The Cowherding Student, Orochimaru

Listening to the people inside the room sob, Zhengyi felt tormented. Had he done the right thing or the wrong thing?

But the scene in the laboratory was different from what he had imagined.

On Orochimaru's left were several baskets of boiled eggs. On his right were the desserts Konoha's villagers liked to eat in the afternoon.

His task was to feed these people these foods every day and observe how they changed after some time.

"Eat!"

Like he was feeding pigs, Orochimaru dumped several baskets of eggs in front of a group of men and women.

Then he dumped all the desserts in front of another group of men and women.

"Is this our last meal?"

The people who couldn't speak thought this was the last meal of their lives, so they stuffed themselves without any concern for appearances.

Boohoohoo~~

Before they were captured, they had been bullied by the local wealthy families and saddled with debt. Eggs were something they only got to eat on their birthdays.

Those eating the desserts were even happier. They didn't dare hesitate for even a moment, afraid that if they did, they'd miss out on another bite.

Some of them started crying with happiness as they ate, but Zhengyi outside had no idea. The little angels and devils in his heart were fighting.

While the people stuffed themselves, Orochimaru used specialized instruments to study in depth the "power" contained in the food.

"Teacher! My conscience won't allow you to conduct human experiments!"

"Either kill me and carry on, or use white mice instead!"

"I'm only doing this for your own good, Teacher..."

In the end, Zhengyi couldn't bring himself to lose his humanity. With his eyes shut, he charged into the laboratory. Thinking of the ruthless Orochimaru he'd be facing, he'd been all fired up at first, but gradually lost his nerve and decided to appeal to his teacher's feelings.

But when he saw Orochimaru in the laboratory, feeding the villagers like a farmer feeding pigs, he watched as the man boldly sloshed buckets of "slop" in front of them.

He felt a little awkward. Maybe he'd gotten the wrong idea.

"Oh~"

"Oh~ sōka, sōka. So that's what's going on."

Orochimaru was still in the middle of pouring. He felt awkward too. Acting so crude in front of his student was embarrassing; usually, he was dignified and elegant.

"Get out."

"Yes!"

"Close the door!"

"Yes, yes!!"

The Third Shinobi World War began because the Third Kazekage of Sunagakure went missing.

A bunch of dark-skinned brutes from Kumogakure saw a golden opportunity to expand their territory and chose to wage war against the Land of Fire, the Land of Earth, and the Land of Wind.

Konoha occupied the most fertile land and was one of only two villages where the Jinchūriki couldn't be used effectively. Unlike the impoverished Sunagakure, it naturally drew the envy of the entire Shinobi World.

At the Jōnin meeting.

"What is Orochimaru doing?"

Hiruzen Sarutobi, seated at the head of the table, had been rather overwhelmed lately.

Just as in the First Shinobi World War and the Second Shinobi World War, Konoha's opponents were still potentially the entire Shinobi World.

The great nations were certain to fight Konoha.

And the smaller countries would periodically pop up out of nowhere, trying to take a bite out of the Land of Fire.

The battlefronts stretched far and wide. Every able-bodied young person in the village had been sent out.

At a time when people were needed everywhere, rumors had surfaced that Orochimaru had recently started a poultry farm, raising chickens, ducks, and cows.

He'd even sent his student to attend the Jōnin meeting in his place.

With such a powerful fighter missing from the front lines, Konoha's defenses had been pushed back.

Konoha's current F4 member Shimura Danzō had gone to the front to supervise the fighting. The remaining three—Hiruzen Sarutobi, Utatane Koharu, and Mitokado Homura—sat in the meeting room, staring at Zhengyi.

Hiruzen Sarutobi was pretty damn exasperated. His most valued student had gone off to herd cows.

When Jiraiya was a child, he'd always gotten on her nerves by being so hopeless that she'd thought he'd end up herding cows someday.

Now things had somehow turned around. Jiraiya, that carefree slacker, had taken Minato with him and racked up a string of victories on the battlefield, while Orochimaru had rented some land outside Konoha to raise livestock.

She laughed in exasperation, frustrated that he wasn't living up to his potential. "Why didn't your teacher come?"

Utatane Koharu and Mitokado Homura could only rub their brows helplessly.

Zhengyi knew Orochimaru hadn't researched food in the original timeline.

This was quite a mess.

If Konoha lost Orochimaru, one of its top fighters and strategists, and the Third Shinobi World War went off course, what would they do if Konoha lost?

All the Jōnin in the village, currently resting between assignments, were anxiously watching him. Zhengyi had no idea how to explain.

Should he tell everyone that his teacher was researching the "energy" contained in food?

Would Konoha understand? Did Konoha even know what dietary therapy was?

The Jōnin would probably all give him that blank subway-passenger stare, then drag him off to haul his teacher to the battlefield.

Hiruzen Sarutobi understood his student's eccentric temperament and didn't give Zhengyi a hard time.

He just felt a little regretful.

Orochimaru... didn't have the Will of Fire to sacrifice himself for Konoha.

Zhengyi didn't know whether his teacher would defect in this life.

Anyway, if his teacher defected, he'd defect and follow him.

Teacher, are you moved?

When Madara left back then, no one followed him.

But you have me.

"You're back? What did Teacher Sarutobi say?"

When Zhengyi returned, Orochimaru was shaking something in a cup. Beside him, a Shadow Clone was checking on the "test subjects" according to schedule.

"Lord Third said you have to go to the front against the A and B Brothers at Kumogakure in two days..."

Orochimaru gave him the classic read-and-ignore treatment. He nodded but didn't say whether he'd go.

Zhengyi knew it.

Compared with Minato, his teacher clearly had the advantage right now.

But Minato was practically a workaholic. He was said to have been seen on several of Konoha's battlefronts.

"The group that ate eggs lost weight, but only in fat. Their weight went down, yet their physical ability and stamina improved."

"The group that only ate desserts gained a lot of weight. Most of the increase was body fat, while their physical ability and stamina declined slightly."

"..."

Orochimaru kept shaking the cup as he discussed the findings with his Shadow Clone, his eyes brimming with curiosity.

The human body was truly fascinating.

Why had the group that ate eggs lost weight while gaining strength?

"Teacher, at today's Jōnin meeting, your teacher was a little displeased with you." Zhengyi sat at the table covered in experimental data, pensively explaining things to Orochimaru.

"I heard from my classmate Obito that Minato wants to compete for the Hokage position, and Jiraiya supports him. I don't know if Obito was just bragging to our classmates, though."

"This is outrageous! The war isn't even over, and the two of them are already thinking about what comes after it. They don't really care about Konoha at all."

Zhengyi grumbled.

"I see."

Orochimaru's eyes lit up. "The human body is made up of lean meat, fat, bones, and water."

"Teacher, you're the veteran here, with actual war merits. What gives that wet-behind-the-ears brat Minato the right to compete with you for Hokage?" Zhengyi said indignantly.

Of course, Zhengyi was only twelve, much younger than Minato.

Orochimaru murmured:

"Eggs contain a substance the human body can absorb and convert into lean meat, while desserts contain a substance that the body absorbs and turns into fat."

"For us ninja, lean meat is far more useful than fat!!"

"Zhengyi! That was a great suggestion. You really helped me out!"

Orochimaru gave him an approving look.

"Huh? Really?" Zhengyi scratched his head sheepishly. All he'd done was point out that the Orochimaru faction and Jiraiya's faction would inevitably clash someday.

He didn't deserve that much praise!