Training Passed Down

Whoosh, whoosh...

Several Shuriken spun through the air, whistling like a black blur before embedding themselves deep in the thick trunk of a tree ahead. Of the four Shuriken, only two struck the center; the other two missed the target entirely.

Yemo was rather troubled by the sight. He had no talent whatsoever with Shuriken, and his accuracy was poor. Yet wielding Shuriken was one of the skills a ninja had to master.

With that in mind, Yemo flicked out another four Shuriken. They spun swiftly through the air and stuck in the trunk, but the result was the same as before: only two hit the target.

His Shuriken throwing could only be described as terrible. Even a Genin could probably use them better than Yemo, to say nothing of those who could make Shuriken turn in midair.

Whoosh, whoosh, whoosh...

Several more objects whistled through the air, but Yemo had not thrown any Shuriken. The sounds came from behind him, and his expression changed slightly.

Without thinking, he spun around and threw several Shuriken. Unfortunately, his aim was so poor that they sailed past the incoming Shuriken from behind at a perfect angle.

Left with no choice, Yemo shot backward, dodging the incoming Shuriken. The black blades embedded themselves in the ground, glinting faintly.

Yemo stopped and looked up toward where the Shuriken had come from. At some point, Orochimaru had appeared in the training ground, dressed in a casual pale-blue robe. He had clearly thrown the Shuriken to test Yemo.

Seeing Orochimaru, Yemo hurriedly greeted him with respect. "Good morning, Teacher Orochimaru!"

"It seems you arrived much earlier than I expected. It isn't even six yet, and you're already training here," Orochimaru said.

He had originally told Yemo to arrive at six because he was afraid Yemo might have trouble getting up. After all, classes at the Ninja Academy started at eight sharp. Clearly, though, Orochimaru had not expected Yemo to arrive before him.

Yemo replied, "I usually get up at five for morning training. It's already become a habit."

This was exactly what Orochimaru had hoped to see. Yemo's talent went without saying; otherwise, he would not have taken him as a student.

But becoming strong required more than talent. Hard work and willpower mattered too, perhaps even more than talent. Without hard work, even the most talented person would ultimately amount to nothing but a good-for-nothing.

Orochimaru walked forward and said, "Yemo, what I know about you is limited to these past two days. As a teacher, I need to understand my student before I can develop a more effective way to teach him. So I won't teach you anything for the next two days. Our goal during that time will be to get to know each other—not just for you to understand me, but for me to understand you."

As he spoke, Orochimaru pointed at Yemo, then at himself. His meaning was clear.

It was the first time Yemo had heard of such a teaching method. He had thought Orochimaru would teach him some powerful Ninjutsu today, but instead, his goal was for them to get to know each other.

To be honest, he wanted to understand Orochimaru too. What kind of person was Orochimaru at this point in time—a madman who had gone astray, or a ruthless, inhuman man driven by ambition?

Orochimaru glanced at the Shuriken in the tree trunk and those lying on the ground before him. "Your use of Ninjutsu is quite good, but watching you use Shuriken today, I noticed that you're seriously lacking in some ninja fundamentals. That should have something to do with your not attending the Ninja Academy and receiving systematic instruction."

Only now did Yemo realize how important a good teacher was. A teacher could clearly see his weaknesses and give him the best instruction.

"Then, Teacher Orochimaru, are you going to teach me the basics today?" Yemo asked, rubbing his hands together, barely able to wait.

Orochimaru shook his head. "No. I said that what we'll be doing for the next two days is getting to know each other."

As Yemo watched in confusion, Orochimaru pulled a small bell from his pocket and gently shook it, producing a jingling sound.

The instant Yemo saw the bell, he froze. As a Naruto fan, how could he not know what it meant? Wasn't this the same method Kakashi had used for Naruto, Sasuke, and the others' Genin exam?

Tracing it back to its origins, the Third Hokage had been the first to use this method. Jiraiya, Orochimaru, and Tsunade had graduated from the Ninja Academy this way. It had later been passed down to Jiraiya, then Minato Namikaze, and finally Kakashi.

What Yemo had not expected, however, was that one day he too would have his strength tested this way.

Naturally, Orochimaru could not see what Yemo was thinking. Holding up the bell, he said, "The purpose of this bell is simple. I'll hang it on myself, and your task is to use every method at your disposal, whether Ninjutsu, Genjutsu, Taijutsu, or anything else. All you have to do is take this bell from me."

Driving the unnecessary thoughts from his mind, Yemo smiled confidently. "In that case, Teacher Orochimaru, let me experience just how strong one of the Sannin really is."

Seeing Yemo's fearless, confident smile, Orochimaru's lips curled upward. His student always managed to surprise him with what he did and said.

"Then let's begin!" Orochimaru said with a faint smile, closing his hand tightly around the bell.

The match began!!

The moment Orochimaru finished speaking, several objects whistled through the air behind him. Kunai shot out of the dense canopy.

The Kunai flew swiftly, reaching him in an instant and striking his heart and head. But with a puff, the Orochimaru who had been standing there turned into a log.

Watching from inside the canopy, Yemo exclaimed softly, "As expected of Teacher Orochimaru. I didn't even notice when he used the Substitution Technique."

Suddenly, Orochimaru's voice came from behind Yemo, praising him. "You did well too. Your Transformation Technique almost fooled me!"

At some point, Orochimaru had appeared behind him. Yemo's expression changed instantly, and without thinking, he instinctively swung his Kunai back at Orochimaru.

But Orochimaru was faster. He reached out and seized Yemo's wrist, preventing him from moving, then struck Yemo's back with his other hand.

Thump...

A soft thud sounded across the training ground, and the canopy shook. Yemo flew backward like a kite with its string cut, tumbling several times through the air before crashing heavily into the ground and leaving a sizable crater.

Fortunately, this was not a real battle. Otherwise, instead of a light strike, Orochimaru would have driven a Kunai through Yemo's heart.

Yemo sprang to his feet in the crater, his hands rapidly forming Hand Seals. "Snake, Ram, Monkey, Boar, Horse, Tiger!" he called coldly. "Fire Style: Great Fireball Technique!"

In an instant, a wave of heat erupted like a hurricane, blowing away the surrounding smoke. A stream of flame shot out of the dust and gathered in the air into a blazing fireball several meters across. Radiating an aura of destruction, it struck the tree ahead.

With an earth-shattering boom, the tree exploded the instant the fireball hit, scattering flaming splinters everywhere.

The fireball burst, and the flames spread in every direction like a tide. A scorching wave of heat rushed toward Yemo, and even he could hardly withstand the intense temperature.

It was this hot at the edge, to say nothing of the center of the explosion, where temperatures reached over a thousand degrees. Even Orochimaru would have trouble enduring it.

But Yemo did not let his guard down. He did not believe a single B-rank Ninjutsu could take down someone as strong as Orochimaru.

The flames still burned, but without fuel, they rapidly shrank at a visible pace. At last, Yemo could clearly see a raised, bowl-shaped mound of earth standing amid the flames.

"Not good!"

Yemo's expression changed. Without another word, he shot backward.