New Technique! (Seeking Follow-up Reads)

Shita Genichi and Jiraiya moved one after the other, distancing themselves from the core area of Konoha before coming to a halt in a spacious clearing.

Snowflakes continued to drift, leaving a thick layer of white covering the ground.

Jiraiya smiled and extended his right hand, palm open.

The next moment, a blue Rasengan rapidly manifested in the center of his palm.

Shita Genichi immediately grinned and gave a thumbs-up: "As expected of Master Jiraiya, you've mastered it so quickly."

Jiraiya chuckled, pride evident in his expression: "It's more than just that!"

Shita Genichi was startled.

The next instant, the Rasengan expanded, and the surrounding air began to rotate at high speeds, emitting a whistling sound as the snowflakes swirled around it.

Shita Genichi's eyes widened as he watched the drastic transformation of the Rasengan in Jiraiya's hand; accompanied by a piercing hum, the familiar Wind Style: Rasenshuriken appeared.

Seeing the look of astonishment on Shita Genichi's face, Jiraiya was quite pleased with himself: "Genichi, this is the Wind Style: Rasenshuriken!"

"As expected of one of the Sannin, Master Jiraiya, that's incredible!"

This time, Shita Genichi's praise came from the bottom of his heart.

It had been less than a year since he proposed this concept to Namikaze Minato, and Jiraiya had already completed the jutsu.

Although it was a bit slower compared to Naruto, that was only because Naruto possessed a massive amount of chakra and could create hundreds or thousands of shadow clones to train at once, making the efficiency incomparable.

Not to mention that Jiraiya was a wanderer who spent his time roaming about.

It could only be said that Jiraiya truly lived up to his reputation as the ceiling of commoner ninjas.

Faced with Shita Genichi's admiration, Jiraiya became even more delighted.

"Master Jiraiya, can it be thrown?"

Shita Genichi hurriedly asked.

Jiraiya's smile stiffened, and he said with a hint of helplessness: "No."

"I see, so it's just a semi-finished product."

"Of course, it can still be thrown."

Jiraiya smiled again and dispersed the Wind Style: Rasenshuriken: "Well, I'll show you the throwable version next time!"

Shita Genichi nodded; he knew that it could certainly be thrown while in Sage Mode.

However, Jiraiya's Sage Mode required the cooperation of the two elders from Mount Muyoboku.

Unfortunately, with his current chakra levels, Sage Mode was out of the question.

"Genichi, is there any ninjutsu you want to learn? I can teach you anything!"

Jiraiya laughed, looking generous enough to pull out any technique imaginable.

Shita Genichi fell into deep thought upon hearing this.

Previously, he had been severely lacking in ninjutsu resources.

But now... he didn't seem to be lacking anymore.

The ninjutsu he currently possessed was sufficient for his needs.

What he needed most urgently was more chakra.

Should he ask Jiraiya to help capture the Zero-Tails?

Shita Genichi secretly shook his head; now was not the time.

Therefore, after some consideration, Shita Genichi said: "Master Jiraiya, why don't you teach me a defensive ninjutsu?"

A defensive ninjutsu?

Jiraiya rubbed his chin in thought, then formed hand seals: "How about this one?"

As he spoke, his white hair grew longer and hardened, wrapping around his body until only his face remained visible.

Furthermore, his hair stood on end, resembling a hedgehog.

Needle Jizo!

Shita Genichi naturally recognized this technique; it was a secret jutsu created by Jiraiya himself.

He just wasn't sure what nature transformation was used.

Was it Earth Release or Yang Release?

However, Jiraiya knew his situation, so it likely wasn't an Earth Release nature transformation.

At this moment, Jiraiya said: "Genichi, come and try attacking it, perhaps with a shuriken."

Shita Genichi nodded, leaped backward, and flicked his wrists, sending several shuriken flying toward Jiraiya, where they were immediately deflected with a series of clanging sounds.

The defensive power was quite impressive.

Let's try again.

Shita Genichi leaped into the air, drew his blade with his right hand, and slashed down with all his might.

He had put his full strength into this strike.

It wasn't just his physical power, but also the chakra burst technique taught to him by Hatake Sakumo.

Jiraiya couldn't help but twitch his eyelids as he watched: This brat really doesn't hold back.

Fortunately, my defense is sufficient.

As expected.

Shita Genichi's short blade descended, only to be blocked by Jiraiya's hair.

His eyes lit up at the sight.

This defensive technique was surely no less impressive than Kakuzu's Earth Spear.

Sheathing his blade, Shita Genichi gave a thumbs-up: "Jiraiya-sensei, you created this ninjutsu yourself, right?"

Jiraiya retracted his technique and laughed: "Of course, not bad, right?"

Shita Genichi nodded repeatedly and asked: "Jiraiya-sensei, what is the nature transformation of this technique?"

Jiraiya countered: "What do you think?"

Shita Genichi said: "Yang Release?"

Jiraiya nodded, then plopped down onto the snow and smiled: "I recall you've mastered Yang Release nature transformation?"

Shita Genichi said: "Yes, though I'm not exactly proficient; I've only mastered the Mystical Palm Technique."

Jiraiya laughed: "The Mystical Palm Technique is no simple medical ninjutsu; being able to master it is already enough."

"Alright, let's begin."

"Start with the hand seals; Minato says you have quite the knack for them!"

With that, Jiraiya began his instruction.

The hand seals for Needle Jizo were not complex, consisting of only six seals; if done quickly, it wouldn't even take a second.

Tiger-Horse-Boar-Ram-Tiger-Snake!

Shita Genichi memorized the sequence after just one demonstration.

But that was only the beginning.

For the second step, Jiraiya had Shita Genichi familiarize himself with the seals.

Shita Genichi followed suit, and after practicing only ten times, his hand seals were already incredibly smooth, completed in just one second.

For the third step, he had to channel chakra to perform the nature transformation while forming the seals.

This was the most critical step.

It took Shita Genichi half an hour to grasp the trick to this step.

Finally, he made a formal attempt.

Tiger-Horse-Boar-Ram-Tiger-Snake.

Shita Genichi formed the seals with both hands, though not at full speed, taking two seconds to complete the six seals.

The next moment, his short black hair rapidly grew and hardened.

However, it stopped at his waist, only able to cover half of his body.

Jiraiya reached out and tapped on the black hair, saying: "The hardness isn't quite there yet either!"

"You need to practice more."

"You must possess both length and hardness."

Jiraiya laughed: "Hmm, from today on, Genichi, you should grow your hair out, just like mine—how dashing."

Shita Genichi nodded.

He had no objections to growing his hair long.

What was that compared to his own safety?

Besides, Jiraiya's mane of white hair was actually quite impressive!

"Alright, that's it for today!"

"I'm heading over to Minato's; if you need anything, come find me there!"

With that, Jiraiya turned around and waved as he gradually walked away.

Shita Genichi waved to see Jiraiya off, then continued to ponder the Needle Jizo technique.

For a defensive ninjutsu like this, the fewer seals required, the better.

That way, it could be deployed in the heat of battle.

I must continue to delve into the Nine Syllables Hand Seals.

Shita Genichi mused to himself.

He could not slack off; even if his ninjutsu had no room for improvement, his research into hand seals could not stop, especially regarding the Nine Syllables Hand Seals.

Three days passed in the blink of an eye.

On this day, Shita Genichi arrived at the village gate wearing a white high-collared robe to assemble.

The first mission after the New Year was about to begin.