You Were Right: This Is the Sharingan

Our teacher said that the Uchiha Clan was a volatile clan, like a child clutching a kunai or a crazed beast biting down on an Explosive Tag. They were quick-tempered, irritable, arrogant, and hard to get along with.

Ever since he had grown up, Orochimaru had only ever dealt with Uchiha like that.

Until today.

He hadn't known before, but this young genius of the Uchiha Clan was surprisingly interesting.

Silently following behind Uchiha Sakuya, Orochimaru's sharp golden eyes were filled with curiosity.

At the jōnin meeting just now, had he said those things on purpose to provoke Tsunade?

But Tsunade shouldn't have any personal grudge against him.

No, in fact, today should have been the first time Tsunade had met him, right?

Why deliberately provoke her on their first meeting?

Was it because the Senju and Uchiha were fated to fight one another?

Or did he have some other motive?

Hiding beside a lush green thicket, Orochimaru raised an eyebrow as he watched Uchiha Sakuya move the Ninja Tool Launchers.

After getting into a conflict with Tsunade, the first thing he did wasn't go back and think of a countermeasure. He'd come straight here to train?

This guy... his actions were impossible to make sense of.

But speaking of which, weren't there too many Ninja Tool Launchers here?

Orochimaru was one of Konoha's top jōnin. He didn't have a Kekkei Genkai, but as a civilian-born jōnin, he had already surpassed countless shinobi with Kekkei Genkai—and left many, many more behind.

He was extremely proud, and had always believed that even without a Kekkei Genkai, he, Orochimaru, was no weaker than anyone else.

Even so, when he trained, he wouldn't dare use thirty automatic Ninja Tool Launchers at once like Uchiha Sakuya.

With this many launchers, even he'd be riddled with Shuriken.

He must be setting them up in advance to save time.

Orochimaru thought this as he hid behind the tree.

If he used two launchers per round, he could train for fifteen rounds before reloading them.

Ha, so this was the Uchiha Clan. The village's great clan really was... loaded.

A single Ninja Tool Launcher was already expensive. If he could bring this many here... With that kind of money, Orochimaru could build himself a small laboratory.

Orochimaru shook his head, feeling a little envious of Uchiha Sakuya's wealth. But when he came back to his senses and looked again, his gaze suddenly froze.

He saw a Shuriken fly from Uchiha Sakuya's hand and slice through all the wires strung around the Ninja Tool Launchers in one go.

I was wrong. He wasn't trying to save time or effort.

He really was going to use all thirty launchers to train!

"Are you kidding me? There's got to be a limit to reckless training!"

With thirty Ninja Tool Launchers firing at once, even he'd be turned into a pincushion in that storm of projectiles.

Orochimaru wasn't yet the cold-blooded man who would treat his comrades as expendable decades later. Faced with Sakuya, he rushed out from beside the thicket almost instinctively.

But the moment he emerged, he stopped awkwardly in his tracks.

Uchiha Sakuya stood motionless, facing the ninja tools flying toward him like a torrential downpour.

The three Tomoe in his red eyes began to spin.

At the instant the projectiles were about to hit him, Sakuya shifted slightly, dancing like a butterfly. As the countless ninja tools reached him, his hands blurred into streaks.

Orochimaru unconsciously held his breath as he watched Sakuya catch the Kunai and Shuriken one after another, then spin and fling them back out.

They entered his hands as lightly as flowers, then left them like streaks of light. In that moment, every blade became a tamed silver butterfly at Sakuya's fingertips, rising and falling at his will.

Clink, clink, clink, clink, clink...

The ninja tools fell to the ground in succession, ringing out with clear, crisp chimes.

Not a single one of the deadly weapons Sakuya had caught and thrown back was out of place. They landed in perfect order in a circle ten meters around him.

Looking at those crimson eyes, Orochimaru suddenly smiled, as if he finally understood.

You were right. This is the Sharingan.

The Sharingan, a Kekkei Genkai that made the Uchiha superior from birth.

Orochimaru's long, narrow tongue slid from his mouth and licked his rough, uneven lips.

Such a wondrous—

—power.

How could I not understand Nawaki's feelings?

Watching Nawaki, Tsunade reached out and gently pinched her little brother's cheek.

That guy was right.

I didn't create Medical Ninjutsu and push for reforms to ninja squads for the sake of Konoha's future.

I only wanted to pave the way in advance for Nawaki, who would learn Medical Ninjutsu one day.

Medical Ninjutsu was no easy art to master. If the proposal I made at the jōnin meeting today had passed, Konoha would have trained at least a thousand new medical shinobi over the next few years.

And all those newcomers would need a teacher who had spent years immersed in the art of healing.

By then, Nawaki, who would have a year's head start in learning Medical Ninjutsu, would naturally be the best candidate.

After all, medical skills could be passed down.

Once this generation of shinobi learned Medical Ninjutsu, they could teach the next generation.

From one to ten, from ten to a hundred. In time, Nawaki would become the physician who taught shinobi across the world.

That reputation would be enough for him to inherit the Senju name with dignity.

"He will."

Looking at her younger brother, Tsunade smiled. "Our Nawaki will definitely be worthy of inheriting the Senju name."

Although the push to spread Medical Ninjutsu had failed at this jōnin meeting because war was about to break out, it should go ahead smoothly once the war was over.

Speaking of war...

Tsunade seemed to remember something and asked her little brother, "Nawaki, you've been working hard on Medical Ninjutsu these past few months, and you haven't trained much in Ninjutsu or Taijutsu lately, have you?"

"Hehe, don't worry, sis."

Nawaki grinned. "Once I learn the Mystical Palm Technique, I'll get back to practicing Ninjutsu and Taijutsu."

"If you go too long without training, you'll become less alert to danger," Tsunade warned him.

"Relax, relax."

Nawaki waved a hand.

Do you know what it means when these Genin haven't improved for months, with the Second Shinobi World War about to begin?

As she watched Nawaki leave, Uchiha Sakuya's words echoed through Tsunade's mind once more.

Nawaki was bright and gifted. He was only twelve, yet already had the strength of a Chunin, and he was apprenticed to Orochimaru. So what if he hadn't practiced Ninjutsu or Taijutsu for a few months?

That guy was exaggerating!

Tsunade snorted inwardly, dismissing Uchiha Sakuya's words.

He'd fearmonger and even get the old man to reject my plans. Just like Grandpa Second said, people from the Uchiha Clan really were all a little crazy.

Especially Uchiha Sakuya!

Tsunade bit her lip.

That guy was the worst.