"That's still very impressive," Hiruzen Sarutobi said with a sigh.
"If the result is wrong, it's meaningless."
Li Anshi shook his head.
The Flying Thunder God Technique was a ninjutsu that allowed for spatial movement between various spatial marks.
Whether for assassination or escape, this technique was unquestionably the number one for "godspeed."
If one's own neural reaction speed could keep up, its killing efficiency was not much worse than his own.
Decades in the future, Minato Namikaze would become famous by instantly killing fifty ninjas with a single, beautifully executed Flying Thunder God Technique.
Aside from its high chakra consumption, the technique truly had no weaknesses.
The ability Li Anshi had developed based on the Second Hokage's data, which allowed him to transfer daggers to his side, was indeed quite good, and it was highly compatible with his other skills.
Compared to the teleportation-capable Flying Thunder God Technique, his semi-complete version was a near-perfect match for his Little Li's Flying Dagger.
However, in terms of killing ability, Li Anshi had almost reached the pinnacle.
What he needed now was not something to increase his killing efficiency, but an ability that could genuinely guarantee his own safety.
Of course, Li Anshi was also very satisfied with his semi-complete technique.
It was only because his chakra reserves were not yet large enough that his semi-complete version was not as useful as the real one.
When his chakra increased to a massive level, that would be the time for this ninjutsu to truly shine.
A Li Anshi with infinite daggers would be the most feared supervillain in the entire ninja world.
The Flying Thunder God Technique was a jutsu for self-preservation before he reached that stage.
Although the four great ninja villages now intended to sign the "no first use of Little Li's Flying Dagger" agreement with Konoha, which meant they were unlikely to pay a great price to deal with him, Li Anshi would never place his life in the hands of others.
"For me right now, learning the real Flying Thunder God Technique is more important."
"That's true."
Hiruzen Sarutobi nodded.
With Li Anshi's crazy ideas, it was a good thing he hadn't acted on them.
Otherwise, it was not impossible that the entire ninja world would unite to encircle and kill him.
Even Konoha would be in the same position.
Before Konoha could break free from the Land of Fire's economic control, if the Daimyo ordered Konoha to join the other great villages in attacking him, Hiruzen could not ignore it.
This was also a problem Hiruzen was currently working hard to solve.
Anyone paying attention would have noticed that in recent years, Konoha's ninja clans had gradually begun to get involved in commercial activities.
For example, the Akimichi clan had opened barbecue restaurants, the Yamanaka clan ran flower shops, and the Nara clan had started selling medicine...
The Sarutobi clan brewed sake, while the Utatane and Mitokado clans took up forging...
Most of the ninja clans, under Hiruzen's deliberate or unintentional guidance, had sent some of their members into business.
As long as everyone had a way to earn money, Konoha's dependence on the Land of Fire would decrease.
When the day came that Konoha was completely self-sufficient, the Land of Fire would no longer have any power to restrain it.
That would be the time for Hiruzen to hand over his position to the younger generation.
"Wait a moment."
Knowing Li Anshi's purpose, Hiruzen did not hesitate. He stood up and walked over to a cabinet in the back of the office, forming a series of hand seals.
Click—
With the barrier released, the cabinet door opened. Hiruzen took out a scroll that was half the height of a man.
This was the scroll that recorded the powerful ninjutsu collected or created by the Second Hokage, Tobirama Senju.
A large portion of them were even classified as "Forbidden Jutsu."
By learning just one of the ninjutsu within, a ninja's strength could be greatly enhanced.
The Scroll of Seals!
Closing the cabinet door, Hiruzen Sarutobi carried the scroll over to Li Anshi.
"Take it."
"However, Anshi."
"You know the importance of the Scroll of Seals."
"So, whether you're viewing it or copying it, you can only do so here."
The Scroll of Seals could be said to be Konoha's most important legacy.
It recorded numerous forbidden jutsu.
These jutsu were incredibly powerful. If even one of them were to leak out and be learned, it could create a formidable ninja.
If that ninja's character was not sound, the sudden surge of power might cause a drastic change in their personality, even leading them down a path of evil.
For this reason, not just anyone was allowed to view the jutsu in the Scroll of Seals.
However, Li Anshi was an exception.
In terms of power, the jutsu inside were indeed powerful or had exceptional effects.
But compared to his Little Li's Flying Dagger, there was no comparison.
However, the effects of some of the jutsu inside were in no way inferior to his.
For example, the Reanimation Jutsu!
This technique, which summoned the souls of the dead from the Pure Land and gave them immortal bodies, could be said to be the nemesis of his Little Li's Flying Dagger.
Even if they were killed, they could recover again and again.
Currently, the only thing Li Anshi knew of that could harm the reanimated was Yin-Yang Release.
Sage Jutsu could damage the Truth-Seeking Orbs created by Six Paths-level Yin-Yang Release, so it should also be able to inflict permanent damage on the reanimated.
When the Third Hokage unrolled the Scroll of Seals in front of him and he saw the entry for "Reanimation Jutsu," Li Anshi made up his mind. After he learned the complete Flying Thunder God Technique, he would have to put training in Sage Jutsu on his agenda.
Whether it was to deal with the reanimated, or to fight a potential Six Paths Obito, Six Paths Madara, or Kaguya Otsutsuki, without sage chakra, he would not be able to harm them.
He didn't pay much attention to the other ninjutsu in the scroll. After all, his internal energy chakra meant he couldn't use elemental ninjutsu.
The Flying Thunder God Technique was a space-time ninjutsu, not an elemental one. Coupled with his ability to sense spatial fluctuations, he was able to learn and use it.
Of all the jutsu in the scroll, in Li Anshi's opinion, besides the Flying Thunder God Technique, perhaps only the Eight Inner Gates Technique was something he could learn.
Quickly finding the data for the Flying Thunder God Technique, Li Anshi began to examine the final, perfected version.
Because he had already obtained Tobirama's notes on its creation three years ago, Li Anshi's understanding of the thought process behind the technique was second only to the Second Hokage himself.
Based on Tobirama's notes, he had been able to create a jutsu that could instantly move his daggers to his side. Now, with the "correct answer" from the Scroll of Seals, Li Anshi quickly understood the difference between his semi-complete version and the full version.
The Reverse Summoning Technique!
Tobirama Senju was truly a master of forbidden jutsu.
In the final spatial formula, he had incorporated the formula for the "Reverse Summoning Technique."
The Summoning Technique was a contract between a ninja and a ninja beast, allowing the ninja, with the beast's consent, to summon it to fight alongside them.
This technique of instantly summoning a ninja beast from another location was the only space-time ninjutsu before Tobirama created the Flying Thunder God.
The Second Hokage's inspiration for the Flying Thunder God had come from the Summoning Technique.
The Summoning Technique was a ninja summoning a contracted beast to their side.
So, by definition, the Reverse Summoning Technique was a ninja beast summoning a ninja to its side.
However, although ordinary ninja beasts possessed chakra, they could not form hand seals. Therefore, the only ninja beasts in the entire world that could use the Reverse Summoning Technique were those from the three great sage regions.
Li Anshi had never made a contract with a summoning beast, so he didn't understand the Summoning Technique or the Reverse Summoning Technique.
Because his data was incomplete, the spatial mark he had previously left on his daggers, after being inscribed by his Dagger Perception, had become a summoning wedge between him and the daggers.
Therefore, his semi-complete Flying Thunder God Technique could also be called a semi-Summoning Technique.
The only difference was that what he summoned was not a beast, but the daggers that bore his spatial mark.
If Li Anshi remembered correctly, the Seven Ninja Swordsmen of the Mist also had a summoning scroll.
Using that scroll, they could summon back any of the swords that had been lost or were without an owner.
In a way, his semi-complete Flying Thunder God Technique had a similar function to that summoning scroll.
"I see."
After he finished reading the description of the Flying Thunder God Technique in the Scroll of Seals, he knew that the technique no longer held any secrets for him.
When he got back, he just needed to make some adjustments to the spatial mark on his daggers, changing it into a new mark that could carry his own chakra, and he would have completed his training of the technique.
Li Anshi lowered his head in thought, his index finger tapping lightly on the desk.
It seemed now that the Flying Thunder God Technique was, for all intents and purposes, mastered.
But in his heart, his requirements for the technique had become even higher.
The Second Hokage's technique allowed him to instantly move to a place with a spatial mark.
But besides wanting to move himself, Li Anshi also hoped to retain the ability to instantly summon his daggers to his side.
"I'm done, Lord Hokage."
After looking over the technique one more time and confirming that he had completely grasped its secrets, Li Anshi nodded at Hiruzen.
Then, right in front of him, Li Anshi took out a dagger.
Closing his eyes and entering his Dagger Perception state, he used his chakra to leave a spatial mark on the dagger, one that could carry his own chakra.
From the outside, the mark still looked like an iris.