Chapter 4: The God Who Commands Thunder and Lightning
Underground in the Hidden Leaf Village, Root headquarters.
"Lord Danzo, Orochimaru is at the entrance."
A Root member knelt on one knee and spoke respectfully to Danzo, who sat on the throne that symbolized the Root leader.
"Let him in." Danzo nodded.
Soon, Orochimaru walked in.
"Take a look at this." Danzo tossed a bundle of scrolls to Orochimaru—the same scrolls Hiruzen Sarutobi had just read.
Orochimaru didn't waste words. He accepted them, opened them, and began reading. Before long, a strange light flared in his slit pupils.
"That genius from the Hidden Cloud Village… developed another S-rank technique?"
At this time, Orochimaru wasn't as gloomy as he would be later, but his hunger for techniques and power was already showing. A ten-year-old genius who could create techniques on his own was enough to interest him.
"Any problems with this mission?"
"No… I'd like to meet that Hidden Cloud Village genius myself." Orochimaru smiled.
......
Three days later, Hidden Cloud Village Hospital Ward.
Ziyun followed the Third Raikage, his son, and others such as Dodai to visit the ANBU who had been accidentally injured.
"Ziyun… take it easy next time..." The Third Raikage lowered his head and spoke to Ziyun while looking at the unconscious ANBU.
The laboratory had taken heavy damage, and the medical costs for these ANBU were also substantial. The Third Raikage felt a sting in his heart.
After all, the Land of Lightning wasn't an economically developed place. It wasn't like the Hidden Leaf Village, which had large funds to spend freely.
That was also one reason the Hidden Leaf had so many talents.
With abundant resources and a strong economy, they were willing to pour money into technique research. With more and stronger techniques, their overall strength naturally surpassed other villages.
Still, even if it hurt, the Third Raikage knew money had to be spent where it needed to be spent.
"Well… actually, it's a technique I accidentally created. I'm just not very skilled with it yet, so it caused this outcome." Ziyun scratched his head, embarrassed.
Several ANBU had been injured by mistake. It was serious. He hoped there wouldn't be any lasting aftereffects.
"Oh? Even an immature technique can cause such powerful destruction? Tell me, what will it look like once it's fully developed?" The Third Raikage grew interested.
Dodai and the Third Raikage's son, Yotsuki A, also listened closely.
The massive explosion three days ago was still vivid in their memories. At the time, they had thought a powerful enemy was attacking the Hidden Cloud Village.
"Mm… I call this technique Lightning Release: Thunder God. Once it's activated, it's like becoming a god who controls lightning… I can use any lightning power. If it fully matures, it could even destroy an entire ninja village in a single strike."
Ziyun didn't mention the Devil Fruit and made up an explanation instead. If he tried to explain the truth, it would never end, and people would think he was crazy.
His reputation as a self-made technique genius was the perfect cover.
"A god who commands lightning? Kid, you've got big ambition." The Third Raikage laughed and didn't take Ziyun's words seriously.
Ziyun's claim was too exaggerated. A god who controls lightning… destroying a village in one strike.
Only a young shinobi who had never been to war would have such naive fantasies.
If such a terrifying technique really existed, the balance of power in the shinobi world would collapse, and war would erupt immediately.
But that didn't mean the Third Raikage didn't value Ziyun's talent. Young people should be proud. If they weren't, they wouldn't be young.
Once he experienced enough, he would naturally become grounded.
"Ziyun, I remember you've been staying in the laboratory since graduating, so you haven't been assigned to a squad yet. Fine then. From today onward, your jōnin instructor will be Dodai. You'll be in the same squad as A."
After that, the Third Raikage remembered Ziyun hadn't been placed in a squad after graduation. With a single decision, he assigned Ziyun to his trusted subordinate Dodai so Ziyun could go out and take missions and gain real experience.
Dodai didn't refuse. Being able to teach a genius like Ziyun was an honor, and it also showed the Third Raikage's trust in him.
As he spoke, the Third Raikage, as usual, reached out his large hand to pat Ziyun on the head in encouragement.
But he quickly noticed something was wrong.
His hand felt cold.
Where was Ziyun's head? He didn't touch anything.
"Fa… Father, your hand…" A stammered.
"Zi… Ziyun, your head… what did it turn into?" Dodai and Yotsuki A blurted out, their expressions like they had seen a ghost.
Because the Third Raikage's hand had passed straight through Ziyun's head.
Where his arm overlapped with Ziyun's head, tiny lightning particles flickered, making the scene unsettling.
"Ziyun, is this another new technique?" The Third Raikage quickly pulled his hand back. Even he was startled, but he steadied himself fast.
With his broad knowledge, he knew that something similar existed in the Hidden Mist Village. The Hozuki clan.
Their Hydrification Technique could dissolve the body at will, resembling what Ziyun had done.
But Ziyun's body was glowing with lightning, so it clearly wasn't Hydrification. The Third Raikage judged that Ziyun must be researching a new technique again.
"More or less… but I can elementalize my body. I can ignore most physical attacks. Other than genjutsu and sealing techniques, I should be able to ignore most ninjutsu attacks." Ziyun explained.
Aside from genjutsu, sealing techniques, and Six Paths Senjutsu, Ziyun truly didn't think there was a method in this world that could handle elementalization.
But the shinobi world was vast, and he didn't dare guarantee that some hidden clan somewhere didn't have a secret art, so it was better to be cautious.
"Ignore all ninjutsu except genjutsu and sealing techniques?" The Third Raikage felt Ziyun was exaggerating.
As far as he knew, the Hozuki clan's Hydrification could only ignore physical attacks like blades and axes. It couldn't avoid ninjutsu.
Lightning Release techniques directly countered Hydrification.
The Hozuki clan was an ancient and powerful clan with a long history, and even their Hydrification wasn't perfected. How could Ziyun's technique be more complete?
"Honestly, I'm not completely sure either… so I want to test it. How about Big Brother A as my opponent?" Ziyun said seriously.
"Are you serious, Ziyun? Even if you're the Hidden Cloud Village's number one genius, don't get too full of yourself. You've only graduated three days ago. I won't hold back."
Yotsuki A, only twelve years old but built like a man in his thirties, clenched his muscular arm.
A was two years older than Ziyun and had already become a chunin. He didn't take a genin who had just graduated three days ago seriously.
He saw Ziyun as a little brother. Being called out by name for a challenge, A felt he needed to teach his little cousin a lesson.
Otherwise, Ziyun would get too arrogant, and on missions later, arrogance would get him killed.
"I'm testing a newly developed technique… Big Brother A, you'd better not hold back," Ziyun said.
The challenge was set, because the system had just issued a new task.
[C-rank Task: Defeat a chunin]: Defeat a chunin. Time limit: none. Reward: Observation Haki. Failure penalty: none.