"Why are you sneaking peeks?"
Yuzuru suddenly spoke.
"Hehe, you caught me."
At the doorway, Kurenai stopped hiding and skipped over to Yuzuru with her hands behind her back.
"I didn't know you'd gotten so strong, Yuzuru. Compared to you, I feel so stupid!"
Kurenai grew a little dejected.
Yuzuru ruffled her little head. "Not at all. My Kurenai is still very smart. Once you learn the Shadow Clone Technique, you'll be able to improve this quickly too."
"Really?"
"Of course."
"Then I'm going to learn the Shadow Clone Technique today. That way, I can send a shadow clone to class for me just like you and have more time to learn ninjutsu."
Brimming with enthusiasm, Kurenai went off to the side and resumed practicing the Shadow Clone Technique.
Looking at Kurenai, who had yet to grow into her features but was still adorable, Yuzuru smiled faintly.
Kurenai's talent was far from poor, especially in genjutsu, where she was firmly among the very best. Unfortunately, without a genjutsu bloodline limit, genjutsu itself had limited prospects.
The powerful S-rank genjutsu all required the Sharingan or the Kurama Clan's bloodline limit, while the strongest genjutsu an ordinary ninja could use was merely the A-rank Bringer-of-Darkness Technique.
Therefore, if Kurenai wanted to grow stronger, she could only branch out in other directions, unless she created an S-rank genjutsu comparable to Tsukuyomi in the future. That was difficult even to imagine.
Fortunately, besides Yin Release chakra, Kurenai also possessed fire and wind attributes.
He wasn't particularly skilled with Fire Style, but as luck would have it, he had Wind Release too.
As Kurenai practiced the Shadow Clone Technique on her own, Yuzuru moved aside and began studying the key points of the Great Waterfall Technique.
As an A-rank ninjutsu, the Great Waterfall Technique was stronger than the Water Dragon Bullet Technique. Of course, it was also more difficult.
The biggest difference between the two was that the Great Waterfall Technique required an understanding of water nature transformation.
The Water Dragon Bullet Technique only required some shape transformation, which was easy to master with sufficient chakra control. Moreover, Yuzuru had already learned Ice Release: Wolf Fang and had spent a long time making ice mirrors, so he was already quite proficient in controlling chakra's shape.
Nature transformation, however, depended on individual understanding.
Yuzuru read the Great Waterfall Technique's description. This ninjutsu required an understanding of water's other side: violence!
Water could nourish all things, but likewise, too much water could destroy everything.
The Great Waterfall Technique simulated a real waterfall-the sustained, powerful impact of a massive volume of flowing water.
Simply put, this technique required water's speed and ferocity, even greater than the Water Dragon Bullet's, with a more powerful impact. It struck every part of the body simultaneously, subjecting every inch of the opponent's body to a heavy blow.
Someone might survive a Water Dragon Bullet, but under the Great Waterfall Technique, they would generally be smashed to pieces.
It just required a rather large amount of chakra.
Fortunately, Yuzuru himself had no shortage of chakra.
Eating large amounts and exercising since childhood, combined with the physique of a bloodline-limit clan and the powerful spiritual energy of someone who had lived two lives, had given Yuzuru a tremendous amount of chakra at his age.
The Great Waterfall Technique itself wasn't particularly difficult either. In a sense, it was a ninjutsu that depended entirely on individual stats. With enough chakra, it could unleash great power even without much understanding of nature transformation.
After finishing the ninjutsu scroll, Yuzuru slowly began trying it out.
The Great Waterfall Technique he used at first was indeed a little small, but it soon grew steadily larger.
The only difficulty was controlling the amount of chakra-how to make the most of every last bit of its energy to produce as much water as possible.
However, through repeated experiments, Yuzuru soon became proficient at that too. The courtyard just got a little muddy.
So Yuzuru could only seal the ground with Ice Release, at least keeping his feet from getting covered in mud whenever he stepped on it.
That afternoon, after training ended, Yuzuru looked at Kurenai resting off to the side, then went over and sat beside her.
"How did it go? Have you mastered it?"
"Yes, but I can't give the clone very much chakra."
Kurenai nodded.
"That also has to do with your own chakra. Eat more meat and exercise more from now on. Once you have more chakra, you'll be able to give your shadow clone more too."
"Speaking of eating..."
"Grrr..."
Kurenai's little stomach rumbled right on cue.
"I'm hungry."
Watching Kurenai lower her head shyly, Yuzuru ruffled her hair.
"Let's go. I'm hungry too. Let's eat together."
"Hehe."
Kurenai immediately got up from the ground and took Yuzuru's little hand with practiced ease, and the two headed outside together.
In the courtyard, the corners of the shadow clone Yuzuru's mouth twitched twice before he continued practicing Demonic Mirroring Ice Crystals.
While they were eating grilled meat, Yuzuru suddenly went still for a moment.
"What's wrong?"
Kurenai looked up at him, grease smeared all around her mouth.
"Nothing. School's out. My shadow clone just disappeared."
"Bleh. I never thought I'd really skip a whole day of class."
Kurenai stuck out her tongue, licking the sauce off her lips as she did.
"Isn't that good? You can learn ninjutsu without having to do missions. That's why your school days are the best time."
"True."
Just then, a familiar cold, sinister feeling came over him, and Yuzuru glanced to the side.
Sure enough, Orochimaru had arrived.
Orochimaru stuck out his tongue, licked his lips, and walked toward Yuzuru.
"Minazuki Yuzuru, I hear you've become Tsunade's apprentice?"
"Yes, Lord Orochimaru."
Yuzuru nodded politely.
"What a pity."
Orochimaru looked at Yuzuru, his eyes full of regret.
That confirms it. Orochimaru has already started becoming a little abnormal at this point, but he hasn't completely lost himself yet.
"Speaking of which, there's something I've been wanting to ask you, Lord Orochimaru."
"Oh?"
Hearing this, Orochimaru unceremoniously came over and sat at their table, making them a party of three.
"What would you like to ask, Yuzuru?"
Orochimaru looked at him with interest.
"Lord Jiraiya, you, and my teacher all have contracts with very powerful summons, and the places where those three great summons live are called the Three Great Sage Regions. I'd like to know, Lord Orochimaru, how you signed a contract with Ryūchi Cave."
Yuzuru looked at Orochimaru curiously.
"Of course, if that's private, pretend I never asked."
With that, Yuzuru took several skewers of grilled meat off the grill and set them before Orochimaru.
Orochimaru said nothing, looking at Yuzuru with contemplation in his eyes.
"From the sound of it, you're quite interested in the Three Great Sage Regions?"
"A little."
Yuzuru didn't deny it.
"Well, that's a long story. But unlike Jiraiya, who stumbled into Mount Myōboku by accident, I found Manda myself."
Orochimaru picked up a skewer of grilled meat and brought it to his mouth.
"Is that so? All right, then."
Yuzuru didn't ask anything further.
Orochimaru, however, became interested and asked Yuzuru in turn, "Yuzuru-kun, would you be interested in letting me see your Ice Release sometime?"
"No problem."
Yuzuru agreed without hesitation.
At this, a trace of appreciation flashed through Orochimaru's eyes.
He liked geniuses with minds and personalities of their own. They let him see his former self.
"Hehe. In that case, I'll be waiting for you to visit, Yuzuru-kun."