Exposed

"Protecting them? That's not simple at all. It's a truly great ideal." A white-haired young man walked in as he spoke.

"Dan, why are you only getting here now? We've been waiting forever."

"Sorry, Tsunade. I was delayed on the way."

Dan?! How could this be?! Wasn't he dead? Shiro was shocked by Dan Katō's appearance, but after thinking it over, it made sense. The original story said Dan had died in the war, and the war had not completely ended yet. Konoha had merely established the foundations of victory, so genin like Shiro, who had graduated early due to the war, could leave the battlefield early. After all, they truly played little role on the battlefield.

Besides, Jiraiya was still in the village, so Shiro figured the war would continue for some time. He did not believe Jiraiya would abandon a village at a disadvantage just to go train disciples.

Thus, Shiro recovered from his surprise after only a moment. "Tsunade, who is this?"

"He's Tsunade's lover, Dan Katō," Kushina explained from the side.

"Hello, it's nice to meet you. I'm Emiya Shiro. Sorry, I didn't know a senior would be coming, so I didn't prepare a gift for you. I hope you don't mind."

"It's fine. Didn't I also fail to prepare a gift for you? So we're even, right, Shiro?"

"Yes, we're even." Shiro smiled.

Kushina suddenly shouted, "Wait, you're not!"

"Boss? What isn't?"

"You're not even! Shiro gave all of you gifts, so shouldn't you and Teacher Jiraiya give him something in return?" Kushina shouted with her hands on her hips.

Shiro was completely dumbfounded. As a mentally sound adult, this sort of thing was simply too embarrassing. Kushina was close to them, so it was naturally fine for her, but he had only just met them. They were neither family nor friends, so it felt inappropriate. He immediately said to Kushina, "Boss, sit down quickly. I didn't mean that."

Kushina naturally was not trying to embarrass Shiro. She merely wanted to help him. Nearly everyone here was family to her, so Jiraiya and the others naturally understood her intentions. That was also why Minato had not stopped her. Shiro was, after all, merely a civilian. Although he had recently recovered his former family's secret technique, it was incomplete—or at least, that was Shiro's public explanation.

Originally, they had planned to let Shiro meet Jiraiya and the others to see how talented he was. If his talent was good, they would either take him as a disciple or find him a teacher, mainly the latter.

Unfortunately, Shiro's talent had only shown itself in Nintaijutsu, so they could only use this method.

"Kushina is right. We elders can't bully the younger generation, can we, Tsunade, Orochimaru?"

"This idiot is right for once."

"Shiro, I think very highly of you." In truth, Orochimaru had left some things unsaid.

While looking through records, he had discovered that the Emiya Clan once had some connection to the Sage of Six Paths. Moreover, that Nintaijutsu was already very close to a Kekkei Genkai. Yet, as far as he knew, the true Emiya Clan had long since been exterminated for some unknown reason. The people openly claiming to be part of the clan were merely a smokescreen. In truth, they could not practice Nintaijutsu at all. In other words, the Nintaijutsu Emiya Shiro had learned was not that one!

Furthermore, based on the materials he had gathered, Orochimaru had reconstructed part of that Nintaijutsu. After comparing them, he discovered that they were two entirely different ninjutsu! They were even two separate systems!

At this point, Orochimaru had not yet changed his ideal—or rather, had not completely changed it. His ideal was still to master every ninjutsu in the world, so one could imagine Shiro's allure to him.

Fortunately, Orochimaru had not yet gone dark and would not directly make a move against Shiro. Otherwise, this book would need a different protagonist. Orochimaru had originally planned to consider taking Shiro as a disciple if his talent was passable, but unfortunately, Shiro had not met his minimum standard.

Meanwhile, Shiro had not realized what Orochimaru was thinking. He was busy trying to persuade Kushina. He knew Kushina meant well, but he did not need any of this. He only needed to cultivate step by step. Unfortunately, he could not tell Kushina any of that. His efforts to persuade her were therefore doomed to fail.

"Alright, Shiro. Since you're Kushina's friend, don't be so polite. It's nothing important, so accept it. These are my notes on the Three Basic Techniques. Read them when you have time. I hope they'll help you." Jiraiya interrupted Shiro.

Tsunade watched Shiro try his best to stop Kushina. She could tell he genuinely wanted to stop her and had not approached Kushina for personal gain. She said with satisfaction, "Shiro, Kushina was right about you. Here, this is your gift." As she spoke, she handed him a scroll. "I hope you like it."

Tsunade had actually prepared two gifts. The other was very ordinary. If Shiro had only approached Kushina for benefits, she would have given him that ordinary one and found a way to sever their connection.

"Then... thank you, Tsunade." Shiro accepted the scroll without opening it on the spot, since that would have been very impolite. Seeing this, Jiraiya and the others thought even more highly of him. Few people his age could behave like this.

"Orochimaru, you're up. You wouldn't want to take advantage of a child, would you?" Jiraiya said with a faint smile.

Orochimaru glanced at Jiraiya and ignored him. Smiling at Shiro, he said, "Shiro, how about we do this another way?"

"What way?" Shiro frowned. He was still rather wary of Orochimaru. After all, this was a boss who had survived until the end.

"Hehe, there's no need to be nervous, Shiro. I merely want to exchange something with you. I'll offer you one chance to undergo a trial at Ryūchi Cave, as well as one of my ninjutsu, in exchange for something from you. How about it?"

In truth, the only thing Orochimaru was really offering was that ninjutsu. The Summoning Contract had been brought by the White Snake to test Shiro and had nothing to do with him, which was why he added a ninjutsu.

!!!

Everyone present stared at Orochimaru in shock. So long as one passed Ryūchi Cave's trial, one could sign a Summoning Contract with Ryūchi Cave!

Shiro frowned even more deeply. He did not understand Orochimaru's attitude toward him. Logically speaking, his most outstanding achievement over the past two years had been developing Enhancement Ninjutsu. Yet that had been built upon a nonexistent secret technique, and his later performance had also proven that he did not possess corresponding talent.

Logically, Orochimaru should not have paid him this much attention. But this was not the time to think about that. Shiro asked, "What does Senior Orochimaru want to exchange with me?"

"I want to know why you can make Enhancement Ninjutsu so powerful." As he spoke, Orochimaru narrowed his eyes.

"Orochimaru! You've gone too far!"

While Shiro was still in shock, Tsunade had already roared in anger. Her reaction was not surprising. Strictly speaking, Shiro's technique could already be considered a family secret technique, and demanding another's family secret technique was strictly forbidden. It could easily provoke dissatisfaction among the various ninja clans.

"Alright, Tsunade, sit down first. Let's see what Orochimaru has to say. I believe he knows where to draw the line."

Orochimaru glanced at Jiraiya, then said to Shiro, "What do you think, Shiro?"

Shiro had originally intended to use his old excuse against Orochimaru, but immediately gave up on the idea. This was Orochimaru. Since he had said such things, it meant he already understood the nature of Reinforcement Magecraft. Of course, he understood the nature of Reinforcement Magecraft, not Enhancement Ninjutsu. Honestly, if it had been the Third Hokage, Shiro would certainly have used the family secret technique excuse to shut him up. But this was Orochimaru!

Shiro was seventy percent certain that Orochimaru had already learned that Reinforcement Magecraft was not an Emiya Family secret technique! For no other reason than that he was Orochimaru—the only boss who had survived from the early stages to the very end! Besides, Shiro did not think Orochimaru would care much for Reinforcement Magecraft. In the Type-Moon world, Reinforcement Magecraft was not particularly profound Magecraft.

Thus, Shiro decided to agree to Orochimaru's exchange. The current Orochimaru had not yet gone dark. Rather than let Orochimaru keep thinking about him, it was better to do him a favor. In the end, Reinforcement Magecraft was not that important to Shiro, and it was knowledge rather than bloodline. The danger was not that high.

What he feared was having his identity as a transmigrator exposed. At that point, Shiro would not naively believe the Third Hokage and the others would use gentle methods to obtain information.

"I agree, Senior Orochimaru." Seeing Tsunade about to speak and stop him, Shiro immediately interrupted her. "Tsunade, don't worry. It's fine. This isn't a family secret technique, so there's nothing wrong with telling you. I was thinking about something else just now."

"Since you've made your decision, there's nothing we can do. Come on, Tsunade. This kid isn't as immature as he looks. He has his own plans. Let's go out and give them some space." With that, Jiraiya led them outside.

"I'm very glad you agreed, Shiro."

"Before we exchange, can you tell me why, Senior Orochimaru?"

"Of course. It's not something that cannot be said. First, your ninjutsu—well, let's call it ninjutsu for now."

Just as I thought! Shiro's pupils contracted, confirming his earlier guess.

"I discovered that this ninjutsu differs in nature from most ninjutsu. Of course, that alone proved nothing, so I did not pay much attention to it then. It was only after I returned that I accidentally found information about the Emiya Clan in ancient records, along with its connection to the legendary Sage of Six Paths."

"That caught my interest, so I began searching for materials and reconstructed part of the Emiya Clan's Nintaijutsu. I don't need to explain the rest, do I, Shiro?"

Shiro was stunned at first, then smiled bitterly. He had already done everything he could to conceal it. It had not been flawless, but with the excuse of a family secret technique, he had not feared the Third Hokage and the others investigating too deeply. Unfortunately, Orochimaru had appeared out of nowhere and actually reconstructed a lost ninjutsu! There was only one thing to say.

"As expected of Senior Orochimaru!"

Orochimaru merely smiled. "By the way, I made some modifications to that Nintaijutsu. I can give it to you, Shiro. That is also part of the deal."

"If that's the case, then I'll give you the other technique as well. I only hope you'll keep this secret for me."

"No problem. I'm only interested in knowledge." Orochimaru agreed without hesitation, narrowing his eyes.