Orochimaru? Orochihime!

Just as Orochimaru was thinking of revealing himself and meeting his "little brother," Touma's next move left him even more stunned.

Under the full-power Wind Style Chakra Mode, the kid slowly lifted both feet off the ground and rose into the air.

After seemingly trying to refine his chakra shape a few more times, he suddenly shot even higher. Orochimaru estimated that he was already a hundred meters or so above the ground.

However, the faster he flew, the less stable Touma's posture became. At first, he merely wobbled a little, but soon he completely lost control of his direction and plunged headfirst toward the ground.

Seeing this, Orochimaru quickly formed Hand Seals and used Earth Release: Swamp of the Underworld, hoping the soft marshy ground would break the little boy's fall.

But with only thirty or forty meters left between him and the ground, thick white mist suddenly billowed around Touma. He transformed into a palm-sized kestrel and shot out of the mist.

By then, Orochimaru had to admit he'd been wrong about Touma five years ago. The "little brother" he'd taken in was a genius every bit his equal.

With his discerning eye, Orochimaru could tell that Touma's Transformation Technique involved an extraordinarily advanced change in the nature of Yang Release Chakra. The only person he'd ever seen perform a change of that caliber was Tsunade, when she used the Mystical Palm Technique with all her might. Even he wouldn't claim he could do the same.

Touma also noticed the change in the ground and recognized the muddy, bubbling marsh as the Third's Earth Release: Swamp of the Underworld, one of the Hokage's signature techniques.

The only person who could have appeared here was his "big sister," Orochimaru. After all, the Third had recently taken an active role in reinforcing security around Kushina, helping with the barrier's construction. He'd been run off his feet ever since.

To make matters worse, after Cloud Village failed to steal a Jinchūriki candidate and lost its men, it had the Land of Lightning issue an extremely harsh diplomatic demand to the Land of Fire, insisting on full compensation for the loss of three elite Jonin!

Yes, you read that right.

Those brutes from Cloud Village had quite the appetite. They were trying to pass off three ordinary Chunin as three elite Jonin and demand compensation from the Land of Fire. From the looks of it, if Konoha didn't pay up voluntarily, the Land of Lightning would have an excuse to wage war against the Land of Fire.

When Touma heard this from Minato, the corners of his mouth twitched. He knew this plot all too well. In his previous life, some shameless little country had pulled stunts like this time and time again.

Of course, war was now all but certain, but mobilizing the troops would take time. And when two great nations went to war, they generally didn't choose to fight on their own territory. They would tacitly agree to use some small country as the battlefield.

"Big Sister Orochihime?!"

Touma landed, returned to his original form, and looked around. When he didn't see Orochimaru, he called out the special nickname he'd made up for her!

The "maru" in Orochimaru's name was a suffix associated with men. It was also used when naming an object to give it human qualities.

Orochimaru's full name was Kusanagi Orochi. He was descended from the Kusanagi Clan, a famous family of toolsmiths in the Shinobi World. Their best-known creations were the swords bearing the name Kusanagi Sword.

However, the Kusanagi Clan had already been scattered to the winds during the Warring States period. To preserve their legacy, their descendants abandoned their surname and blended into the Five Great Nations as ordinary civilians.

It was said that Seimei, the founder of the Land of Artisans, had also belonged to the Kusanagi Clan. Of course, Seimei had been dead for so long that no one could produce evidence to prove it.

After Orochimaru's parents died, he had found the scrolls passed down through his family while gathering their belongings. He'd also discovered the summoning contract for Ryūchi Cave. With the help of its three Snake Princesses, he had successfully developed the snake-themed ninjutsu he used now.

Once he learned Orochimaru's real name, Touma got into the habit of calling her "Big Sister Orochihime." Orochimaru had tried to correct him a few times, but eventually gave up.

Hearing Touma call out, Orochimaru emerged from his invisible state. It was the Phantom Scale Technique, a form of optical camouflage based on biomimicry that he had developed while stationed at the border.

"Hey, brat. Been training hard lately?"

"I can hear your name all the way from Kikyo City!"

"Looks like you've been doing well. You even dared to go alone and rescue someone from three Chunin!"

As he spoke, Orochimaru placed a hand coated in Medical Ninjutsu chakra against Touma's back and began checking for any hidden injuries.

Orochimaru hadn't yet grown so dismissive of life, nor had his speech filled with those cryptic, almost poetic observations. He valued life—especially the lives of his comrades—above all.

It was only later, after witnessing so much death, that reality pushed Orochimaru to the opposite extreme, turning him into the "Cold-Blooded Orochimaru" of the future!

The medical chakra circulated through Touma's body, and Orochimaru found no hidden injuries. But the vigorous life force within Touma gave him a strong sense of déjà vu.

Orochimaru hadn't yet revealed his research abilities or been secretly recruited by Danzo into the Wood Release Replication Project. The only people whose life force he'd encountered that felt similar were his teammate Tsunade and her younger brother, Nawaki.

As it happened, Nawaki was in the same year as Touma. He just hadn't been assigned to Ise Goro's Class A. Because of his abysmal written entrance exam score, he'd barely scraped into Kato Haruna's Class B.

His grades weren't quite the worst, but he usually ranked in the lower half of Class B. He simply had no interest in book learning, so theory dragged down his overall performance. In practical exams, though, he had always ranked near the top of the year.

Nawaki owed that to his vigorous life force. He'd undergone extremely rigorous Taijutsu training since childhood, so it was no surprise that his practical scores were always strong.

Last year, when they were in fourth grade, Touma had fought Nawaki. Touma was certain that even if he hadn't deliberately held back, Nawaki could have beaten him within a hundred moves. Even with his cheap dad's staff techniques, winning would have been extremely difficult.

Of course, if Nawaki sparred with the Touma of today, he wouldn't stand a chance if Touma didn't hold back. It wasn't just a difference in experience; their physical abilities were different, too.

The Senju Clan's body, before it awakened, simply couldn't compare to Touma's after his Yang Release Chakra had undergone its initial change in nature!

Seeing that Touma was fine, Orochimaru suddenly suggested that they have a full-power match, so he could see how much Touma had improved over the past five years.

Touma didn't refuse. It wasn't because he was confident he could beat Orochimaru; he wanted to gauge his own current abilities, too.

In particular, he wanted to see how long he could last against a shinobi with Orochimaru's supreme combat intelligence, using only Taijutsu, the Three Basic Techniques, and Wind Style Chakra Mode!

He'd never dreamed of defeating Orochimaru. After all, his "big sister" was "immortal" in the original story and anime, and even in the hands of fanfiction writers!