Next Time for Sure

"Greetings, Master Orochimaru."

After Itachi bowed in salute, the master-disciple relationship was officially established, which only piqued the interest of Orochimaru, who had already gained quite a bit from the Uchiha clan.

In this day and age, it is difficult to find a good teacher, but it is equally difficult for a teacher to find a disciple who is a perfect fit.

For instance, those Orochimaru had seen previously, such as Guy, Kakashi, and Yamato, could all be considered quite talented.

However, the talents of Guy and Yamato were concentrated in taijutsu and Kekkei Genkai respectively; aside from general abilities, there was almost nothing he could offer them in terms of guidance.

Moreover, the most critical factor was that both were emotional-type ninjas.

The closer they leaned into a certain emotion, the more fully their power and potential were unleashed.

Chakra is a product of the fusion of mental and physical energy, and emotional-type ninjas who "break their limits" are terrifying.

Therefore, in order to maximize Yamato's potential, Orochimaru had handed him over to Jiraiya for training.

It was easy to imagine that once Jiraiya imparted concepts like friendship, comradeship, and protection to Yamato, and helped him emerge from his period of confusion, his strength would see a massive leap.

Orochimaru acknowledged Jiraiya, and he acknowledged this method of becoming stronger; his mind was far more open than the average person's, but he also had to admit that this type of genius was not a fit for him.

Orochimaru preferred ninjas like Kakashi.

Suppressing emotions, suppressing desires, possessing a clear understanding of one's goals and the steps to achieve them, and having the ability and determination to carry out every step.

Had he seen him earlier, Orochimaru might have taken Kakashi as a disciple.

But unfortunately, Kakashi was already Minato's disciple, and having lost his purpose, he had already gone to waste.

However, he had now found an even more excellent disciple.

Orochimaru's gaze swept over Itachi, who was holding a child, and the corners of his mouth curled up slightly, his smile turning somewhat dangerous.

Passing on his mantle was one thing, but he also wanted to use this opportunity to study the suppressing effect of the Sharingan on the First Hokage Cells.

Itachi sensed Orochimaru's gaze and felt a hint of pressure, involuntarily taking a step back.

Having gained a teacher for no apparent reason, his life remained unchanged in the short term; he still had to attend the ninja academy.

Orochimaru had no interest in guiding that low-level education, and he believed that with Itachi's aptitude, he would finish his studies quickly, just as Kakashi had done before.

"Swish..."

Amidst the sound of wind being broken, a figure appeared before the three of them.

"Clan head, the personnel have been assembled."

"We shall head over now."

Fugaku kept a straight face, nodded slightly, and cast his gaze toward Orochimaru.

Orochimaru glanced at Itachi and smiled, "Why don't you come along as well? This is a good opportunity to witness a battle between ninjas."

Itachi, holding the still-young Sasuke, hesitated, but under his father's gaze, he had no choice but to nod in agreement.

"Why did the clan head summon us?"

"You didn't receive any news either?"

"Maybe he's taking us to protest; the rumors in the village have been getting more and more outrageous lately..."

"..."

In a training ground far from the clan compound, everyone was chattering away. These cold-faced men, who appeared aloof to everyone in the eyes of the villagers, were more talkative than anyone else within their own small circles in the clan.

"Captain Shinsuke, do you happen to know any news?"

A clansman, seeing that Shinsuke Uchiha had remained silent, mistakenly thought he had some inside information and asked.

"No, I don't know, but..."

Shinsuke Uchiha paused slightly as he spoke; he thought of Orochimaru, whom he had seen earlier.

At a time like this, for the clan head to suddenly summon most of the clan's elite, there was likely no other reason than this "Sannin."

"What exactly is Orochimaru planning?"

Shinsuke Uchiha felt a surge of doubt.

The clansman, having not received the answer he wanted, rejoined the surrounding discussion.

The training ground was filled with noise until Fugaku Uchiha, the clan head, appeared, at which point it gradually quieted down.

Fugaku raised his hand to suppress the chatter and spoke slowly, "The reason for gathering everyone here today is for a rehearsal drill."

Fugaku spoke briefly about how the Konoha Military Police Force had failed to react in time to the crisis during the Nine-Tails Incident, and how they lacked experience in dealing with a tailed beast as an organized unit. In order to regain the trust of the Third Hokage and the village's top brass, he had invited Orochimaru of the "Sannin" to help them train.

"A tailed beast? Training?"

Everyone looked at each other in dismay. How does one conduct training to deal with a tailed beast? By catching one and letting it loose?

Konoha didn't have a perfect Jinchuriki, and they couldn't fully control a tailed beast, so how could they conduct training to deal with one while ensuring safety?

Moreover, was there really a need to train for dealing with a tailed beast?

The Nine-Tails already had a new Jinchuriki; could the Third and the others really make the same mistake a second time?

Facing the questions from the Uchiha, Orochimaru spoke up at the perfect moment, mocking them, "Short-sighted and lacking any sense of crisis—is this the level of the Uchiha Police Force? You truly disappoint me."

Hearing someone belittle the Police Force, the Uchiha elites glared at Orochimaru with fury. Almost no one cared about his status or position, and they all cast angry gazes in his direction.

Being stared at by a crowd would put pressure on anyone, let alone a group of powerful ninjas, but Orochimaru acted as if he heard nothing, his tone unhurried as he said, "Three years ago, before Namikaze Minato became the Fourth Hokage, a ninja named Rin Nohara in his squad had the Three-Tails sealed inside her by Kirigakure Ninja, who intended to release the seal within Konoha. If not for Minato's student Kakashi, you would have witnessed a Tailed Beast attack on the village back then."

Silence returned to the training ground. The Uchiha elites looked at one another, their faces pale and filled with shock and uncertainty.

The news that Rin Nohara had been forced to become the Jinchuriki of the Three-Tails and was subsequently stopped by Kakashi was not top-secret, but one needed a certain level of status within the village to know it; most of the Uchiha present did not possess that qualification.

However, they also believed that Orochimaru would not use such a matter to deceive them.

"Furthermore, the mastermind behind the theft of the Nine-Tails and the attack on the village has yet to be caught. Setting aside the possibility of them targeting the Nine-Tails again, what if they use the Tailed Beasts of other villages to attack us..."

As he spoke, Orochimaru's eyes sharpened, and he suddenly shouted, "How would you respond? Would you cower in the back just like last time?"

This sharp reprimand caused most of the Uchiha elites to flush red, as if all the blood in their bodies had rushed to their heads. It was a mix of shame and anger.

Over these past few days, they had heard too many similar criticisms.

Yet, they were unable to refute them, because the core duty of the Uchiha Police Force was to protect Konoha.

Regardless of the reasons, failing to perform their primary job was the reality.

The reality was as such, but that did not mean the Uchiha elites would accept it; lying down and giving up was simply not an option.

Hidden anger simmered in everyone's hearts, screaming that next time, they would surely succeed.

The crowd was incensed, their wills united!

Being stared at by such gazes, Orochimaru nodded inwardly, a cold, sinister smile returning to his face, "Do not worry about the issue of the Tailed Beasts; I will resolve it. But before that..."

"Who is 'Body Flicker Shisui'?"

Thanks to "Zhuoluo C Yang" and "s Zhang Liang s" for the tips.