Looking Forward to Our Next Meeting

"Ninja Art: Great Serpent."

With that voice, a great serpent suddenly burst in!

The serpent was as thick as a water barrel, covered from head to tail 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 forest patrol grounds. Chakra clung to the soles of his feet as his body became parallel to the ground.

His eyes fixed on the great serpent, as well as 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 visit 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 to do with the Uchiha.

Yet he had suddenly appeared here and directly saved those two brats, leaving Uchiha Retsu in quite a dilemma.

He could not figure out Orochimaru's intentions, nor did he know what relationship Obito and Hideki had with him.

"I indeed rarely come here," Orochimaru said in his hoarse voice as he ended his technique.

The white serpent turned into white 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 little boy before turning toward Uchiha Retsu on the training ground wall.

"However, with your rank and strength, even if I came often, you would not be qualified to see me."

What a venomous tongue!

Obito had not quite processed it yet, but Kakashi and Hideki both widened their eyes in unspoken agreement.

The words did not deal much damage, but the humiliation was off the charts!

Uchiha Retsu's expression immediately turned cold.

Having been stopped from teaching two brats a lesson and then insulted in turn, Uchiha Retsu made no effort to hide his hatred toward Orochimaru, the cold lord before him.

As the saying went, this was the Uchiha Compound. They feared no one.

But not fearing someone was one thing; whether to make a move was another.

The Uchiha clan had ambition and pride, that was true, but they were not lacking in intelligence either. In fact, they were quite sharp.

Uchiha Retsu coldly glanced at Hideki and Obito before returning his gaze to Orochimaru.

"One day, I will make you look me in the eyes... Lord Orochimaru."

With that, Uchiha Retsu vanished.

Yet few people cared about his departure.

Orochimaru had never regarded Uchiha Retsu as worth his attention. He did not even know who the man was. At that moment, his snake eyes were filled with interest as he stared at little Hideki before him.

Hideki, meanwhile, stared straight back at Orochimaru, so focused 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 with that possibility, one he had considered while developing Hydrogen Release, Orochimaru's sudden appearance was what truly caught him off guard.

What is with this guy...?

Hideki was a little dazed. At this point in time, Orochimaru was every bit as dangerous as Uchiha Madara!

It was not the thief who stole from you that was frightening, but the thief who kept his eye on you.

In that regard, Orochimaru and Uchiha Madara were basically the same: both were after kidnapped children.

The sentence started at five years and went up to ten.

"It seems you can already proficiently regulate chakra. Very good..."

Orochimaru's voice was hoarse yet alluring. Obito was utterly confused, Kakashi's love of gossip blazed in his eyes, and Hideki felt a chill run through his heart.

This guy really was plotting against him!

From that tone... he had probably been staking the place out for a long time!

"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 for him.

However, 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 an emergency, people could often unleash their potential. 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 in two seconds and prepared to fight for his chastity, a small white snake appeared in Orochimaru's hand with a scroll in its mouth.

"Huh?" Obito was confused again. What was wrong with Hideki?

Even Kakashi was left baffled by Hideki's move.

The atmosphere on the field immediately became awkward, but Orochimaru clearly did not care.

He looked at Hideki with an ambiguous smile, the interest in his eyes reaching an almost hair-raising level.

"Your technique has high requirements for 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 sinking underground.

The little snake spat out the damp, slimy scroll and vanished along with Orochimaru.

"I look forward to... our next meeting."

Orochimaru's voice echoed through the air as Hideki's expression changed again and again.

First that creepy old man, then Orochimaru. He felt like he had been cursed with bad luck lately, but the problem was that it was not even his zodiac year!

The bolder Obito picked up the scroll Orochimaru had left behind. 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: Underworld Swamp. It is a B-rank Earth Release ninjutsu," Kakashi explained as he somehow came closer, his expression equally strange.

Obito cried out in shock, "Holy crap, we struck it rich, Hideki!"

Orochimaru had left behind a full five ninjutsu, and most of them were not low-rank. 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 a long moment of shock.

Those words finally brought Hideki back to his senses.

Kind and approachable?

Yeah, right... Once he defected from the village, one glare from him would make Kakashi question his entire life. Then he would be truly nuclear-friendly.

At the same time, Hideki was somewhat puzzled.

At this point, Orochimaru should not have become a scientist yet, right?

According to Hideki's memories, Orochimaru had embarked on the path of no return only after failing to become Hokage.

There should have been no reason for him to set his sights on Hideki now.

"Once I get myself together, I have to find a chance to properly thank Lord Orochimaru."

Obito let out a breath and looked at the Great Fire Dragon inside the scroll with a sigh.

Hideki nodded at that.

No matter what, Orochimaru's appearance today had indeed helped the three of them enormously.

Not only had he driven off Uchiha Ruohuo's brother, but he had also left behind such a ninjutsu scroll, solving Hideki's urgent problem.

Hideki only had to hear the names of those techniques to know they would be highly useful to him and well suited to Hydrogen Release.

This time, Orochimaru truly was a great person.

Too bad the Hokage position is passed down through recommendation. Otherwise, I would 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. Give him some time, and he could become nuclear-friendly too—truly, world-nuclear-peace nuclear!

They were all intellectuals. Who was afraid of whom?