"One million ryo."
A knowing smile curled Bai Lin's lips.
"Bai Lin, I don't have that much money right now." Orochimaru was moved.
"Pay me when you have the money. From now on, each secret you want to know will cost ten million ryo. We'll count this secret as a transaction."
"Tell me, which secret do you choose to learn?"
Bai Lin narrowed his eyes and smiled gently.
"I'll take the secret whose truth I can verify quickly."
Orochimaru calmed himself and finally made up his mind. He still wanted to know for sure whether Bai Lin was telling the truth. What if all the secrets he'd shared before were fake?
"Good. Since you've made your choice, you now owe me one million ryo."
"I don't know if you've started researching Hashirama Cells yet, but here's the secret: the rejection response to Hashirama Cells can be suppressed by using a Uchiha's Sharingan as a medium."
"Good. The deal is done. Remember the condition I gave you earlier."
As soon as Bai Lin finished speaking, he vanished.
"Bai Lin? What an interesting kid." Orochimaru looked at the spot where Bai Lin had disappeared and licked his lips. "Hashirama Cells and the Uchiha Sharingan?"
"That's an excellent research proposal. I hope the experiment goes smoothly."
Early the next morning.
As soon as Orochimaru's unit left Konoha, Orochimaru assigned Bai Lin, Uchiha Mikoto, and Nawaki to a separate team under the pretext of reconnaissance.
"Hello, Bai Lin. I'm Nawaki. My dream is to become the man who will be Hokage."
"I'd heard your name around the village and hoped I'd get to meet you. I never expected we'd end up on the same team."
"I approve of your Will of Fire. Once I become Hokage, you can be my Anbu Captain!"
The three raced through the dense forest, jumping from one tree branch to another.
As they traveled, Nawaki flashed his cheerful smile and struck up a conversation with Bai Lin.
He didn't know why his teacher had put him on a team with Bai Lin. A ninja's duty was to obey orders. Although he was unhappy about Bai Lin being appointed their team leader, it was his teacher's order, so he had no choice but to follow it.
"Nawaki, your sister told me you've been under Orochimaru's tutelage for two years. What have you actually learned?"
Bai Lin was puzzled. At this point in time, students graduated from the Ninja Academy at ten, unlike in Naruto's time, when they graduated at twelve.
By all rights, Nawaki had been studying under Orochimaru for at least a year, if not two, since graduating from the Ninja Academy.
So why did he seem less capable than an average Genin? He'd even been killed by an Explosive Tag. It was ridiculous.
"I've learned a lot!" Nawaki immediately puffed out his chest, his face full of pride. The branch beneath his feet swayed with him. "Orochimaru-sensei taught me so much. But my Chakra nature is Water, so he taught me all of Grandpa Second's Water Release Ninjutsu. I even learned a few B-rank Water Release techniques recently. Pretty impressive, right?"
He waved his arms around as he spoke, nearly falling off the branch. He quickly regained his balance and added, "If we run into danger, just stay behind me and protect yourselves."
"As the future Hokage, protecting my subordinates is my responsibility."
Bai Lin raised an eyebrow, his tone tinged with curiosity. "Since you've learned so much, how are you in actual combat? How many missions have you completed?"
At the mention of combat, Nawaki's confidence visibly faltered. He scratched his head, and his voice grew quieter. "I've... I've had a few real fights! I went with Orochimaru-sensei's team to deal with some bandits. Most of the time, though, I've just been doing low-level missions in the village."
"Sensei says I'm not ready for high-level missions yet. But I'm strong, you know!"
Bai Lin frowned. Orochimaru wasn't the type to raise a student so cautiously, though he didn't know much about Nawaki.
He'd wanted to meet Nawaki when he visited the Senju Residence, but Nawaki hadn't been there. Today was Bai Lin's first time meeting him.
"Nawaki, I'm your sister's man. From now on, when we're out, remember to call me brother-in-law. Don't be rude," Bai Lin said flatly.
"Brother-in-law? Aren't you my sister's student?" Nawaki stared at him in shock and disbelief.
"What? You don't think I can be?"
"I absolutely refuse to believe it. There's such a big age gap between you and my sister. You must be lying."
"So what if there's an age gap?" Bai Lin kept moving, his tone teasing. "I'm not the one complaining about an old cow eating young grass!"
"Say something like that again, and I'll beat you up!" Nawaki instantly bristled. He adored his sister, and even with his easygoing nature, he'd get angry if someone sullied her reputation.
Bai Lin stopped and smiled gently, narrowing his eyes. "Beat me up? Do you really think you're strong enough?"
Nawaki clenched his fists and started toward him. "Don't push it! You think I'm afraid to hit you?"
"Nawaki, do you still not understand who you are? You don't have what it takes to be a ninja."
"Orochimaru keeps you off high-level missions because he's trying to protect you."
"You're an ordinary ninja who doesn't even realize it, yet you still dream of becoming Hokage. What a joke. The gap between us is like that between mud in a swamp and stars in the sky. We may seem to share the same world, but we're worlds apart."
"Forget beating me. You'd be lucky just to touch my sleeve!"
"You're wrong!" Nawaki's eyes instantly reddened, and his fists clenched with a crackle. "I'm not an ordinary ninja! I'm a descendant of the Senju Clan. I can learn B-rank Water Release. I'll definitely become Hokage! What gives you the right to say that about me?"
"My strength." Bai Lin dodged the punch Nawaki threw.
"Lightning Style: Chidori Senbon!"
Dozens of slender needles of Lightning Release Chakra instantly gathered in Bai Lin's hand and shot toward Nawaki like a downpour.
He deliberately avoided Nawaki's vital spots, leaving only little charred holes in his clothes and pant legs.
Nawaki's punch was still mid-swing when the sudden attack drove him backward. He stumbled, fell from the branch, and slammed hard into the ground.
The Lightning Release left a tingling sting. From that simple exchange, Bai Lin had already gotten a rough estimate of Nawaki's strength.
"See?" Bai Lin withdrew his Chakra, his tone so flat it was almost cruel. "I barely used any of my strength, and you were already completely helpless. So much for your confidence. You couldn't even touch my sleeve, and you still claim you'll become Hokage?"
Uchiha Mikoto watched from a nearby branch. She wanted to help, but knew Bai Lin wouldn't hurt Tsunade's younger brother, so she held back.
"Because your sister is Tsunade, Orochimaru does everything he can to protect you."
"Without that connection, would Orochimaru even bother with someone as untalented as you?"
Orochimaru wasn't yet the man who would stop at nothing to achieve immortality. His bond with Tsunade and Jiraiya still left him with a measure of humanity; he hadn't truly transformed into a snake.
It was Nawaki's death, along with the brutality of the Ninja World War, that finally severed Orochimaru's ties to humanity, plunging him into his research on immortality and turning him into the cold-blooded monster he would later become.
Nawaki had never been a genius. He was a fledgling, carefully sheltered beneath Orochimaru's wing, who had never weathered a storm.
Orochimaru's instruction had given him the basics of ninjutsu, but hadn't taught him how to survive on the battlefield.