First Encounter with Orochimaru

Uchiha Yuan lay on the ground, panting heavily, sweat dripping from his hair.

Is this my teacher's strength? No wonder the Name of Konoha White Fang strikes fear into so many.

Uchiha Yuan closed his eyes, countless flashes of sword light dancing in his mind; he was replaying every move and counter-move from his spar with Hatake Sakumo.

Time flowed by quietly.

After an unknown amount of time, Uchiha Yuan opened his eyes, his gaze sharp as a blade, the fierce sword intent seemingly manifesting as tangible slashes of light.

In the Deep Forest, a swift wind swept through the treetops, scattering a few leaves.

It was Uchiha Yuan, darting through the branches.

He landed lightly on a branch, then sprang forward again, moving through the foliage as if on level ground, a blur of speed.

Suddenly, his expression changed. He stopped after landing on a branch.

At the same time, he completely concealed his aura, hiding within the dense leaves.

He sensed a Chilling Aura appearing ahead.

A moment later, a figure came into view.

It's Orochimaru.

Seeing the newcomer, Uchiha Yuan couldn't help but be startled; then a question surfaced in his mind.

Why would Orochimaru be in the Death Forest?

Orochimaru walked through the forest, his pace seemingly slow but actually fast.

Uchiha Yuan watched him warily as he passed beneath the tree where he was hiding, then proceeded deeper into the forest in another direction.

Watching Orochimaru disappear into the depths of the woods, an idea suddenly struck Uchiha Yuan.

Could it be that Orochimaru has already begun pursuing Eternal Life, and his Secret Laboratory is hidden within the Death Forest?

The thought made Uchiha Yuan understand why Orochimaru had adopted a yielding attitude in the Struggle for Hokage Position back then.

Because he already had a higher goal he was pursuing.

Suddenly, Uchiha Yuan raised his hand and snatched. Several leaves flew from his hand.

The next moment, several colorful Vipers dropped from the nearby branches, each snake's head impaled by a leaf.

Looking at these Vipers, Uchiha Yuan frowned, his expression turning grim.

This isn't good. It seems Orochimaru has discovered me.

Immediately, Uchiha Yuan leaped from the tree, then burrowed straight into the ground and escaped.

And in the second after he left, a snake corpse, pinned by leaves, suddenly had its abdomen swell, and then a small snake wriggled out from within.

Then the small snake opened its large mouth, and a figure emerged from it.

It was Orochimaru.

Orochimaru first scanned his surroundings, a playful smile on his face.

"An interesting little fellow, to be able to make the snake group unable to detect his presence."

Then his gaze shifted, and he removed the leaves from the head of a snake corpse; looking at the soft leaves, he grinned.

"Hahaha, truly interesting; there's such a formidable kid hidden within the Uchiha Clan."

At this moment, a little white snake emerged from Orochimaru's collar and hissed a few times in his ear.

Orochimaru's eyes moved, and his mouth widened into a smile, "Interesting, this little guy makes me more and more intrigued."

Outside the village wall, Uchiha Yuan emerged from underground.

I didn't expect that even with my utmost effort to conceal my presence, Orochimaru could still detect me. As expected, renowned figures in the Ninja World are not to be underestimated.

Although Orochimaru discovered me, he shouldn't know it was me, right?

Uchiha Yuan glanced back at the Death Forest in the distance, then leaped over the wall.

Ninja Academy.

The last class had just ended. Uchiha Yuan packed his bag and walked out of the classroom with Hatake Harukaze.

After the two walked out of the school gate, they stopped in a secluded alley.

A moment later, Senju Gen arrived in the alley from another direction.

"Yuan, Harukaze, here you go," Senju Gen called out.

He held three skewers of takoyaki and approached the two.

Uchiha Yuan and Hatake Harukaze each took a skewer of takoyaki, and then the three walked and ate their way through the alley.

Ever since that day they sparred with Senju Gen, Senju Gen had been pestering the two.

As soon as school was over, he would follow the two to the Hatake Clan Land and first watch their sparring.

A few days later, he wanted to have a match with Uchiha Yuan. But Uchiha Yuan refused, so he shamelessly joined in when the two were sparring.

In the end, Uchiha Yuan had no choice but to reluctantly agree to let him join their training.

However, he still had the same requirement: if Senju Gen wanted to fight him, he had to defeat Hatake Harukaze first.

"Yuan, I recently learned a new ninjutsu, an advanced form of Water Release: Water Bullet, called Water Dragon Bullet."

Hatake Harukaze chuckled, "That's a B-rank ninjutsu, but even with your Chakra, even if you manage to cast it, its power probably won't be very strong."

Senju Gen retorted, "Harukaze, when you face my Water Dragon Bullet later, let's see if you dare to take it head-on."

Just then, a fierce commotion could be heard from ahead.

The three of them quickly moved forward and saw a group of Hyuga Clan ninja academy students in a wasteland piled with sand, stones, and wood.

They were divided into two groups. One group of over a dozen people had surrounded three students, all from the Hyuga Clan, in the center.

One of the surrounded students was their classmate, Hyuga Kagami.

"Hyuga Kagami, I finally caught you. Let's see how you escape today."

A Hyuga youth with an arrogant expression, surrounded by several others, walked up to Hyuga Kagami and said.

Hyuga Kagami frowned, "Hyuga Kanjin, what do you mean by this?"

Hyuga Kanjin said angrily, "Hyuga Kagami, you useless Branch Family trash, you actually lost to that Uchiha Yuan kid.

He's just an outer family member of the Uchiha, and you losing to him is a disgrace to the clan, and it's also made me the subject of ridicule from others."

Hyuga Kagami replied, "This is just my personal matter, what does it have to do with the clan? Besides, Uchiha Yuan is really strong."

"Hahaha, what a joke. Just an outer family member, how strong can he be?

I heard the only thing he's good at is Taijutsu. Hmph, our Hyuga Clan's Gentle Fist is the strongest Taijutsu."

Then, Hyuga Kanjin's face showed disgust, and he said fiercely, "Hyuga Kagami, you made me a laughingstock. Today, I'm going to teach you a good lesson."

As soon as he finished speaking, with a wave of Hyuga Kanjin's hand, several Hyuga youths lunged at Hyuga Kagami.

Hyuga Kagami and his two companions immediately engaged them in a fight.

However, Hyuga Kagami and his companions were ultimately outnumbered, and with the weaker strength of the other two companions, they were quickly knocked to the ground. All attacks were directed at him.

"Kagami's strength seems to have grown again."

From a distance, Uchiha Yuan observed the scene and spoke.

Hatake Harukaze asked, "Yuan, aren't we going to intervene?"

Beside him, Senju Gen was eager to try, already impatient to rush forward.

Uchiha Yuan said, "Don't rush. Let's not underestimate Kagami."