Orochimaru-style Substitution Technique

"Genjutsu: Sharingan!!!"

After putting enough distance between himself and Orochimaru, Yin Jie, following behind the kunai he had thrown, boldly unleashed his Sharingan genjutsu on Orochimaru.

Although he had barely practiced genjutsu, with the Sharingan's ocular power and his immense spiritual energy, casting a most basic illusion was not much of a problem.

Of course, he knew that the genjutsu he cast would likely have little effect on Orochimaru. And even if it did work, Orochimaru would probably break free of it in an instant.

After all, the gap in strength was indeed rather large. Moreover, this Orochimaru was not yet the later Orochimaru whose repeated reincarnations had weakened his resistance to genjutsu.

But none of that mattered.

All Yin Jie wanted was that brief, fleeting moment of mental disorientation caused by the genjutsu.

And the instant the illusion took effect—

Yin Jie clenched several threads tightly between his teeth, then leaned sharply backward in a tactical retreat. All ten fingers exerted force at once as he viciously yanked backward.

"Sharingan Windmill: Three-Bladed Sword!!!"

"Bzz..."

"Scrape..."

As the sound of friction rang out, strands of silver-glinting wire suddenly pulled taut. Just like that, Orochimaru was held in place by Yin Jie, seemingly "without resistance."

What followed was Yin Jie bringing his palms together and puffing out his cheeks slightly.

Snake—Tiger. After another simplified sequence of hand seals, a massive blaze of vivid, scorching red flame swept forward like a surging tide, racing along the steel wires. Like a savage fire dragon, it swallowed Orochimaru in the blink of an eye.

"Fire Release: Dragon Fire Technique!!!"

The blazing flames raged.

Even the surrounding air seemed to warp faintly from the heat.

Orochimaru stood motionless where he was, forcibly "experiencing" the power of Yin Jie's Fire Release.

"Crackle!"

"Crackle!"

"Crackle!"

As the flames enveloping Orochimaru slowly dissipated, the sight before him made Yin Jie's pupils contract sharply.

What remained in place was unmistakably a body burned pitch-black!

And Yin Jie could vaguely tell that this body was Orochimaru, who had taken a full hit from the Dragon Fire Technique!

But what truly shocked Yin Jie was Orochimaru's next move.

The charred Orochimaru opened his mouth wide. Then two pale hands reached out, followed by a brand-new Orochimaru crawling out from the stretched-open blackened husk.

Orochimaru-style Substitution Technique! He developed it this early? As expected of Orochimaru, whose ability to stay alive is unmatched in the ninja world...

Yin Jie silently thought to himself. He was no stranger to this technique. In the original story, Uchiha Sasuke had used it to successfully evade Amaterasu, the black flames that would not be extinguished until their target had burned to ash. It had left a deep impression on him.

Though the process of shedding skin looked rather horrifying, ninjutsu came in all sorts of strange forms and effects. And there was no denying that this was an exceptionally practical, life-saving technique!

Thus—

Yin Jie's gaze upon Orochimaru immediately filled with intense longing.

"Teacher Orochimaru! I want to learn that!"

Orochimaru did not disappoint Yin Jie. After restraining his aura, he used the Body Flicker Technique to appear before him, pulled a scroll covered in slime from his mouth, and tossed it to Yin Jie.

"Hehehe~"

Orochimaru gave an inscrutable, sinister chuckle. "Let us call this a gift to congratulate you on becoming a genin!"

Yin Jie did not mind the way Orochimaru had produced the scroll. He caught it directly, casually placed it into his ninja tool pouch, and prepared to study it thoroughly after returning.

He had always valued abilities that could save his life.

"Thank you, Teacher Orochimaru!"

Yin Jie bowed in thanks, the scarlet in his eyes fading away at the same time.

This battle—or rather, this test—had come to an end.

"And... thank you for going easy on me, Teacher!"

After a pause, Yin Jie added this. After all, Orochimaru had not merely held back during the battle just now. Calling it letting him off easy would have been more accurate.

"Hehehe~"

Orochimaru once again let out an inscrutable laugh, but this time, Yin Jie could clearly hear a trace of pleasure mixed within it.

After all, everyone liked praise, and kind words never hurt. Even someone with Orochimaru's personality was no exception.

That small bit of flattery from Yin Jie had made him feel thoroughly pleased.

Not long after returning to the laboratory, Orochimaru tailored a training plan for Yin Jie based on his circumstances.

Its foremost priority was improving his genjutsu.

After all, Orochimaru had personally experienced the crude genjutsu Yin Jie had used just now.

Yet even such rough genjutsu had forcibly restrained Orochimaru for nearly a second, thanks to Yin Jie's immense spiritual energy.

Of course, that was also because he had deliberately chosen not to evade it.

Still, Yin Jie's performance was not something an ordinary chunin could achieve. Only Uchiha jonin with three-tomoe Sharingan might be capable of trapping him in genjutsu when he was off guard.

It had to be said that the Uchiha Clan, possessing the Sharingan bloodline limit, generally had spiritual energy that exceeded their physical energy.

But Yin Jie was especially outstanding. His spiritual energy not only surpassed his physical energy, but exceeded it by roughly four or five times.

Therefore, in Orochimaru's view, it would be a terrible waste of Yin Jie's absurdly powerful spiritual energy if he did not properly further his studies in genjutsu.

Though Orochimaru himself was not proficient in genjutsu and rarely used it against enemies in battle, he was more than capable of guiding Yin Jie at this stage.

And his requirements for Yin Jie were simple: he did not need to master it, but he had to at least be able to use it properly in battle.

After all, in Orochimaru's current understanding, against ninja who had reached his level of strength, genjutsu could not play the decisive, battle-ending role it did against weaker opponents.

Of course, Orochimaru did not know that if the story continued as it was meant to, the boomerang called "genjutsu" would one day be thrown right back at him by a ninja named Uchiha Itachi.