What Rasengan? I Learned It First

Even though his body ached, Orochimaru's mind remained calm.

Orochimaru guessed that when the Particle Accelerator struck the Cosmic Cube, the powerful energy released radiation that caused the instruments to malfunction.

Fortunately, the protective measures were extremely strict, and this radiation didn't pierce through the instrument's outer shell.

But Orochimaru didn't know how long the shell could hold out—once exposed to radiation of this intensity, mutation was almost inevitable.

"This Seat, blow up the instrument!"

Orochimaru's body glowed blue as the energy slammed into him.

Mito Uzumaki always placed absolute trust in Orochimaru's words.

"Fire Release: Great Fireball Technique!"

The instrument exploded, and a surge of blue energy turned into a shockwave that rushed toward the wall, only to be deflected back by the lead-lined walls, finally absorbed entirely by Orochimaru and Mito Uzumaki.

The ground trembled as this violent energy triggered a small-scale earthquake.

"Cough, cough..."

Smoke filled the air as Mito Uzumaki pulled Orochimaru out of the rubble.

Orochimaru reached up and pulled the tubes off his body, went to the bedroom to change out of his tattered clothes, and casually tossed a set to Mito Uzumaki.

After a quick tidy-up, he planned to head out.

This commotion was a bit too big—he figured the Anbu would be arriving soon.

Pushing open the door, sure enough, Hiruzen Sarutobi's eldest son was already waiting outside with a squad of Anbu.

"Lord Orochimaru, the Third Hokage requests your presence."

Orochimaru nodded. The Third needed to know what Orochimaru had been secretly doing at home to cause such a stir.

When Orochimaru arrived at the Hokage's Office, Minato Namikaze was reporting on a mission to the Third.

"Orochimaru, were you researching some new jutsu? Causing such a ruckus."

The Third puffed on his pipe, not dismissing Minato.

In his eyes, they were all family within the Hokage's lineage. Minato had already become a Jonin, and his strength was now approaching the level of an Elite Jonin. He would surely become another powerful asset for Konoha in the future—no need to send him away.

The Third needed to know if Orochimaru's research had touched forbidden ground. As a candidate he favored for the Fourth Hokage, some things, once touched, disqualified one from becoming Hokage.

Orochimaru had been thinking the whole way about how to explain things to the Third.

Flying Thunder God couldn't cause such a commotion, and he had no way to explain how he obtained the Cosmic Cube. But seeing Minato Namikaze now, an idea came to him.

"Ah, yes. You could say it's already a success."

As Orochimaru spoke, a glowing blue sphere condensed in his hand.

The Third raised an eyebrow. A seal-less jutsu?

Minato's face showed surprise when he saw the Rasengan—this technique was exactly what he had envisioned!

The Third took a drag from his pipe, thought for a moment, and said slowly:

"This jutsu has considerable power, and what's even rarer is that it's seal-less. There should be an upgraded version, right, Orochimaru?"

A simple Rasengan of this level was powerful, but not enough to trigger an earthquake.

"That's a higher-level application. I was just trying to add Wind Chakra into it but failed, which caused the explosion."

Orochimaru shook his head "regretfully" and sighed.

The light in Minato Namikaze's eyes grew even brighter. He had been researching the same technique for nearly two years without results, yet Lord Orochimaru had already moved on to the next stage of development.

Hiruzen Sarutobi narrowed his eyes and slowly set down his pipe. He gestured for Orochimaru to explain in detail. He needed to judge how difficult this technique was to learn.

He wasn't worried about Minato overhearing—if learning jutsu were that simple, all of Konoha would be Jonin by now.

"I call this technique the Rasengan. In essence, it involves gathering chakra in the palm and making the chakra flow continuously in different directions while compressing it, forming a highly rotating, dense 'chakra sphere,'" Orochimaru said.

Minato Namikaze thought the name wasn't very cool—something like Super Spiral Blue Vortex Chakra Explosion Bomb would sound better.

"I've divided the training for this technique into four stages."

Minato Namikaze pricked up his ears and listened intently. He hadn't even succeeded in developing it yet, let alone having such a systematic training method.

"The first stage is simple—just gathering chakra in the palm of the hand. The second stage is merely a further refinement of the first: as long as you can release chakra steadily and continuously, that counts as success."

The first two stages were relatively simple. As long as one had at least Chunin-level skill and practiced persistently, these stages posed no problem.

Orochimaru didn't intend to mention training methods like balloons or rubber balls. Once such methods were spoken aloud, it would mean someone had already succeeded using them.

That would mean he had already passed on the training method.

"The third stage is to make the chakra solidify while continuously releasing it."

As Orochimaru finished speaking, a rough outline of a Rasengan had already formed in Minato's hand.

Orochimaru watched with interest. This was, after all, a jutsu invented by Minato in the original timeline. By now, Minato should have a general idea in his head.

"The final stage is to combine all the previous steps, forming a highly condensed chakra sphere, then making the chakra flow continuously in different directions while compressing it, creating a small-scale typhoon—just like a Tailed Beast Ball—and that completes it."

"Boom" ×2

Orochimaru and Minato simultaneously condensed Rasengan in their hands.

Hiruzen Sarutobi watched the identical Rasengan in Minato's hand and Orochimaru's hand, and the pipe clenched between his teeth fell to the ground.

Was this really necessary? Someone else had just developed a jutsu, and you mastered it just by hearing it once?

"Ah, my apologies, Lord Orochimaru. When I saw the Tailed Beast Ball before, I had a similar idea and tried developing this technique myself, doing some practice. I just didn't expect..."

Minato Namikaze scratched his head and said sheepishly.

In the ninja world, training in someone else's jutsu without permission was a taboo. If the relationship was close, it might be fine, but if it wasn't, it could even turn into a life-or-death grudge.

"You're a Konoha Ninja, and moreover, Jiraiya's disciple. That's not much different from being my own disciple. It doesn't matter. Jutsu are invented for people to learn," Orochimaru said.

In truth, even if he, Orochimaru, hadn't developed the Rasengan first, Minato Namikaze would still have mastered or invented it.

Hiruzen Sarutobi planned to give Orochimaru some compensation. If it only went as far as its current level, this jutsu had no fatal danger; at worst, it would cut the user's arm with rampaging Chakra.

"If this jutsu is developed further, its power will be too immense. Even you, Orochimaru, could cause such a commotion with a single careless move, let alone other ninja.

I intend to add the training method for the Rasengan to the Scroll of Seals. As compensation, you may choose one jutsu from the Scroll of Seals to train in."

Orochimaru agreed.

He didn't choose the Mutual Explosion Tag—it was too expensive. Explosion Tags weren't cheap.

Only the Second Hokage, backed by the entire Senju clan and even Konoha, could afford to use them that way. As for the Multiple Shadow Clone Jutsu, Hiruzen Sarutobi had already taught it to him long ago when his Chakra quantity and control met the standard. The Mind Transfer Jutsu was something Tsunade had on her side.

In truth, what he wanted most was the Impure World Reincarnation Jutsu. This technique could connect to the Pure Land and summon the departed, undoubtedly crossing the boundary between life and death. Orochimaru was very interested.

But Orochimaru knew in his heart that Hiruzen Sarutobi was unlikely to agree to give him that jutsu.

That left only one technique, or rather one taijutsu, that interested him.

"I choose the Eight Gates Technique."

Hiruzen Sarutobi nodded. He knew that even with Soft Body Modification, Orochimaru's taijutsu level was still relatively weak among Kage-level ninja.

Even if Orochimaru didn't successfully master the Eight Gates, many of the taijutsu training techniques within it held great reference value, enough to help him make up for this shortcoming.

Orochimaru returned with the Eight Gates Technique.

Under Hiruzen Sarutobi's instructions, Minato Namikaze also went back with the newly mastered Rasengan. He wanted to share today's events with Kushina.

After his body was transformed by the power of the Cosmic Cube, Orochimaru could clearly perceive all the space around him.

This space formed a three-dimensional coordinate system in his mind. If a Flying Thunder God technique formula existed, he felt he could easily perform spatial transfers.

After the machine exploded, Orochimaru noticed that Mito Uzumaki had also been impacted by the Cosmic Cube's power. He wanted to know if Mito Uzumaki now possessed the aptitude to learn the Flying Thunder God.

If he did, Orochimaru planned to maneuver things so that Mito Uzumaki would earn military merits and obtain the training method for the Flying Thunder God.

But he could teach it in advance, as long as Mito Uzumaki didn't use it in front of others. Once he gained sufficient qualifications, he could reveal it.

As for what kind of military merit would be reasonable to prepare for Mito Uzumaki?

He needed to achieve a feat great enough for the Third Hokage to agree to hand over a jutsu from the Scroll of Seals to Mito Uzumaki. And the difficulty couldn't be too high; it had to precisely match Mito Uzumaki's strength as an Elite Jonin. Orochimaru already had a plan in mind.