Tsunade, Jiraiya, and Orochimaru were all theoretically qualified to become the next Hokage. If Tsunade had not suffered from hemophobia, she would have had the best chance.
So it was perfectly normal for them to know this information.
That was the advantage of holding a high position. Much information could be a matter of life and death to those below, yet to those at the top, it was merely something extra to pass the time.
"That's right. It was me." Oguri Hayashi did not try to hide it and answered directly.
"Do you know what you've done?" Tsunade stared coldly at Oguri Hayashi. "You stole Secret Technique Scrolls from the three strongest ninja villages. Once word gets out, there won't be a place for you anywhere in the world."
"So what?" Oguri Hayashi said indifferently.
"When you become strong enough, you can even ignore all the rules." Just like Uchiha Madara. Just like Hashirama Senju.
"As if you're already strong enough to do that." Tsunade naturally knew exactly how strong her grandfather had been, but she found Oguri Hayashi's implication laughable.
"Of course not. That's why I need to steal these secret manuals." Oguri Hayashi's matter-of-fact attitude left Tsunade speechless. "Aren't these manuals the path to becoming stronger?"
Oguri Hayashi spread out the Ninjutsu Scroll.
He had nearly completed the technique from before. It was an S-rank Ninjutsu, yet it consumed only B-rank levels of Chakra. Although it required certain tools to activate, it had already given him sufficient long-range attack capabilities.
That left Genjutsu as his only weakness.
But honestly, he did not care much about that. He had always suspected that Lightning Release could counter Genjutsu. For example, when facing the Fourth Raikage, Second Pillar had never used Genjutsu to attack either the Raikage or B, the Eight-Tails Jinchuriki.
If B, the Eight-Tails Jinchuriki, possessed powerful mental resistance because of the Eight-Tails' spiritual power, then the Raikage was probably immune to Genjutsu attacks because his full-body Lightning Armor formed something like a Faraday cage.
In A Certain Magical Index, that was why Mikoto Misaka, ranked third, could be stronger than Shokuhou Misaki, the fifth-ranked Mental Out.
Of course, that was merely Oguri Hayashi's own speculation. He would need experiments to prove it more precisely.
In other words, Oguri Hayashi's weaknesses had now been covered. He could begin the next round of building himself up.
And this next stage was Konoha's Ninjutsu.
The Multiple Shadow Clone Jutsu was a Chakra-intensive technique that placed an enormous burden even on jonin. In Naruto's hands, it was a divine technique, but for jonin, it was merely something too useful to discard yet too burdensome to use.
Next was the Bringer-of-Darkness Technique, an A-rank Genjutsu capable of stripping an opponent of all five senses.
It seemed that this scroll did not contain the Second Hokage's Water Release insights. Water Release was probably not a forbidden technique, so it was not recorded on this scroll.
Summoning Jutsu: Rashomon. Triple Rashomon. Quintuple Rashomon. A technique that consumed vast amounts of Chakra yet could only block frontal attacks, but it had remarkable effects on a ninja battlefield.
Wood Release, which could not be cultivated without Senju Chakra, was also clearly recorded within.
Medical Ninjutsu: Creation Rebirth Jutsu.
Nintaijutsu: Super Strength Technique.
Space-Time Ninjutsu: Flying Thunder God Technique.
Sealing Jutsu: Reaper Death Seal.
And so on...
Konoha's forbidden book truly was a forbidden book. Even if it was stolen, one could not learn its forbidden techniques without talent, and even after learning them, they might still backfire upon the user.
That was probably why the Hokage had so readily let him take the Scroll of Seals, wasn't it? The true Water Release manual of the Second Hokage and the Third Hokage's Ninjutsu insights were likely still safely stored away. The Cloud Ninja, who only charged ahead blindly, and the Stone Shinobi, who believed their natural defenses were impregnable, could never have imagined that.
Konoha had prepared for the Scroll of Seals to be stolen from the moment they placed it in the Hokage's office. He could not help but admire them.
Yet even these techniques, too useful to discard but too burdensome to use, fascinated Oguri Hayashi.
What he was reading was not the Ninjutsu itself, but the theoretical knowledge contained within it.
Theoretical knowledge was dry and tedious. Over all those years, Konoha had produced only one Kage who could truly be called outstanding in theory—not the Ninjutsu Professor, Hiruzen Sarutobi. Hiruzen Sarutobi had become a Kage-level powerhouse only because he thoroughly inherited those theoretical principles. And that theoretical ninja was the man who created Ninjutsu influential enough to affect the Fourth Great Ninja War.
The Second Hokage, Tobirama Senju.
"Truly incredible," Oguri Hayashi murmured.
The core framework and branches of My Style Secret Technique guided the central theories of martial arts, while its branches developed specific training methods.
But no one had ever reached a definite conclusion regarding Ninjutsu. A thousand ninja had a thousand Ninja Ways, yet this forbidden book undoubtedly represented Konoha's most mainstream and orthodox Ninjutsu philosophy.
The various forbidden techniques below were even annotated with their principles and methods of use.
"The Second Hokage was truly great."
"In this world, he might have been the greatest ninja second only to the First Hokage." Oguri Hayashi gave the Second Hokage extremely high praise. Hearing her grandfather and granduncle praised, even Tsunade's expression could not help softening slightly.
The Shadow Clone beside them returned, carrying a wild boar over its shoulder.
The boar was a sow. Oguri Hayashi never chose boars, since their urine stench was far too strong.
The Shadow Clone began bleeding and butchering the sow. In the past, Oguri Hayashi would never have dared to spill blood so recklessly, lest it attract unforeseen dangers. But after boldly breaking into Konoha, all his petty caution had been washed away. He now possessed the heart of a strong man.
That was something emphasized in My Style Secret Technique. With Konoha as his whetstone, Oguri Hayashi had finally polished away his small-mindedness and could at last press forward to face his enemies head-on.
He would fear nothing.
Shadow Clones were simply too useful. After hunting and slaughtering the pig, they began preparing the food. As for Soldier Pills, those disgusting things like compressed military rations that had to be soaked with water in the stomach, it was better to eat less of them.
Before long, pork was skewered on branches, its sizzling fat blooming under the roasting flames and stirring the appetite.
Oguri Hayashi raised his head and glanced at Tsunade. "What are you waiting for, Lady Tsunade? You already set your arms back in place, didn't you?"
As a Medical Ninja, Tsunade had gradually reset both her arms with her own body weight during their exchange. The process had been painful, but to a ninja, that sort of pain was nothing. More importantly, she wanted information.
Tsunade pretended to be harmless so she could draw more information from Oguri Hayashi.
That was what a ninja was.
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