Recognition

Having said that, Uchiha Gen leaped backward. He formed hand seals in midair, and by the time his feet touched the ground, the seals were complete.

Fire Release: Great Fireball Technique!

His chest swelled high as a stream of golden-orange fire burst from his mouth, transforming into a fireball over three meters wide that rolled forward with scorching heat.

Faced with the oncoming fireball, Orochimaru neither dodged nor retreated. As he slashed down with the Kusanagi Blade, it rapidly extended, its blade coated in a layer of blue Chakra.

With one strike, the fireball was split in two. The blade continued extending, forcing Uchiha Gen to dodge aside.

With its form destroyed, the searing fireball no longer posed a threat. Uchiha Gen could not control it with Chakra while dodging.

Orochimaru let the flames fly past him. The Kusanagi Blade swiftly retracted and slid back into his mouth. He looked utterly relaxed, with no intention of counterattacking.

The gap between a Kage-level fighter and a Jonin was enormous. Even if Uchiha Gen was a Jonin of the Uchiha Clan, Orochimaru did not believe he could threaten him.

Hmm?

Orochimaru suddenly seemed to sense something and let out a soft sound of surprise. His body abruptly leaped back, and a pair of hands burst out of the earth the next instant.

Realizing his attack had missed, the figure underground broke through the soil and charged out. It was another Uchiha Gen, and three Shuriken had already shot toward Orochimaru.

Orochimaru was in midair and had nothing to push off from, but his flexibility was far beyond that of any human. He tilted his head and twisted his waist at an exaggerated angle, avoiding all three Shuriken.

Those three Shuriken were merely ordinary Shuriken, put on display. There was no need to expose the existence of the Homie.

Ordinary ninja might explain it away as wire control, but it could not fool Orochimaru, whose soul was whole and whose senses were at their peak.

When the strike missed, the two Uchiha Gens stood side by side and formed hand seals at the same time.

Fire Release: Great Fire Annihilation!

Wind Release: Great Breakthrough!

A combined ninjutsu. The wind fed the flames, and golden-orange fire surged toward Orochimaru like a colossal tidal wave. Under the continuous reinforcement, the flames faintly took on a golden hue. Their range was only one-third of Madara Uchiha's, but their temperature was even higher.

When Uchiha Gen cultivated Fire Release nature transformation, he focused more of his effort on how to raise the temperature of his flames.

Raising a flame's temperature was extremely difficult, but with Zhurong as a reference, it was much easier than for other ninja.

Flames of different colors had different temperatures.

Dark red flames: around 600 degrees Celsius. Deep red flames: around 700 degrees Celsius. Orange-red flames: around 1,000 degrees Celsius. Pure orange flames: around 1,100 degrees Celsius.

Golden-orange flames: around 1,200 degrees Celsius. Golden-yellow flames: around 1,300 degrees Celsius. Golden-white flames: around 1,400 degrees Celsius. Pure white flames: around 1,500 degrees Celsius.

Feeling the scorching heat rushing at him, a trace of gravity appeared on Orochimaru's face.

Against the power of this combined ninjutsu, ordinary Water Release would be like a drop in the bucket. Wind Release and Lightning Release were clearly unsuitable.

Earth Release could block it, but unlike crashing floodwaters, waves of flame were far too hot. It would not feel good.

As the teacher, he could not afford to lose face.

With that thought, Orochimaru bit his hands, crouched, and pressed them against the ground. Two rings of black markings spread outward.

Summoning Technique: Rashomon!

The ground trembled as a towering, majestic gate with a red base and a white-fanged demon face rose from the depths of the earth. The demon gate swung open and swallowed every last flame.

Its mission complete, the Rashomon turned into a puff of white smoke and vanished. The training ground had been scorched black, and the lush grass had long since turned to ash.

Wind Release: Net Technique!

Faced with the area shrouded in white smoke, Uchiha Gen did not dare rush in. He had his Shadow Clone use Wind Release while he formed Fire Release hand seals.

So far, Uchiha Gen did not know many Wind Release ninjutsu. There were only two: Great Breakthrough and Net Technique.

The former enhanced the power of Fire Release, while the latter restricted opponents so that the slower Fire Release techniques could hit them.

A fierce gale blew toward the smoke-covered area. Within it were tangible bands of wind that crisscrossed one another, forming a great hunting net.

The white smoke quickly dispersed, but there was no one inside. The wind net struck the dense trees, sending leaves flying and leaving intersecting marks across the trunks.

He wasn't in the sky, then...

With that thought, the two Uchiha Gens immediately began moving, constantly changing their positions.

Seeing that his ambush had failed, Orochimaru, hidden underground, came up with another plan.

The earth trembled faintly. Uchiha Gen saw bulges moving toward him. They were not only fast, but also closing in from every direction.

Puff, puff, puff... The bulges burst apart the next instant. Huge snakes—green, black, and brown—broke from the ground. Each was as thick as a water barrel, attacking from all sides.

While Uchiha Gen's attention was drawn to the giant snakes, Orochimaru quietly concealed himself through Earth Release, preparing to strike when the chance arose.

Fire Release: Ash Dust Concealing Technique!

Uchiha Gen and his Shadow Clone used the same ninjutsu at once, spewing two clouds of high-temperature flames and scorching ash from their mouths. The ash fell to the ground and rapidly spread in every direction like surging gray waves.

Hiss, hiss, hiss...

Unable to withstand the high-temperature flames and the continuously burning ash, the snakes let out pained hisses. They rolled madly through the ash before finally turning into puffs of white smoke and disappearing.

Orochimaru, hidden in the shadows, grinned when he saw the high-temperature ash covering the training ground. He really knew quite a lot of Fire Release ninjutsu.

He had even mastered Ash Dust Concealment, a relatively difficult and rather rare Fire Release ninjutsu. This was somewhat troublesome.

The high-temperature ash completely concealed Uchiha Gen's body heat. Even the thermal sensing he had acquired from snakes could not detect his true position.

He still couldn't ambush him. He could only use ninjutsu.

Wind Release: Great Breakthrough!

The power of this ninjutsu depended on the user's Chakra. When used with the Chakra of a Kage-level fighter like Orochimaru, its might was tremendous.

A continuous torrent of violent wind spewed from Orochimaru's mouth. The wind was so powerful that even ordinary ninja who used Chakra to cling to the ground could not stand firm. Sand and stones flew through the training ground, and the high-temperature ash was quickly blown away.

"The test ends here. Come out. You have my approval."

Seeing that the training ground was empty, Orochimaru called out loudly.

The next moment, two figures appeared in the empty training ground. One emerged from underground, while the other appeared beside a tree at the edge of the field.

"Heh heh, you even know the Camouflage Concealment Technique. You really know quite a few ninjutsu."

"Fire, wind, and earth—three attributes. Even without the Sharingan, you can still be called a genius."

A faint smile rested on Orochimaru's pale, bloodless face as he praised him sincerely.

Although his disciple's strength had not yet reached the threshold of Kage-level, he was already among the best of the Jonin.

The important thing was that he was still young and extraordinarily gifted. Over the next few years, he would remain in a stage of rapid growth. With Orochimaru's guidance, so long as he did not die young, reaching Kage-level was highly possible.

So long as he kept such an outstanding disciple close, he would become Orochimaru's best helper!

It seemed he needed to value him even more.

With a bang, the Uchiha Gen standing in the training ground turned into a puff of white smoke and vanished. Two Exploding Tags drifted to the ground, while the real Uchiha Gen's face turned slightly pale.

It was nothing serious. He had simply used up too much Chakra.

"The number of ninjutsu I know is far inferior to yours, Teacher Orochimaru."

"I still have much to learn."

After saying that, Uchiha Gen picked up the Exploding Tags and returned them to his ninja tool pouch. These things were quite expensive.

Please keep following and reading, especially on Mondays and Tuesdays. That is when test recommendations are decided. Thank you, everyone!!!