There was no doubt about it, Allen's process of learning the Flying Raijin Technique did not go smoothly.
To be precise, it was exceptionally difficult.
He discovered that his innate sense of space and distance was far from being as powerful as he had imagined. Ultimately, out of necessity, he chose a rather clever shortcut: he restricted the technique's range to the maximum radius of the electric field formed by his Lightning Release chakra.
This meant that if Allen wanted to use a second stage Flying Raijin Technique attack, he had to first deploy a massive electric field, enveloping all surrounding enemies within it.
Through the subtle electrical induction of the field, he could rapidly confirm the exact position of every enemy, thereby ensuring a 100% hit rate for his strikes. Furthermore, the electric field itself could paralyze targets, rendering them unable to move or use ninjutsu to escape.
After three days in the outside world, and an entire month spent inside the dungeon instance, Allen finally achieved a basic mastery of this incredibly powerful spatial ninjutsu. In the process, he had successfully integrated and expanded upon the electric field techniques he had mastered in the realm of Lightning Release.
As the jutsu that had taken him the longest to learn to date, the successful acquisition of the Flying Raijin Technique brought him an unprecedented sense of satisfaction. Most of his previous ninjutsu had been easily mastered in a very short time, thanks to the Red Dragon's almost "cheat-like" assistance.
Carrying high expectations for the Flying Raijin Technique in actual combat, he left a formula mark at his residence and once again donned his mask. Departing Konoha in his capacity as a member of Root, he headed for the Hidden Sound Village ruled by Orochimaru to continue the surveillance mission assigned by Danzo.
"So, did you get what you wanted?"
The moment they met, Orochimaru could not wait to ask the question he cared about most. Although he had researched some of the forbidden techniques within the Scroll of Seals, he certainly hadn't seen them all.
"Here. It's all in these notes." Allen showed no hesitation as he tossed the transcribed notebook to the other man.
"Hehe! Your ability is truly convenient. A single touch allows you to perfectly duplicate the contents of the Scroll of Seals."
Orochimaru's eyes gleamed as he flipped through the notes, his tongue flickering over his lips in excitement.
Forbidden jutsu!
Forbidden jutsu!
And more forbidden jutsu!
In his eyes, the master of forbidden arts, the Second Hokage, was his true idol, a peerless genius of ninjutsu.
However, after flipping through for a while, Orochimaru suddenly stopped. Staring with his snake-like eyes, he asked meaningfully, "Allen-kun, of all these forbidden techniques, which one interests you the most? Or rather... which one have you already learned?"
"How do you know I've already learned one?" Allen countered with interest.
"Simple. When you threw these notes to me, there wasn't a trace of lingering attachment in your actions. It was as if they were something trivial, rather than the Scroll of Seals that countless shinobi crave," Orochimaru stated his reasoning without a second thought.
"Perhaps I simply have no interest in forbidden jutsu at all?" Allen teased with a smile.
But Orochimaru shook his head. "No! Impossible! For someone who pursues great power and seeks to break their own limits, how could you not be interested? Otherwise, why would you bother stealing it? Let me guess... you must be trying to study the Reanimation Jutsu, right?"
"Sorry, you guessed wrong. The one I set my sights on was another technique, the Flying Raijin Technique."
With that, Allen pulled a Thorium arrow engraved with a formula from his pocket. Compared to kunai or shuriken, he was clearly more accustomed to using these.
"The Flying Raijin Technique? You actually learned the most difficult one to master?" Orochimaru's mouth hung open in shock.
He had researched this forbidden jutsu before and had witnessed the Fourth Hokage on the battlefield, acting like a literal flash of light, ruthlessly harvesting lives. He knew exactly how high the barrier to entry was for this technique.
Allen shrugged noncommittally. "Barely. My sense of space and distance isn't great, so I found an alternative path. By the way, how is Karin? Have the changes in her meridians stabilized?"
"Nearly. If all goes well, Karin's meridian width will reach its limit in a month or two. At that point, she will be able to use both Nen and Chakra at will, exerting an incredible combat power where one plus one exceeds two. Even I am full of anticipation for that day."
At the mention of this, Orochimaru's mental state became visibly hyper-excited.
Through experiments on his subordinates, he had come to understand that this power of Nen could develop a variety of incredible abilities based on a person's personality and inner desires. Some of these were even more terrifying than forbidden jutsu, true manifestations of "rules." Nen could achieve things that ninjutsu simply could not.
Furthermore, he discovered that Nen could potentially repair the soul weakness caused by his frequent body transfers. If the method used on Karin proved viable, he would use Uzumaki cells to cultivate a clone as his next host body without hesitation. As for the Uchiha's Sharingan, that could wait.
"And the flaws? Don't tell me there are no side effects to thickening the meridians," Allen asked with a knowing smile.
"The only 'flaw' is that the power of ninjutsu is amplified. Even a C-rank jutsu might result in B-rank or even A-rank levels of destruction. Naturally, the chakra consumption will also multiply several times over. However, for a member of the Uzumaki clan with their staggering chakra reserves, this flaw shouldn't be much of a problem."
Orochimaru made no attempt to hide anything, bluntly sharing the results of his observations.
Meridians (chakra pathways) were the transport channels for a shinobi's chakra. For the same jutsu, an individual with thicker meridians could mobilize a larger volume of chakra in a shorter amount of time, resulting in more devastating power.
For an ordinary shinobi, such a change would likely lead to an uncontrollable surge of chakra, causing excessive consumption of life energy and eventual death by cellular exhaustion. But the Uzumaki clan was famous for their bottomless chakra!
Thus, for Karin, this was a blessing rather than a curse. She simply needed to be mindful not to overextend herself in battle.
"Amplified power at the cost of doubled consumption... sounds pretty good."
Upon hearing the side effects, Allen's face lit up with joy. He immediately ordered the Red Dragon to begin a planned modification of his own body. Since he had already obtained a vial of blood from Karin, he carried a portion of the Uzumaki genetic markers; now was the time to activate them.
"It is good! This is a level of power countless shinobi dream of. Most importantly... regarding the development of this Nen power, it seems you still have some secrets you haven't told me, right?" Orochimaru probed cautiously.
"There are indeed a few. But you should understand that knowledge is priceless, especially knowledge only I possess. If you want the rest, you'll have to give me something in exchange," Allen demanded.
Orochimaru nodded with a smile. "Fair enough. What do you want from me?"
"Two things: the complete Reanimation Jutsu, and the summoning scroll for Ryuchi Cave..."
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