The Twentieth Was Orochimaru

Orochimaru? What was he doing here?

Uchiha Chen looked astonished. At this point, Orochimaru hadn't defected yet, so under normal circumstances, he should have been in Konoha.

"An interesting little fellow. At your age, not only can you use ninjutsu, but you're also quite proficient. How interesting."

Orochimaru spoke in his trademark voice as he licked his tongue.

The moment he faced this man, Uchiha Chen knew that his only choice was to run.

Damn system!

Is this any way to play the game? Orochimaru is the twentieth person? Why not just bring out Kaguya?

Uchiha Chen was completely speechless. The system had always screwed him over, but at least it had never put his life at risk.

This time, it had actually brought Orochimaru into the picture. This guy was the boss of the first half of the Naruto World, after all.

"Would you believe me if I said I didn't know either?"

The system's voice rang out, but Uchiha Chen didn't believe a single punctuation mark of what she said.

"Ding. System notification: Hunting mission updated.

Escape mission activated. Evade Orochimaru's pursuit. Mission failure will result in the host's death."

"Damn you, system! You still dare say you didn't know? You're absolutely trying to get me killed."

Uchiha Chen was utterly speechless, but no matter how frustrated he was, there was obviously no way to start over.

"There aren't many brats who can still move when facing me. I have to say, you've piqued my interest."

Orochimaru spoke with his tongue hanging out. The sight was downright disgusting, while Uchiha Chen racked his brains for a way to escape.

"Great System, send me back to Konoha. I promise I'll never say another bad word about you."

"I told you, this really was outside the plan. The previous teleportation requires a casting delay. Do you think Orochimaru would let you go?

So do your best to survive.

If you make it through this, I'll give you a very generous reward."

If there had been even a one-in-ten-thousand chance that the system wasn't behind this before, now there wasn't even that.

Completely at a loss, Uchiha Chen had no choice but to face Orochimaru alone.

"Fire Release: Great Fireball Technique!"

Realizing he couldn't rely on the system, Uchiha Chen immediately launched an attack. Orochimaru was a little surprised, too.

After all, even a Jonin was no match for Orochimaru, let alone a four-year-old child.

Orochimaru was feeling playful, so he deliberately didn't dodge the Great Fireball Technique. In an instant, he was swallowed by the flames, and even let out a scream for good measure.

However, Uchiha Chen knew how strong Orochimaru was. Even after hearing the scream, he immediately turned and ran.

"An interesting little brat. Looks like he knows who I am. Does that mean he's from Konoha?

But he's probably not one of Danzo's men. Could he be the old man's?"

The "old man" Orochimaru referred to was the Third Hokage, Hiruzen Sarutobi.

It was no wonder Orochimaru was suspicious. This place wasn't very far from Konoha, so it was unlikely that someone from another village had come here to kill bandits.

That was precisely why Orochimaru wasn't in a hurry to kill Uchiha Chen.

Uchiha Chen had used the brief moment Orochimaru spent putting on an act to open up some distance, but the gap between them remained impossible to overcome.

"Your Taijutsu and ninjutsu are both far beyond those of your peers. You remind me of someone familiar."

"You mean Uchiha Itachi, right?"

"So you really are a brat from Konoha.

Since that's the case, you should know who I am, right?"

"One of the Sannin, Orochimaru.

I don't understand why you're here. Did those bandits steal something from you?"

Although he was certain the damn system was screwing him over, Chen didn't think it had somehow made Orochimaru show up there.

There had to be some reason Orochimaru had come there.

"They're not worthy of coveting anything of mine. On the contrary, I had my eye on some of their little trinkets."

"I see."

Hearing Orochimaru's answer, Chen understood what was going on.

Orochimaru must have been short on subjects for his human experiments, and those bandits were probably the test subjects he'd set his sights on. Then Chen had suddenly shown up and killed them, so...

You damn system! You don't have to screw me over this badly!

"It has nothing to do with me. I had no idea Orochimaru would show up.

Besides, instead of complaining about me, you should think about how to escape.

Come on, I believe in you. You're the best.

You've got this, bro!"

The shameless system ended up speaking in an incredibly seductive voice, making Uchiha Chen feel even more disgusted.

"Now that you know who I am, why not follow me? I can give you power.

At least then, the next time someone comes after you, you won't be powerless to run."

Orochimaru suddenly remembered that he needed a test subject for his Cursed Seal. As he spoke, his neck shot out toward Uchiha Chen.

"Fire Release..."

Orochimaru was simply too fast. Uchiha Chen hadn't even finished forming his Hand Seals before he was hit.

Feeling something strange invading his neck, Uchiha Chen immediately realized what it was.

"Bastard!"

The Cursed Seal was clearly no fun, and Uchiha Chen had even less desire to become Orochimaru's vessel.

He gritted his teeth through the pain and actually grabbed Orochimaru by the neck. Before Orochimaru could react, Chen slapped all the remaining Explosive Tags onto him.

The next moment, a violent explosion erupted, sending Uchiha Chen flying as well.

"An interesting little brat. He can still fight back in a situation like this. Maybe he'll actually survive."

Orochimaru's eyes were filled with fervor. To him, nothing was more interesting than a successful experiment.

As for whether the test subject lived or died, Orochimaru didn't much care.

Standing there, Orochimaru quietly waited for the dust to clear.

"Did he die? What a pity."

Orochimaru spoke indifferently, but he had no idea that Uchiha Chen, whom he thought was already dead, was not only still alive—Orochimaru himself had been hit by the attack.

"Ding. System notification: Abnormal energy intrusion detected. Identified as an attack targeting the system. Erasing abnormal energy... Erasure complete."

Uchiha Chen, lying on the ground and pretending to be dead, heard the system's voice. The feeling of the Cursed Seal invading him vanished, replaced by a refreshing coolness.

Though he didn't understand why this damn system was helping him, at least it was a good thing.

"Hey, you should thank the system properly this time. If I hadn't blocked Orochimaru's senses, do you think you could have pretended to be dead in front of him?"

The system's voice rang out again. By then, Orochimaru had already left, not even bothering to check the body.

"Isn't this all your fault? If you're so capable, kill Orochimaru!"

"That would be no fun at all. But I can still make a few little adjustments."