What Does Minato’s Rasengan Have to Do with What I Learned?

Even though his body was in great pain, Orochimaru’s mind remained calm.

Orochimaru guessed that when the Particle Accelerator struck the Cosmic Cube, the powerful energy released radiation that caused the equipment to malfunction.

Fortunately, the protective measures had been extremely strict, and the radiation had not penetrated the instrument’s outer casing.

But Orochimaru did not know how long the casing could hold. Once exposed to radiation of that intensity, mutation was almost inevitable.

"Zixiao, destroy the equipment!"

Orochimaru’s body glowed blue under the impact of the energy.

Mito Uzumaki had always placed absolute trust in Orochimaru’s words.

"Fire Release: Great Fireball Technique!"

The equipment exploded. A wave of blue energy turned into a shockwave and rushed toward the walls, only to be blocked by walls made of lead. In the end, all of it was absorbed by Orochimaru and Mito Uzumaki.

The ground trembled as the violent energy triggered a small-scale earthquake.

"Cough, cough…"

Smoke filled the air as Mito Uzumaki pulled Orochimaru out of the rubble.

Orochimaru reached out and pulled the tubes from his body, then went to the bedroom to change out of his tattered clothes. He casually tossed Mito Uzumaki a fresh set as well.

After hastily tidying themselves up, they prepared to head out.

The commotion had been rather large. The Anbu were probably about to arrive.

When they opened the door, sure enough, Hiruzen Sarutobi’s eldest son was already waiting outside with a squad of Anbu.

"Lord Orochimaru, the Third Hokage requests your presence."

Orochimaru nodded. The Third Hokage needed to know what Orochimaru had been secretly doing at home lately to cause such a huge disturbance.

When Orochimaru arrived at the Hokage’s Office, Minato Namikaze was reporting on a mission to the Third Hokage.

"Orochimaru, are you researching some new ninjutsu? You caused quite a commotion."

The Third Hokage puffed on his pipe and did not ask Minato to leave.

In his view, they were all part of the Hokage’s own faction. Minato had long since become a Jōnin, and his strength was even approaching the level of an Elite Jonin. He would surely become another powerful force for Konohagakure in the future, so there was no need to avoid him.

The Third Hokage needed to know whether Orochimaru’s research had crossed any taboos. As a candidate he favored for Fourth Hokage, there were certain things Orochimaru could not touch if he wanted to become Hokage.

Orochimaru had been thinking all the way there about how to explain things to the Third Hokage.

Flying Thunder God could not have caused such a huge disturbance, and he had no way to explain where the Cosmic Cube had come from. But now that he saw Minato Namikaze, he had an idea.

"Ah, yes. It can already be considered a success."

As Orochimaru spoke, he condensed a glowing blue sphere in his hand.

The Third Hokage raised an eyebrow. A hand-signless ninjutsu?

When Minato saw the Rasengan, surprise appeared on his face. This ninjutsu was practically identical to what he had envisioned!

The Third Hokage puffed on his pipe, thought for a moment, then slowly said,

"This technique is quite powerful. More importantly, it requires no hand signs. There should be an upgraded version as well, shouldn’t there, Orochimaru?"

A Rasengan of this level alone was powerful, but not enough to trigger an earthquake.

"That would be a more advanced application. I was just trying to add Wind Chakra to it, but I failed and caused an explosion."

Orochimaru shook his head "regretfully" and sighed.

The light in Minato Namikaze’s eyes grew even brighter. He had spent nearly two years researching the same ninjutsu without results, yet Orochimaru had already begun developing its next stage.

Hiruzen Sarutobi narrowed his eyes and gradually lowered his pipe, signaling for Orochimaru to elaborate. He needed to judge the difficulty of learning this technique.

He was not afraid of Minato overhearing. If learning ninjutsu were really that easy, Konohagakure would have been full of Jōnin long ago.

"I call this technique the Rasengan. Its essence is to condense Chakra in the hand, then make the Chakra flow continuously in different directions while compressing it, forming a high-density rotating ‘Chakra sphere.’" Orochimaru said.

Minato Namikaze felt that name was not particularly cool. It would sound better as Super Spiraling Blue Uzumaki Chakra Explosion Bomb.

"I divide the training for this technique into four stages."

Minato Namikaze listened intently. He had not even successfully developed it yet, let alone created a systematic training method like this.

"The first stage is simple: merely gather Chakra in the palm. The second stage is simply a further exercise of the first. As long as you can release Chakra steadily and continuously, you have succeeded."

The first two stages were relatively simple. As long as one had the level of a Chunin and practiced persistently, there would be no problem with those two stages.

Orochimaru had no intention of revealing training methods involving balloons or rubber balls. Once he mentioned such methods, it would mean someone had already successfully trained using them.

That would mean he had already passed the training method on to others.

"The third stage is to materialize the Chakra while continuing to release it."

As soon as Orochimaru finished speaking, the rudimentary form of a Rasengan appeared in Minato’s hand.

Orochimaru watched with interest. It had originally been a ninjutsu invented by Minato in the original timeline, so Minato must have already formed a rough idea in his mind.

"The final stage is to combine all the previous steps, forming a highly condensed Chakra sphere. Then make the Chakra continuously flow in different directions while compressing it, creating a miniature typhoon. Once it resembles a Tailed Beast Ball, it is complete."

"Bzzzz." ×2

Orochimaru and Minato simultaneously condensed Rasengan in their hands.

Seeing the identical Rasengan in Minato’s and Orochimaru’s hands, Hiruzen Sarutobi’s pipe fell from his mouth.

Was that not a bit too ridiculous? Someone had just developed a ninjutsu, and Minato learned it after hearing it once?

"Ah, sorry, Lord Orochimaru. When I saw a Tailed Beast Ball before, I had a similar idea. I tried to develop a ninjutsu like this and did some practice. I just didn’t expect…"

Minato Namikaze scratched his head and spoke awkwardly.

In the Shinobi World, practicing someone else’s ninjutsu without permission was taboo. It was fine between people with close relationships, but between those less familiar, becoming mortal enemies over it was nothing unusual.

"You are a Konoha Ninja, and you are also Jiraiya’s disciple. That makes you little different from my own disciple, so it does not matter. Ninjutsu is invented to be learned by others." Orochimaru said.

In fact, even if Orochimaru had not brought out the Rasengan ahead of time, Minato Namikaze would still have mastered—or rather, invented—the Rasengan.

Hiruzen Sarutobi intended to give Orochimaru some compensation. If the technique was only at its current stage, it was not fatally dangerous. At most, violent Chakra would cut one’s arm.

"If this ninjutsu continues to be developed, its power will become too great. Even you, Orochimaru, caused such a huge disturbance through one careless mistake, let alone other ninja.

"I intend to add the Rasengan’s training method to the Scroll of Seals. In exchange, you may choose one ninjutsu from the Scroll of Seals to practice."

Orochimaru agreed.

He did not choose Mutual Explosion Tag. It was too expensive, and Explosive Tags were not cheap.

Only the Second Hokage could afford to use it that way, with the entire Senju clan and even Konohagakure supporting him. Hiruzen Sarutobi had taught him Multiple Shadow Clone long ago, after his Chakra reserves and control had met the requirements. Tsunade had Mind Transfer Jutsu.

What he truly wanted was Impure World Reincarnation Jutsu. This technique could connect to the Pure Land and summon the deceased, undoubtedly crossing the boundary between life and death. Orochimaru was very interested in it.

But Orochimaru knew very well that Hiruzen Sarutobi was unlikely to agree to give him that technique.

With that considered, there was only one ninjutsu—or rather, taijutsu—that interested him.

"I choose the Eight Gates Technique."

Hiruzen Sarutobi nodded. He knew that even after undergoing Soft Body Modification, Orochimaru’s taijutsu remained relatively weak among Kage-level ninja.

Even if Orochimaru failed to master the Eight Gates Technique, its many taijutsu training methods would still be highly valuable as references, enough to help him make up for this weakness.

Orochimaru returned with the Eight Gates Technique.

Under Hiruzen Sarutobi’s instructions, Minato Namikaze also left with the Rasengan he had just mastered. He wanted to share what had happened today with Kushina.

After his body had been altered by the Cosmic Cube’s power, Orochimaru could clearly sense all the surrounding space.

That space formed three-dimensional coordinates in his mind. If Flying Thunder God formulas existed, he felt he could easily perform spatial transfers.

After the machine exploded, Orochimaru noticed that Mito Uzumaki’s body had also been struck by the Cosmic Cube’s power. He wanted to know whether Mito Uzumaki now possessed the aptitude to learn Flying Thunder God.

If he truly did, Orochimaru planned to arrange things so that Mito Uzumaki could earn military merit and obtain the method for practicing Flying Thunder God.

However, Orochimaru could teach him in advance, as long as Mito Uzumaki did not use it in front of others. Once he had earned sufficient qualifications, he could display it publicly.

As for what sort of military merit would be appropriate for Mito Uzumaki?

The merit needed to be great enough for the Third Hokage to agree to give Mito Uzumaki the ninjutsu recorded in the Scroll of Seals, yet not too difficult. It had to perfectly match the strength of an Elite Jonin. Orochimaru already had a plan in mind.