Orochimaru's Guidance (Part 1)

After putting away his ninja tools, Shuichi slowly made his way home.

Meanwhile, after leaving, Orochimaru went straight to the Hokage's Office. Sarutobi Hiruzen was not surprised to see him. He exhaled a puff of smoke and began asking questions.

"Well? What do you think of Shuichi?"

Orochimaru looked somewhat more excited than he had that morning, and he slightly licked his lips as he spoke.

"He exceeded my expectations. The child of a Special Jonin possesses such talent and potential. What surprised me even more was his intelligence and decisiveness. Therefore, I think we can be more aggressive with the plan to cultivate him, like this..."

"Oh? I didn't expect such an evaluation to come from you, Orochimaru. Are you sure you won't be pushing him too hard?"

"Heh heh. Although I haven't known him long, I believe he can handle himself perfectly well."

The Third Hokage fell silent for a while. "All right. We'll try it your way for now."

Meanwhile, Shuichi returned home. After bathing and having dinner, he began preparing the questions he would ask Orochimaru tomorrow.

"They need to sound technical, deepen my own understanding of Chakra, and not reveal information that others wouldn't think I know." Shuichi thought to himself.

"First, the matter of Chakra and physical stamina. Then Shadow Clones, followed by Nature Transformation..."

The next afternoon, a well-rested Shuichi arrived at yesterday's location ten minutes early. Before long, Orochimaru appeared right on time as well.

"So, Shuichi-kun, you should have your questions prepared by now, yes?" Orochimaru got straight to the point upon meeting him.

"Yes, Teacher Orochimaru. First, I wanted to ask about Chakra and Life Energy. Chakra has existed for a thousand years, hasn't it? And I can imagine that people with different talents would have enormous disparities between them."

"Throughout history, there must have been extraordinary powerful individuals. Were none of them able to unify the ninja world?"

Shuichi wanted to know whether the actual situation matched his guesses.

Orochimaru was somewhat surprised. This disciple had not asked a single question about ninjutsu right off the bat.

"Your question is beyond my expectations. Heh heh, the gap between ninja and ordinary people is indeed far too great, but such power comes at a price. You should know that Chakra is composed of Body Energy and Mental Energy, right?"

"Since we're on that subject, it relates to some advice I will give you later, so I might as well explain it all at once. One of the most important factors in determining a ninja's strength is their amount of Chakra."

"A ninja's Combat Power primarily consists of ninjutsu, taijutsu, and genjutsu. When we assess a ninja's qualities, physical stamina—or rather, Body Energy—is the most important factor."

"Let's set genjutsu aside for now and talk about taijutsu first. When ninja use taijutsu, they generally do not waste energy, continuing until their stamina is exhausted."

"Then there is ninjutsu. The amount of Chakra a person has is closely tied to their physical stamina."

"As long as they were not born with congenital physical defects, their Mental Energy and Body Energy will not differ by much."

"Ninja generally undergo extensive training and killing. Their willpower and life experiences far surpass those of ordinary people, so Mental Energy shortages rarely occur. Therefore, a ninja's Chakra reserves can be directly linked to their physical stamina."

"The first thing I will teach you today is to use Chakra cautiously."

"You should have noticed that once each of us successfully extracts Chakra for the first time, every extraction afterward becomes much easier."

"But this also creates a problem. When we use taijutsu, we can clearly feel the expenditure of physical stamina. The fatigue and other sensations that arise are protections and warnings from our bodies, telling us that we have entered a somewhat dangerous state."

"But improper use of ninjutsu carries great risks. Before releasing a ninjutsu, the Chakra we extract remains within our bodies, so we do not clearly feel our physical stamina draining away."

"Once the ninjutsu is released, it is equivalent to having a huge amount of physical stamina instantly ripped from your body. If your stamina is insufficient, you can easily fall into a near-death state."

"If someone misjudges their physical stamina, or faces extreme danger in a battle between ninja, they may recklessly use ninjutsu without considering their remaining stamina. At that point, their physical condition will instantly fall below the body's safety threshold."

"As you can imagine, this can cause permanent damage. For example, your lifespan will decrease. This is also why the strength of older ninja declines ever more rapidly."

"As for your question about unifying the ninja world, I remember Teacher Sarutobi once took us to see terrain left behind by battles between those worthy of being called gods of ninja. It truly was not far from world-destroying."

"But one can easily imagine just how terrifying the amount of Chakra consumed must have been. Being a ninja is a profession that constantly leads toward death. During the war-torn Warring States period, and even now in the era of ninja villages, every ninja will face life-and-death battles many times."

"That is why I say being a ninja is such a dull profession. Every large-scale use of Chakra brings one step closer to death, yet so many people fight to the death over utterly meaningless things." At this point, an inscrutable look appeared on Orochimaru's face, and no one knew what he was thinking.

Through Orochimaru's explanation, Shuichi learned of this characteristic of Chakra. Even if you were a god of ninja, the more Chakra you used, the closer you came to death.

Once he understood this, he also understood why no one had been able to unify the ninja world. Ninja might not fear death, but everyone cherished their own lives.

This was also why the First Hokage had died young. Every clash with Uchiha Madara had not been play; both sides had likely gambled their lives on each encounter.

"After hearing your explanation, Teacher, I think I understand many things now. I was originally very curious about the Shadow Clone Jutsu."

"Now it seems that many ninja know what Shadow Clones can do, right? But the issue of physical stamina is also why so few people use this jutsu?" The Shadow Clone Jutsu had been among the questions Shuichi prepared today.

Orochimaru praised him. "Your thinking is indeed correct. I had been somewhat hesitant about whether to teach you this jutsu today, but it is good that you can understand the risks yourself."

"Let me explain it to you in more detail. Shadow Clones and Multiple Shadow Clones are not actually difficult to learn. The key lies in distributing the amount of Chakra."

"After the Second Hokage invented this jutsu, everyone quickly discovered that Shadow Clones could accumulate each clone's experiences. Anyone could see that this jutsu could accelerate training."

"But after only a brief period of experimentation, this jutsu was immediately classified as a Forbidden Jutsu. One reason was that it was difficult for the caster to control how much Chakra to extract for it."

"Although each Shadow Clone can inherit all of the caster's abilities, if too much Chakra is put into each clone, the expenditure of physical stamina is simply too great."

"Moreover, when attacked by an enemy, they cannot withstand serious injuries at all. Any extra Chakra you put into them is effectively wasted."

"If you create multiple Shadow Clones while allocating only a small amount of Chakra to each one, the consumption is indeed not high."

"But if the enemy uses area-of-effect ninjutsu, those weak Shadow Clones will be destroyed in an extremely short time. Then all their pain will return to your original body at once, and the shock may even turn you into an idiot."

"In an intense battle between ninja, that is no different from courting death. The same applies to using them for training. Even ninja with astonishing amounts of Chakra cannot keep releasing ninjutsu nonstop from morning until night, so there is no point in saving that time."

"This is why talent in ninjutsu is so important. Each person's limited training time is determined by the amount of Chakra they possess."

"If your talent is insufficient, you must spend a very long time to master a jutsu. And in the ninja world, reality will not give you much time."