---Third POV---
"Those who get it, get it."
Yuto nodded his head vigorously.
Seeing him so cooperative, Hidan let out a satisfied hum.
"And also, from now on, you all need to worship Jashin-sama and start living as new people…"
Noticing that Hidan was about to go off on one of his rants, Ryouma quickly interrupted him.
"That's enough. Stop preaching nonsense. As for you guys, go back and copy the Will of Fire a hundred times. Bring it to Hidan for inspection tomorrow, understand?"
Yuto looked as if he had just received an S-rank mission, eyes sparkling. He stood up straight and shouted loudly.
"Understood! I'll definitely make sure they complete it seriously!"
"Off you go."
Ryouma waved his hand to send off the group of troublemakers without giving them too much of a hard time.
Incidents like school bullying happen everywhere. Even in the lawful society of his previous life, it couldn't be completely eradicated, let alone in the shinobi world, a place steeped in years of war and repression.
In the face of bullying, the best solution was to become stronger.
"Your name's Kabuto, right?" he asked, pretending not to know.
"Yes. Back at the orphanage, thank you very much for your help."
Kabuto had indeed heard at school that Hidan was an orphan brought back to Konoha by Ryouma. But he hadn't expected Hidan to actually bring over someone as powerful as the Leaf's Gale just to help him. Though it felt a bit like using a sledgehammer to crack a nut, he would never forget such a favor.
"Do you know your chakra nature? Have you tested it before?"
Kabuto instantly understood what Ryouma was getting at.
"The director tested it for me before. It's water nature."
"Water, huh…"
Ryouma thought for a few seconds. Then he disappeared using the Flying Thunder God Technique, and reappeared moments later, tossing a scroll to Kabuto.
"These are some water jutsu I've optimized. I don't need to remind you about the dangers of biting off more than you can chew, right?"
"Thank you so much for your help." Kabuto bowed repeatedly as he caught the scroll.
As for declining?
Only a fool would do that.
Most civilian-born genin could only learn a few jutsu from their assigned mentor after graduating. For orphans like Kabuto, it was even harder.
The only jutsu he knew right now was the basic Mystical Palm Technique taught by the orphanage director, he hadn't even learned the standard Academy techniques yet.
Itachi watched Kabuto walk away, his gaze occasionally drifting to the scroll in Kabuto's hands.
To receive a ninjutsu scroll from Ryouma… Kabuto must have an exceptional talent. After all, there were many orphans in the Ninja Academy. Ryouma wouldn't give away something that valuable just because he happened to run into one.
It seems I'll have to keep an eye on him.
---
"Oh, right, Hidan," Ryouma suddenly remembered something. "About the Chidori I taught you last time, if you can't learn it, just give it up."
Hidan was stunned for a moment upon hearing that. Then he immediately lunged forward, clinging to Ryouma with a miserable expression.
"No! I can already squeeze out a spark! I'm so close! Don't give up on me…"
Ryouma tried to push him away, explaining as he did, "I'm not giving up on you. I recently got my hands on a lightning nintaijutsu. I modified it based on your physique. Since you can't learn Chidori, don't force it."
As soon as Hidan heard that, he immediately dropped the act and looked up expectantly.
"What kind of jutsu is it? Is it stronger than Chidori?"
"Follow me and you'll find out."
---
Ryouma led the two boys deep into a secluded part of the Forest of Death.
"Is it really okay for me to come along?" Itachi asked hesitantly. It was clear that Ryouma was about to teach Hidan some powerful jutsu, this didn't seem like the kind of thing someone else should be watching.
"It's fine," Ryouma replied casually, then pulled out a storage scroll and laid it open on the ground.
Poof!
With a puff of smoke, a complete calligraphy set appeared, neatly arranged on the scroll.
"Hidan, take your clothes off. Itachi, help me grind the ink."
"Yes," Itachi responded obediently, picking up an ink stick and beginning to grind it.
Hidan hesitated, flustered. "Wait, what kind of jutsu requires me to take off my clothes?"
"I'm going to directly inscribe the technique onto your body. When you use it, you just need to channel chakra into it."
"What? Jutsu can be learned like that?"
Hidan looked shocked, and Itachi didn't look much different. This was the first time either of them had heard of jutsu being written directly onto a ninja's body.
"Are you learning it or not?"
"I'm learning! Of course I'm learning!"
Without further complaint, Hidan quickly stripped off all his clothes.
"Leave your pants on, idiot!" Ryouma said, facepalming.
"Ah, you should've said so earlier…" Hidan scrambled to put his pants back on.
After the brief commotion, Ryouma picked up the brush and began painting complex sealing across Hidan's back.
"This ink… it seems special," Itachi remarked quietly.
While he wasn't particularly skilled at sensory perception, even a normal person could see that ink which glowed faintly on its own was clearly no ordinary substance.
Hearing Itachi's comment, Ryouma used the opportunity to warn Hidan.
"That's right. This ink is extremely valuable. So you'd better behave."
Hidan clamped his mouth shut and didn't even breathe too loudly, terrified that any movement might cause a mistake and earn him a punishment. Though in truth, his fear was unnecessary. With the precision granted by Ryouma's Rikugan, it would be almost impossible for him to make a mistake.
Still, Ryouma wasn't lying. The ink really was rare, custom-made by the Uzumaki clan for use in sealing techniques. These days, probably only the Senju clan still had any in stock.
Now that the war was over, he planned to have Kushina produce another batch following the method passed down by Mito.
A few minutes later, under Ryouma's careful craftsmanship, Hidan's back was covered in black script, glowing faintly with a ghostly blue light.
"Now comes the most important part. Brace yourself."
As he spoke, he compressed a dense mass of lightning chakra in his hand.
Crackle… crackle…
The sound of electricity made Hidan nervously glance back, and he immediately recoiled in fright.
"That looks like it's gonna hurt!"
"If you want power, you have to pay the price. Turn your head, I'm starting."
With that, Ryouma slammed the glowing ball of lightning onto Hidan's back. The violent current surged under his guidance, coursing through the seal and activating it completely.
Zzzzt!
Under the stimulation of the blue-white electric current, the sealing drawn by Ryouma began to grow a second time, gradually creeping all over Hidan's body.
"Ahhhh!"
Itachi asked with some concern, "Is he really going to be okay?"
"Don't worry. This guy can take a lot more than you think."
As if echoing Ryouma's words, the crackling electric current on the field finally subsided. Hidan lay face down, motionless, with steam rising from his body.
Itachi quickly stepped forward to check on him, but the moment he reached out, he was repelled by a layer of electric sparks.
"What the—?"
"Careful. He's covered in electricity right now," Ryouma warned, albeit a bit late.
At that moment, Hidan recovered. He pushed himself up off the ground with both hands and flipped backward into a standing position. His upper body was now covered in streamlined, silvery-white markings that extended down to his lower half, hidden beneath his pants. Two silver lines had also appeared on his face, which, combined with his grey hair, actually gave him a surprisingly harmonious look.
Ryouma looked at his creation with satisfaction. "How does it feel?"
Hidan clenched his fists, feeling the endless energy coursing through him, and nodded wildly in excitement.
"I feel like I could take on ten Itachis right now!"
Itachi twitched at the corner of his mouth. Why was he being used as a unit of measurement?
"Alright then, Itachi, why don't you spar with Hidan and see?"
Ryouma was also curious to see how much of this new form's power Hidan could tap into.
Itachi nodded obediently at the suggestion.
Ryouma bent down and picked up a stone from the ground. "When this stone hits the ground, the spar begins. Got it?"
"Got it."
"Got it!"
The stone was tossed high into the air. The moment it touched the ground, Itachi kicked off and dashed backward to put distance between them. Judging from the earlier electric sparks, it was clear that Hidan's newly acquired power was Lightning Release.
And since it had been inscribed on his body, it was most likely a type of lightning ninjutsu that enhanced physical prowess, so creating distance first was definitely the smart move.
Hidan, unaware that Itachi had already analyzed all this in just a few seconds, was currently riding high on the rush of his new power, utterly hyped. He pushed off with his legs, two bursts of electricity exploding from beneath his feet, propelling him at high speed toward Itachi's retreating figure.
Itachi landed on a tree branch and threw three kunai downward while hiding behind the trunk, already preparing a substitution log just in case.
Hidan, facing the incoming kunai, didn't even try to dodge. He just charged straight through.
A sudden surge of blue electricity erupted from his body, knocking all the kunai away. Without losing speed, he crashed straight into the tree Itachi had been on, breaking it in half.
Boom!
The broken tree hit the ground, kicking up a cloud of dust.
Using the Substitution Technique, Itachi had already evaded the attack and was now watching the smoke cloud with sharp eyes, six kunai clutched between his fingers.
But after a while, no follow-up attack came.
"That idiot…"
Ryouma, looking conflicted, formed a hand seal with one hand and blew out a gust of wind that dispersed the smoke.
What they saw was Hidan's entire upper body buried in the ground, with only his butt and two legs sticking out and flailing in the air, unable to find any leverage.
"This…" Itachi had no idea what expression to make either. He jogged over, intending to help pull Hidan out of the dirt.
But faced with the electric barrier still covering Hidan's body, he was at a loss and could only look to Ryouma for help.
Ryouma sighed, lifted the tip of his right foot, and lightly tapped the ground. With the help of Earth Release: Moving Earth Core, the soil trapping Hidan slowly rose, spitting him out.
"Phew~ Ah, saved at last," Hidan gasped for breath. "This mode is so hard to control. Let's go again, Itachi!"
Ryouma smacked Hidan on the head. "The winner of this match is Itachi. Come challenge him again when you've gotten used to this technique's power."
Hidan, surprised that it didn't hurt much under this mode, still covered his head and pretended it hurt. "Got it."
Zzzzt~
Several small sparks flickered across his body as the silvery-white markings slowly faded and sank back into his skin.
"Huh? What's going on?" He looked at the fading markings on his body in confusion.
"Your chakra's probably depleted," Itachi analyzed calmly.
"You're right," Ryouma confirmed.
He flicked Itachi on the forehead as a reward, and seeing Itachi's slightly puffed-up cheeks, he couldn't help but smile, so amusing.
"Is that so? But I don't feel like I'm low on chakra at all."
"That's because the chakra you used to activate the mode just now was left over from my initial activation for you. From now on, you'll have to use your own chakra to access it."
Ryouma explained in terms simple enough for even an idiot to understand, finally making Hidan grasp the situation.
"Does this technique have a name? Want me to come up with one?"
"No need. It already has a name," Ryouma said proudly. "This technique is called Lightning Speed: Hidden Form - Super Chakra Torrent Fusion Mode. Pretty awesome, huh?"
"Uhh…" Hidan didn't really get why the name had to be so long, but to avoid getting hit again, he kept his mouth shut.
"You don't seem to like the name."
"N-No, I love it."
Seeing Ryouma's dangerous gaze, sweat started to bead on Hidan's forehead.
"Good. You two have fun, I've got other things to take care of, so I'll head off first."
Ryouma finally remembered that he'd actually come to the Uchiha compound today for a different reason.
Whoosh~
A few seconds after Ryouma disappeared, Hidan flopped to the ground with a plop.
"His naming sense is as weird as ever. Who could remember something that long? I mean, Chidori is such a good name, right? Don't you think so, Itachi?"
"I believe he must have his reasons for naming it that way."
That was the conclusion Itachi came to after serious thought.
"Hey hey, you're not making fun of me, are you?" Hidan said, wide-eyed in disbelief.
"Of course not."
"Then repeat the name he just said."
"Let's not."
Itachi turned his head away, avoiding eye contact with Hidan's red-with-frustration face.
"You were making fun of me!"
Hidan lunged forward and tackled Itachi to the ground.
---
Inside the Uchiha compound, Ryouma arrived at the doorstep of Shiori's home and rang the doorbell.
Ding-dong~
The door opened quickly, revealing a heavily drunk Homura.
"Yo. Morning."
40+ advance chapters!
/Malphegor