Hearing Uchiha Gen's explanation, Orochimaru nodded in approval and said:
"Continue."
"Taking Water Release as an example, in my view, the purpose of Nature Transformation is actually to endow Water Release with a certain special property, whether it's giving the water adhesive characteristics or transforming the nature of water into oil."
"Ultimately, the water produced by Water Release is not real water; it is still essentially Chakra."
"To make Water Release exhibit different properties, we must have a deep enough understanding of this attribute of Chakra and a considerable understanding of the properties being exhibited to successfully transform its nature."
After Uchiha Gen finished speaking, he looked at Orochimaru with an inquiring gaze.
"Not entirely correct, but at least your understanding of Nature Transformation isn't off track."
Orochimaru pointed out the error in Uchiha Gen's words:
"It's not just about having a deep enough understanding of the properties you want to exhibit to try and transform them."
"The most important thing is to find the common ground between the inherent nature of Water Release and the nature you wish to change it into."
"Only then can you use that as a starting point to cause a qualitative change in the Water Release."
"Take Water Release, for instance. Water itself has surface tension."
"If it were pure water, this tension couldn't be integrated into the interior of the water."
"But we are ninja, and as you said, the essence of Water Release is not water, but Chakra."
"As long as we understand how this tension comes about, we can think of other ways to integrate this tension into the Water Release, causing the nature of the water to change."
"As for what I'm going to talk about next, it's a Nature Transformation of Fire Release."
"With Gen's current level of Fire Release, he can already begin training, and Enjun can also start on the preliminary training preparations."
Orochimaru took out two clean white sheets of paper and laid them flat on the stone floor.
"Watch closely and see what the difference is."
Orochimaru formed the Tiger seal with one hand and reached out to tap each of the two sheets of paper.
A spark appeared on the first sheet, which then began to burn and spread outward from the center of the spark.
The second sheet, however, burst into flames with a bang in an instant, being reduced to ashes.
Uchiha Gen had already activated his Sharingan the moment Orochimaru reached out to form the seal, seeing the entire process clearly.
He then spoke:
"The burning speed is different."
The latter seemed to be burned to ash in an instant, but Orochimaru had actually only tapped it.
The initial burning surface was tiny; it was simply because the burning speed was fast enough that it turned to ash instantly.
"Very good. Controlling the burning speed of Fire Release is the first step in most Fire Release Nature Transformations."
"When you can reduce the burning time to an instant, what do you think would happen if you added something else to it—for example, compressing the flames?"
An answer surfaced in Uchiha Gen's mind.
"A very short time, a limited space, and a large amount of heat gathered together... then the pressure would also rise, leading to... an explosion!"
"Exactly. This is the first Chakra Nature Transformation I will teach you: the Explosive nature of Fire Release."
Orochimaru nodded slowly and took a stack of blank document paper from a drawer.
"The first step you need to learn is to control the burning speed of Fire Release."
"Once you can incinerate paper into ashes in an instant like I just did, you can begin the second stage of training."
"At that time, the training prop will be replaced with wood soaked through with water, and you'll be required to char it within one second."
"This places absolute demands on the temperature of your Fire Release."
"The third step is still such a piece of wood, but instead of charring it, you must steam it dry back to its state before it was soaked."
"This requires precision in the control of Fire Release Chakra."
"Once these three steps are completed, you can begin to truly attempt to make the flames explode."
"Now... begin practicing, Gen."
Uchiha Gen pulled out a sheet of paper, mimicked Orochimaru's movements, formed the Tiger seal with one hand, and channeled the Chakra in his body to his finger.
Only after the tip of his finger felt hot did he confirm that the Fire Release Chakra was concentrated.
He then tapped the center of the paper and quickly pulled away.
A spark appeared, a wisp of blue smoke rose, and the flames ignited.
However, the burning speed was not very fast.
Eventually, only half of the paper was burned, leaving the other half curled under the high temperature, with the edges showing a gradient from charcoal black to scorched yellow.
It was a failure, but that was normal; at least it had ignited.
"During the era of the Second Hokage, a statistic was made: among all ninja, the average time required to master the Nature Transformation of a Ninjutsu is two years."
"Among Jonin, this time can be shortened to one year."
"When I was fourteen, I mastered this Nature Transformation in one month."
"That idiot Jiraiya took three months."
"I don't expect you to surpass me, but at least don't be slower than that idiot Jiraiya. That would be quite embarrassing."
Orochimaru said with a slight smile.
"I'll try my best, Orochimaru-sensei."
Uchiha Gen sighed softly in his heart.
Orochimaru called Jiraiya an idiot, but as he had also said, the average time for a Jonin to master a Nature Transformation is two years.
For Jiraiya to learn it in three months made him an extraordinary genius in his own right.
Although his foundation in Fire Release was solid enough and Uchiha Gen had sufficient confidence in his ability to master this Nature Transformation, he couldn't say for sure how fast his training speed would be or if he could complete it within three months.
However, the moment he completed this training would also mean his Fire Release level had reached the Jonin standard.
By then, his combat power would surely rise to another level.
As long as he accumulated enough solid military merits, with his status as a direct descendant of the Hokage Faction, the title of Special Jōnin would be easily within his grasp.
Furthermore, during this period, his progress would certainly not be limited to just learning one Fire Release Nature Transformation.
Don't forget, he also had a Card Draw System, and he had just reached level twenty...
Orochimaru indeed had quite a bit of time on this day.
The entire afternoon, plus half the night, was spent answering the accumulated doubts of Uchiha Gen and the other two, and pointing out the direction of their future training.
What Uchiha Gen learned here was not just the explosive Nature Transformation of Fire Release, but also a lot of experience in Wind Release and Snake-style Ninjutsu.
Even for Sealing Techniques and Medical Ninjutsu, in which he was still just a beginner, Orochimaru was able to give him some guidance.
In these two fields, although Orochimaru's attainments were not as close to master-level as in Ninjutsu, he was certainly not weak.
At the very least, his Sealing Techniques were no worse than those of most ninja in the Sealing Corps.
Before the profession of Medical Ninja truly took the stage in the ninja world, his level of Medical Ninjutsu was also commendable.