Sato Hideaka walked into the alley and stopped at a suitable spot—somewhere quiet and secluded, but close enough to the street that he could quickly run for help. He wanted to catch whoever was following him. Even if he failed, he could make a quick escape into the crowded street!
He abruptly stopped and addressed the silent alley in a calm voice. "Come out. There's no point hiding. I've already spotted you..."
His voice echoed through the dim alley. Apart from the wind rustling the leaves of a nearby tree, there was nothing unusual.
Had his instincts been wrong? Maybe he'd been too on edge lately.
Sato Hideaka shook his head with a wry smile, tucked the book under his arm, and prepared to leave. Just then, a dark figure suddenly jumped down from the wall and landed in front of him.
It was Sarutobi Asuma, who had been watching him at school with gritted teeth. Asuma stared at Sato Hideaka with a solemn expression and said gravely, "Transfer student, ever since you first came to school, I've known you weren't an ordinary person. But I never thought you'd be able to spot me so easily!"
Staring at Sarutobi Asuma, who looked ready for a fight, Sato Hideaka was dumbfounded. He'd been about to leave—when had he spotted Asuma? Asuma had jumped down from the wall himself!
When Sato Hideaka didn't say a word, Sarutobi Asuma seemed to take it as an insult. He put one hand on his hip, pointed at Sato Hideaka with the other, and struck a chuunibyou pose. "You'd better stay away from Kurenai!"
Sato Hideaka sighed and replied helplessly, "How am I supposed to stay away from Kurenai? We're desk mates. It's not like I can sit out in the hallway. That would be pretty disruptive..."
"I don't mean sitting farther away! I mean your relationship... Your relationship! Do you even understand what I'm saying?" Sarutobi Asuma said in exasperation.
"I think I get it, but I'm not sure. Aren't those the same thing?"
"Ugh, talking to you brats is exhausting. Anyway, just don't get too close to Kurenai. And in twenty days, there'll be a Genin Exam. Transfer student, do you dare to make a bet with me? Whoever loses can't talk to Kurenai anymore or hang out with her. Anyone who backs out is a dog!"
"The Genin Exam? That does sound interesting." Sato Hideaka thought it over for a moment, then shook his head. "I'll take the Genin Exam, but I can't make that bet with you. Relationships are a two-way street. I can't end my friendship with Kurenai just because I made a bet with you. And if we value our friendship, we shouldn't wager it like that."
"Hmph, I knew a coward like you wouldn't dare to bet. But I'm taking the Genin Exam too. Let's see which of us passes and gets a Genin Forehead Protector!"
Sarutobi Asuma declared it as if he were making an oath. Though he agreed with Sato Hideaka's point, he still refused to back down. He thought that if he became a Genin while Sato Hideaka failed...
Then he'd have valued the friendship between Kurenai and himself without putting it up as a wager—and Kurenai would be impressed with him!
"Fine, fine. Do whatever you want. I'm going to the library now. Want to come?" Sato Hideaka asked listlessly, waving a hand.
"The library? Hmph, why are you going to the library? You'd better take the Genin Exam seriously. I'm going back to train. This time, I'm definitely becoming a Genin!"
With that, Sarutobi Asuma jumped onto the wall, his body perpendicular to it. He took a few steps along the wall, vaulted over it, and disappeared from Sato Hideaka's sight. It seemed he was going back to train hard for the Genin Exam.
But why take the trouble to climb over the wall when there was a perfectly good road?
Sato Hideaka shook his head and put the little interruption out of his mind. Then he continued alone toward Konoha's library. After about twenty minutes, he arrived at the largest library in Konoha!
The Konoha Library was a stone building with a domed roof and a vast interior. Its shelves were crammed with books, an ocean of volumes covering ninjutsu, literature, geography, history, law, art, medicine, picture books, sociology, and more—nearly every subject in the entire Naruto world.
Sato Hideaka went to the section on ninjutsu theory and picked out books such as The Classification of Hand Seals, Elements and Hand Seals, and The Relationship Between Hand Seals and Ninjutsu. Then he sat in the reading area and began studying them.
The books weren't written entirely in Japanese. Since Sato Hideaka had never formally studied the language, reading them was a struggle. He could barely understand their contents with only his conversational Japanese and a Japanese dictionary.
Still, the books weren't much more advanced than what his teacher, Yano Koji, had taught him. Their contents were simply more comprehensive and systematic. Using them to work out the Hand Seals for Crystal Release ninjutsu wouldn't be difficult. The hard part was figuring out the special chakra pathways that corresponded to those Hand Seals!
For example, chakra followed different routes through the body for different Fire Style techniques. Different types of ninjutsu also gathered chakra in different places. Fire Style generally gathered it in the throat, Earth Release in the palms, and Wind Style in the throat, the palms, and so on!
With these basic ninjutsu books, he could work out the Hand Seals, but figuring out the chakra pathways through the body was much harder!
Just as Sato Hideaka, disappointed, was closing the books and preparing to return them, he noticed someone staring at him with what seemed to be great interest.
The person wore a gray-and-white robe and had long, straight black hair that fell over his shoulders. His face was deathly pale, as though powdered with makeup. A pair of blue Tomoe earrings hung from his ears, and his eyes, like vertical snake pupils, gleamed with a dangerous light.
There was only one person in Konoha with such distinctive, snake-like features... Orochimaru!
Sato Hideaka couldn't think of anyone else in Konoha who looked so much like a snake. Why had this man approached him? Judging by the timeline, Orochimaru hadn't started experimenting on human subjects or researching the Living Corpse Reincarnation technique yet.
"Hideaka, are you researching powerful Lava Release ninjutsu?"
Orochimaru watched the five-year-old Sato Hideaka with keen interest. There wasn't a trace of disdain in his eyes; he regarded the boy as an equal. His hoarse yet magnetic voice made him strangely likable.
Sato Hideaka shivered inwardly. He knew Orochimaru was a fanatic who experimented on human subjects. The man also had a powerful charisma and was exceptionally good at luring children in, making them willing to die for him.
But no matter how beguiling they seemed, snakes were cold-blooded creatures!
"Um, mister, I don't think I know you." Sato Hideaka blinked his blue-green eyes and asked, puzzled, "How do you know my name? And how do you know I'm researching ninjutsu?"
A sinister smile appeared at the corner of Orochimaru's mouth. "That isn't important. What matters is, why does someone as young as five want to develop a ninjutsu of his own?"
"To become stronger. In this world, only the strong can protect the people they want to protect!"
Sato Hideaka's expression turned serious. Whether the Third Hokage was testing him or Orochimaru had simply taken an interest in him, wanting to grow stronger and protect others was a perfect answer for either of them.
"I see. Your interests are rather similar to mine, Hideaka. As it happens, I have a scroll here containing information about the relationship between chakra pathways and Hand Seals. It may be useful to you!"
With that, Orochimaru suddenly opened his mouth. His throat swelled to three times its normal size, and he spat out a scroll coated in mucus. He held it out to the wide-eyed Sato Hideaka.
Sato Hideaka froze. Staring at the mucus dripping from the scroll, he didn't know whether to take it. If he did, the slimy scroll would be pretty disgusting. If he didn't, would Orochimaru think he was insulting him?
After thinking it over, Sato Hideaka accepted the scroll Orochimaru offered. An arm couldn't fight a thigh; if he angered the unpredictable Orochimaru, he wouldn't be nearly as easy to deal with as Tsunade Senju.
"Then I really must thank you, sir. I've been searching the library for ages, and this is exactly the kind of information I was missing. I haven't asked your name yet. That way, I might be able to thank you properly in the future."
"My name is Orochimaru. If you really do develop a Lava Release technique of your own, there's no need to thank me. More than a thousand people have read this material, perhaps even ten thousand, yet fewer than ten have managed to glean a technique from it."
A wry smile appeared on Sato Hideaka's lips. "You're right. I may not be able to glean a technique from it either. But whatever the result, I still want to thank you. By the way, it's gotten late. I should head home... Until next time, Lord Orochimaru."
"Until next time, Hideaka. They call you a once-in-a-century genius. Let me see just how much you're capable of!"
Watching Sato Hideaka disappear into the night, Orochimaru's tongue stretched nearly half a meter from his mouth, impossibly long for a human. He licked his pale lips and muttered to himself, his low, hushed voice tinged with a feverish excitement.