"So the highest-grade ones are only the A-rank Sealing Technique: Lion Closing Roar and the Puppet Performance: Skilful Achievement with a Human Body?"
Link looked at the ninjutsu scroll in his hands.
Lion Closing Roar was at least somewhat well-known: it could completely seal someone's chakra—an extremely powerful sealing technique. The drawback, however, was that the target had to enter the prepared seal formation for it to work.
Being able to fully seal chakra might sound powerful, but the biggest issue was that it couldn't be reduced to a small, chakra-formed pattern. One had to draw it out in advance—unlike the Four Symbols Seal or Five-Element Seal, which you can slap on at will.
To make it more flexible, Sunagakure eventually developed a technique in which you drew the seal on a specially crafted ninja tool and then threw it. If it hit the target, the seal would activate instantly.
But because hitting the enemy was difficult and the seal formation couldn't really be made "portable," it was only suited for specific scenarios. And, crucially, though Sunagakure provided the jutsu, they wouldn't give the special ninja tool—Lion-Headed Kannon—for free.
Honestly, even if they offered up a Lion-Headed Kannon, Baking one in a short time would be daunting. Without the specialized forging/production methods, it'd be too hard to replicate. Even in Sunagakure, very few people could craft them, let alone use them effectively in real combat.
All in all, in terms of raw effect, Lion Closing Roar was indeed quite strong and could be useful in certain cases, so Link planned to keep it in mind as an option.
Puppet Performance: Skilful Achievement with a Human Body, on the other hand, Link discarded right away after just a glance. It was a truly advanced puppet-master skill that used chakra threads to manipulate living humans—only the likes of Chiyo and Sasori ever used it in the entire series. It was designed to compensate for the big drop in a puppeteer's fighting power once they lost their puppets; it meant little to ordinary ninjas.
Unless you wanted to start learning puppet arts from the ground up, it'd be more worthwhile to trade for a couple extra Wind Release jutsu rather than this.
As for the B-rank jutsu, there were many, but most were puppet-related ninjutsu. Link likewise ruled them out. Just like with Lion-Headed Kannon, none of the underlying technologies were included. Building, repairing, maintaining puppets—it would take an enormous investment of time to develop or absorb the skill, plus finding suitable talents.
If puppetry could be sold off so easily, Sunagakure would have done so long ago, hoping everyone would adopt puppets and buy ninja tools from them.
"Truly, there aren't many jutsu that look genuinely useful…"
Link couldn't help sighing inwardly. Sunagakure was just too poor in every sense—so poor the Kazekage himself had to develop jutsu for sale, it was hard to imagine them possessing a large trove of high-level secret arts.
He had initially hoped to get the forbidden jutsu One's Own Life Reincarnation. But they hadn't included it. Perhaps Ebizō was ignorant of it, or maybe he didn't want to share it.
One's Own Life Reincarnation was a rather broken forbidden technique, letting you resurrect someone from nothing. Link wanted it not to use himself but so others could learn it—just in case, one day, it might save his life.
…
"Wind Release: Cast Net and Great Cast Net, Wind Release: Air Current Wild Dance, Sealing Technique: Lion Closing Roar, plus…"
Link recited four jutsu in a row. He wasn't certain why Baki was so desperate to meet with the Sunagakure reps, but that didn't stop him from trying to get as many jutsu as possible in one go.
"Wait a minute," Ebizō interrupted, feeling that if he didn't speak up now, the kid might just list off every non-puppet jutsu on the scroll, like reading out a menu.
The Third Hokage smiled in amusement, remembering how a newly promoted little chūnin once came to the Hokage's office and applied to learn over seventy jutsu at once. The nerve of that boy…
"One jutsu per meeting," Ebizō stressed.
Even now, he wasn't sure why Baki had sent word that "no matter what, we have to meet," but if the price was too high, Sunagakure might have to think twice. Buying back the Third Kazekage puppet was unavoidable—no village could leave their Kage's corpse out in the wild. The "Sasori" puppet was purely for Chiyo's sake. The rest was up to Ebizō, who wasn't even holding an official position in the village these days. Wasting too many resources would cause huge backlash at home.
"No," Link refused to budge. "I must have the four I mentioned. Missing even one, and you won't get to meet Baki."
"…"
Ebizō went silent for a moment. Even though he'd bickered with the Third Hokage all morning without much change in expression, for the first time he looked a bit resigned and sighed. "Deal."
He was willing to take a gamble. After all, he was the one who watched Baki grow up, and Baki was never the impulsive type.
Actually, the real reason he changed his mind at this juncture wasn't just Baki, but also the absolute faith in Link shown by the Third Hokage.
Allowing a top village asset to wander outside the village… letting the Nine-Tails Jinchūriki out of sight… opening up forbidden jutsu to such a young kid… all of it took an unusual degree of resolve.
Trust… such a luxury…
Ebizō pulled out another ninjutsu scroll, reflecting on the matter.
…
"Half an hour—beyond that, he'll disappear."
Link pointed at Baki's soul, which he'd summoned via ordinary Summoning Jutsu (rather than using Rashōmon) to save chakra.
"Anyway, you've got time to meet him. After that he'll vanish."
Ebizō and Baki traded glances, then stepped aside to speak in private.
"As for that transaction…" The Third Hokage sat on the tatami, apparently in fine spirits. He turned to Link with a smile. "Young Link, was there anything you wanted?"
Money, ninjutsu, material support—some special request. He didn't specify, but implied he was open to fulfilling it. Konoha was far richer than Sunagakure.
Link figured he could probably ask for a decent sum of money. But right now, jutsu was more valuable. He paused, then said, "Lord Third, you must know all my techniques tend to… produce certain 'unusual' results, yes?"
The Hokage nodded. It was practically common knowledge among the village's top shinobi by now. The same seals and hand signs that produce normal results for one person could yield drastically different effects for Link. Eliminate all other explanations, and however bizarre, that was the truth.
Link spoke in a quiet voice: "I'd like to inquire about the jutsu Orochimaru used during the Chūnin Exams—the one that summoned the First and Second Hokage."
It was a chance. Even among "forbidden" jutsu, there were levels. The Eight Gates, Multi-Shadow Clone, Twin Snakes Mutual Death Technique—these might be easier to learn. They had certain gatekeeping factors and even if misused, wouldn't cause irreparable damage. But techniques like Edo Tensei or Dead Demon Consuming Seal were truly terrifying if abused. Just look at how Edo Tensei shaped the Fourth Shinobi World War in the manga.
"You mean that jutsu?" The Third Hokage didn't act surprised. He'd expected Link to ask eventually.
"Edo Tensei. It was developed by the Second Hokage. You sacrifice a living person to summon the dead and have them fight—somewhat similar to your technique."
He didn't hide or refuse. He merely said: "If you want to learn it, come to my house once we return to the village."
Some jutsu you might never cast personally, but if you aimed to become Hokage, you needed to know how they worked. Even if you had no intention of using them, you had to be able to prevent enemies from doing so.
~~~
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