Rasengan

The Kumogakure rogue ninja immediately used the Body Flicker Technique, appearing behind Hizashi. The kunai in his hand stabbed forward, and he sneered, "Die!"

But Hizashi instantly turned into a large wooden post.

"Substitution Jutsu?" The Kumogakure rogue ninja froze for a moment, and Shiyu's attack immediately followed.

"Compound Ninjutsu: Wind-Fire-Earth Dragon Bullet Technique!"

Dragon bullets of three different elements combined, producing wondrous changes in their properties. Their terrifying power hurtled toward the Kumogakure rogue ninja with blinding speed.

"Argh!!! Impossible!!" The Kumogakure rogue ninja cried out in shock and fury, seemingly unwilling to accept what was happening. But he no longer had time to dodge Shiyu's ferocious attack.

In the end, he could only take the full force of the powerful Compound Ninjutsu.

Shiyu's Compound Ninjutsu was terrifying. It had burned down many of the buildings along the street.

The Wind-Fire-Earth Dragon Bullet Technique combined three elements and already had the power of a Super A-Rank Ninjutsu. No matter how tough the Kumogakure rogue ninja was, taking a direct hit like that would leave him in terrible shape.

"He's so strong," Nao and Kurenai exclaimed in amazement.

The Kumogakure rogue ninja's body was horribly mangled, his face unrecognizable. He was clearly dead.

Shiyu felt a little awkward. Even he hadn't expected the technique to be so powerful. Since he'd killed the enemy before they could question him, he apologized. "Teacher Hizashi, sorry about that. I accidentally killed him before we could get any information out of him."

"It's fine! He might not have talked even if we'd questioned him. You did well! Our most important task now is to find our client, Mr. Noguchi." Hizashi didn't seem to mind. As soon as he finished speaking, he activated his Byakugan.

"Byakugan!"

The veins around Hizashi's eyes bulged, and he quickly spotted Noguchi's location.

"He's in a cave not far to the northwest. Mr. Noguchi is being held there!" Hizashi immediately led Shiyu and the others there.

The cave was well hidden, but with Hizashi leading the way, they entered without difficulty.

"Are you all right, Mr. Noguchi?" Hizashi cut the ropes binding Noguchi with his kunai and asked.

"I'm fine. Sorry for getting you involved."

"The research materials were stolen! The ninjas who took them seemed to be rogue ninja. They didn't belong to any country," Noguchi recalled.

"They didn't belong to any country?" Hizashi mused for a moment, considering where the people who had taken his materials might have gone.

"Rogue ninja? If they're rogue ninja, they wouldn't work together unless they were part of a group or taking orders from the same person!" Shiyu pointed out the key issue.

"But rogue ninja have no use for my research materials," Noguchi said, puzzled.

"I've got it!" Shiyu immediately realized.

"There must be another hidden village behind this. They can't use their own ninja, because that would give them away. No one wants to be the first to start a conflict and be blamed for the Third Shinobi World War. So they disguised themselves as rogue ninja or bought them off to carry out secret missions!" Shiyu boldly explained.

"That does make sense. There might be something on this guy." Hizashi speculated.

"Hm? There's something in his pocket!" Kakashi Nao pulled an item from the pocket.

"It's a letter! Good thing it's still legible!" Kakashi Nao began to read.

"It says: 'Don't worry. Leave the Konoha rats to you. Once the job is done, meet at the White Rose in the Land of Hot Water!'"

"The Land of Hot Water!" Everyone was startled.

"The materials were probably taken to the Land of Hot Water! It's known as the Village of Forgotten Wars. I wonder what forces are involved," Hizashi said, deeply puzzled.

"We've come this far. I doubt anyone wants to turn back now. Let's set out at once!"

Then Hizashi led the team and their client, Noguchi, back onto their mission to the Land of Hot Water.

They didn't encounter any enemies along the way, and Shiyu underwent some changes during the journey.

First, Shiyu noticed that his skin had grown paler and the Otsutsuki horns on his head had grown longer. At the same time, he could feel his chakra reserves surging.

A ninja's strength could be divided into the following ranks: Genin, Chunin, Jonin, quasi-Kage, Kage, and Super Kage. Shiyu's chakra reserves had probably reached the peak of an ordinary Kage Level ninja.

And because Shiyu had such precise chakra control, he used his chakra with one hundred percent efficiency!

He could use the Body Flicker Technique repeatedly and unleash all kinds of immensely powerful ninjutsu without ever running out of chakra.

If a battle dragged on, Shiyu's chakra recovery would become a nightmare for any opponent.

Along the way, Shiyu not only practiced the ninjutsu he'd copied before, but also mastered the Kumogakure rogue ninja's Lightning Style: Earth Running and Lightning Style: Armor. He now had a defensive technique for close combat, too.

But most importantly, Shiyu began practicing a new technique: the famous Rasengan from Naruto!

Although the Rasengan was only an A-Rank Ninjutsu, it required no hand seals and consumed less chakra than the Chidori. Later, it could also develop into powerful techniques with different forms and nature transformations, and could even incorporate chakra with nature transformations. It was undoubtedly the most practical close-range attack technique, with the greatest potential for development.

At this point in time, Minato Namikaze seemingly hadn't created the Rasengan yet.

"Minato, you can't blame me for this!"

As they traveled, Shiyu bought a water balloon and a rubber ball in a village they passed through.

Shiyu already met the requirements for chakra control and chakra quality. All that remained was practice. As he traveled, he made the chakra in his hand spin continuously inside the water balloon.

Shiyu easily burst the first water balloon. It was almost effortless. Then he held the rubber ball in his hand.

But no matter how hard Shiyu tried to make his chakra spin, he couldn't burst the rubber ball. It was much harder than the water balloon.

Only then did Shiyu realize that having Otsutsuki blood didn't mean he could instantly master every technique. For a technique that required no hand seals, when there was no one around to copy it from, all he could do was practice on his own.

At every crucial moment, he fell just short of success. But Shiyu didn't lose heart. If the technique were that easy to learn, it wouldn't be one of Naruto's signature cheats!