That trace of Sage chakra quickly began circulating through Karin's body.
"Can you feel it?", Rengoku asked.
Karin immediately sensed that this power was different from ordinary chakra.
"I can, Shishou."
She was extremely excited.
"Draw it out and use it yourself."
Rengoku withdrew his hand and gestured for her to try.
Karin formed hand seals.
"Sage Art: Water Release: Water Arrow Technique!"
Psh!
A huge water arrow immediately shot out from Karin's mouth.
Boom!
The ground was instantly blasted with a large crater.
Karin was stunned. She hadn't expected that adding just a trace of Sage power would strengthen the jutsu this much.
Seeing this, Rengoku felt somewhat relieved, "The fact that you can use Sage chakra means you have half the required talent."
Karin immediately asked, "Then what's the other half, Shishou?"
"Perception."
"You need to be able to sense natural energy before you can train Sage Techniques."
"Right now, you..."
Rengoku then began explaining how to distinguish natural energy in the surrounding space, how to absorb it, and how to combine it with chakra to create Sage chakra.
He thoroughly explained the fundamentals of Sage Techniques to Karin from beginning to end.
"My perception is really good! Don't worry, Shishou!"
Karin immediately sat down cross-legged, eager to begin sensing natural energy for the first time.
Rengoku watched her with a smile.
Sensing natural energy and sensing chakra were actually two completely different things.
They required entirely different talents.
The greatest hurdle in learning Sage Techniques was right here.
Anyone who couldn't sense natural energy wouldn't be able to sense it even at the Rainbow Crystal Wall in the Land of Snow.
At that moment, Minato arrived with Kushina and a large group of Konoha shinobi.
One look at what they were carrying made it obvious that they were all from the Barrier Team.
"Rengoku, we're here," Kushina waved at him.
She was as energetic as ever.
It could be said that, aside from Nagato, members of the Uzumaki clan with pure bloodlines were all this full of energy.
After all, they possessed tremendous vitality.
Rengoku smiled and nodded, "Thanks for coming. I'm still waiting for Sasuke. You can get started first."
"Leave it to us, Rengoku!"
After greeting him, Minato and Kushina immediately got to work.
The two of them pointed toward the Rainbow Crystal Walls around them and quickly discussed the plan with the Barrier Team members they had brought.
Rengoku watched as they took their materials and quickly ran toward the twelve enormous Rainbow Crystal Walls.
Once they reached the tops of the peaks, they began setting up formation arrays.
Before long, they all started waving small flags.
That signaled that everything on top was ready.
Standing at the very center, Kushina quickly formed hand seals.
Over the years, Kushina hadn't stayed home simply taking care of her family, her personality wouldn't allow that anyway. She had also been working in Konoha's Barrier Team.
It could be said that Konoha now possessed the richest collection of sealing and barrier techniques in the entire ninja world.
As a pure-blooded descendant of the Uzumaki clan, Kushina's barrier techniques were naturally extraordinary.
After a full thirty seconds of hand seals, Kushina had gathered an enormous amount of chakra.
She slammed one hand onto the ground.
A huge seal spread from her body into the sky.
"Barrier-Sealing Technique! Activate!"
As Kushina shouted, the Barrier Team members stationed on the Rainbow Crystal Walls activated their own seals at the same time.
From six directions, black sealing patterns appeared on all twelve Rainbow Crystal Walls and spread toward the seal above Kushina's head.
In the end, they all connected together.
At that moment, using the six outermost Rainbow Crystal Walls as the boundary, a pale white membrane formed, like a giant bowl turned upside down, completely enclosing the entire Rainbow Crystal Wall area.
Rengoku took a deep breath and found it exceptionally refreshing.
This Barrier-Sealing Technique was actually very fragile. Even an ordinary person could punch a hole through it and crawl inside.
Its real purpose was to prevent natural energy from dispersing, keeping all of it confined within this area.
Otherwise, a great deal of it would simply go to waste.
As the barrier fully took shape, the concentration of natural energy trapped within this region rose sharply.
"Minato, it's done!"
Kushina clapped her hands, looking rather pleased with herself.
After all, when Konoha had been attacked before, Minato had proudly shown off his two formations:
Scorching Heaven Radiant Flash Flow Blade Instant Light Soul-Locking God-Sealing World-Destroying Final Formation: Ultimate Zero Style, and Flying Thunder God Instant Light Nine Luminaries Golden Lightning Heavenly Prison Guiding Absolute Void Corridor Demon-Sealing Grand Barrier.
Now that Kushina had personally led and deployed such a massive barrier, she had finally regained a little ground.
Looking up at the pale white barrier in the sky, Minato's eyes showed approval. Then he raised a finger.
"'Barrier-Sealing Technique' is too ordinary! How about renaming it Aurora Rainbow Crystal Divine Frost Prison Three Thousand Illusory Light Absolute Barrier Formation: White Mist Final Style: Ice Wheel Realm Layer Collapse Suppression Type?"
After saying that, he folded his arms and nodded seriously, seemingly convinced he had come up with an excellent name.
The moment Rengoku heard it, he burst out laughing.
Kushina angrily punched Minato on the head.
"Stop making up random names! Do you know how long the people keeping the records have to spend writing them every time you come up with one of those ridiculously long names!?"
"Ahahaha... Th-Then let's just call it Barrier-Sealing Technique."
Minato scratched his head awkwardly.
Showing how thoroughly his wife kept him in line in front of Rengoku was a little embarrassing.
Rengoku could only pretend not to notice and turned his head away.
By this point, Karin had been trying to sense natural energy for quite a while.
The concentration of natural energy had also continued to increase.
Yet Karin still hadn't sensed anything, which meant she lacked the talent to perceive natural energy.
As expected, she frowned and opened her eyes, "Shishou, why can't I sense any natural energy?"
Rengoku chuckled, "Among everyone in the ninja world, those with the aptitude for Sage Techniques are rarer than one in ten thousand. If you can't sense it, then you simply don't have the aptitude."
"Ah... so that's how it is..."
Karin was deeply disappointed and looked at Rengoku pitifully.
Just as Rengoku was about to comfort her, the flap of the nearby tent opened, and Orochimaru walked out with Sasuke, who had already gotten dressed.
Sasuke's face was now covered with the markings of Sage Mode.
"Shishou, I succeeded."
His voice carried a trace of exhaustion, but his eyes were bright.
Rengoku looked him over.
Although Sasuke had indeed entered a Sage state, the markings on his body were very faint.
The Sage chakra on him was also dissipating quickly.
At this level, he probably wouldn't even have enough Sage chakra left to cast a single jutsu before it ran out.
"You've only just started. You haven't even reached the entrance yet."
Rengoku gave him a reminder.
Sasuke nodded calmly, "I know. Lord Orochimaru already told me."
From here on, Sasuke would need to continuously absorb natural energy on his own, just as Anko had done, until the markings on his body were completely stabilized.
Only then would he truly have entered the path of Sage Techniques.
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