Heavenly Storm Sky Dance

The moment the two sides met, the Senbon traps set by the Rain Ninja forces activated automatically. A dense barrage of "Rain Shower Senbon" shot toward Touma and the others.

Uncle Umino reacted the fastest. He clapped his hands together, and a rapidly spinning wall of water wrapped around him and Haruno Kizashi, who was closest to him. Teacher Shinku grabbed Shibi on his right and burrowed into the ground without forming any Hand Seals.

Only Touma, lagging at the back of the group, took the full brunt of the Senbon. Fortunately, he reacted at the last moment, entering "Wind Style Chakra Mode" in an instant and using "Storm Substitution" to dodge the attack.

"Storm Substitution" might sound simple, but in practice it was no less difficult than changing a Shadow Clone's chakra nature. Touma had to mark the substitute as air. That required not only precise marking, but also strict limits on how much chakra he used for it; otherwise, the technique would simply fail.

While using "Storm Substitution," Touma's state was remarkably similar to the elemental state he entered after completing "Wind Release Chakra Nature Transformation." As a result, for that brief moment, he could also resist ordinary physical damage.

In fact, "Storm Substitution" was the foundation for his further development of the Wind Release secret technique "Heavenly Storm Sky Dance." To fully enter a permanent state of nature transformation, a practitioner first had to understand what nature transformation was.

Water and Earth Release chakra nature transformation was relatively straightforward. It was based on the nature of substances in the objective physical world. Once someone completed all the necessary nature transformation training, they could gradually reach that stage. It was simply a matter of time.

By contrast, transforming the chakra of the three pure-energy natures—Fire, Wind, and Lightning Release—wasn't so easy for a practitioner to understand and adapt to.

Orochimaru was already peerless in intellect. After seeing Touma's ninjutsu scroll just once, he could use "Storm Substitution" perfectly. Yet no matter what, he couldn't make his body understand what nature transformation was.

So even after Touma had fully broken down the S-rank Wind Release secret technique "Heavenly Storm Sky Dance" right in front of him, Orochimaru still couldn't imitate it perfectly. He even began to doubt his own intelligence.

In fact, Touma suspected that this final step of nature transformation couldn't be achieved through intelligence alone. Some innate bodily sense had to be involved.

Otherwise, nature transformation could only be imitated along the lines of the Second Mizukage, Hozuki Gengetsu, who developed the "Hydrification Technique": Yang Release chakra could be combined with nature-transformed chakra to activate the body's cells, achieving a state that merely resembled nature transformation.

Yes, based on Orochimaru's research into cell samples from Hozuki Mitsuki, the Hozuki Clan's "Hydrification Technique" was a kekkei genkai that could be learned later in life. However, when Hozuki Gengetsu developed it, he had added a chakra lock to prevent it from spreading, ensuring it worked only within the Hozuki Clan's bloodline.

Breaking a chakra lock wasn't particularly difficult. Senju Tobirama had already figured it out near the end of the Warring States period. He had originally added one as a safeguard so the Senju Clan could pass down Wood Release.

What he hadn't realized was that Wood Release was weaker in other people than more common kekkei genkai like Ice Release and Boil Release. It was nothing like the way it had manifested in his older brother.

The Wood Release of the Kazamatsuri Clan, for example, had a chakra lock. Training according to the clan's methods wouldn't grant anyone the Wood Release kekkei genkai. It could even cause the chakra pathways in their bodies to become disordered, leaving them unable to use jutsu.

Danzo had never truly understood how chakra locks worked. So even after obtaining plenty of Kazamatsuri Clan test subjects, he hadn't managed to reproduce Wood Release even once. All he could do was focus on implanting Hashirama Cells.

As for Orochimaru, he had probably completed the chakra lock using the scattered records left behind by Senju Tobirama not long after graduating. He then applied it to the Iburi Clan, stabilizing their Smoke Style kekkei genkai, which they had previously been unable to control.

Orochimaru could also have used a chakra lock together with Yang Release nature transformation to achieve a state that merely resembled nature transformation. But with his combat style already fully developed, adding another chakra nature transformation wouldn't have made much difference.

For Touma, however, mastering "Heavenly Storm Sky Dance" had completely transformed his combat strength.

Seeing that Touma hadn't been killed, the Rain Ninja stopped hiding and summoned a downpour as corrosive as acid, hoping to kill the boy quickly.

But Touma, in his elemental state, had no physical body. The acid rain fell against his surface and passed straight through without resistance, making the Rain Ninja think they were seeing an illusion.

The next second, though, they realized how ridiculous that idea was. Touma appeared in front of one of them in an instant and slowly reached out his right hand toward the man's chest.

Touma curled his right hand into a claw and thrust it into the Rain Ninja's chest as if nothing stood in his way. He seized the man's heart and squeezed hard. The Rain Ninja's eyes rolled back, and he collapsed on the spot.

There wasn't a mark on the man's body. If anyone had opened his chest then, they would have found that his heart had been crushed into a pulp, beyond all hope of recovery.

Seeing that it worked, Touma repeated the same trick, using the rain and mist created by the Rain Ninja to quickly take out several more of them.

By the time Teacher Shinku and Uncle Umino emerged from the mist with Shibi and Kizashi, Touma had already killed nearly all the enemies behind them.

Teacher Shinku and Uncle Umino weren't about to let Touma steal the entire show. After working together to pinpoint several nearby hiding spots, they summoned a swarm of water dragons and sent them crashing down from above.

In no time, the rain mist blanketing the battlefield was stained a thick red with blood.

The Rain Ninja hadn't even bothered to gather intelligence before setting their ambush. To think they'd dare use an environment so rich in water vapor against a top-tier Water Release ninja like Umino Shiba! It was like prey handing a hunter the weapon to kill it with.

They had probably only focused on intelligence about Yuhi Shinku, hoping to block his genjutsu by changing the battlefield conditions. They didn't think a Water Release ninja from a small coastal village in the Land of Fire could have any effect on the battle.

Unfortunately, they hadn't even managed to carry out their plan to counter the genjutsu. Teacher Shinku's genjutsu had long since moved beyond the rudimentary stage of being triggered through the senses.

After developing "Phantom Leaf Transmission," a communication genjutsu, while in the capital, Teacher Yuhi's genjutsu had entered an entirely new dimension. He could use sensory techniques as a medium to transmit its effects without anyone noticing.

A single "Demonic Illusion: Eightfold Cherry Blossoms" was enough to plunge the remaining Rain Ninja into confusion. They began launching suicidal attacks against their own comrades.

About half an hour later, the last Rain Ninja affected by "Eightfold Cherry Blossoms" killed himself with a Kunai, marking the complete failure of the Rain Ninja's carefully planned ambush.

It wasn't really the Rain Ninja's fault. With such a vast gap in intelligence between the two sides, no amount of preparation could guarantee a successful ambush.

Not to mention, these Rain Ninja had only just made their way through underground waterways. Their chakra hadn't even recovered before they were sent on an ambush mission. Even if they had been Konoha Ninja, their odds of success wouldn't have improved by much.

Most of the Rain Ninja here were Chunin, and there wasn't a single Special Jōnin among them. Against two long-established jōnin, numbers alone weren't enough. Otherwise, Hatake Sakumo wouldn't have inspired such fear in the Sand Ninja when he first appeared on the Fire-Wind front!