Naruto: My version is ahead of the ninja world

Orochimaru walked into the tent at a leisurely pace, but given his demeanor, it seemed as if the temperature around him dropped considerably when he entered the relatively enclosed space.

The land of rain is already damp and cold in winter, and now it is even more gloomy, damp, and cold.

"Lord Orochimaru, please have a seat."

Although Orochimaru has many flaws, he is flawless in terms of personal manners. Specifically, he is a very polite person in his speech, just like Frieza.

Yu Gen knew there was no need to beat around the bush when communicating with someone like Orochimaru, so after the other man sat down, he asked directly, "Is there something you need from me?"

"I saw your proposals for the Substitution Technique and body modification technology that you submitted to the village, and I feel they are very worthwhile to try." Orochimaru also directly stated his background.

It's normal for him to care about Orochimaru's substitution technique and soft body modification, since these originally belonged to Orochimaru.

"At best, it's just a hypothesis. For me, those hypotheses lack the conditions to be tried, so they're not very valuable..."

"The origin of ideas is often difficult to be reflected in real results, which is a regret that often accompanies developers or researchers."

Yu Xian remained rational and calm, after all, he was just a producer of knowledge, merely a conveyor of knowledge.

"It's very valuable for me to learn from," Orochimaru said, becoming quite talkative when it came to ninjutsu research. "Ninjas, no, I should say life itself, are inherently quite fragile, so anything that can increase the 'resilience' of life is worth trying."

This statement sounds very "Orochimaru-like".

"Although I personally cannot complete these attempts, I am happy to see these ideas come to fruition. They have become 'public knowledge' in Konoha. If Orochimaru wants to try them, he doesn't need to tell me specifically."

Yu Xian was making polite remarks on the surface, but in reality, he was asking why the other person had come to him.

"No, I always respect knowledge, so it's only proper to let you know."

Orochimaru initially "always" respected knowledge, but later he "only" respected knowledge.

"Is there anything you want?" Orochimaru asked Hagen.

Although Yugen offered his intellectual achievements free of charge, Orochimaru was not going to take them for free; he intended to exchange them for something.

It's safe to say that Orochimaru is still considered a high-quality ninja in Konoha, and is still constrained by various rules and regulations.

"What I want... Oh right, Lord Orochimaru, I want to learn Fire Release ninjutsu. Fire Release chakra transformation is my natural attribute, but unfortunately I've never had the opportunity to learn the corresponding techniques."

"Fire Release? I understand. I'll teach you some commonly used Fire Release ninjutsu later." Orochimaru agreed to Yugen's conditions without hesitation.

When Yugen submitted his two "research ideas," he had already envisioned the current scenario. Therefore, while Orochimaru's reward was fortunate, it was not unexpected.

It was just a common fire-style ninjutsu, and Orochimaru didn't care.

After the "deal" was reached, Orochimaru didn't say anything more and simply left.

However, when he lifted the tent flap with one hand, preparing to step out, he suddenly stopped.

After a brief pause, Orochimaru decided to offer a slight reminder.

"Those two ninjutsu techniques both utilize the characteristics of snakes, right?"

"Yes, Lord Orochimaru, is there a problem?"

"There's no major problem, it's just that... after the war in the Land of Grass, you were trapped in the Land of Rain and accidentally came into contact with Ryuchi Cave. After the war in the Land of Rivers, you came up with that research approach. It seems that you understand snakes very quickly."

Orochimaru smiled and then left.

These words left Yu Xian speechless for a moment; Orochimaru was indeed very perceptive.

Simply put, whether it's the Orochi-ryu Substitution Technique or the Soft Body Modification, it's clearly related to snakes, and to some extent, it can even be considered to have originated from Ryuchi Cave. However, Hagen's contact time with Ryuchi Cave was too short.

It's illogical that Yu Xian could stumble into Ryuchi Cave and then come up with such a mature research approach in just a few days.

This has nothing to do with whether he is a genius or not. Scientific research is subject to objective laws. From the birth of an idea to the formation of a design and its practical application, it ultimately takes time.

Orochimaru definitely knew that Hagen was lying, but he didn't bother to investigate further.

"As expected of Orochimaru, he's really clear-headed. Luckily, we can't find evidence of this kind of thing."

Making a deal with Orochimaru was quite straightforward, but his attitude was unpredictable and he was difficult to deal with.

After waiting in the tent for a short while, a snake slowly crawled in from outside. It came to Yu Xian's feet and then spat out a scroll.

Since both of them were in the camp, Orochimaru simply sent a snake to run the errand. After delivering the message, the snake voluntarily dispelled the summoning.

Yu Xian took the scroll and unfolded it, only to find that it contained four Fire Release ninjutsu... Two for four, Orochimaru is indeed meticulous.

"Great Fireball, Dragon Fire Technique, Great Flame Technique, Fire Dragon Bullet/Flame Bullet... It has C-rank and B-rank techniques, including Uchiha techniques and Sarutobi techniques."

"Well, putting aside scale and power, if we only look at the surface, these so-called fire-style techniques all seem to involve breathing fire."

Fire Release is just Fire Release. No matter how fancy you make it, it's still the same. In a sense, it's a technique that trades chakra for lethality.

The greater the quantity and quality of chakra, the greater the power of Fire Release. From this perspective, the beauty of Fire Release is actually a kind of numerical beauty.

Okay, putting aside the power and such, the most important thing is that the ninjutsu obtained from Orochimaru are all "genuine ninjutsu" that can be used openly on the battlefield without anyone finding fault with them.

Yu Gen's request to Orochimaru was just right. In fact, there were many other things he wanted, such as the ability to create physical clones. If possible, it would be best for him to become Orochimaru's apprentice.

However, on the one hand, being too greedy may not necessarily lead to satisfaction, and on the other hand, Yu Xian has other channels for acquiring knowledge, so his requests are mainly aimed at stability.

"Alright, let's take advantage of this time to practice the fire-style ninjutsu we just acquired. It might come in handy in the next battle."

Yu Xian ate something simple, then found a suitable spot a little distance from the camp to practice his Fire Release ninjutsu.

As it turns out, while fire attribute was his "talent," it wasn't particularly high. He did well practicing C-rank ninjutsu, but B-rank ninjutsu required considerable effort...

His mastery of fire is far less than his mastery of wind, which he learned from the Fourth Hokage.