Sonar Technique

Kakashi's eyes burned with excitement. He knew his father was a hero of Konoha, a powerful ninja, but as a child, he had never known that a person could be this strong.

He was proud of his father's strength, and he was also curious about Orochimaru, who could fight his father to such a standstill.

Compared to those who could only witness the might of Kage-level experts after graduating from the Ninja Academy and heading to the battlefield, he was far luckier.

It was not merely a matter of broadening his horizons and understanding the gap between himself and the pinnacle of the Shinobi World.

More importantly, most people would never get a second chance after seeing such individuals for the first time. On the battlefield, unless their side had combat power of the same level, encountering a Kage-level expert meant they would inevitably be slaughtered.

Even multiple Jōnin working together could only barely restrain a Kage. If their own Kage-level fighter stepped in, they still had to get as far away as possible from the battlefield before the clash began—no one could shield them from the aftermath of the battle.

Wind Blades, lightning, flames, and the ceaseless clang of blades ravaged the training ground.

Orochimaru and Hatake Sakumo's spar ultimately could not be finished.

They were stopped by the arriving Third Hokage, who demanded that they not casually fight in the village's training grounds.

The training ground had already been torn to pieces by them. Fortunately, once the other ninja noticed the scale of the battle, they withdrew to avoid being caught in the aftermath. Any clueless Genin were dragged away by their squad leaders as well.

After the training ground was wrecked, some of the ninja who had been training there went to find the Third Hokage. Only then did he step in to stop the spar.

As for why he had failed to notice sooner and only arrived after the training ground had been destroyed and someone came to remind him, it was because he had been using the Crystal Ball Jutsu to peep on the women's bathhouse. He had been so engrossed that he failed to notice the commotion outside.

After the battle ended, the Third Hokage left immediately. He had been so absorbed in watching beautiful women that he had forgotten to deal with his paperwork, and he planned to work overtime that night to finish it.

Kushina, meanwhile, eagerly suggested that everyone go have a good meal after training.

Orochimaru had originally wanted to refuse, but when he saw Sakumo pat his chest and declare that he would pay, he went along as well. He planned to watch a good show.

When they arrived at Q's Barbecue, every staff member went on high alert at the sight of Kushina.

In short, by the time they left Q's Barbecue, every chef in the kitchen had collapsed from exhaustion, and Sakumo's wallet had gone flat.

Orochimaru watched with his own eyes as Sakumo's smile slowly changed from initial enthusiasm to forced cheerfulness. In the end, his face became even paler than Orochimaru's, nearly matching the color of Orochimaru's hair.

At midnight, a sorrowful moon hung high in the sky, while Sakumo's faint melancholy drifted through the howling night wind.

At home, Orochimaru was reviewing this battle.

Even though he had not gone all out this time, he had come close. What he had held back were mostly life-preserving ninjutsu such as the Snake Substitute Flow.

Against an opponent as fast as Sakumo, Manda's enormous body would have great difficulty striking him. Meanwhile, Sakumo's immense attack power and explosiveness were enough to break through Manda's defenses. Summoning him would only add another target to be beaten.

Orochimaru had already tried large-scale ninjutsu to restrain this type of opponent. It was useless.

Sakumo's Earth Release was highly proficient, enough to block most ninjutsu, and with his speed, he could easily evade the rest.

Konoha's White Fang was the first person Orochimaru had seen whose pure movement speed was faster than other people's ninjutsu.

Ninja like this were terrifying on the battlefield. They could charge through enemy ranks unchecked. The future Minato would likely be the same, perhaps even more extreme.

Against this kind of ninja, killing them was basically impossible. They were too fast.

If one wanted to defeat them, one condition had to be met: they had to be faster than the opponent.

Flying Thunder God could meet that requirement.

The alternative was to have defenses so high that he could not break through them, though in the entire Shinobi World, only the Third Raikage could probably attempt that.

Or one could restrict the opponent's speed, such as by fighting in a narrow area.

But that was not simple either. The opponent's Earth Release could alter the terrain, and his attack power was sufficient to carve a path through directly.

Winning against him was truly difficult. Orochimaru estimated that he could only wear Sakumo down with Flying Thunder God. If he were caught in an opening, he would use the Snake Substitute Flow to evade it.

He would suppress him with ranged firepower, use Flying Thunder God to keep his distance and kite him, and rely on his Chakra reserves to exhaust him to death.

Orochimaru's review did not mean that he truly intended to attack Sakumo.

Reviewing every battle with a powerful ninja was a good habit. It allowed one to develop better tactics and countermeasures the next time they faced the same type of opponent, rather than being caught off guard.

At the Hatake residence, Sakumo also sat in seiza, quietly wiping the White Fang in his hand as he continuously reflected on what he had gained from today's battle.

Orochimaru's strength had rarely made him feel such immense pressure. This time, he had already used his full strength. If it had been a fight to the death, he judged that the final result might have been his own death and Orochimaru's severe injury. Whether Orochimaru could recover from such injuries would be another matter.

Perhaps his sword was not sharp enough, and his will was not resolute enough. Only when his sword became sharper and his sword intent more steadfast would he have a chance.

No one's success was ever accidental. There was only endless reflection and accumulation; when small gains accumulated into many, everything would naturally fall into place. "A gentleman follows virtue, accumulating the small to achieve greatness"—that was precisely the principle.

Orochimaru had recently felt that he had been too idle, so after resting for a while, he began developing ninjutsu again.

When he had previously told Hiruzen Sarutobi that he was attempting to add Wind Release to the Rasengan, he had not been bluffing. He had indeed tried it, but it did not explode. Before his Chakra went out of control, he had forcefully dispelled the ninjutsu with his exquisite Chakra control.

Orochimaru had mastered all five elemental natures. In terms of Wind Release proficiency, only Hiruzen Sarutobi and Shizō—ah, no, Shimura Danzō—could stand alongside him in all of Konoha.

Shimura Danzō's Wind Release might actually surpass both Orochimaru and Hiruzen Sarutobi. He specialized in Wind Release and swordsmanship, but because of the war, his body had been battered into partial ruin. His taijutsu had declined drastically, and more than half of his swordsmanship was ruined.

Naruto Uzumaki had only been able to use Wind Release: Rasenshuriken after mastering Sage Jutsu and using Sage Chakra.

Although Orochimaru had now obtained the qualification to train in Sage Jutsu at Ryūchi Cave, he still wanted to see whether he could use it without Sage Chakra. After all, Sage Jutsu had a time limit, and if one had not achieved perfect Sage Mode, they also needed time to gather Natural Energy.

Though he had not developed the Rasenshuriken, Orochimaru unexpectedly created a byproduct.

As everyone knew, sound could be produced through vibrations, and sound waves transmitted energy.

Orochimaru had developed a series of ninjutsu by studying how Wind Release caused vibrations in the air. More precisely, they were sensory ninjutsu.

Wind Release: Sonar Technique.

It was considered an A-rank ninjutsu, with two branches beneath it: Infrasound Technique and Ultrasound Technique.

Infrasound Technique was a B-rank ninjutsu.

Its range was enormous, enough to scan everything within several kilometers, but its drawback was insufficient precision. It could be used to investigate the movements of an enemy force, but it was not very effective for pursuing a single person.

Ultrasound Technique was only C-rank, making it far less difficult, easier to control, and naturally easier to learn.

Its drawback was its much smaller range, only several hundred meters, and it could only scan in one direction. However, its precision was higher than that of Infrasound Technique.

Sonar Technique was essentially a fusion of the two, possessing the advantages of both techniques. Its only drawback was that it could be disrupted by powerful Wind Release ninjutsu. However, sound waves were highly covert, and from a sufficient distance, no one would be bored enough to waste Chakra by unleashing a powerful Wind Release technique.

Orochimaru planned to further develop this technique into an offensive ninjutsu.

Its principles were similar to those of sonic weapons. It could even be combined with Water Release into a composite ninjutsu, imbuing a rapidly advancing Water Release technique with sound waves so that the shockwave of the Water Release carried the properties of high-energy sound waves. This would also prevent an opponent from using Wind Release to create a vacuum and block the sound waves. Its prospects for development were not low.