"Have you named this technique yet?"
Minato's eyes burned with excitement as he pressed for an answer.
"Yes. I've decided to call it the Rasengan."
At the name, the anticipation in Minato's eyes instantly faded, replaced by unmistakable disappointment.
Such an ordinary name?
Rasengan-just "spiral" plus "sphere."
It could hardly have been more literal. He had expected something more impressive.
In Minato's philosophy of naming, a top-tier ninjutsu needed a name that combined visual impact, its source of inspiration, and a meaningful tribute, something unforgettable after a single hearing.
By comparison, "Rasengan" was far too plain.
But Amamiya Maki had created this ninjutsu himself, so the right to name it belonged entirely to him.
Minato could only accept it quietly. It was not his place to say more.
As Jiraiya put away the map in his hands, the Sannin's brief discussion came to an end.
Once they confirmed the intelligence was accurate, the meeting had served its purpose.
Unusual activity from Hanzō of Amegakure, secret alliances among ninja villages large and small, and strange troop movements along the borders.
Every piece of intelligence was critical and needed to be compiled into a formal report and submitted to the Third as soon as possible.
Jiraiya's intelligence network might have seemed loose and haphazard, but its accuracy had never disappointed them.
He had once spent three full months undercover in the Land of Rain.
Not only had he figured out every attack pattern of Hanzō's summoned salamander, Ibuse.
He had even drawn a complete topographical map of Amegakure himself and sent it back to Konoha.
Tsunade was the first to leave, taking Nawaki with her.
Three surgeries still awaited her authorization and personal attention at Konoha Hospital.
One Anbu ninja had been afflicted with an unusual poison that had invaded his chakra pathways. Only she could save him in all of Konoha.
As for Nawaki, she dragged him away by the back of his collar like a little chick.
The boy's legs swung in the air, but he still refused to give up, shouting as he went.
"Maki, junior brother! Let's fight again next time!"
It was not that Tsunade distrusted Nonō's medical skills.
Nonō's Mystical Palm Technique was already more than capable of treating the flesh wound the Rasengan had torn into Nawaki's abdomen.
But as his older sister, having watched her brother reproduce Hashirama's reckless fighting style, she could not shake the worry in her heart.
For some reason, the sight reminded her of her eldest grandfather, Hashirama Senju, as he headed to the battlefield for the last time.
Holding the Medical Kit she had not had time to close, Nonō jogged after Tsunade.
After a few steps, she could not help looking back at Amamiya Maki.
She gave him a small wave, then turned and hurried after the figures ahead.
Jiraiya raised a hand and patted Minato's shoulder, his tone earnest as he instructed him.
"For now, you'll train with Orochimaru."
"He may seem cold and withdrawn, spending all day in his laboratory with snakes for company, but when it comes to teaching ninjutsu, he's unquestionably one of the best in Konoha."
"Look at Nawaki. He may be reckless and not particularly quick-witted, but his chakra reserves and taijutsu fundamentals are extremely solid. That's the result of Orochimaru's training."
"He'll push you to perfect your fundamentals. It'll be exhausting and grueling, but once you get through it, you'll save yourself years of detours."
Among the Sannin, Jiraiya indulged in women, while Tsunade was addicted to gambling.
Only Orochimaru was as clean as a blank sheet of paper when it came to personal vices.
And a look through his official mission record revealed numbers that could only be called absurd.
Before his defection, he had completed a total of 1,468 missions.
Of those, 108 were high-risk S-rank missions, a record second only to Jiraiya's in Konoha.
Even while taking frequent missions year after year, he also served as one of Konoha's foremost research ninja.
To Orochimaru, being a ninja was more a means of conducting research.
He completed missions to earn commissions.
He invested those commissions in laboratory research.
The results of that research increased his strength.
Greater strength allowed him to take higher-ranked missions.
A perfect closed loop, driven by absolute discipline and absolute obsession.
As the bustle faded, the Training Ground fell completely quiet.
Several green snakes slowly slipped down from the branches and silently wound their way back into Orochimaru's sleeves.
Orochimaru leaned languidly against a tree trunk, his golden, slit-pupiled eyes resting on Amamiya Maki. For a long while, he said nothing.
He had watched the entire sparring match, missing nothing.
Facing Nawaki's fierce Monster Strength attacks, Amamiya Maki had remained calm and composed throughout.
Every landing point of his Body Flicker Technique evasions had been precise.
His timing when using the Transformation Technique to bait his opponent had been just right.
The final Rasengan had been clean and decisive, bringing the fight to a perfect close.
His entire approach had flowed seamlessly, without a single wasted movement. His rhythm of attack and defense had been flawless.
"Maki, what plans do you have for your future?"
Amamiya Maki lowered his head to look at his right palm.
The tingling left by the Rasengan's rapid rotation, mingled with the faint numbness from overloading his chakra, still lingered in his fingertips.
He raised his hand and spread his fingers, watching the faint tremors in his nerve endings as he reviewed that final strike in his mind.
At the moment of impact, he had deliberately avoided vital areas.
He had only wanted to put his opponent out of action briefly, never to inflict a serious, permanent injury.
"The more I study ninjutsu, the more I realize how profound it is."
"So... I want to learn every ninjutsu!"
Orochimaru's fingers abruptly stopped stroking the cover of his notebook.
His tongue instinctively swept across the corner of his mouth.
"Quite the bold claim."
There was not a trace of reproach in Orochimaru's voice. Instead, it was full of delight and amusement at finding a kindred spirit.
He had asked about plans for the near future. Amamiya Maki had answered with the ultimate conviction he would pursue for a lifetime.
The gap between the two was as vast as the difference between Hashirama Senju and Senju Nawaki.
Yet the boy had spoken openly and naturally, his matter-of-fact tone making it sound like something utterly trivial.
Orochimaru turned and headed deeper into the woods. After two steps, he tilted his head slightly and spoke calmly.
"Follow me."
Amamiya Maki followed closely, passing through winding, secluded forest paths until they reached an underground laboratory hidden beneath a rock face.
Stone steps curved downward, while fluorite embedded along both sides of the passage gave off a cold white glow.
A faint smell of preservatives hung in the air, mixed with the subtle scorched scent of burned metal powder.
This was Orochimaru's private, forbidden domain.
Glass jars filled with biological specimens were stacked from floor to ceiling, with all manner of strange tissue samples soaking inside.
Tall piles of research notes filled the corners.
Various instruments lay scattered across the laboratory bench in the center of the room.
Orochimaru walked straight to the rock wall at the far end.
The entire wall was covered in neatly arranged compartments, holding everything from the basic Clone Technique to top-tier S-rank forbidden techniques.
All the ninjutsu scrolls were sorted by category and arranged in order, forming a system so comprehensive it was startling.
He casually pulled out several scrolls, as easily as if he were leafing through old textbooks, and handed one to Amamiya Maki.
"This set of ninjutsu is best suited to your current foundation."
Amamiya Maki opened the scroll, revealing the exclusive Orochimaru Style ninjutsu system.
Snake Clone, Hidden Shadow Snake Hands, Shedding Technique, Soft Body Modification...
Below them was a vast collection of ninjutsu from the Five Basic Nature Transformations, covering everything from C-rank fundamentals to advanced A-rank techniques.
Every scroll bore handwriting as neat as print, accompanied by hand-drawn diagrams of chakra circulation routes, details of hand seals, and key points for applying force.
Orochimaru did not stop, taking down one advanced scroll after another.
Their numbers grew until they formed a towering stack. Amamiya Maki had to tilt his head back and brace the top scroll with his chin just to keep them steady.
Advanced Lightning Release ninjutsu sat at the bottom, with the secrets of Fire Release in the middle.
The cover of the topmost scroll clearly read, "Advanced applications of Hidden Shadow Snake Hands."
In short: the snake spat me out, and I spat out snakes.
He had not picked out a few suitable ninjutsu. He had simply emptied half the wall of its core scrolls.
Watching the boy holding the scrolls, Orochimaru calmly laid out a cruel truth.
"Maki, human life is very short."
Orochimaru leaned against the wall, looking at the stack of scrolls in Amamiya Maki's arms that rose above his head.
"It's impossible for one person to learn every ninjutsu, even at the rate of one a day."
"By the time you learn the bottom row, the scrolls in the top row will have yellowed so badly you won't dare unroll them."
"And your mind will give out first. Those who learn too much often end up forgetting what they originally wanted to learn."
Amamiya Maki raised his head slightly, lifting his chin off the scrolls, his gaze clear and resolute.
"That's why I came here and became your student."
"My life is finite, but I want to devote every bit of it to the infinite study of ninjutsu."
Orochimaru's fingers abruptly clenched, then slowly relaxed.
The movement was slow and restrained. Even the little snakes lurking in his sleeves sensed it and quickly pulled back their heads.
Infinite research.
Those two simple words struck precisely at his lifelong obsession.
This boy was not spouting empty talk about growing stronger, nor was he dreaming of the title of Hokage.
He had voiced the answer Orochimaru had spent half his life pursuing and trying to prove.
Human life was finite; knowledge was endless.
One person's strength was ultimately insignificant, incapable of mastering every ninjutsu in the world.
But someone could organize, summarize, and pass that knowledge on, allowing future generations to stand on the shoulders of their predecessors and continue into the boundless sea of learning.
[Detected: host has caused mental pressure to "Orochimaru." Pressure points +500]
A full five hundred pressure points!
Holding the heavy stack of scrolls, Amamiya Maki quietly breathed a sigh of relief where Orochimaru could not see.
He had never meant to flatter him. Every word he had just spoken was sincere.
His choice of Orochimaru had never had anything to do with his connection to Nawaki or the prestige of the Sannin.
It was simply because Orochimaru was the only person in the entire Shinobi World who was like him.
The same insatiable hunger for knowledge, the same obsessive dedication to research, the same willingness to abandon everything and give his all for knowledge.
Their bond as teacher and student had never been about blood ties or hollow prestige.
It came only from the identical, burning obsession deep within their souls.
Orochimaru gave a slight wave, signaling the end of that day's training.
He turned back toward the wall of scrolls, his pale fingertips slowly moving through the various technique catalogs as he murmured to himself, carefully weighing his choices.
"Advanced Fire Release can wait. His foundation in nature transformation isn't fully refined yet."
"Advanced Lightning Release should be postponed for a month. His current chakra reserves won't support high-intensity training."
He was not simply arranging scrolls at random. He was carefully crafting the safest, most suitable path of growth for a boy who was still inexperienced.
Amamiya Maki held the towering stack of scrolls.
That armful of weighty scrolls represented Orochimaru's wholehearted favor and dedication to nurturing him.
Before you continue