"Teacher, my name is Anko Mitarashi!"
Anko looked utterly innocent, her bright, lively eyes sparkling like stars and making her all the more endearing.
"Mm! You're very good. I'll remember you."
Orochimaru had never been stingy with praise for obedient students. After saying that, he left the teaching building directly.
"Teacher Orochimaru actually praised me!"
Anko stood where she was, her cheeks slightly flushed. She had rarely been praised in all her life, and this was the first time she had received recognition—from Orochimaru, one of the Sannin, no less. Just thinking about it excited her.
Orochimaru had no idea that he had won the heart of the first little fangirl in his life. At the moment, he was puzzled.
"Why didn't the system trigger the plot? Anko should be an important character too!"
Although Anko did not have much screen time, as Orochimaru's second disciple and assistant, she should have been able to trigger the plot as well.
"Could it be that the timing isn't right yet?"
That was the only explanation Orochimaru could come up with. It seemed unlikely that he could advance the plot ahead of schedule.
But if he could not push the plot forward vertically, he could change it horizontally. Take Jiraisui, for example—his physique was already much stronger than before.
Orochimaru himself was also far stronger than he had been in the Original Work. This method of changing a character's strength could still be used.
Upon arriving at the Biological Research Institute, Orochimaru set his students' assignments aside and resumed his research.
Over at the Ninja Academy, once school was out, the students all went home to their families.
"Mom, I'm home!"
The moment Iruka got home, he began looking for his mother. However, the house was empty. He only saw his father, Umino