It was no wonder Shinji was surprised, after all, this kind of operation…
Shinji had originally planned to have Naruto practice the first stage, and then come back after he could multitask. But now Naruto had skipped this step on his own.
He cleverly used his five fingers, each performing its own function, to control the flow of Chakra to burst the water balloon.
Naruto scratched his head with an embarrassed expression and said, "Well, when I was learning Chakra control, didn't you make me use Chakra threads to control a spinning top?"
"So?" Shinji asked back, puzzled.
Naruto had completed that training relatively quickly at the time. It seemed there were no problems.
"Uh, one day I used five spinning tops, and then the Chakra threads got tangled. At that time, I didn't think of just breaking the Chakra threads."
"Finally, I remembered, and just now when I split a Shadow Clone, one of the Shadow Clones suddenly thought of this, and used this method."
Naruto's face was a little flushed, as this kind of embarrassing story was really a bit shameful.
Shinji couldn't help but marvel again at Naruto's wild imagination.
Anyone even slightly normal wouldn't think of using the same method to achieve Chakra flow control because of this incident.
And he actually succeeded!
"Alright, since you can do this, then just use a rubber ball to maintain its rotation."
Shinji had Naruto train with the rubber ball, and explained to him what the goal of this stage was.
Control rotation and shape, and only with one hand.
After giving instructions, he let Naruto go train on his own.
"Sasuke, you did well." Shinji looked at Sasuke beside him.
Sasuke had completed the first stage of Fire Release Nature Transformation in less than a day.
"Yes, sensei." Sasuke responded shyly, as his successful transformation was also a bit of a trick.
"Your second stage is to make this pot of water boil using Nature Transformation."
Shinji casually placed an iron pot in Sasuke's hand.
After thinking about it, he said, "When training, find a cooler place to avoid heatstroke again."
"Yes, sensei." Sasuke quickly nodded and walked away, holding the iron pot.
Seeing Sasuke like this, Shinji didn't care too much.
After all, there was originally less than an hour of preparation time, and now that Naruto and Sasuke had delayed him a lot, he had to go back, pack up, and depart.
After giving a few more instructions to his disciples, he left.
— — —
At the Konoha gate, Shinji presented his proof to the two Konoha gate guards. After verification, he left with a Body Flicker.
Kotetsu, left behind, sighed, "It's been a long time since I've met such a polite Anbu."
With so many missions lately, they often encountered people like Kakashi who would just hand over their proof with a kunai while guarding the gate.
Izumo, beside him, put away the proof and slapped Kotetsu playfully, saying, "Still dawdling? There's a pile of registrations to do."
Kotetsu quickly responded, "Alright, I'm coming."
...
Shinji, wearing a mask, leaped and sped through the forest. He paid no attention to the scenery along the way, as this time he was moving alone. Naturally, there was no need to worry if teammates could keep up, so he immediately traveled at his fastest speed the moment he left the village.
Since he had the experience once before, he only needed to determine the general direction.
...
The next day at noon, Shinji, dressed in Anbu attire, appeared at the border between the Land of Rice Fields and the Land of Fire.
Standing on a large tree, he began to confirm the location of the lookout post.
"Oh? Found it."
After a while, he finally spotted a lookout tower nestled in a dense forest.
Flipping down, he quickly moved towards the target direction.
This time, he came here not only to obtain intel from the border but also to deliver some essential supplies to the ninjas stationed there.
Border patrols rotate approximately once a year, and supplies need to be replenished by the village every few months.
Before leaving the village, Shinji had gone to the supply depot to collect about ten small scrolls.
There were many ways to transmit simple intel, so there was no need to send someone specifically to retrieve it. The key was to transfer supplies.
As he gradually approached the location, Shinji's brows furrowed.
Something was wrong. Logically, upon entering the range of the border lookout post, someone should come out to confirm his identity. However, up until now, he had not detected any trace of anyone.
Are the people at the lookout post so lax?
Shinji shook his head. Logically, they wouldn't be, as they were personally assigned by Hiruzen. They couldn't possibly do such a thing.
Thinking of this, Shinji prepared to sneak into the dense forest nearby to activate Area Scanning Technique for a more accurate perception.
Suddenly, he felt his heart clench. He instantly disappeared from his spot with Body Flicker.
The next second, dozens of snake shadows burst through Shinji's previous position, coiling and closing in.
Shinji ignored them, his eyes instead looking towards a patch of grass not far away.
Just now, if it weren't for that subtle Chakra fluctuation, he would never have known that someone was lurking so close to him.
"Heh heh, I didn't expect such a little mouse to come here."
"And, a sensory ninja?"
From the tall grass, emerged a figure with long black hair, dressed in white attire, with a purple rope wrapped around his waist.
He exuded an aura that made Shinji feel as if he was being targeted by a venomous snake, and from his golden slit pupils, it was clear that he thought he seemed to have found an interesting prey.
Shinji's eyes narrowed slightly. He actually ran into Orochimaru here.
"Interesting…"
Orochimaru's gaze, like that of an observer sizing up prey, stared directly at Shinji, and he spoke in a slightly hoarse voice, "It seems you know who I am?"
As he spoke, Orochimaru's golden slit pupils became even more chilling.
Killing intent!
Shinji clenched his teeth, and the Chakra in his body unconsciously erupted, this was his body's instinctive reaction. Fortunately, he broke free due to his Chakra outburst.
"Oh?"
Orochimaru was clearly surprised that Shinji had broken free from his killing intent, and unconsciously extended his slick tongue to lick his lips.
"You have the old man's scent on you, so you must be someone who frequently interacts with him."
Shinji ignored him and slowly formed a few hand seals before straightening up and speaking slowly, "Senpai, your perception doesn't need to be exactly like a snake's."
Before his words finished, Shinji's figure glowed with a golden light, and he charged towards Orochimaru like a heavy cannon.
Facing Orochimaru, he could only use his strongest jutsu. As for escaping, unless one has Flying Thunder God or Kamui, who can escape a snake's pursuit?