Serpent's Shadow

The two Wind Release collided violently, stirring up a cloud of dust.

Although Shiro uses a lot of Chakra, his Pressure Damage isn't based on area-of-effect attacks; the key is mastering the nature transformation of Wind Release Chakra Nature Transformation.

Therefore, Shiro's strategy of relying on excessive Chakra to defeat his opponent was a mistake. Although the opponent's Pressure Damage was not as overwhelming as Shiro's, it was still effective.

However, it was much more restrained than Shiro's, and naturally its penetrating power was much stronger. Shiro's Pressure Damage only slightly blocked it before it was directly pierced through!

With no other option, Shiro could only dodge and simultaneously charge towards his opponent, preparing to resume the tug-of-war.

After using a Pressure Damage, the opponent had very little Chakra left. Therefore, he continued to engage Shiro in close combat, needing time to gather some Chakra for his final, decisive strike.

Shiro's goal was simple: Shiro had already acquired the opponent's combat experience, and now he was merely learning from them, since what he gained from the Projection was only experience.

Nothing is more efficient than face-to-face comparison, and thanks to the results of years of meditation, Shiro was not distracted in battle while receiving combat experience.

While constantly battling his opponent, Shiro not only understood many things he hadn't understood about his Wind Release training, but also learned something that Shiro valued highly: he knew how he had just achieved that Great Breakthrough.

At first, Shiro thought that the Great Breakthrough was the original version, but after making contact, he realized something was wrong; the power was off.

This is different from simplified Hand Seals. Generally speaking, simplified Hand Seals can potentially increase the power of Ninjutsu because they are actually an optimized combination of seals, removing some unnecessary seals and increasing efficiency.

Therefore, its power will increase.

However, without hand seals, the flow of Chakra becomes more difficult, thus reducing its power, unless your Ninjutsu skills are extremely high and you invest a large amount of Chakra.

Even Hashirama and Madara had to Hand Seals. They rarely used Ninjutsu without hand seals; they usually used one hand seal to guide Chakra.

Madara mostly used the Fire Release technique Noon, Hashirama used the technique Snake (the one where the fingers of both hands are crossed together).

Therefore, it's impossible for Ninjutsu without a hand seal to have that kind of power. It's just that due to the urgency of the situation at the time, Shiro didn't have time to think it through and postponed it.

Now, after Projection the opponent's Shuriken, he understood that it wasn't that no Hand Seals, but rather that the seals were broken up and then concealed with some subtle movements.

This way, one can prepare Ninjutsu without interfering with the battle, achieving the best of both worlds.

Generally speaking, this is a skill that Jonin -ranking ninja) will master. All Hand Seals are performed during combat. Except for some high-level Ninjutsu that require stopping to concentrate, most low-level Ninjutsu are used in this way.

However, Shiro had always focused on swordsmanship, so Sakumo hadn't taught him that yet. Also, he hadn't expected Shiro to leave the village so early, so he hadn't left any basic information on the scroll.

The next step in this technique is the Genin's skill, which was demonstrated in the battle between Uchiha Sasuke and Naruto over exchanging statues—using someone else's hand to perform Hand Seals.

However, for Shiro, he doesn't need to go that far. The first step is enough. After all, he can only use Wind Release, Ninjutsu is not his specialty. Mastering this is enough.

He would rather spend that time studying High-Speed Incantation. If he could master that, then Shiro could gloriously become a handsome artillery piece.

Of course, this is also related to its difficulty. If it were too difficult, Shiro would have chosen to give up. But it is not difficult. It can be said that any Chunin- level ninja can break the Hand Seals.

The only difference lies in the speed of Hand Seals and the degree of concealment; the most important thing is the approach.

However, that's not enough. Hand Seals can be interrupted. This kind of Hand Seals method can only reduce the chance of being interrupted, not make them uninterruptible.

Therefore, Shiro took advantage of the opportunity to fight his opponent to keep trying this method. At first, the first seal would be interrupted, and then he would gradually improve, the second, the third.

In fact, when Shiro improved to the second level, his opponent had already realized that Shiro was using him as a practice target, but he couldn't make any changes at all.

The two were now entangled, and he couldn't find a chance to escape. Moreover, he didn't know why, but Shiro gave him the feeling that he knew him very well.

Not only were all his Hand Seals read, but Shiro also knew his offensive and defensive habits perfectly well, even though it wasn't like this just now.

Therefore, he could only become Shiro's sparring partner.

He did use the enhanced cutting nature of Wind Release Chakra to attack Shiro, but unfortunately, the opponent's blue-glowing kunai was incredibly hard, and even after four or five strikes, it had little effect.

Instead, it consumed a lot of his Chakra, and gradually, he began to panic. If things continued like this and he didn't break the deadlock, he might really die here today!

Thinking of this, he hardened his heart and gritted his teeth to crush the special medicine inside! His Chakra began to surge wildly, even affecting his physical strength. In a moment of carelessness, Shiro was even sent flying!

He bought this miracle drug on the Black Market. Although it has serious side effects, its effectiveness is absolutely amazing. He's about to lose his life, so he doesn't care about that!

This medicine only recently appeared on the Black Market. He learned about it after suffering a loss once, and because he was very clear about its effects, he bought one to keep in his tooth just in case.

On the other side, Shiro, after being knocked back, looked at him in surprise. The increase in strength, speed, and Chakra was nothing special; Konoha also had such drugs or secret techniques, and the increase was even greater.

What truly shocked Shiro was the unique Chakra on his body—it was clearly Senjutsu Chakra!

Moreover, the scales that appeared on his face were also indicating to Shiro the origin of this Senjutsu.

The Senjutsu Chakra obtained through this method, and the mutated characteristics it exhibits, make it obvious to Shiro who is behind it all without him even having to guess.

Who else besides Orochimaru could create something like this? But Shiro was still quite curious about how Orochimaru had managed to make it. Logically speaking, he shouldn't have come into contact with Jugo's clansmen yet.

Otherwise, only Jugo would have appeared in the original work. However, none of this has anything to do with Shiro. As long as Orochimaru still wants to be Hokage, as long as Shiro doesn't betray the village, Orochimaru won't target him. He'll only trade with Shiro for whatever he wants.

Therefore, Shiro is now thinking about how to deal with him. He definitely can't kill him for the time being. Shiro doesn't know that he bought the medicine and thinks he is Orochimaru's experimental subject. Therefore, he wants to communicate with Orochimaru first.

Therefore, Shiro put away his kunai, ignored the opponent who was charging at him, and began to smear blood from his wound to perform Summoning Jutsu.

While the other party was still wondering about Shiro's actions, they heard the sound of chains rattling.