"Ninja Art: Great Serpent."
With that voice came a Great Serpent, bursting in fiercely!
The serpent was as thick as a water bucket, its entire body covered in indestructible white scales. The moment it appeared, it not only blocked Uchiha Retsu's attack, but also shielded Obito and Hideki beneath it.
Uchiha Retsu retreated again and again until he reached the wall of the training ground. Chakra clung to the soles of his feet against the wall, leaving his body parallel to the ground.
His eyes fixed on the Great Serpent and on the cold, sinister figure standing proudly in the field with two fingers raised.
"Orochimaru... sir." Uchiha Retsu frowned deeply, clearly displeased by Orochimaru's arrival.
"It is rare to see Lord Orochimaru at the Uchiha Compound. May I ask what brings you here?"
Uchiha Retsu asked with a frown.
The newcomer was none other than Orochimaru.
This cold lord of Konoha usually had little involvement with the Uchiha.
Yet he had suddenly appeared here and directly saved those two brats, leaving Uchiha Retsu caught in a difficult position.
He could not figure out Orochimaru's intentions, nor did he know what relationship Obito and Hideki had with him.
"Indeed, I rarely come here," Orochimaru said in his hoarse voice as he ended his technique.
The white snake turned into a puff of smoke and vanished. Watching from the side, Hideki could not tell whether it had been a ninjutsu or a summoning technique.
Orochimaru noticed Hideki's gaze. His snake-like eyes swept over the boy before shifting to Uchiha Retsu on the training ground wall.
"But with your rank and strength, even if I came often, you would not be qualified to see me."
What a venomous tongue!
Obito had yet to grasp it, but Kakashi and Hideki widened their eyes in unison.
The words did little damage, but the insult was off the charts!
Uchiha Retsu's expression immediately turned cold.
His attempt to teach two brats a lesson had been stopped, and now he had been humiliated. Uchiha Retsu made no effort to conceal his hatred for Orochimaru, the cold lord before him.
As always, this was Uchiha territory. They feared no one.
But not fearing someone was one thing; whether they would act was another.
The Uchiha clan members were ambitious and arrogant, true, but they were not stupid. In fact, they were quite intelligent.
Uchiha Retsu cast a cold glance at Hideki and Obito before turning his gaze back to Orochimaru.
"One day, I will make you look directly into my eyes... Lord Orochimaru."
With that, Uchiha Retsu vanished.
Yet few people cared about his departure.
Orochimaru had never regarded Uchiha Retsu highly. He did not even know who the man was. At that moment, his snake eyes were full of interest as he stared at little Hideki before him.
And Hideki stared straight back at Orochimaru, so intently that he did not even notice when Uchiha Retsu left.
Uchiha Retsu using Wind Release to counter Hydrogen Release had indeed been beyond Hideki's expectations.
But compared to that possibility, one he had considered while developing Hydrogen Release, Orochimaru's sudden appearance was what truly caught Hideki off guard.
What's with this guy...?
Hideki was a little bewildered. At this point in time, Orochimaru was about as dangerous as Uchiha Madara!
It was not thieves one feared, but thieves who had their eyes on you.
In that regard, Orochimaru and Uchiha Madara were much the same. Both were after children to abduct.
At minimum, that was five to ten years in prison.
"It seems you can already skillfully regulate your chakra. Very good..."
Orochimaru's voice was hoarse yet alluring. Obito was completely lost, the flames of gossip burned fiercely in Kakashi's eyes, and Hideki's heart sank.
This guy really was plotting something against him!
From that tone... had he been staking him out for a long time already?
"Actually... Obito deserves most of the credit. He has improved the most."
Hideki decisively pushed Obito forward, hoping Orochimaru would discover Obito's potential soon and compete with Uchiha Madara.
Yet before Obito could even feel moved, Orochimaru suddenly raised two fingers again.
That gave Hideki a fright. Chakra immediately gathered in his palm as he entered self-defense mode!
In a crisis, a person's potential could often erupt. Hideki's fastest record for forming a Rasengan had been three seconds, but this time, he forcibly shaved off another second.
But just as he formed a Rasengan within two seconds, prepared to fight for his chastity, a little white snake carrying a scroll appeared in Orochimaru's hand.
"Huh?" Obito was confused again. What was wrong with Hideki?
Even Kakashi was left baffled by Hideki's reaction.
The atmosphere in the field instantly turned awkward, but Orochimaru clearly did not care.
He looked at Hideki with a faint smile. The interest in his eyes had reached a subtly terrifying level.
"Your technique requires a high degree of chakra nature transformation. These are some ninjutsu. They should be enough for you at your current stage."
As Orochimaru spoke, his body slowly melted into the ground, giving the impression that he was slipping underground.
The little snake spat out a wet, slimy scroll and vanished along with Orochimaru.
"I look forward to... our next meeting."
Orochimaru's voice echoed through the air, and Hideki's expression changed again and again.
First the strange old man, then Orochimaru. He felt as though he had recently offended the Grand Duke of Jupiter, but the problem was that it was not even his zodiac year.
The bolder Obito picked up the scroll Orochimaru had left behind. Upon opening it, he froze on the spot.
"Fire Release: Fire Dragon Bullet, Water Release: Water Chain Bullet, Lightning Release: Lightning Explosion, Wind Release: Great Breakthrough, Earth Release: Underworld... How do you read this character again?"
"Swamp. Earth Release: Swamp of the Underworld. It's a B-rank Earth Release ninjutsu." Kakashi had somehow come over and explained, his expression equally strange.
Obito cried out in shock, "Holy crap, we struck it rich, Hideki!"
Orochimaru had left behind five whole ninjutsu, and their ranks were generally quite high. They were far stronger than Hideki's little water ball and little battery!
"Lord Orochimaru truly is such a kind and approachable senior..." Kakashi said after being stunned for a long while.
That finally brought Hideki back to his senses.
Kind and approachable?
Forget it... When he defected from the village later, one glare from him would make Kakashi question his life. Then he would truly be nuclearly kind and approachable.
At the same time, Hideki felt rather puzzled.
At this point, Orochimaru shouldn't have become a scientist yet, right?
According to Hideki's memories, Orochimaru only embarked on his path of no return after failing to become Hokage.
By all rights, there was no reason for him to have his eye on Hideki now.
"Once I get my act together, I must find a chance to properly thank Lord Orochimaru."
Obito let out a breath and sighed as he looked at the Great Fire Dragon inside the scroll.
Hideki nodded at those words.
No matter what, Orochimaru's appearance today had indeed helped the three of them immensely.
Not only had he driven off Uchiha Ruohuo's brother, he had also left behind this ninjutsu scroll, resolving Hideki's urgent need.
Just from hearing the names of those ninjutsu, Hideki knew they would be very useful to him and perfectly suited to Hydrogen Release.
This time, Orochimaru truly was a great guy.
Too bad the Hokage position is inherited by recommendation. Otherwise, I'd definitely vote for you someday.
Hideki murmured inwardly.
What Orochimaru would become in the future was not actually that important to him.
That was the future, after all. Given some time, he could become nuclearly kind and approachable too—and his would be the real kind of world nuclear peace!
They were all intellectuals. Who was afraid of whom?
Before you continue