"You were quick to take on a student, though. Looks like Minato has some talent, too."
Orochimaru leaned against a tree trunk, his golden slit pupils resting calmly on the little dark green toad on Minato Namikaze's shoulder.
The little toad kept pawing at the blond hair sticking up above Minato's forehead protector.
It remained intensely wary of the snakes coiled nearby, its guard fully raised.
"Haha, this kid really does have a strange talent."
Jiraiya slapped Minato on the shoulder, neither lightly nor heavily, sending him stumbling half a step forward.
The sudden jolt nearly shook the little toad off his shoulder, and it let out an immediate croak.
It seemed to be protesting Jiraiya's rough treatment.
"When he used the Summoning Technique without a fixed summoning target, he triggered the Reverse Summoning Technique instead, just like I did back then."
"Guess what? This kid can actually control where the reverse summoning lands him, to a certain extent!"
"Instead of being flung into some random corner of Mount Myōboku, he can roughly lock onto an area and precisely control his landing range."
"I tested it several times. Every time he landed, he was no more than ten meters from the Toad Pool."
Jiraiya's voice was grave and full of bewilderment.
The landing point of the Reverse Summoning Technique was completely uncontrollable. That was one of the most basic rules of the Summoning Contract.
Anyone summoned through reverse summoning remained entirely passive throughout the process.
It was like how an ordinary person couldn't climb onto the top of their own head.
Yet Minato had defied that common knowledge.
Even if he could only roughly pinpoint his landing area, that talent alone was enough to overturn Jiraiya's decades of understanding of the Summoning Technique.
It had even made him begin reconsidering the underlying logic of ninjutsu.
And that unusual talent for Spatial Perception had instantly brought one supreme secret technique to Jiraiya's mind.
The signature technique of the Second Hokage, Tobirama Senju: the Flying Thunder God Technique!
With no distance limit and no hand seals required beforehand, it allowed the user to teleport instantly to a previously marked formula.
It was universally acknowledged as one of the hardest forms of Space-Time Ninjutsu to master in the shinobi world.
Jiraiya had tried learning that forbidden technique in his younger years, spending an entire week poring over the Second's scroll.
All he had gotten out of it was a week of good sleep.
The ability Minato had displayed was precisely the rarest and most essential talent needed for Flying Thunder God.
It had nothing to do with chakra reserves or the speed of forming hand seals. It was a keen perception of spatial positions, impossible to explain through theory and dependent entirely on talent.
Meanwhile, Minato Namikaze had no idea what Jiraiya was planning.
His attention had remained on Amamiya Maki the whole time, the scene from earlier replaying over and over in his mind.
Rasengan.
Minato silently repeated the name, growing more eager the longer he thought about it.
The technique was practically tailor-made for his fighting style.
His extreme Body Flicker Technique speed, paired with the Rasengan's explosive close-range power.
If he managed to master Flying Thunder God teleportation in the future, combining all three would let him finish off any opponent below Jonin level within ten seconds.
Most importantly, the Rasengan required no hand seals.
That meant he could form a Rasengan while using the Body Flicker Technique, and build up its power while teleporting with Flying Thunder God.
Before an enemy could even make out his position, a Rasengan would suddenly be in their face, inflicting devastating damage.
He wanted to learn this move. He wanted it desperately.
He had even thought up a name for it-Super Spiral Flash Turbine Isshiki.
Last time, he had named the Toad Oil Bullet "Golden Flash Chain Oil Whirlpool Bullet."
Jiraiya had laughed so hard that he fell off the toad's back.
On the other side of the Training Ground, Tsunade hauled Nawaki out of the pit with one hand.
Her movements were brisk and efficient, without a trace of gentleness.
She had warned Nawaki over and over not to blindly imitate Hashirama's fighting style.
The kid stubbornly refused to learn. He had only himself to blame for suffering a little today.
Tsunade had extensive medical experience, and her fingers landed with precision.
They moved from the lower edge of his ribs to his abdominal muscles, each press carefully avoiding vital points while probing the organs most vulnerable to injury.
The spot where the Rasengan had struck head-on had suffered severe skin damage. The rapidly spinning chakra had completely shredded the flesh beneath, leaving a gruesome sight.
Fortunately, his internal organs were unharmed.
The Senju Clan's extraordinary vitality was now on full display. His damaged capillaries were rapidly repairing themselves, and his actual blood loss was far less than expected.
After quickly assessing his injuries, Tsunade called into the depths of the woods without raising her head.
"Nonō, come here."
Yakushi Nonō immediately emerged from behind a tree, carrying the medical kit Tsunade had told her to keep with her.
She had hidden behind the tree and silently watched the entire fight without saying a word.
From Nawaki's brute-force assault that shattered rock with a punch to Amamiya Maki's transformation bait and point-blank Rasengan ambush, she had taken in every detail.
She silently noted the shortcomings in both of their fighting styles.
Nawaki lacked the skill to retreat and dissipate force. If he kept stubbornly taking attacks head-on, sooner or later he would pay dearly.
"You haven't mastered the Mystical Palm Technique yet. This fellow will make a good practice subject."
Tsunade pointed at Nawaki, who was still grinning foolishly on the ground, a hint of punishment in her tone.
"Teach him a good, hard lesson so he stops being so blindly arrogant."
Nonō crouched down as instructed and opened the medical kit, moving smoothly through the entire process of cleaning, disinfecting, and stopping the bleeding.
She followed Konoha Hospital's standard procedures to the letter, meticulous in every detail.
Pale green medical chakra slowly lit up, steadily covering the wound on Nawaki's abdomen. Its glow was as calm as a pool of still water, without the slightest flicker.
As the cool chakra seeped into the wound, Nawaki sucked in a sharp breath, yet still couldn't stop himself from grinning.
"Nonō, when did you secretly learn the Mystical Palm Technique? You're amazing!"
Nonō kept her head lowered, focused on treating the wound. She didn't look up, and her tone was flat and rigid.
"I haven't mastered it completely yet, but I'm close."
Nawaki: ...
Orochimaru spoke with a touch of guilt. "It's all right. I'll create a separate set of Substitution Techniques for him afterward that can quickly repair his injuries."
After all, Nawaki had ended up like this because he, as the boy's teacher, hadn't taught him well enough.
He turned toward Orochimaru, who was leaning against a tree and closing his notebook, and asked with a smile.
"Why not teach him yours?"
"It wouldn't suit him very well."
Orochimaru spoke calmly.
After all, he didn't want to see his own student spitting out snakes.
Nawaki ought to walk a more open and honorable path.
For that, it would be worth it no matter how many more members of the Senju Clan died.
As long as he could reproduce Wood Release...
"Good, everyone's here."
"Tell us about the intelligence you brought back this time."
Today, Jiraiya wore a fitted dark gray combat outfit, with his ninja tool pouch neatly secured at his waist and his forehead protector tied impeccably.
That attire made it clear he hadn't come from idling around a bathhouse. He had just returned from a border patrol.
He gently patted Minato on the shoulder, signaling for him to go join Amamiya Maki, Nawaki, and the others.
Then he strode over to stand between Orochimaru and Tsunade.
Jiraiya's expression turned completely serious, and he lowered his voice to share the crucial intelligence.
"It's already common knowledge that Hanzō of Amegakure is recruiting forces on a massive scale."
"The real problem lies with the smaller shinobi villages. Kusagakure, Takigakure, and Hoshigakure have all been moving troops frequently lately."
"On the surface, it looks like ordinary border friction between small nations, but the scale and frequency of these deployments have long since exceeded normal conflicts."
"Kusagakure shinobi have been ambushed twice in succession along the Land of Rain's border. They insist Sunagakure was responsible."
"Sunagakure denies it in turn, claiming Kusagakure crossed the border and provoked them first. Both sides keep passing the blame, neither will back down, and both continue sending reinforcements to the border."
Jiraiya raised his hand, tracing an imaginary circle around the area where the Land of Fire and the Land of Wind met.
"This is the heart of Hanzō's sphere of influence."
"If Amegakure reaches a secret understanding with these smaller shinobi villages, the entire Land of Rain will become an enormous war trap."
"Shinobi from any side who enter this area will be swept up completely in its tangled situation."
"They won't just be hunted down by Hanzō alone. The entire web of forces taking shape there will grind them to death."
Orochimaru stared at that imaginary area, his golden slit pupils narrowing slightly as a trace of gravity crossed his eyes.
Tsunade folded her arms across her chest, her fingertips unconsciously tapping the crook of her elbow as her expression grew increasingly serious.
Situated between the three great nations of Fire, Wind, and Earth, the Land of Rain was a natural strategic buffer zone.
If Hanzō successfully united the smaller shinobi villages, it would mean he was laying the groundwork for a large-scale war far beyond local skirmishes.
And as the Land of Fire's core military force, Konoha would inevitably be the first shinobi village dragged into the vortex once war broke out.
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