Orochimaru: "Anko is young, you should encourage her."

Good news.

On his twelfth birthday, Zhengyi, already a Chunin of Konoha, awakened the memories of his past life.

Bad news.

He... he had picked the wrong side.

In the dimly lit underground laboratory.

"Happy birthday, Zhengyi-kun." The pale-faced man held out a small, six-inch cake.

"Brother Zhengyi, don't misunderstand. I chipped in for the cake Master Orochimaru bought, I really didn't forget your birthday." The speaker was a nine-year-old girl with chubby cheeks.

"Yes, yes." Orochimaru looked helplessly at Anko, who was sticking her tongue out at him playfully.

This was the scene Zhengyi saw after absorbing the memories of his past life.

He felt a dull ache in his heart as he looked at the man holding the cake.

Orochimaru.

One of the legendary Sannin, and his master in this life.

The Third Shinobi World War had only just begun to show signs of brewing, yet his master Orochimaru had already secured a Gate of Opening victory for Konoha, and the calls for him to succeed the Hokage grew louder by the day.

Some even began to speculate that Orochimaru would become the Fourth Hokage, and that he might be the successor for the Fifth, leading to all sorts of small gifts being sent to his nine-square-meter ninja dormitory.

But only he knew that in the race for the Fourth Hokage, Orochimaru would lose.

Not only would he lose, but he would eventually be driven out of the village by Hiruzen Sarutobi after his human experiments were exposed.

He would end up with his reputation in ruins.

After Orochimaru defected, his subordinates would naturally scatter like birds and beasts, with some being investigated and others interrogated.

The best outcome for him would be to end up like Anko, a Special Jonin far removed from the center of power.

But Anko was likely a model used to appease Orochimaru's former subordinates, and the little girl had never committed any crimes.

As for him... Zhengyi...

Before awakening his past life's memories, he had been a die-hard fan of Orochimaru. Orochimaru, believing his path to becoming Hokage was secure, had entrusted him with heavy responsibilities.

In private, he had often been ordered to sneak out and capture subjects for human experiments.

These subjects, of course, were...

If the master defects in the future, won't I be skinned alive even if I don't die?

He was just a commoner in this life, with no family backing him whatsoever.

The only reason he was taken in as a disciple by Orochimaru was because of his sharp mind.

A few years from now, Orochimaru's experimental base would be wiped out by the Third Hokage and the Anbu. Orochimaru himself was only spared because the old Third was soft-hearted; there would be no time to take him along.

Wearing a Chunin vest that felt completely out of place with the era—his aesthetic sense being twenty or thirty years ahead of his time—Zhengyi felt like a man sweating bullets. Cold sweat beaded on his forehead. Orochimaru keenly sensed that his student's mood was off, but he said nothing.

He actually quite appreciated Zhengyi; the little guy had an open mind and was very modern, unlike those stubborn old bones in Konoha.

Perhaps, he thought, we commoners are the only ones willing to change the current rotten structure of Konoha.

This was the reason he had taken him as a disciple the moment Zhengyi graduated from the Ninja Academy at nine years old.

At this moment, there was still a trace of humanity in Orochimaru.

"Alright, you and Anko continue celebrating." Orochimaru placed the cake on the table and went back to his experiments; he was a very busy man.

"Understood."

But after Zhengyi regained his composure, he couldn't help but wonder: if he were Nawaki, would Master Orochimaru have abandoned his experiments to spend the whole time with him?

Tsk.

By comparison, his little cake felt rather pathetic.

"What are you looking at?" Zhengyi glanced at Anko, who was swallowing her saliva from time to time.

Anko was, of course, greedy for the food. "Can I eat it?"

"Eat? Go ahead, it's all yours."

Zhengyi didn't eat sweets. A large intake of sugar would interfere with his body's insulin, not only causing weight gain but also triggering inflammation.

He wasn't one of those "cheat-code" users; he had no Senju bloodline or Sharingan, and in this life, he didn't even have a clan name.

Therefore, he could only rely on science in the ninja world.

He wondered if his daily scientific nutritional supplementation and physical training would be enough to reach Kage-level strength.

Anko knew that Zhengyi, like their master, didn't like sweets, so after cutting a slice for her Brother Zhengyi just to go through the motions, the rest was destined for her stomach.

"Don't eat too many sweets." Zhengyi was still fretting over how to help his master defeat Minato.

You, Minato, a newcomer—have you even participated in the Second Shinobi World War? Do you have the seniority?

But Hiruzen Sarutobi just had a soft spot for that young man, and there was nothing he could do about it.

Seeing Anko stuffing the cake into her mouth as if her life depended on it, Zhengyi, already feeling melancholy, couldn't bear to watch any longer and pulled the plate away.

Then... Anko started to cry.

Orochimaru arrived, feeling a bit impatient and somewhat speechless.

Just think about it: he had been in the middle of an experiment, much like a man driven by desire being suddenly interrupted right at the critical moment—anyone would find that infuriating.

"Zhengyi-kun, it was just a piece of cake," Orochimaru said.

"But, the glycemic index of cake is very high; eating it isn't good for the human body. Teacher, I am doing this for Anko's own good." Zhengyi had his principles. Although! He had snatched it away earlier out of annoyance, but! He really was doing it for Anko's sake.

Anko wiped away her tears, half-doubting.

"Glycemic?" Orochimaru caught onto the term, a glimmer of interest appearing in his eyes. "What is glycemic? And it's not good for the human body?"

Even though he didn't eat sweets.

But children always smiled when they ate sugar; sugar seemed to be a need carved into the instincts of us humans...

"That's right, eating sugar causes acne, and it also makes you..."

"Get to the point!" Orochimaru was a bit defeated by this student of his; he loved to ramble.

For those who cared about beauty, that statement held a lot of weight, but for him?

Zhengyi was a jack-of-all-trades, master of none. He could certainly rattle off a bunch of theories for Orochimaru, but if he had to go into detail, he wouldn't know.

There was no helping it; a person's energy was always limited.

"Thus and so, this and that. So, Orochimaru-sensei, do you understand my painstaking efforts now? I did it all for her own good."

"As if! I eat dango every day and I'm perfectly fine."

"Shut up, Anko. You've gained weight since you graduated from the Ninja Academy. I see. Then, Zhengyi-kun, if it were you, what do you think one should eat every day?"

"I haven't gained weight!" Anko still wanted to act spoiled and have someone coax her, but when she saw the look in her teacher's eyes—that thirst for life, that craving for knowledge—it was more intense than the look men had on their wedding nights in those adult books.

She left.

Heh, men.

Zhengyi was also enjoying himself; in a Naruto world full of people who didn't care about science, he really felt like a misfit.

Although Orochimaru's personality was a bit eccentric, he was a materialist!

"Eggs."

"Why?"

"Because..."

"The point!"

"Yes!"

"..."

"Naruhudu!" Orochimaru suddenly closed his eyes, his brain spinning at high speed. He seemed to have discovered why this body loved eating eggs.

It turned out everything was instinct.

If you aren't obsessed, you won't succeed.

Orochimaru opened his eyes again, his entire body trembling with excitement. He steadied himself and said, "Zhengyi, I am entrusting you with a mission. It is a very difficult mission, but this is your teacher's command."

"I cannot trust anyone else."

"Anko is young and ignorant, and the Fifth Hokage... you must work hard."