Orochimaru-sensei

"Passable, but not particularly satisfying. I can only give you seventy-five points. You are far from outstanding.

You know it yourselves—being soft-hearted is a fatal flaw for a ninja. More often than not, it harms both others and yourselves.

Still, you were cautious enough. You used Summoned Ninja Crows and Sensory Ninjutsu, and your brains aren't too bad either. That just barely earns you a few extra points above the sixty-point passing mark required to complete the mission."

Orochimaru stood with his hands behind his back, his narrow snake-like eyes fixed on Uchiha Gen.

Uchiha Gen raised his head and met Orochimaru's gaze.

It seemed that what he had said last night had worked quite well.

"Above the passing mark, but not outstanding? Then..."

"You barely passed. From now on, you may call me Sensei."

"Yes! Orochimaru-sensei!"

Uchiha Gen and Utsuki Ruri exchanged a glance before replying in unison.

Orochimaru shifted his gaze toward Sarutobi Enju, who was walking back toward them.

"Huh? Huh?! Orochimaru-sensei?! We passed the test?"

Sarutobi Enju cried out.

Seeing how excitable Sarutobi Enju was, Orochimaru waved a hand in disdain and turned to leave.

"Now that the mission is complete, let's return to the village and report in."

The next morning.

Dewdrops clung to the flowers and grass outside the Hokage Building, glittering beneath the morning light.

"Orochimaru, you were still a little too reckless."

Inside the Hokage's Office, the Third Hokage sat behind his desk. He accepted the mission report Orochimaru handed over, flipped through it a few times, and spoke.

"But the results were rather good, weren't they? Since Teacher Sarutobi assigned them to me, the three of them couldn't be lacking in aptitude or ability. What needed testing was merely their character, temperament, intelligence, and perhaps the stance you value so highly."

Watching Hiruzen Sarutobi take out a seal and stamp the mission report, Orochimaru continued.

"Enju is far too naive by nature. Over the past few years, perhaps you and Biwako have disciplined him strictly, but in the end, he has still been too well protected. Not only is he immature, but his thinking is overly naive as well. To be frank, if he doesn't change, Nawaki's example will be right before our eyes."

Hiruzen Sarutobi set down the seal, lifted his pipe, and took a deep drag. As the smoke filled his lungs, he felt its expanding sensation and satisfaction, temporarily pushing the worries from his mind.

"That is precisely why I entrusted him to you, Orochimaru."

The Third Hokage gently exhaled a cloud of white smoke as he looked at his accomplished disciple.

Two or three years ago, Nawaki's death had shaken Konoha. Even the elderly Mito Uzumaki had publicly stepped forward over the matter.

Although the entire incident had been caused by Nawaki's recklessness, as Nawaki's teacher, Orochimaru naturally could not escape blame for failing to protect him.

"I believe you will not let such a thing happen again. In the entire village, your abilities are what I trust most, Orochimaru. If even you cannot serve as the Jonin leading this team, then who can?

I believe you will raise these three children well, just as I raised you, Tsunade, and Jiraiya."

The ninja hero, still in his prime, looked at Orochimaru warmly, his eyes filled with trust.

At this time, Orochimaru truly was the successor to Hiruzen's legacy in his eyes.

Young, powerful, exceptionally talented, and like himself, proficient in ninjutsu of all five elemental natures.

The reason he had entrusted Sarutobi Enju to Orochimaru was that, in the current Konoha, Orochimaru was the candidate most likely to become the Fourth Hokage in the future.

Orochimaru's gaze shifted as he changed the subject.

"He really is a lot like Jiraiya when he was young."

If not for Uchiha Gen, based on Sarutobi Enju's performance alone, he would not have wanted to take on such a troublesome hot potato.

The Third Hokage continued, "What about the other two children? Uchiha Gen in particular. Judging by his performance in the mission report, he truly is like you were as a child—clever, rational, and highly gifted. But I want to hear your further assessment of him, to see whether he has what it takes to become a bridge between the village and the Uchiha Clan in the future."

"Teacher Sarutobi, since you think he resembles me as a child, shouldn't I be the one who knows best how to guide him?"

"It seems you believe this child is worth guiding."

Hiruzen Sarutobi smiled faintly.

"I used to be a windmill, needing the wind to turn me. But now, I would like to experience the pleasure of becoming the wind."

A smile also rested at the corner of Orochimaru's lips, his eyes as full as ever of the confidence belonging to a genius.

He actually had a talent for leading children astray and cultivating them into capable individuals. All it took was a suitable opportunity to bring it out.

Whether it was Sasuke, Kimimaro, or Team Hawk in the future, all of them proved just how skilled Orochimaru was at training others.

"Then I shall wait and see."

Hiruzen Sarutobi took out a thick stack of documents.

"However, although this team has completed a C-rank mission, that does not mean they have the ability to consistently carry out missions of that level. They do not even know how to properly complete an entire mission process, let alone missions with potential dangers. So they must still make up the D-rank missions that all Genin are required to undergo."

"It did need to be made up for, but the first thing to make up for wasn't a D-rank mission."

Orochimaru smiled faintly.

"Oh? What did you have in mind?"

"Teacher Sarutobi, do you have any bells here? I might need a few more bells than before."

At the reception desk of the administrative mission hall on the first floor of the Hokage Building.

The three members of Orochimaru Squad were waiting there for Orochimaru and the Hokage to complete the mission handover.

Uchiha Gen sat on a bench, flipping through the scroll in his hands and occasionally making notes on it with a pen.

It was a Ninjutsu Scroll recording Wind Release: Gale Palm.

Now that he had a master-level ninjutsu teacher like Orochimaru, he naturally had to make proper use of that resource.

The Clan Academy had only taught Fire Release in the past, and his parents had not left behind any training materials related to Wind Release. Yet when Uchiha Gen actually began practicing Wind Release ninjutsu, he discovered that his talent for Wind Release seemed to be even better than his talent for Fire Release.

In just two or three days, while keeping busy with missions, he had only managed to spare a few hours of practice in total. Yet after merely sorting through the basics, he was already able to fire off a Wind Bullet.

That learning speed was far faster than when he had first learned the Great Fireball.

For Uchiha Gen, who had never had any prior experience training in Wind Release, it was a rare and valuable discovery.

Several points that had puzzled Uchiha Gen during training were now recorded in his notebook, waiting for a chance to ask Orochimaru about them.