the verge of death. All he could say about Moriyue was that he had been lucky—but that was all.
"Try hitting me with your strongest attack. You can use the power you just gained too, if you aren't afraid of the backlash."
Darui yawned and rubbed his eyelids, signaling for the other ninjas to release Moriyue. He still had to go through the motions. He had even already written "at most genin-level strength" in Moriyue's file.
The moment Moriyue heard he could beat up Darui, his palms itched. He had just watched the old man's expression shift constantly, but not once had it shown approval. It seemed like Darui was finding different ways to put him down.
"Use the power I just gained? Does that mean the Chakra that explodes at the slightest touch? Probably not." Moriyue did not stand on ceremony. He hopped lightly around the platform as a warm-up, eager to test the strength of this new body.
Moriyue tried to mobilize the power within his body. Violent Chakra raged through his blood vessels, and every surge left the already fragile vessels riddled with damage. An ordinary person would likely be ruined after using it once. It truly was worthy of being called a forbidden jutsu.
Yet forbidden jutsu had their advantages as well. Abandoning the gentleness of conventional Chakra, the destructive power brought by this violent Chakra was far beyond what ordinary ninjutsu could compare to.
Moriyue deliberately kept the Chakra from overflowing, using only the energy to strengthen his muscles. Even so, the sight was terrifying enough.
Darui swallowed. He could not explain to anyone what had just happened. Moriyue had merely stood there and casually activated the Life-Burning Forbidden Jutsu. His muscles had become as solid as forged iron, gleaming with a metallic luster beneath the dark-red Chakra, making his entire body look like a bronze statue.
He was not shocked by Moriyue's transformation. He had seen ninjutsu more powerful than this, and Moriyue's change remained within what he could accept. What truly startled him was Moriyue's utter disregard for his own life.
"That stance has to burn at least a year off his lifespan... Is this really necessary?" A bead of cold sweat appeared on Darui's forehead. He was worst at dealing with people who were this intensely serious. For a moment, he did not know what to do.
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