Orochimaru Comes Calling

Night.

To celebrate Yin Jie successfully passing the graduation exam and becoming a genin, Uchiha Yasashiro personally cooked a huge tableful of dishes and invited Uchiha Fugaku and Uchiha Mikoto over as well.

At the dinner table, they ate and chatted, but most of the conversation centered on Yin Jie.

For the Uchiha Clan, whether it was Clan Head Uchiha Xuan, the Grand Elder Uchiha Zong, or Uchiha Fugaku, they all hoped that Yin Jie would join the clan-controlled Konoha Military Police Force after graduation.

And that was also the choice of most Uchiha clansmen.

It could be said that if Yin Jie agreed, they would certainly reason things out with the Third Hokage, Hiruzen Sarutobi.

After all, what Hiruzen Sarutobi had done regarding Yin Jie's enrollment back then had been far from honorable.

Of course, Yasashiro did not hold any particularly strong opinion on the matter.

Whether Yin Jie joined the Konoha Military Police Force or followed the standard arrangement of being led by a jonin instructor, Yasashiro thought either option was fine.

Thus, he did not interfere and instead left the choice to Yin Jie.

Yin Jie himself did not particularly care either. Whether it was the Konoha Military Police Force or carrying out missions under a jonin instructor, either way, he would have time to continue growing.

However, before Yin Jie could voice his thoughts, a steady, rhythmic knock sounded from outside.

Uchiha Yasashiro raised his brows slightly. He did not know which clansman would come calling so late at night, but he still got up, walked to the door, and pulled it open.

Yet the people outside first left him stunned, then made his expression tighten at once.

"Lady Tsunade!"

"And..."

"Lord Orochimaru!"

Uchiha Yasashiro slowly spoke the visitors' names.

He had not expected those two to come to visit the Uchiha Clan compound at this hour.

But then, he seemed to realize something.

It seemed Hiruzen Sarutobi had found some extraordinary "persuaders" in order to keep Yin Jie from joining the Konoha Military Police Force!

"Please, come in..."

Having regained his composure, Uchiha Yasashiro invited Tsunade and Orochimaru inside.

Seeing this, Fugaku and Mikoto, who were inside, hurriedly greeted Tsunade and Orochimaru as well.

After the Second Shinobi World War ended, Tsunade and Orochimaru had earned great renown within the village through their military achievements, and they had truly become part of the village's upper ranks.

Yin Jie was the same.

He was not surprised by Tsunade's arrival, but Orochimaru's purpose was open to question. After all, neither he nor the Uchiha Clan had had much contact with Orochimaru before.

Still, Yin Jie was not afraid of Orochimaru. Though the man was the shinobi world's most gifted and dangerous mad scientist, at this point in time, he likely had not completely "fallen to darkness" and embarked down the "evil path," nor had he developed that pathological obsession with the Sharingan.

Naturally, Yin Jie's forms of address for Tsunade and Orochimaru were completely different.

This made Orochimaru cast Tsunade, standing beside him, a slightly surprised glance.

Though he knew Yin Jie had been brought back by Tsunade's team, he truly had not known that Tsunade, a member of the Senju Clan, had such a close relationship with Yin Jie, an Uchiha. Tsunade had never mentioned it to him either.

"May I ask what brings Lady Tsunade and Lord Orochimaru here so late at night?"

After Tsunade and Orochimaru took their seats on the sofa one after the other, Uchiha Yasashiro, as the host, spoke up to ask.

Though he already had some guesses about their purpose, he still needed to hear it from them personally.

"Don't mind me. I just came along with this guy!"

Tsunade pointed vaguely at Orochimaru, smiling as she shook her head. Then, without the slightest sense of reserve, she found a comfortable position and reclined on the sofa.

Although this was her first visit to Yin Jie's home, given her personality and her relationship with Yin Jie, she did not treat herself like an outsider in the least.

"Oh, right!"

Then, as though she had suddenly remembered something, Tsunade straightened up, pulled a sealing scroll from her ninja tool pouch, and tossed it to Yin Jie, winking at him as she did.

"Congratulations on graduating! You'll like it!"

Yin Jie caught the sealing scroll Tsunade threw him, a delighted smile appearing on his face. "Thank you, Sister Tsunade!"

The scene of Tsunade and Yin Jie interacting was reflected in Orochimaru's dark golden vertical pupils. His eyes narrowed slightly without his realizing it, and countless thoughts flashed through his mind.

Originally, his interest in Yin Jie had only been superficial.

It was only because of the request of Danzo Shimura, who was working with him, that he had gone to his teacher, Hiruzen Sarutobi, and voluntarily offered to become Uchiha Yin Jie's jonin instructor.

But that was all—merely a jonin instructor.

He had never intended to take Yin Jie as a disciple. He had considered it nothing more than an occasional bit of relaxation amid his experiments.

However, when he went to the Hokage's office that afternoon to see Hiruzen Sarutobi, Tsunade happened to be there as well, and she had said many good things about Yin Jie.

Most importantly, if Tsunade had not developed hemophobia, she had originally planned to serve as Yin Jie's jonin instructor herself.

That piqued Orochimaru's interest.

After all, Tsunade had high standards, both in terms of insight and in what she demanded from disciples.

Therefore, Yin Jie, whom Tsunade thought so highly of, was more than qualified to become Orochimaru's disciple.

Although he was currently more inclined to hole up in his laboratory and conduct experiments, he did not reject the idea of taking on a truly gifted disciple.

Besides, this would also be helping Tsunade. At this point, he still cared greatly about the bond between them.

"Yasashiro-kun, Fugaku-kun, Yin Jie-kun, and this lady should be Uchiha Mikoto?"

Orochimaru politely addressed each of them in turn. However, because he did not know Uchiha Mikoto and had only briefly learned of Uchiha Fugaku's personal connections through intelligence reports without seeing any photographs, his tone became somewhat uncertain at the end.

But when Uchiha Fugaku nodded, Orochimaru knew he had not mistaken her identity. After a brief pause, he continued, his gaze settling on Yin Jie. The purple eyeshadow around his eyes looked somewhat sinister beneath the lamplight.

"Teacher Sarutobi has agreed to have me serve as Yin Jie-kun's jonin instructor. That is the purpose of my visit."

Orochimaru's voice was somewhat hoarse, but his words left everyone present except Tsunade utterly astonished.

Yet soon afterward, Uchiha Yasashiro and Uchiha Fugaku's hearts stirred as countless gains and losses flashed through their minds, because they understood what Orochimaru was trying to convey beneath his words.