One by one, students were arranged to a team and then left with their Jonin team leader.
Only Ryosuke, Nawaki, and Shibi remained in the classroom.
“What’s going on?” Nawaki constantly peered out the door.
He couldn’t wait any longer, he was fuming with impatience.
“No need to rush.” Shibi said, pushing up his sunglasses.
“Hokage-sama arranged all of this.
There’s no need to rush, you can safely leave it to Hokage-sama.” Although Ryosuke wasn’t anxious, he was slightly surprised that he was teamed up with Nawaki.
This wasn’t ideal.
And would the instructor for this team be Orochimaru?
After another ten minutes, Nawaki impatiently ran out of the classroom, looking left and right in the hallway, but still no one appeared.
He returned to the classroom, seething with frustration, only to be startled, as there was an extra person on the podium.
“Orochimaru-nii, what are you doing here?” Nawaki was momentarily stunned, asking.
Orochimaru smiled and said, “Because I am your instructor.” At this time, Orochimaru was in his twenties, a fine young man with the Will of Fire.
He could only be described as “cold and melancholic,” not yet having slipped into the pursuit of immortality.
“Really?
That’s great!” Nawaki cheered.
Others might not know who Orochimaru was, but Nawaki knew very well what a powerful ninja he was.
Having him as a teacher couldn’t be better.
Orochimaru scanned Ryosuke and Shibi in the classroom and said, “Alright, Team Five is all here.
Follow me.” He walked out of the classroom.
Ryosuke, Nawaki, and Shibi quickly followed, and the group arrived at the training ground behind the school.
Orochimaru stood on the grass, sweeping his gaze over the three children, and said flatly, “My name is Orochimaru.
From now on, you will be my subordinates.
Introduce yourselves.” “I’ll go first!” Nawaki, hands on his hips, said with grand ambition, “My name is Senju Nawaki.
My favorite food is ramen.
I hate my nee-san who always hits my head.
My dream is to become the Hokage.” Nawaki’s answer held no surprises, except for his somewhat tsundere dislike of his sister, which was all within Ryosuke’s expectations.
Next, it was Ryosuke’s turn.
He said, “My name is Uchiha Ryosuke.
I don’t have anything I particularly like, nor anything I particularly dislike.
My dream is to live well.” Shibi said, “My name is Aburame Shibi.
My hobby is observing insects.
I hate insecticides.
My dream is to cultivate new species of insects.” “Everyone has gotten acquainted.
Next up is the strength test.” Orochimaru pulled out a bell and shook it.
“Your mission is to snatch the bell from me.
You can use any means or Ninjutsu.
The time limit is before sunset.” ‘As expected, it’s the bell snatching.
I knew this would happen.’ Ryosuke thought.
Orochimaru tied the bell to his waist and said, “Begin now.” He then vanished, disappearing before Ryosuke and the other two, as if he had merged into the air.
“Huh?” Nawaki froze for a moment, then suddenly jumped up as if pricked in the backside, turning his head to look around.
“He’s gone!
Orochimaru-sensei is hiding.” “This must be part of the test, to assess our search capabilities.” Ryosuke tried to recall Orochimaru’s movements when he used the Body Flicker Technique to retreat, but he couldn’t remember which direction he went.
His movements were too fast, his eyes simply couldn’t keep up.
Nawaki asked anxiously, “Then how do we find him?
Should we split up?” Shibi said calmly, “Don’t worry.
I was prepared.” He raised his right hand, extending his index finger, where a tiny insect, the size of an ant, was crawling.
“This is?” Shibi explained in a flat voice, “When Orochimaru-sensei took out the bell and said he was going to conduct a strength test, I already had a female insect crawl onto his body.
The female insect emits a special scent, luring male insects to follow the scent.
The one on my finger is the male insect, it will lead us to Orochimaru-sensei.” ‘To react in an instant, what remarkable decisiveness.
The Aburame clan is indeed not to be underestimated.’ Shibi’s action undoubtedly astonished Ryosuke.
The Aburame clan lives by signing a contract to use their bodies as nests for parasitic insects and then controlling the insects in battle.
They are also very skilled at concealing themselves, with formidable strength.
They never underestimate any enemy and always calmly apply their combat techniques, which is a characteristic of their clan.
In short, do not underestimate the Aburame clan, and do not underestimate their insects.
“You’re amazing, Shibi!” Nawaki exclaimed with joy, then urged, “What are we waiting for?
Let’s hurry and chase after Orochimaru-sensei.
I’m definitely going to get that bell.” “Don’t rush, the insects will guide us.” Shibi said unhurriedly.
With a flick of his index finger, the small insect on his fingertip flew out.
“Follow me.” When it was time to act, Shibi showed no hesitation, swiftly moving through the jungle, following the small insect.
Ryosuke and Nawaki followed slightly behind.
After about a minute of moving through the trees in a manner unique to ninjas, Shibi suddenly stopped, raising his right hand to signal a halt.
“What’s wrong?
Did you find Orochimaru-sensei?” Nawaki stretched his neck, looking around but didn’t see Orohimaru.
“Idiot, look closely, there’s a trap.” Ryosuke irritably scolded Nawaki, becoming even more convinced that Nawaki had a natural affinity with traps and would fall into one sooner or later.
“Where’s the trap?” Nawaki’s eyes widened.
He finally noticed several small insects fluttering among the tree branches ahead.
Looking closer, the insects were flying around a thin steel wire.
Shibi had not only sent out female insects but also several small insects to scout ahead, detecting the trap in advance.
“Ah…
this…
haha, carelessness…” Nawaki gave two dry laughs, trying to cover his embarrassment.
Ryosuke asked, “Is Orochimaru-sensei right ahead?” “Yes, that’s right, he shouldn’t be far.” “So, we go around?” “Follow me.” Ryosuke and Shibi quickly settled the matter with a few words and turned to go around.
Nawaki, seeing his companions run off, hastily chased after them, but unexpectedly bumped into a steel wire hidden in the bushes to the side.
Bang!
The steel wire snapped.
Ryosuke and Shibi were startled, and Nawaki wore a tearful expression.
However, there was little time for them to be surprised or dejected.
Wooden spears, stones, and shuriken shot out from all directions.
Bang!
Bang!
Bang!
Wooden spears and shuriken were stuck into several large trees, and seven rocks smashed several more, leaving the area in ruins.
Thud!
Ryosuke hit Nawaki on the head and scolded him impolitely, “You idiot, you almost got me killed.” Orochimaru had held back and hadn’t set up very powerful traps, which was why they managed to avoid the attacks.
If these were traps set by enemies on a battlefield, the three Genin would have no choice but to wait for death or suffer severe injuries.
Shibi said, “I’m not surprised.
Nawaki is just that kind of unpredictable ninja.
It fits his usual temperament.” “Ah…
this…
haha…
I promise there won’t be a next time.” His words and his expression were exactly the same as a few seconds ago.
Ryosuke didn’t want to bother with him anymore.
He turned and asked Shibi, “Has Orochimaru-sensei moved?” “No, he hasn’t moved.” “Didn’t move?” Ryosuke was surprised.
Why wasn’t Orochimaru moving?
With such a commotion here, he should have noticed it long ago.
Shibi said, “Probably because he doesn’t need to.
Orochimaru-sensei is only symbolically hiding, he isn’t using his true skill to hide.
After all, he is an Elite Jonin.
If he truly wanted to hide, there would probably be very few people in the entire Konoha who could find him, and we three are certainly not among them.
So, he just stopped in the distance and waited for us to find him.” Ryosuke stroked his chin in agreement.
“I see.
Then let’s hurry, we shouldn’t keep Orochimaru-sensei waiting.”