"Sage Art – Wind Style – Thousand-Face Wind!"
Orochimaru, having emerged from the seabed where he had been hiding his presence, glanced at the people of the Sea Country kneeling by the shore, still performing rituals to their so-called "Sea God." He then formed a hand seal in front of him.
Gales howled, and surging tides rolled.
The acidic mist that had been lingering along the Sea Country's coast was swept away by the fierce wind, carrying with it the immense natural energy intermingled with the tidal waves. In an instant, the Six-Tails' chakra contained within the seawater was completely decomposed.
The giant waves crashed against the shore, letting out earth-shattering roars, yet they were unable to breach the seemingly thin barrier of wind.
The fishermen watched the phenomena, which defied common sense, with looks of astonishment, believing a divine miracle had indeed descended.
They prostrated themselves repeatedly, their faith in the Sea God growing even stronger.
"This must be compensation for the damage I inflicted on the Sea Country in my memories!"
Orochimaru cast one last look at the common folk below, chanting "Sea God" with overwhelming fervor. He let out a soft chuckle, wind and lightning chakra surging through him, and he shot towards the Land of Water as if teleporting.
...
High above the vast sea, Orochimaru abruptly reappeared.
After scanning behind him and confirming he could no longer sense the island where the Sea Country was located, he nodded in satisfaction.
"Apart from not being able to cross space directly, the Swift Release kekkei genkai is no inferior to the Flying Thunder God Technique in terms of speed!"
"Speaking of the Flying Thunder God Technique..."
As Orochimaru flew forward rapidly, he pondered his current only weakness.
No space-time ninjutsu!
This power, which could unleash astonishing effects even in Six Paths-level combat, had never been specifically focused on by Orochimaru, who was constantly busy seeking ways to rapidly increase his strength.
Had it not been for the speed of Swift Release reminding him of the Flying Thunder God Technique, which also allowed for rapid movement, he might not have thought of it until the time he needed to use space-time ninjutsu.
Because he had not deliberately focused on it, Orochimaru could not clearly explain the specific cultivation method for the Flying Thunder God Technique for the time being.
However, he had a general understanding of its principles.
Executing the Flying Thunder God Technique required two simple steps.
Step one: Leave a mark at a location.
Step two: Capture the location of the mark with mental power and instantly cross space to move there.
Simple, right?
Yet, despite such simple steps, in the entire ninja world, apart from the deceased Second Hokage Tobirama Senju and the future Minato Namikaze, no third person could use it...
The land of the Land of Water was already in sight. Orochimaru, feeling a surge of interest in researching the Flying Thunder God Technique, decided to stop in mid-air, concealing his presence with Sage Mode.
He stroked his chin and reached into his ninja tool pouch, pulling out a kunai.
"It seems to be similar to the principle of Inverse Summoning!"
"Treating a kunai with a mark as the summoner, and one's own body as the summoned."
"Thinking of it this way..."
"The Flying Thunder God Technique doesn't seem too difficult!"
Orochimaru was unsure what level of spatial knowledge was required to master the Flying Thunder God Technique, but this did not prevent him from using his existing knowledge to deduce its principles.
After a brief period of contemplation, Orochimaru first etched a seal on the kunai that could carry his mental energy. He then carefully used the Spiritualization Technique to insert a wisp of his consciousness into it.
With the experience of using the Shadow Clone Technique and the insights gained from cultivating the Spiritualization Technique,
Operations that would not harm his core power, like this, were a mere trifle for the current Orochimaru.
This thread of soul power, compared to his entire soul, was no more than a grain of sand in the vast ocean.
Thinking about it carefully, his future self in his memories would split his soul into countless parts using the Heavenly Curse Mark!
At that time, he would have already undergone multiple body reanimations.
Despite inherently possessing chakra of all elements, and his soul power being innately stronger than most ordinary ninjas,
He had, purely out of greed for power and the obsession with eternal life, completely ruined his excellent hand.
Looking at it this way, his past self was truly foolish!
He gave a self-deprecating shake of his head, retracting his wandering thoughts, and refocused on the kunai in his hand.
After a moment of contemplation, he seemed to feel that such a simple method still had potential instability. Orochimaru then applied a highly directional Summoning Seal to this wisp of consciousness.
The seal's effect was singular: upon receiving the main body's call, it would immediately perform a summoning jutsu on the main body.
After examining the kunai, Orochimaru nodded confidently, believing it was ready for a trial run.
He flicked his wrist, throwing the kunai towards the shore of the Land of Water, and simultaneously linked his senses to the wisp of consciousness within the kunai, activating the seal inscribed with the summoning jutsu.
And then...
"Ding!"
With a crisp sound, the kunai deeply embedded itself into a stone on the coast of the Land of Water.
Orochimaru was about five hundred meters away from the shore of the Land of Water. At such a distance, for an ordinary ninja, not only would precise targeting be difficult, but even throwing it that far would be a problem.
But the kunai thrown by Orochimaru was no ordinary kunai; it was embedded so deeply into the rock that one could almost see the ring at the grip.
Clearly, Orochimaru's ninja tool throwing skills had not diminished as he learned more ninjutsu.
However, upon seeing the kunai deeply embedded in the rock, Orochimaru's face darkened.
The wisp of consciousness within the kunai had indeed responded to the summon, and the summoning jutsu inscribed on the seal had been activated.
But...
Orochimaru's body remained floating in mid-air, not having moved at all.
At this moment, if a scene of autumn wind blowing fallen leaves past his eyes were to accompany it, it would be truly fitting.
"I'm truly mad to think I could summon my main body with a mere wisp of consciousness."
"With my current chakra reserves, to summon my main body, how much chakra would I need to seal into the kunai to achieve this?"
"Moreover, even if I could inject that much chakra into the kunai, what kind of material would be strong enough to withstand such a magnitude of chakra?"
Orochimaru rubbed his temples, helplessly declaring the failure of his attempt to develop the Flying Thunder God Technique through speculation!
The more confident he had been before the experiment, the more devastated Orochimaru felt now.
It was a huge blow to his ego!
Fortunately, no one saw it!
"Never mind, I'll properly research the Scroll of Seals when I get back."
"I wonder if I have any talent for space-time ninjutsu. If I can't cultivate it..."
Orochimaru mumbled, looking up at the sky.
The sky above the Land of Water was shrouded in mist, obscuring the sun and the moon created by the Six Paths Sage's Six Paths – Chibaku Tensei.
"Perhaps I'll have to set my sights on the Tenseigan!"