"Huh?" Setsuna felt as if he had heard the most absurd fantasy. He had been a ninjutsu idiot for over a decade, yet Slime was suddenly telling him that he did not actually lack talent for ninjutsu?
Suppressing the urge to complain, Setsuna asked, "Why do you say that?"
"I only just discovered it. That little fox's chakra accidentally mixed into that woman's body, forming an 'impurity' that interfered with hand seals. Aside from the sealing techniques granted by her own immense talent, she probably couldn't use a single ninjutsu either."
Setsuna could not help but marvel. As expected of the Slime Leader, once the ruler of the universe. It had only just encountered the chakra system, yet it had already grasped so much of its intricacies in such a short time.
"What about me?"
"You?" The Slime Leader pondered for a moment before saying, "There is also a strange power inside your body interfering with your hand seals. That is why you cannot precisely control and draw out chakra. Only attacks like 'ki' or taijutsu, which can rapidly release energy without any guidance, are unaffected."
Setsuna fell silent. He had thought he was getting the Rock Lee treatment, but he was actually using Naruto Uzumaki's template?
"So if it's a ninjutsu without hand seals, I can practice it normally?"
"Theoretically, yes." Slime nodded, carrying itself like a ninjutsu master.
That said, Setsuna had no intention of urging Minato Namikaze to hurry up and develop the Rasengan.
He could merely practice seal-less ninjutsu normally; it was not as though he had suddenly become a ninjutsu genius. Besides, the Rasengan's power might not even match one of his casual attacks.
In a sense, he should be grateful for this strange power. It had kept him from charging headfirst into the massive pit of ninjutsu.
Without those eight years of taijutsu fundamentals, he might not have grown so much in the Dragon Ball World.
As for the Flying Thunder God Technique, he could ask Minato Namikaze about it when he had time and see whether he had any talent for it.
"But what exactly is the source of that strange power?" Setsuna asked gravely.
Anyone would feel uneasy upon learning that an unknown power had suddenly appeared inside their body.
Slime shook its head slightly. "I don't know. This power's origin differs from that of the Tailed Beasts. If Tailed Beasts are sealed into someone after birth, then this power has been bound to the deepest layers of your soul since birth. It was already in your soul before you were born, which is why I did not notice it at first."
Upon hearing Slime's words, Setsuna's first thought was the Myriad Worlds Pearl.
But he quickly felt that was wrong. The pearl could take him across universes, so surely it would not be this low-grade, right?
"Could it be Ōtsutsuki Isshiki?" Setsuna recalled that boss from the Boruto era, who seemed to parasitize human bodies.
But that still did not seem right. Even if Ōtsutsuki Isshiki had noticed something special about him, it should have been after he was born, shouldn't it?
After thinking briefly, Setsuna shook his head. "Forget it. I won't think about it anymore."
Slime smiled. "You're quite open-minded."
"If it's a blessing, it isn't a curse. If it's a curse, I can't avoid it. There's no use thinking about it now. I'll study it once I travel to a universe that specializes in cultivating souls." Setsuna shrugged. "Or do you have any power that can cultivate the soul?"
Slime yawned. "Eat, sleep, sleep, eat. As long as you live long enough, your soul will naturally grow stronger."
Setsuna was rather speechless. This was the pig-raising method.
"Forget it. I won't count on you after all."
Setsuna sighed. The Naruto World did have the Spirit Transformation Technique, a ninjutsu involving the soul, but unfortunately, it also required hand seals.
That formed a vicious cycle. To break the strange power's interference, he first needed abilities related to the soul. But to learn the Spirit Transformation Technique, he had to avoid the strange power's interference with hand seals.
(The Spirit Transformation Technique's hand seals are very simple, but no matter how simple they are, they cannot be simpler than the Transformation Technique, which requires only one seal.)
Inside Might Guy's home, Guy did one-handed push-ups while muttering to himself, "No, I ate so much delicious food today that my guilt is overwhelming. I have to train twice as hard to make up for it."
"Guy." The voice arrived before the person did.
Might Duy made a dashing drift into the doorway, appearing right on time alongside a prominently raised thumbs-up. "Your father completed another mission today. To celebrate my youth taking another great stride forward, let's go eat barbecue!"
"No need, Dad. Look what I brought back." Guy, who had been waiting for this moment, leaped up excitedly and pointed at the rice bowl on the table as he shouted.
"Where did this come from?" Might Duy stared at it in shock. The rice bowl instantly made his saliva surge.
"Setsuna invited us to a gathering today, remember? I brought this back from the banquet." Afraid his father would misunderstand, Guy added, "It wasn't just me. Everyone brought one home. Setsuna said sharing was the true essence of delicious food."
Might Duy breathed a sigh of relief. He had truly been worried that Guy had done something rude.
"Dad, hurry and eat. I've already eaten. I had three huge bowls!" Guy patted his round belly.
"Then I won't hold back." Might Duy sat down and shoveled a mouthful of rice into his mouth. Tears immediately streamed down his face. "I've never eaten anything this delicious before. The hot blood of youth inside me is about to burst forth!"
"I know!" Guy empathized fiercely. At the time, he had wanted to eat while doing a handstand, but he had been too embarrassed to disturb the others.
Might Duy placed the bowl and chopsticks on the floor, doing one-handed push-ups while waving the chopsticks to reward himself.
"Guy, that senior of yours usually takes such good care of you. He taught you his unique cultivation method and even gave us such delicious food. We should know how to repay kindness."
Guy sighed. "I think so too, but I have nothing to repay him with. If only I were a girl, then I could offer myself to him."
Might Duy fell silent. He found it difficult to tell whether that would count as repaying kindness or taking revenge.
"I've got it! Then we'll teach him the forbidden technique we know, the Eight Gates!" Might Duy declared confidently.
"Dad, wake up. You're just a Genin. How could you possibly know a forbidden technique?" Guy looked at Duy with concern, worried that he had lost his mind.
Might Duy was shocked. "Have I never told you that I know the forbidden technique, the Eight Gates?"
Guy shook his head blankly.
"Haha, I thought I'd taught it to you long ago." Might Duy gave an awkward laugh, then turned serious. "But it's fine. Tomorrow, we'll go find that senior of yours together. You can learn alongside him then."
Though Guy was somewhat speechless, he quickly grew excited again. "Dad, is this Eight Gates really that powerful?"
"Of course! I'm only a Genin, but through daily training, I spent twenty years before I finally mastered this one and only move!" Might Duy clenched his fist confidently. "This will be the power that shatters the dark clouds!"
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