While everyone else was still reeling from Hatake Sakumo's earlier explosive display, Mitokado Homura had already gathered his thoughts and begun the final round of the exam. Only three candidates remained, all of them Hiruzen Sarutobi's students, and one of them would have to be eliminated.
Jiraiya gripped the railing with both hands and watched Mitokado Homura slowly rummage through the Draw Box. His heartbeat seemed to follow every movement. He stole a glance at the composed Orochimaru, praying that he would get to face Snake.
Orochimaru was the student Hiruzen Sarutobi valued most. The care he regularly showed Orochimaru often made Jiraiya jealous. Worse still, Snake always wore that bland expression, as if nothing mattered to him, and it irritated Jiraiya to no end.
Jiraiya often imagined defeating Orochimaru and finally wiping that expression off his face, Teacher Sarutobi turning his attention to him, and their teammate Asumi praising him... though none of those things had ever happened in reality.
None of Orochimaru's ancestors had been shinobi, yet he possessed exceptional talent. Despite his young age, he had already learned nature transformation for two chakra affinities. Without shadow clones to help, an ordinary person needed at least a year to learn nature transformation for a single chakra affinity, yet he had already mastered two.
In Hiruzen Sarutobi's eyes, Orochimaru might one day master all five chakra nature transformations, just as he had. How could he not care for a student who resembled him so closely?
Jiraiya, meanwhile, was merely an unremarkable dead last. His talent was worlds apart from Orochimaru's, and he lacked Orochimaru's calm intelligence. Still, he knew how to make up for his shortcomings through hard work. Though his efforts often produced something laughable, such as the Random Shuriken Throwing Technique that Hiruzen Sarutobi regarded as an