"—Rasengan!"
It was another round of the Survival Exercise.
Using the dust cloud Uzumaki Kushina had kicked up with Wind Style as cover, Gojo Yoru threw several kunai at Orochimaru.
Though his vision was a little obscured, Orochimaru easily dodged the kunai.
The next second, his pupils constricted.
Gojo Yoru had appeared before Orochimaru without warning, a blue-white sphere of energy cradled in his hand, hovering mere centimeters from Orochimaru's stomach.
For the first time, Orochimaru broke out in a cold sweat.
At the same time, his eyes filled with delight. "You learned the Flying Thunder God Technique?"
"Actually, I learned this technique the day we came back." Gojo Yoru chuckled, then vanished with the Flying Thunder God Technique and pressed the Rasengan against a large tree, snapping it in half instantly.
Watching the tree crash down amid a billowing cloud of dust, Orochimaru felt an unusual twinge of envy. He murmured, "So this is the Flying Thunder God Technique? No wonder Teacher Sarutobi was so eager to see this technique return. It's truly terrifying."
When Orochimaru was young, neither the First Hokage nor the Second Hokage had died yet.
But by the time he was capable of standing on his own, Konoha had long since entered Sarutobi Hiruzen's era.
He had never seen either Wood Style or the Flying Thunder God Technique.
Having experienced the power of the Flying Thunder God Technique for the first time, Orochimaru finally understood the might of Space-Time, and why Tokiya had been torn to pieces before he even had time to react.
Because he knew Gojo Yoru wanted to conceal his Space-Time Bloodline and would surely not use Space-Time powers during the Survival Exercise, Orochimaru had been somewhat careless just now and had failed to notice anything unusual about the kunai.
If Gojo Yoru had pressed the Rasengan onto him just now, even Orochimaru would not have been able to react in time.
That utterly unpredictable flash movement, combined with Ninjutsu without hand seals that had virtually no windup, was simply an enemy's nightmare.
Moreover, Orochimaru knew Gojo Yoru had an even stronger move, Dimensional Slash. That was the true killing move most compatible with the Flying Thunder God Technique.
Anyone who had not obtained that information in advance would certainly die upon encountering Gojo Yoru's combination.
Gojo Yoru returned to Orochimaru and asked with a smile, "Teacher Orochimaru, how was my performance this time? I didn't disappoint you, did I?"
"More than not disappointing me—in terms of combat, I have nothing left to teach you." Orochimaru smiled. "From now on, you can develop your combat style and tactics around the Flying Thunder God Technique. Whether it's the Flying Thunder God Technique paired with the Rasengan, the Flying Thunder God Technique paired with a Chakra Blade, or even the Flying Thunder God Technique paired with Fuinjutsu... all of them can leave enemies utterly unable to defend themselves!"
"I still have much to learn from you, Teacher Orochimaru." Gojo Yoru smiled modestly.
"Of course, I still have quite a few things to teach you." Orochimaru smiled. "Although your trump cards and the Flying Thunder God Technique are extremely formidable, and you can catch off guard anyone who lacks intelligence on you in a life-or-death battle, if someone manages to escape, information about you will spread throughout the entire Ninja World at the fastest possible speed."
"By then, it will not be so easy for you to achieve instant kills on the level you did in the Land of Rain."
"They will also quickly identify your weaknesses and devise ways to counter you. And once they make a move, they will certainly come fully prepared."
"Your Chakra is not powerful enough yet to break free from powerful genjutsu in an instant. Powerful genjutsu users can employ all sorts of unimaginable methods to trap you in a world of illusions without you realizing it. Take the Uchiha Clan's Sharingan, for example. A single exchanged glance can pull you into an illusionary world and may even make you mistakenly believe that you have already dispelled the genjutsu."
"Furthermore, the eyes of that clan can also use the Sharingan to perform immobilizing techniques like the Golden Binding Technique, making them equally difficult to guard against."
"Like Phantom Rain Tokiya, whom you faced before. He could cast genjutsu through rainwater and the sound of rain."
"Your attacks must be at close range to be lethal, yet getting close often gives others the opportunity to land a fatal blow as well. Therefore, you must strengthen this weakness against genjutsu as soon as possible."
Upon hearing that, Gojo Yoru immediately asked humbly, "Teacher Orochimaru, what do you suggest?"
Uzumaki Kushina, who had come to stand beside Gojo Yoru, obediently refrained from interrupting them.
"To strengthen your resistance to genjutsu, you must first understand its principles."
Orochimaru led Gojo Yoru and Uzumaki Kushina beneath a tree and sat down, beginning his lesson for the two of them. He said slowly, "Genjutsu is a technique activated with Yin Release Chakra. Its effect is to manipulate the flow of Chakra in an enemy's brain nerves, thereby carrying out mental attacks, constructing illusions, causing confusion and hypnosis, and so on..."
"However, regardless of the type of genjutsu, intangible Yin Release Chakra must enter the enemy's brain through the five senses."
"Thus, there are only five common types of genjutsu: visual, olfactory, auditory, gustatory, and tactile."
"If someone could shut off all five senses, they would basically be immune to all mainstream genjutsu, but that is obviously impossible."
"So there is only one way to counter genjutsu: make the Chakra within your body chaotic, preventing the genjutsu user from manipulating the Chakra in your brain nerves."
At this point, Orochimaru abruptly changed the subject and asked, "Do you know who the strongest person in the Ninja World is right now?"
"Uh, isn't the strongest the Hokage?" Uzumaki Kushina asked blankly.
Even though she lived overseas, she knew that the Land of Fire and Konoha were the strongest country and village in the Ninja World. As the leader of the strongest ninja village, the Hokage should naturally be the strongest person.
"The Hokage is indeed the strongest, but only when it comes to ninjutsu." Orochimaru smiled. "In the entire Ninja World today, no one possesses a greater understanding or application of the Five Element Ninjutsu than the Hokage."
"But in terms of individual strength, the Hokage is not the strongest."
Orochimaru began explaining to the two of them, "In this era, there are six figures standing at the pinnacle of the Ninja World: the current Five Kage and Hanzo of the Salamander from Amegakure."
"Among them, four are publicly acknowledged as the strongest."
"They are the Hokage, strongest in Five Element Ninjutsu; Hanzo of the Salamander, strongest in strategic deterrence; the Third Tsuchikage, strongest aerial threat; and the man with the strongest individual ability... the Third Raikage."
Orochimaru said quietly, "The Hokage has mastered the Nature Transformation of all Five Element Ninjutsu and can combine all five Nature Transformations to unleash composite ninjutsu, making him extremely powerful. Hanzo of the Salamander's Summoned Beast, Ibuse, possesses the most terrifying poison in the Ninja World. Combined with Hanzō's own strength, one man and one beast can fight an entire nation. The Third Tsuchikage possesses the Kekkei Tōta Dust Release, formed from the fusion of three Nature Transformations, which can decompose anything it touches into atoms. He can also fly using Iwagakure's Earth Style, the Light-Weight Rock Technique, making him invincible in aerial combat."
"But in terms of individual ability, only the Third Raikage is called the strongest. Do you know why?"
Uzumaki Kushina shook her head blankly.
Gojo Yoru, however, grasped Orochimaru's meaning. His eyes lit up as he said, "Teacher Orochimaru, you mean... Lightning Style?"
"Correct." Orochimaru nodded with a smile. "The Third Raikage is extremely strong. He is called the man with the strongest offense, defense, and speed. Rumor has it that he could fight the Eight-Tails to a draw. No ninjutsu can break his defense, and even genjutsu is ineffective against him."
"Yet such a powerful man possesses neither a Kekkei Genkai nor a Kekkei Tōta, nor does he need a Summoned Beast. He only excels at Kumogakure's Lightning Release Taijutsu."
"You do not need to train Lightning Style to his level. You only need to master Lightning Style and use Lightning Release Chakra to keep the Chakra in your body constantly chaotic. That will strengthen your resistance to genjutsu and further increase your speed."
Pointing at Gojo Yoru, Orochimaru said, "Therefore, your next stage of training will be Lightning Style Nature Transformation."
Before you continue