Special Training Time (1)

Outside Leaf Village, at a hidden training ground.

Orochimaru stood beneath a dead tree, his arms crossed as his golden snake eyes watched Yunju before him.

The special training had already been underway for a week.

Throughout that week, Yunju had never asked anything about the assassination target. Every day, he rose early to train, received Orochimaru's guidance during the day, organized his notes at night, and reviewed his battles. He was the perfect student—obedient, diligent, and never asking questions.

Orochimaru was very satisfied with his performance.

"Today, I'm going to tell you something," Orochimaru suddenly said.

Yunju stopped training and looked up.

"The assassination target is a very formidable figure." Orochimaru's tone remained calm, but Yunju could hear the weight beneath that calmness. "At his peak, he was not much weaker than me."

Yunju was shaken.

Not much weaker than Orochimaru?

There were only a handful of people in the entire shinobi world worthy of that assessment.

Yet Yunju did not ask who it was. He merely nodded slightly to show that he understood.

Orochimaru glanced at him, the corners of his lips lifting faintly.

"You're not going to ask who it is?"

"When Lord Orochimaru wishes to tell me, he naturally will."

Orochimaru chuckled softly and did not pursue the matter.

"There is someone else you need to meet."

He clapped his hands.

A person emerged from deep within the forest.

Silver hair, round glasses, and a gentle smile on his face. He wore Konoha's shinobi flak jacket, but his bearing was completely unlike that of an ordinary Konoha shinobi—behind that smile was something calm, almost cruel. This shinobi had also appeared during the Chunin Exams!

Kabuto Yakushi.

"Hello, Yunju," Kabuto said, pushing up his glasses. "I've heard much about you."

Yunju nodded slightly. "Hello."

Kabuto walked over and stood beside Orochimaru with natural ease. He did not kneel respectfully on one knee, nor did he offer any unnecessary formalities. The way he stood there made him seem like an equal collaborator rather than a subordinate.

Yunju noticed that.

"Kabuto is the person I trust most," Orochimaru said. "When Sound Village was first established, he was one of its founding members. Intelligence, medical work, experiments, spy networks—he handles all of it."

Yunju looked at Kabuto. Kabuto's smile did not change in the slightest.

"You flatter me, Lord Orochimaru."

Orochimaru turned to look at Yunju.

"Kabuto, like you, is an orphan I saved. The difference is that I found him earlier than I found you, and he has been through more."

Kabuto's expression finally changed slightly—a complicated look, with nostalgia, gratitude, and loyalty intertwined.

"Lord Orochimaru gave me a reason to live," Kabuto said softly. "Without him, I would have long since lost any sense of my own purpose."

Yunju said nothing.

Kabuto was utterly loyal to Orochimaru, completely brainwashed—no, it was not brainwashing, but a deeper kind of bond. Orochimaru had given Kabuto a reason to live, given his existence value, given him a place to belong.

And Yunju himself?

Orochimaru had given him food, power, and training as well.

But he could not give Yunju a "reason to live."

Because Yunju had never regarded Orochimaru as a god.

"Kabuto will assist us in completing the mission," Orochimaru said. "But for now, you still need to improve further."

He took a scroll from his sleeve and tossed it to Yunju.

Yunju caught it and opened the scroll.

Four words came into view—

Hidden Shadow Snake Hands.

"This is a basic version of Hidden Shadow Snake Hands," Orochimaru said. "It's a simplified version of a ninjutsu I developed in my early years. It doesn't demand as much chakra control, so it suits you at your current level."

Yunju quickly scanned the contents of the scroll.

The principle was not complicated—transform chakra into serpentine shapes and release them from the sleeves for grabbing, binding, and attacking. The snakes' forms could be controlled freely, while their length and direction could be adjusted at will.

But Yunju saw more than that.

"What are your thoughts?" Orochimaru asked.

"This technique..." Yunju looked up. "The snakes have excellent flexibility. If used to seize a target, they can be combined with other ninjutsu into chained attacks. Also, the elasticity of their bodies can be used for propulsion—launching yourself or an ally for rapid movement."

A glimmer flashed through Orochimaru's eyes.

"Propulsion?"

"Yes," Yunju said. "The snakes released by Hidden Shadow Snake Hands are solidified chakra, not real snakes. Their extensibility and elasticity can be controlled manually. If one end of a snake is fixed to a point and the other is attached to part of your body, then it suddenly contracts—it can generate a powerful launching force."

Orochimaru fell silent.

Then he smiled.

Not his usual cold, condescending smile, but a genuine smile of appreciation.

"Yunju," Orochimaru said, "you continue to surprise me more and more."

He did not say whether he had already thought of that himself.

The training in Hidden Shadow Snake Hands began.

Meanwhile.

Outside Leaf Village, on a rooftop near Sand Village's temporary encampment.

A full moon hung overhead.

Moonlight spread across the rooftop like a thin veil, stretching the figure seated at the edge of the eaves into a long shadow.

Gaara sat alone, his knees drawn up to his chest and his arms wrapped around them.

His eyes were open.

His bloodshot eyes stared toward the distant Leaf Village, unfocused pupils holding nothing but an irritated, bloodthirsty glint.

"Sasuke..."

He murmured the name.

Kill him.

Kill him, and he could prove his own existence.

Gaara's fingers tightened slightly, his nails digging into his palm.

The scent of blood calmed him a little, but the emptiness remained.

An emptiness no number of killings could fill.

"I was planning to make my move after you fell asleep."

A voice came from the other end of the roof.

Gaara slowly turned his head.

A boy with bandages wrapped around his head, leaving only his left eye exposed, stood beneath the moonlight. His right arm wore perforated armor, and a kunai hung at his waist.

"Since you're awake, let's settle this."

Dosu's tone was filled with absolute confidence.

"I've figured out your sand. It's nothing special. It can't move faster than my sound waves."

Gaara looked at Dosu without speaking.

There was no emotion in his eyes—not because he was calm, but because he did not think this person was worth feeling anything over.

Dosu raised his right arm and poured chakra into the armor.

"Sound Release: Resonant Piercer—"

High-frequency sound waves burst from the armor. A piercing hum exploded through the night sky as the sound formed a visible shockwave and slammed toward Gaara.

Sound waves were indeed faster than sand.

Dosu had not been wrong about that.

But he had misjudged one thing.

The instant he raised his arm, the chakra around Gaara changed.

It did not increase.

Its nature changed.

Sand surged up from beneath Gaara's feet, not to defend, not to attack—but to devour.

Dosu's pupils contracted sharply.

Gaara's eyes became distorted—his sclera turned black, his pupils gold, and his entire face warped as though something beneath his skin were struggling to break free.

Tailed beast transformation.

A partial tailed beast form.

Shukaku's power awakened beneath the moonlight. The sand churned madly as if it had come alive, and the entire rooftop trembled.

Dosu's hand froze.

Resonant Piercer was still being released. The sound waves struck Gaara, but those high-frequency vibrations vanished like mud into the sea, unable to even stir the corner of Gaara's clothes.

"Y-You... what are you?! Yunju, you lied to me?"

Dosu took a step back.

Gaara's warped face was reflected in his left eye. His hands shook, his legs shook, and even his voice shook.

It was not fear.

It was terror.

The instinctive terror born from seeing something beyond one's understanding.

Gaara did not answer.

He did not need to.

The sand moved.

Not grain by grain, but in waves. Fine grains surged toward Dosu like a tide, so fast that he did not even have a chance to run.

The sand wrapped around him.

From his feet, to his calves, thighs, waist, chest, and neck—

"Wait—"

Before he could finish the last word, sand flooded into his mouth.

Then—

"Sand Binding Coffin."

Five fingers clenched.

Blood and shredded flesh squeezed out through the gaps in the sand.

"Sand Burial."

The sand dispersed.

Nothing remained on the rooftop.

Except for the dark red pool of blood at Gaara's feet, still flowing.

Gaara looked at the pool of blood, his golden pupils devoid of emotion.

No.

There was one emotion.

Satisfaction.

Not satisfaction at killing Dosu, but satisfaction at having "proven his existence."

"I am who I am," Gaara murmured, his voice hoarse and low. "I can kill people, so I am alive."

He raised his head and looked toward Leaf Village.

Then tilted his head. "Who is Yunju?"

Beneath the moonlight, Gaara sat on the rooftop, with blood covering the ground before him.

He did not wipe the blood from his face.

He let it dry.

"It doesn't matter, Sasuke Uchiha. You'll be the next one I kill."