Border Conflict

A month passed quickly.

Having obtained the basics of Enchantment Technique, Orochimaru completely immersed himself in this wonderful knowledge that seemed connected to existing ninjutsu, yet also appeared to belong to an entirely different system.

Of course, as an excellent teacher, he did not neglect the instruction of Satoru and the other two.

On the contrary, because he placed even greater importance on his students, Orochimaru put a great deal of effort into it.

Orochimaru even taught Satoru and the other two Chakra Nature Transformation and Shape Transformation ahead of schedule—things they normally would not have encountered at this stage.

In order to increase his beloved students' chances of surviving on the battlefield, Orochimaru's training could only be described as brutal.

Nawaki's initial Chakra nature was undoubtedly Water Style, which he had used before, while Mikoto possessed the Fire Style commonly found among the Uchiha clan.

As for Satoru...

Fire and water. While relatively rare, people born with dual affinities were not unheard of, so Orochimaru did not find it too strange.

Of course, Satoru could simulate whichever attribute he wanted.

Fire and water were merely meant to correspond to fire-element spells such as Flame Burst and the Water Creation Technique. If he needed to cast Lightning Bolt, he could also find a way to simulate a lightning attribute.

It was simply that he had not yet progressed beyond Fire Elemental and Water Elemental.

"Fire Style and Water Style... I heard that Kirigakure in the Land of Water has a Kekkei Genkai that combines these two styles, much like the combination ninjutsu Nawaki and Mikoto used during the genin test."

"Oh—!"

Nawaki and Mikoto still remembered how, under Satoru's arrangement, they had combined Water Style: Water Disruption Wave with Fire Style: Great Fireball Technique, creating a large cloud of high-temperature steam.

"That Kekkei Genkai is called Boil Release. If you encounter a shinobi like that on the battlefield, deal with them carefully."

Other than those who were too young and had inherited their Kekkei Genkai through bloodlines, anyone who had truly developed one through training was at least jonin level.

"Nature Transformation gives Chakra elemental attributes, while Shape Transformation makes a ninjutsu's methods of attack more flexible and varied."

Orochimaru carefully explained to the three of them:

"Typical examples include the Chakra threads Puppet Masters use to control puppet mechanisms, and the Chakra Scalpel used in Medical Ninjutsu."

They were not very familiar with Puppet Masters, but Nawaki and Satoru, who had seen Tsunade use it, knew the Chakra Scalpel well.

"Medical Ninja aside, if you are interested, you can volunteer at the village hospital and see it for yourselves."

"Sunagakure of the Land of Wind has very powerful Puppet Masters. The key to dealing with them lies in those Chakra puppet threads."

Orochimaru taught them some more obscure knowledge. A war with Sunagakure was practically inevitable, and if they happened to encounter a Puppet Master, they would be able to respond accordingly.

"Combining Shape Transformation and Nature Transformation can make a technique more powerful.

"Changing a ninjutsu's range, power, and nature according to actual combat needs is a combat quality an outstanding shinobi must possess."

Even among all of Konoha's jonin, Orochimaru was clearly one of the finest teachers.

Even Satoru benefited greatly from Orochimaru's teachings.

In truth, controlling Arcane Power involved similar techniques. Controlling the intensity and range of Arcane Power as needed, as well as shaping different kinds of elements, were all essential casting skills for powerful mages.

After Orochimaru's training, Nawaki had mastered earth nature in addition to water nature.

Although he knew that the composite Kekkei Genkai of Water Style and Earth Style was Wood Style, the technique with which his grandfather, the First Hokage, had dominated the Shinobi World, Nawaki had no clue how to achieve it.

Even so, he was already very happy.

After all, if he could not awaken earth nature, there would be even less hope.

Mikoto, meanwhile, focused more on Genjutsu. She had already become very proficient with the three Genjutsu Orochimaru had taught her.

As for Satoru, he had his own plans.

Thus, he focused on the Nature Transformation of wind.

At least, from Orochimaru's perspective, Satoru had successfully refined Wind Style Chakra through "arduous training," along with a bit of luck!

And this was also one of Satoru's major trump cards.

As someone equally proficient in Wind Style, Orochimaru was very pleased that Satoru had learned this rare attribute.

Orochimaru also generously taught Satoru several Wind Style ninjutsu.

Besides using powerful long-range cutting ninjutsu against enemies and boosting the power of Fire Style ninjutsu, Wind Style had another application.

By coating a weapon in Wind Style Chakra, the caster's close-combat attack power could be greatly enhanced.

Thus, Satoru's diligently practiced staffsmanship finally came in handy.

For this, Satoru had specifically asked his father to find someone to forge him a Chakra staff from special Chakra Metal.

It was a little expensive... but his father had his ways.

"Today's training ends here!"

After two hours of training that afternoon, with the sky still bright, Orochimaru called off the session.

"Tomorrow morning at exactly seven, assemble at the village entrance. Bring your ninja tools and necessities. You will be carrying out your first real combat mission!"

Looking at Satoru and the other two, who had improved enormously since graduation, Orochimaru's expression turned serious:

"The mission is Rank A: escort a small merchant caravan from the Land of Fire to the Land of Wind!"

"A Rank A mission!"

Satoru and the other two were startled, exchanging looks.

Hadn't they said it would generally be a Rank B mission?

A Rank B mission already required chunin. They were three genin, and they were taking a Rank A mission?!

Even with Orochimaru, an elite among jonin, leading them, this was still too...

"Don't be surprised. Escorting a merchant caravan was indeed originally a Rank B mission."

Orochimaru took out a scroll. It was an intelligence scroll used by the village to issue missions:

"But this is now a time when border conflicts have begun occurring frequently. You do know what the so-called border conflicts refer to, don't you?"

Orochimaru opened the scroll and placed it on a training post. Satoru and the other two gathered around.

"The border conflict is in the Land of Rain. They want to expand their territory, so they are expanding not only into our Land of Fire, but also into the Land of Wind and even the neutral Land of Iron!"

Nawaki answered. By now, the border conflict was no secret even among ordinary civilians, and someone like Nawaki naturally knew even more.

"Not only that." Satoru frowned. The firsthand information from his father meant he knew even more clearly than Nawaki did:

"Sunagakure of the Land of Wind is also eyeing Konoha greedily."

"They seem to want to take this opportunity to use Amegakure of the Land of Rain to greatly weaken Konoha's strength and profit from it."

"So in reality, Konoha is facing threats from two hidden villages, Amegakure and Sunagakure?" Mikoto asked in surprise. "Is Sunagakure that confident?"

"They are confronting Amegakure, the Land of Iron, and Konoha all at once. Is Sunagakure really that strong?"

"Heh... not quite." Orochimaru smiled and explained the intelligence Konoha had currently gathered to the three of them.