Golden Rotation

Hokage Office.

The man before him had long black hair, pale skin, and handsome features. He wore blue, comma-shaped earrings, and purple eyeshadow extended from his golden snake-like pupils to the wings of his nose. It was none other than his beloved disciple—Orochimaru.

Sarutobi Hiruzen handed over a file with one hand: "These are the dossiers for Nawaki, Chiba Genichi, and Minato Namikaze. Why are you interested in them? Are you looking to take on a student? Nawaki goes without saying, but Chiba Genichi and Minato Namikaze are the most outstanding civilian geniuses of this generation. If you are willing to mentor them, I can rest easy."

Looking at the well-behaved disciple before him, Sarutobi Hiruzen was as satisfied as he could possibly be. He had taken only three disciples in his entire life.

Tsunade had the heritage of the Senju clan, so he hadn't spent much effort on her; Jiraiya was the type who appeared foolish but possessed great wisdom, a late bloomer whom he had mostly left to his own devices. The one he had truly nurtured with care, the one who had consumed the most time and energy and inherited the bulk of his ninjutsu knowledge, was the disciple before him—Orochimaru.

"I was worried because you've been spending all your time alone in the laboratory researching those strange techniques lately. It's wonderful to see you interested in training disciples. When you run for Hokage in the future, these will be your political assets," Sarutobi Hiruzen said with a smile, feeling the Will of Fire, passed down through the generations, burning brightly in his disciple's heart.

"Heh." Orochimaru licked his lips, noncommittal.

"What! Orochimaru is becoming Hokage?" Jiraiya, sporting a mop of white hair, vaulted in through the window and asked in surprise.

"Old man, the reason I came here this time..."

"Shut up." Orochimaru used a master-class throwing technique to slam Minato Namikaze's file into Jiraiya's face. "Idiot, catch your things."

"I only promised Tsunade I would take on Nawaki. The other two were just out of curiosity," Orochimaru explained.

"Are you scared, you guy? Never mind that Nawaki is older; you don't dare take on a student of the same age as mine because you're afraid your student won't be a match for mine, right? Haha, just admit that Orochimaru can't compare to Jiraiya!" Jiraiya laughed with his usual thick-skinned obliviousness.

Hearing this, Sarutobi Hiruzen realized that Jiraiya had his eye on Minato Namikaze, which left only Genichi. Should he ask Tsunade? They seemed to have a good relationship.

Recalling Genichi's performance, which was just as brilliant as Orochimaru's, his similar thirst for ninjutsu knowledge, and his self-motivated, diligent nature, Sarutobi Hiruzen said to Orochimaru: "Seeing that child Genichi is like seeing you when you were young."

"Heh~" Orochimaru sneered. He wasn't in the habit of bickering with fools, but the name "Chiba Genichi" had been appearing far too often lately.

"Then let me see for myself." Putting away the files, Orochimaru turned and left.

The Book of Characters records the training for wind-style nature transformation:

The first stage is to strengthen "nature transformation." Use chakra to cut a leaf; one must continuously inject wind chakra until the leaf is sliced in two.

The second stage is to increase the instantaneous volume of change. To increase the amount of chakra released in an instant, one must perform the training of cutting through a waterfall.

The third stage is to combine "nature transformation" with a technique; this is the final and most difficult stage.

Genichi was in no rush to practice wind-style ninjutsu; his current chakra reserves were limited, and he couldn't use them many times in a single battle. Leaning against a tree at the edge of the training ground, Genichi controlled his chakra to form thin blades of wind, carving into a massive square boulder nearby.

The pattern he was carving was—"Golden Rotation!"

The Golden Rotation involves cutting the largest possible square out of a golden rectangle; the remaining portion is another golden rectangle, from which one cuts another largest square, and so on. One can cut infinite squares and golden rectangles. By using the vertices of the squares as centers and the side lengths as radii to draw arcs, each arc is one-quarter of a full circle. Because there are infinite squares, one can connect and draw arcs infinitely, forming a rotation that extends infinitely inward. This is the Golden Rotation.

From the outside in, the closer to the center, the smaller the blank area becomes, and the more difficult the carving.

Genichi had to control his chakra usage to be smaller and smaller with each stroke while ensuring the sharpness provided by the nature transformation remained undiminished.

"This level of chakra control and nature transformation—a student at the Ninja Academy? Heh, not bad." Genichi's daily schedule was fixed; after a little inquiry, Orochimaru arrived at the training ground.

Stepping forward, Orochimaru's attention was drawn to the pattern on the stone. Looking at the simple lines before him, which possessed a unique aesthetic beauty—as if everything were just right, yet contained infinite possibilities.

The more he looked, the more mesmerized he became. Orochimaru couldn't help but speak: "What is this?"

"Lord Orochimaru, this is the 'Golden Rotation'." At this time, Orochimaru was not only a disciple of the Hokage but also a famous elite jonin in the village. Combined with his distinct serpentine features, Genichi recognized the visitor at a glance.

Immediately after, Genichi explained the structural concept of the "Golden Rotation" and added, "My self-created ninjutsu, the Rasengan, was born from this."

Genichi demonstrated his ninjutsu while patching the logic; he couldn't very well say it was inspired by a Tailed Beast Bomb.

Watching the highly destructive ball of chakra in the child's hand, Orochimaru's pupils constricted: "You truly have talent. You were just practicing wind-style nature transformation, weren't you? You should..."

Listening to the techniques and experience Orochimaru shared, Genichi was both astonished and deeply benefited.

The image of Orochimaru from the original work—spitting snakes, being spat out by snakes, Impure World Reincarnation, Cursed Seals, and Living Corpse Reincarnation—was so deeply ingrained that Genichi had forgotten that Orochimaru himself was a master of wind-style.

"With your level, you far exceed the average chunin. With such strength, why not graduate early? Why waste time in school?" Orochimaru asked.

"To graduate and catch cats and dogs? Or to risk my life against other ninjas for a reward of a few hundred thousand ryo?" In front of Orochimaru, Genichi did not hide his thoughts. "Besides, Lord Orochimaru, don't you find chakra interesting?"

"What?" Orochimaru hadn't expected to hear such an answer.

"It's not about forming ninjutsu to kill one another; chakra itself is interesting. Where does chakra come from? Why are there exactly seven attributes? What is the deal with kekkei genkai? Why are some people born able to inherit their parents' power? If two attributes form a bloodline, what about all seven? Are you not curious about these questions?" Genichi continued.

Orochimaru recovered from his shock and pondered the words carefully.

In that moment, he understood that this child was similar to him—not in superficial things like excellent grades, great strength, or skill in ninjutsu.

It was his philosophy!

Most ninjas in the Ninja World train in ninjutsu to increase their power, hone their killing techniques, and then slaughter each other. They call it protecting their comrades, but when positions differ, who is the enemy you kill to protect your comrades, and whose comrade are they? The transmission of hatred never ends; such cycles have repeated on this land for thousands of years. It is a meaningless endeavor.

It is the thirst for knowledge, the pursuit of truth, and the search for the essence of things, rather than being limited to the surface.

"Since I was young, my dream was to learn all the ninjutsu in the world. But the more I learn, the more I realize my own insignificance. The further I walk, the further my goal recedes. Perhaps there is a limit to a person's power. Today, on the path to truth, I have taken a step forward. Are you willing to walk with me?" Orochimaru extended a sincere invitation.

"Teacher Orochimaru." Genichi bowed respectfully.