Orochimaru's Silence

That night.

"This was too dangerous. Don't do something like this again. If it weren't for Chakra, if you'd been half a second later, this arm would have been gone."

Genitsu frowned tightly as, after stripping away all the nuclear radiation, he examined Might Duy's left hand.

It was a bloody mess, and even the bones had been severely damaged.

This was already a blessing amid misfortune.

If Genitsu had fully unleashed that technique, Might Duy's arm would have vanished in an instant.

It would have melted on the spot.

"Hahaha, at least the outcome was good! Konoha's ANBU really are reliable!" Might Duy laughed heartlessly.

"Father..." Might Guy sat on his knees, looking at his endlessly optimistic father with a moved expression.

Then the father and son launched into another round of lecturing each other before embracing and weeping.

It made Genitsu's head ache just watching them.

"Father, how did you know Genitsu-san had been hiding such great strength?" After he finished crying, Might Guy looked utterly confused.

He and Genitsu could be called the closest of companions. They had spent the past few years practically glued together.

In Might Guy's eyes, Genitsu had always been an extremely lazy fellow. His mind was exceptionally sharp, but he had never cared at all about training.

Might Duy smiled confidently. "Guy, Genitsu-san has always been this strong. He has been training hard in his own way all along, but for certain reasons, Genitsu-san could not conveniently use this power."

Duy glanced at Genitsu, who was calmly drinking tea with a faint smile, and immediately recalled what he had seen a year ago.

To test that technique, Genitsu had ruined both his own hands, while more than half his body had suffered horrifying corrosion.

Even Duy had been terrified by those injuries. He had thought Genitsu was going to die and had nearly sought help from Konoha's medical ninja.

"That time was truly dangerous, Genitsu-san..." Duy sighed.

Genitsu set down his teacup, pondered for a moment, and said solemnly, "Everything comes at a price. As long as you believe something is right, you should carry it through without wavering. That is... youth!"

"Oh!"

"Ohohoh!!"

"As expected of Genitsu-san! So this is how deeply he understands youth?"

"Ahhh, Guy, did you see that? Genitsu-san is your role model! When you see him, you see the fiery passion of youth!!"

"Father!"

"Guy!"

The father and son embraced and burst into tears.

"..."

Fuck.

Genitsu was awkward beyond words, unable to sit still.

He admired Duy and Guy's ideals of youth. He did not think the father and son were wrong; youth itself was a process of striving and fighting with everything one had.

But damn it...

Genitsu looked at the two idiots with an agonized expression, repeatedly chanting in his heart, My subordinates, my subordinates, my dear subordinates... I need to adapt, I need to get used to this...

The father and son, who had rarely found anyone who understood them in their lives, had been fired up by Genitsu. They rushed out of the house on the spot, competing to run laps around the village while doing handstands.

"Genitsu-san, Father weighs more than I do. To be fair, I need to find a way to gain weight too. You can hold onto me." Doing a handstand, Guy solemnly stretched one hand toward Genitsu.

"...Get lost!"

Genitsu watched the father and son howl as they raced wildly into the distance, then shook his head slightly.

They really were full of fighting spirit.

But...

"But those two probably haven't noticed the ANBU watching them from nearby."

Genitsu casually closed the door.

Then he sat on the bed and began refining Chakra.

With his powerful senses, he could vaguely detect several watchful gazes.

They had to be ANBU.

Whether it was the unusual qualities Genitsu had displayed, or the traits he had revealed when facing the White-Eyed Brothers during the day, he had already drawn Konoha's attention.

"Hm. Even in this situation, I still don't want Duy to be exposed. Knowing Konoha's ways, if they discovered Duy's uniqueness, they would absolutely send him to the battlefield and use him up."

Genitsu shook his head inwardly.

For one thing, in the original story, Duy opened the Eight Gates and directly crippled the Mist Seven Swordsmen.

Would Konoha's higher-ups feel regret for Duy? Perhaps some would. They might sigh that they had failed to notice such a powerful ninja sooner.

But more of them would surely think that Duy's death had been extremely worthwhile.

Using the life of an overlooked "genin" to take down the Mist Seven Swordsmen, whose average strength was that of elite jonin—what an insanely profitable trade! The value was simply absurd!

Especially as the war continued to expand and Konoha was under immense pressure, if something like this happened, Konoha's leadership would secretly be laughing with delight.

But Genitsu did not want Duy to die like that. If Duy was going to burn his youth, it should be for Genitsu, not for the Third Hokage.

"Now, under the banner of having awakened my Kekkei Genkai, I can start properly building the image of a genius... a genius who gets perfect marks in politics."

Genitsu smiled.

Outside.

Several ANBU watched for a long time.

"How is it?"

"Might Duy is fine. His Chakra reserves are at the level of an ordinary genin. But Shiranui Genitsu's Chakra... how should I put it? His total amount exceeds that of most chunin, and the speed and scale at which he refines Chakra are even more astonishing. What powerful bloodline."

"So over these past few years, he has been awakening his Kekkei Genkai bit by bit... and for now, his body has not suffered severe damage like Gekko Hayate's."

The ANBU captain nodded. Awakening a Kekkei Genkai would have some effect on the body.

After what had happened during the day, the Third Hokage had naturally ordered the ANBU to investigate carefully and see whether anything had been overlooked.

At the same time.

In a dim underground chamber.

Squish!

A long-haired man was carefully dissecting several animals, making the most of his limited time back in the village to conduct experiments.

"Hehehe, Anko, I heard you lost during the day. You lost to a dead last." Orochimaru's voice was hoarse.

"I'm very sorry, Sensei. If there is a next time, I definitely won't lose!"

Anko entered the laboratory, feeling uneasy.

Whoosh!

Several snakes suddenly slithered out from Orochimaru's sleeve. They pried open Anko's mouth and bit down hard, drawing some blood.

"This kind of first-generation Kekkei Genkai is something I have never heard of before. I'm very curious... With just one mouthful of blood, he made you lose more than half your combat ability. How interesting."

Orochimaru licked his lips and smiled wickedly.

At this time, he was obsessed with gathering all kinds of Kekkei Genkai in order to glimpse the secrets of immortality.

He was especially interested in special Kekkei Genkai, particularly first-generation inheritors like Genitsu, who had awakened theirs for the first time.

If it could be inherited reliably, Konoha would gain an entirely new Kekkei Genkai clan.

"It's already late, Anko. You don't need to take losing the match too seriously. I have great faith in your talent and aptitude."

Orochimaru placed Anko's cells into a test tube and laughed in a low voice.

But Anko fidgeted. Then, her face half-red, she carefully took two skewers of dango from behind her back and offered one to Orochimaru.

"Is there something else?"

"Sensei, this is my favorite food. I wanted to share half with you..."

She had stood in line for a very long time just to buy the last two skewers.

"..."

Orochimaru fell silent for a moment.

"...I see. Then I won't stand on ceremony. Just smelling it has made me somewhat impatient."