Forbidden Techniques

The Scroll of Seals was a forbidden book sealed by the First Hokage, Hashirama Senju.

It recorded forbidden techniques that ordinary shinobi were not permitted to learn, sealed by the First Hokage because they were far too dangerous.

Of course, that was the official explanation.

In truth, this scroll was tied to the Second Hokage, Senju Tobirama's, dark history.

Even before Konoha was founded, Danzo's teacher had regarded the Uchiha Clan as a thorn in his side. To contend with the powerful Uchiha Madara, he created a series of mighty and unfathomable forbidden techniques that either consumed immense amounts of the user's energy or inflicted terrible harm upon them, even causing death.

During the Warring States Period, the Senju Clan had a renowned secret assassination force. They were death warriors who specialized in the Eight Inner Gates, exchanging the blood and vigor of their entire lives for a strike beyond the limits of the flesh, dying together with their enemies.

This group of death warriors secretly assembled by Senju Tobirama had nearly crippled and killed more than half of the Uchiha Clan's experts.

Had Hashirama Senju not discovered it later and expressly forbidden it, the Uchiha Clan might have been wiped out by Senju Tobirama decades ago.

The Eight Inner Gates ranked near the bottom of the Scroll of Seals. Though it was said that opening every limit granted power surpassing even the Hokage, from the Warring States Period until Konoha's founding, not a single person had ever fully opened the Formation of the Eight Inner Gates. That so-called ultimate realm was merely Senju Tobirama's conjecture.

Moreover, this technique placed excessively harsh demands on its practitioner's body. Every use drained one's life force. It was simple and crude, somewhat lacking the mysterious, obscure beauty a forbidden technique ought to possess.

The original version of the Scroll of Seals was a list of prohibitions Hashirama Senju had made to keep his younger brother in line.

Any Ninjutsu the First Hokage learned of and wrote into it was forbidden for Senju Tobirama to use. As the list was updated again and again, it eventually extended to Uchiha Madara, Uzumaki Mito, and others.

Hashirama Senju had meant well. He did not want those around him using forbidden techniques. After his death, Senju Tobirama, while asserting his own will, also faithfully inherited his brother's "intentions." While plotting against the Uchiha, he used the name of the Scroll of Seals to gather powerful Ninjutsu from throughout the village.

By now, what had originally been merely a list of restrictions for the Second Hokage had become a massive scroll half a man tall and as thick as two arms.

"Open it."

After Guo Wang spoke, the newly appointed Anbu Minister, White Cat, created a Shadow Clone. The original held the scroll while the clone slowly unrolled the paper, revealing every forbidden technique openly recorded within Konoha.

Multi Shadow Clone, Eight Inner Gates, Dead Demon Consuming Seal, Reverse Four Symbols Seal, Flying Thunder God, Impure World Reincarnation, Izanagi, Pot Poison Technique, Sage Mode...

Most forbidden techniques from the Hokage line had detailed cultivation methods and hand seals. Those outside the Hokage line, passed down secretly by clans, such as "Izanagi," had only brief introductions.

However, even members of the Uchiha Clan would not use that forbidden Dojutsu unless they were driven into a desperate situation.

Back then, in order to disparage the series of forbidden techniques created by Senju Tobirama, Uchiha Madara had revealed this secret Dojutsu of his clan. Then Hashirama Senju, straightforward and stubborn as he was, wrote it into the Scroll of Seals and forbade his good friend from using it.

"This scroll will become a legacy in the future, left for those who come after."

As a Cultivator from the Dao Realm, Guo Wang's regard for inherited secret arts was etched into his bones. People could die, but a sect's secret arts, or one's own, had to be preserved. After the Dao Realm suffered several major severances of inheritance that caused its highest levels of power to decline drastically, this had become an unspoken rule.

Guo Wang had risen from the medicinal dregs of Huanxi Pavilion precisely because he had found the Qiankun Bag of a senior expert and inherited the secret art of an unorthodox school.

Before setting out for the East Sea to witness the battle of those three, the last thing he did was bury his inheritance within the partition wall of the latrine at the brothel where he had grown up.

After lifting his brush and writing the principles, hand seals, and methods of refining and channeling Chakra for "Vacuum Infinite Sword" in exhaustive detail at the end of the scroll, Guo Wang revealed a rare, relaxed smile. Sarutobi Hiruzen and the others, who knew his temperament, clicked their tongues in wonder.

"Wind Release has reached its pinnacle in your hands, even across the entire history of the Shinobi World. It's just a pity that once us old men are gone, these Ninjutsu probably won't shine again."

At some point, Torifu Akimichi had acquired a chicken leg. He gnawed on it as he spoke, yet his words remained clear and unhurried.

"Pinnacle? You're wrong. This is only the beginning of a series of techniques I'll develop later. Only after learning Vacuum Infinite Sword will one be qualified to channel Natural Energy and explore the true power hidden within this world."

Guo Wang only replied casually because he found the old fat man fairly agreeable.

Yet his words shocked everyone in the room.

"Natural Energy? Have you learned Sage Mode?"

It was common knowledge that Hashirama Senju was hailed as the "God of the Shinobi World" because of his Wood Release enhanced by Sage Mode. Every move he made surpassed so-called forbidden techniques.

Jiraiya being the weakest of the Sannin was not because Konoha's teachers had misjudged him. He truly was weak.

But after learning Sage Mode, his abilities in every aspect had surged more than tenfold, and his strength had nearly surpassed Orochimaru, the true genius. In a few more years, once Sarutobi Hiruzen and Danzo grew old, he would become Konoha's strongest expert and its leading figure.

Why had Namikaze Minato, a civilian shinobi, suddenly become the hottest candidate to inherit the position of Hokage?

Though the Kannabi Bridge Battle had yielded brilliant results, compared to Orochimaru single-handedly holding an entire front and fighting across the three nations of Wind, Water, and Earth, its achievements were utterly insufficient.

Flying Thunder God had earned him recognition as Kage-level, but what truly won the approval of Sarutobi, the elder advisors, and clan shinobi such as Ino-Shika-Cho was that he had mastered "Sage Mode."

Though it was still immature, it had been personally acknowledged by Mount Myoboku and Konoha's upper ranks. He was Konoha's second "Sage" after Jiraiya.

Flying Thunder God represented the Second Hokage, while Sage Mode represented the First Hokage. Namikaze Minato, having mastered these two great techniques, was like the Dao Sons and Holy Maidens of the Three Great Sage Regions who had earned the recognition of divine artifacts. He was regarded as the reincarnation of a deity from the upper realm, destined to command the Thirty-Six Immortal Sects in the future, possessing the bearing of a god.

If Danzo himself had not harbored ambitions for the village chief's position, he would likely have bowed to Namikaze Minato, the designated Hokage, long ago and submitted himself in allegiance.

Of course, now that it was Guo Wang, he naturally could not possibly admit defeat to a junior.

The Dao Sons and Holy Maidens from his previous life had left an extremely profound impression on him.