Time flies by.
Jiraiya continued to train Akihara Kagura while searching for Orochimaru's whereabouts and trying to locate the prophecy child.
Unfortunately,
Jiraiya only found two of Orochimaru's secret laboratories. He managed to rescue the humans being used as experimental subjects and destroyed the labs, but did not see any sign of Orochimaru himself.
This was already quite fortunate for Jiraiya, as he happened to overhear news about disappearances in a small town, leading him to discover Orochimaru's laboratory.
As for Akihara Kagura,
Akihara Kagura diligently continued his training.
Besides practicing the rudimentary Shuriken Throwing Jutsu and learning the basics of a ninja, he followed Jiraiya's instructions to keep refining his Chakra and learning to increase his internal Chakra Amount.
One must admit,
Jiraiya is an excellent teacher.
Akihara Kagura's progress in Ninjutsu and Taijutsu was remarkable, and he was even attempting to reduce hand seals in jutsu!
"Fire Release: Fire Dragon Flame Bomb!"
Akihara Kagura formed the Tiger Seal with a raised hand, releasing a small flame from his mouth that flew like a fire dragon into the distance, transforming into a sweeping blaze upon impact!
"Well done."
Jiraiya couldn't help but praise his disciple.
Even knowing Akihara Kagura's incredible talent, witnessing his speed in learning Ninjutsu firsthand left Jiraiya in awe.
This little guy...
His learning speed is even more astounding than Nagato's!
All Jiraiya needed to do was teach him how to form hand seals for a jutsu and guide him on Chakra flow in his body to execute it, and this little guy could use it perfectly!
In the past few months, Jiraiya fully experienced the joy of teaching a genius disciple, as well as the challenges it poses.
There was so little he could teach.
This disciple learned too quickly.
Jiraiya remembered a jutsu developed by a former student, suddenly getting an idea: "Kagura, you seem to like jutsu with fewer hand seals. I have a jutsu with infinite possibilities, developed by the Fourth Hokage..."
"Rasengan!"
While speaking, Jiraiya raised his palm, and a spiraling Chakra appeared in his hand!
"It's a No-Seal Jutsu."
Jiraiya manipulated the Rasengan as he explained: "Also, this Ninjutsu doesn't require a specific Chakra Attribute, meaning other Chakra Attributes can actually be added for nature transformation, which is quite difficult. The Fourth couldn't develop it fully before his passing..."
"Rasengan, huh?"
Akihara Kagura raised his palm.
Instantly, a Rasengan appeared in his palm.
[System Prompt]: [Ninja Professor] trait activated, host possesses Chakra, Chakra Amount reaching A-level, [Rasengan] conforms to Ninjutsu theory, [Rasengan] successfully learned!
[Rasengan (inspired by the Tailed Beast Ball, gathers Chakra in the hand, flowing chaotically with compression, forming a palm-sized Chakra Ball. The attack disrupts the opponent's Chakra. The host can control the Rasengan size by the Chakra Amount injected and add other Chakra Attributes for nature changes.)]
"Alright, continue practicing."
Jiraiya waved to his disciple and headed down the mountain on his own: "Keep working hard. I'll go investigate the town for any signs of Orochimaru."
All along, Orochimaru seemed to have vanished.
Despite destroying numerous laboratories, Jiraiya still couldn't find Orochimaru, and it seemed Orochimaru wasn't bothered by it.
As a matter of course,
Jiraiya always felt he was a step behind.
In fact, Jiraiya often got the news before Orochimaru could even reach the lab.
Land of Rain.
Inside a pitch-black cave.
This cave served as the base for the Akatsuki Organization.
The interior of this base was secretive and spacious, with a laboratory even inside, where two people busied themselves. One was Orochimaru, who recently joined Akatsuki, the other was the teammate assigned by Akatsuki.
Scorpion.
Red Sand Sasori.
Sasori appeared as an ugly Hiruko, donned in an Akatsuki Cloud Black Robe, moving in the lab as if crawling on the ground.
Orochimaru and Sasori busied themselves in the lab, almost ignoring each other. Each of their experimental tables housed a corpse.
However, Sasori's table had a corpse already made into a Human Puppet, with no foul odor; Orochimaru's table held a fresh corpse, filling the lab with a bloody scent.
Bang!
The lab door burst open.
A woman with light blue hair walked in, her expression cold as she spoke: "Scorpion, Orochimaru, the Land of River has a mission for you to undertake."
Knowing their engrossment in experiments, the light blue-haired woman proactively reminded: "Other members of Akatsuki gather funds for missions, not for you two to always conduct experiments. If you need more funding, hurry up and take on the mission..."