‘Why would I run into Orochimaru here?
What is he doing?
Taking Azuki as a disciple?
This early?
Azuki won’t graduate for a while, right?’
Kaito was momentarily stunned.
Suddenly encountering the terrifying boss Orochimaru, his feet left the ground, and his brain completely short-circuited.
His entire body froze.
“You know me?” Orochimaru stared at Kaito with evident surprise, his voice hoarse.
“…I do.
You must be Lord Orochimaru, right?” Kaito quickly snapped back to reality and composed himself.
“Oh?”
“A few days ago, before the academy’s practical exam, Lord Hokage mentioned you.
He said that you and Lord Minato Namikaze are the only two students to graduate with perfect scores in all subjects.
I also want to challenge myself to get perfect scores across the board.
You are my goal!” Kaito flattered.
“Oh?” Orochimaru’s smile was playful.
Kaito panicked inwardly.
His little tricks were fine for fooling people his own age; after all, he was an adult before transmigrating, had experienced the baptism of the internet, and had even been a professional troll, so lying came naturally to him.
But fooling Orochimaru?
Kaito wasn’t naive enough to believe that.
His subconscious expression when he looked up and saw Orochimaru earlier was definitely exaggerated.
It was all the fault of various databooks and fanfictions deifying Orochimaru.
Orochimaru couldn’t read minds, so he definitely wouldn’t notice any major issues.
What was there to be afraid of!
“Get up.
You have a good body.”
‘A…
good body?’
Kaito broke out in a cold sweat, then mentally cursed himself for jumping at shadows.
Orochimaru was probably just referring to their physical collision.
Kaito’s physical attributes had already surpassed the normal range.
When he collided with that thirteen or fourteen-year-old boy earlier, they were evenly matched, or perhaps Kaito even had a slight edge.
He patted his butt and stood up.
He wanted to raise his hand to fix his hair but forced himself to resist the urge.
“I apologize, Lord Orochimaru.
I wasn’t watching where I was going and bumped into you…
Huh?”
Suddenly, a violent pulling force grabbed the back of his collar.
Caught off guard, Kaito stumbled back a few steps and reflexively grabbed a wrist.
Standing behind him was the teenager from the Mitarai clan.
His acne-covered face was filled with impatience as he roughly dragged Kaito backward.
Kaito frowned and tightened his grip on the wrist.
The teenager frowned and pulled harder.
The two remained locked in a stalemate.
Surprise and irritation flashed across the teenager’s face.
He said in a low voice, “You eavesdropped on our clan’s internal affairs, and now that you’re caught, you dare to resist?
Let go!”
“Let go!” Seeing that Kaito wasn’t complying, he raised his right knee and drove it toward Kaito’s abdomen.
Kaito also raised his knee to block the strike.
Bang!
After the collision, a flash of pain crossed the teenager’s face.
Seeing Kaito’s expression remain unchanged, his face flushed with humiliation and anger.
He swung his free arm, aiming a punch at the side of Kaito’s face.
Smack!
Before Kaito could block it, the incoming fist was caught by a pale hand reaching out from the side.
‘Huh?
Orochimaru actually cares about this kind of trivial matter?’ Kaito was somewhat surprised and dropped his prepared combo of fighting game counterattacks.
The Mitarai teenager was slightly taken aback.
He frowned and turned his head.
“Who the hell are you?”
‘Bro, you’re dead.’ Kaito felt genuine admiration.
To dare speak to Orochimaru like that, even asking ‘Who the hell are you’…
However, at that moment, Kaito noticed Orochimaru’s snake-like eyes were fixed entirely on him.
His heart sank, and he mentally lamented, ‘Turns out I’m the one who’s dead.’
‘Is Orochimaru’s public appearance rate really that low?
You’re already fourteen or fifteen, and you actually don’t recognize him?’
‘How am I supposed to explain recognizing Orochimaru at first glance?’
“Lord Orochimaru!” The nervous voice of Azuki’s uncle rang out.
When his son didn’t return for a long time, he had followed him out to check, only to be greeted by this scene.
He was nearly scared to tears.
“Mikage, let go quickly!
This is Lord Orochimaru of the Sannin!”
Mitarai Mikage froze, all the color draining from his face.
He hastily pulled his hand back, retreated, and bowed deeply in respectful greeting.
“Lord Orochimaru!”
“This child eavesdropped on your clan’s internal affairs?” Orochimaru waved his hand dismissively and pointed at Kaito.
“Yes…
Ah, no…” ‘Is it a yes or a no?’ Azuki’s uncle thought frantically.
“That’s not it!
He just accidentally left his dinner in my room and came back to get it,” Azuki shouted as she ran out.
“Oh?” Orochimaru stared at Kaito once again.
Kaito nodded at a frequency of twenty hertz.
“You are Yotsuba’s daughter?” Orochimaru licked his lips, shifting his gaze to Azuki.
Azuki wiped the wet tear tracks from her face and replied, “Yes, Lord Orochimaru.”
“Lord Orochimaru, are you…
just passing by, or…?” Azuki’s uncle interjected.
“I participated as backup for the mission Yotsuba was executing,” Orochimaru said.
“The intelligence he obtained was very important.
I just submitted the mission report to my sensei, and he asked me to deliver Yotsuba’s mission reward and death compensation.
I didn’t expect…
to witness such a spectacle.”
“We’ve made a fool of ourselves in front of you, Lord Orochimaru.”
“What exactly was my father’s mission?” Azuki couldn’t help but ask.
Her uncle quickly tugged at her arm.
“Investigating a top-secret experiment in the Sand Village,” Orochimaru revealed without any hesitation.
‘A top-secret experiment?
At this point in time, could it be the One’s Own Life Reincarnation jutsu?’ Kaito thought subconsciously.
Then, he lowered his gaze, focused his mind, and played the role of a perfect wooden dummy.
“The Sand Village?” Azuki gritted her teeth.
She looked at her uncle, then at Kaito, and suddenly pleaded with Orochimaru, “Lord Orochimaru, can I take you as my master?
I want to learn ninjutsu from you!”
“Azuki!” Her uncle was startled.
“Stop talking nonsense!
You haven’t even graduated from the academy yet…”
‘I am a wooden dummy, devoid of all emotion,’ Kaito thought.
‘Did Azuki really become Orochimaru’s disciple at such a young age?
And the method of apprenticeship is this simple and direct?
I’m witnessing history.
Too bad I don’t have a system that gives points for witnessing historical events.’
Orochimaru asked, “You want revenge?”
Azuki nodded heavily.
“I completely annihilated the Sand Village’s pursuit squad.
Your father’s murder has already been avenged.”
Azuki was stunned, and a few more tears couldn’t help but fall.
She wiped them away and bowed deeply.
“Thank you, Lord Orochimaru.”
“Do you still want to be my disciple?”
“Yes, I want to become stronger!”
Orochimaru fell silent, seemingly in thought, as the earlier scene in the Hokage building replayed in his mind.
‘Orochimaru, I know you are dissatisfied because I didn’t allow you to directly participate in the mission, but you must understand your sensei’s difficulties.
Anbu gathering intelligence is a tacitly approved rule between ninja villages.
If you were to participate, the implications would be entirely different.
The Sand Village is, after all, our ally!
I am also deeply saddened by Yotsuba’s sacrifice.
His daughter is only five years old, right?
I remember that child…
she looks a bit like you did when you were young.
Take the mission reward and death compensation, and go see her on my behalf.’
‘Looks like me?’ Orochimaru took a deep look at Azuki, whose face was covered in tears yet carried an unusual stubbornness.
He turned around and said, “Follow me.”
Azuki froze for a moment before chasing after him in pleasant surprise.
Azuki’s uncle was somewhat dumbfounded, his expression conflicted.
‘Did Azuki actually succeed in taking him as her master?
Then the position of clan head…
does this mean I can’t take it anymore?’
The wooden dummy looked left and right.
‘Huh, it seems no one is paying attention to me anymore.
Time to slip away.’
However, at that moment, Orochimaru’s voice drifted over from a distance.
“That child who bumped into me, your name is Kaito, right?
You can come along too.”