Orochimaru's Promotion Match

The tenth-from-last student in Class A was a chubby boy named Saito Chang. As he looked at Orochimaru, his eyes were full of hostility. Honestly, he truly felt insulted.

No matter what, he had been a little genius praised by everyone in his neighborhood. Though he had become one of the worst students after entering Class A, that did not mean some random guy from Class C could provoke him.

So what if he got slaughtered in high-ranked matches? Against you Bronze and Silver scrubs, I'm still the eternal god.

Trying to use me as a stepping stone? No way!

Saito Chang was eager to defend his dignity, so he agreed without much hesitation. As for how embarrassing it would be if he lost?

Sorry, but he did not think he would lose.

After Teacher Mitsui and the other two exchanged glances, they spoke to Orochimaru.

"Since Saito has agreed, the two of you may give it a try.

"If you win, we can let you advance directly into Class A. But if you lose, you will remain in Class C and will not be allowed to advance to Class B. That will be your punishment for looking down on others.

"Do you find that acceptable?"

Orochimaru did not hesitate in the slightest. He nodded firmly.

"Yes. That is fair."

The three teachers examined the two of them, then nodded.

"Since both of you are ready, the match may begin."

Upon hearing the teachers' words, Orochimaru and Saito Chang stepped forward together to take training kunai. Then, they walked to opposite sides of the sparring ground and took their positions.

Unlike the others, who doubted Orochimaru's strength, Hoshi knew that someone like Orochimaru would not fight a battle he was not confident of winning. Thus, he had been carefully watching Orochimaru's movements.

This allowed him to keenly notice that Orochimaru had done something strange before the match: he seemed very dissatisfied with the training kunai.

When choosing one, he had held the kunai and rubbed it over and over for quite some time before selecting one. Yet after settling on that one, he decisively grabbed five more without a second thought.

Hoshi felt certain that he had tampered with the kunai somehow, but because he was too far away, he had no idea what Orochimaru had actually done.

After the two formed the Confrontation Seal, the battle officially began.

Saito Chang clearly looked down on Orochimaru. He did not even use Chakra, merely twisting his somewhat bloated body as he barreled forward like a little tank, saying indignantly, "You actually dared to look down on Lord Saito? Today, I'll show you how formidable I am!"

Facing him, Orochimaru seemed startled by Saito Chang's speed. He froze in place for a moment before finally reacting and hurriedly throwing the kunai in his hand.

Whether from nerves or some other reason, the kunai he threw was not only crooked, but laughably weak.

Saito Chang did not even bother dodging. The kunai brushed past him and flopped weakly onto the ground.

Seeing this, Saito Chang burst into laughter. "You challenged me right away, so I thought you were something special. Turns out this is all you've got. Let me teach you how to throw a kunai."

As he spoke, he charged forward while pulling a kunai from his clothes and throwing it. His kunai was clearly far more accurate than Orochimaru's, slicing through the air toward Orochimaru with a sharp whistle.

Orochimaru's face went pale with fright. He hastily twisted aside and barely dodged the kunai, but the real trouble was yet to come.

He had dodged the kunai, but Saito Chang had used the chance to close in. Orochimaru was about to enter his attack range.

Overjoyed, Saito Chang clenched his fist and swung it at Orochimaru. Orochimaru was badly frightened and hurriedly rolled across the ground, barely evading the punch.

He seemed to be facing such a powerful opponent for the first time, and his mentality completely collapsed. He did not even think of counterattacking, instead scrambling and crawling away to the side.

Everyone watching from the sidelines was amused by Orochimaru's comical movements. For a time, the entire sparring ground was filled with cheerful laughter.

Jiraiya laughed so hard he could not straighten his back. Between gasps, he said to Sakumo and Hoshi, "Hahahaha, I can't take it anymore, I'm dying of laughter! You said he was some genius, that he was even stronger than me.

"And this is it?

"I'm telling you, you got him completely wrong this time. He's just a useless fraud. That calm act from before was all fake."

But when he turned his head, he found that neither Sakumo nor Hoshi was laughing. Instead, they looked at him as though he were an idiot.

With a regretful look on his face, Hoshi patted Jiraiya on the shoulder. He did not say much, only, "Watch carefully. Learn carefully."

At this moment, Orochimaru was being forced into a miserable state by Saito Chang. He did not even have the courage to fight back, only daring to circle around the field with his opponent. After a long while, he threw out a kunai, and it was wildly off target as well.

The only one that might have hit was casually knocked aside by Saito Chang.

At first, Saito Chang had worried that this might be a trap, but after circling three times, he completely put his mind at ease. He could now be certain that this guy was not throwing the match. He really was just terrible!

The more Saito Chang thought about it, the prouder he became. He began chasing Orochimaru with the attitude of a cat toying with a mouse.

Listening to the jeers aimed at Orochimaru around him, Saito Chang felt as though he had returned to his peak. He had become that little genius everyone praised once more.

Look at that useless trash across from me. He was performing so miserably that he did not even have the courage to turn around and fight, only knowing how to run away.

My god, am I seeing things? That guy actually fell over—he tripped on perfectly flat ground in a sparring field.

Sigh, I wanted to enjoy this for a little longer, but I never expected him to be so disappointing. In that case, I can only stop holding back.

Thinking this, Saito Chang quickened his pace and charged at Orochimaru. Hoshi shook his head and said, "It's over."

Jiraiya nodded. "Yeah, it's over. That Orochimaru just—"

He froze in surprise halfway through his sentence, because he saw Saito Chang suddenly fall to the ground with a bang as he ran.

Orochimaru, who had looked utterly disheveled moments ago, now rose calmly to his feet. He held a Kunai in one hand and a tangled bundle of something in the other.

Only after taking a closer look did Jiraiya realize that the thing wrapped around Orochimaru's hand was Fine Steel Wire.

Reflected in the sunlight, one strand of the wire could be seen extending outward, wrapped around Saito Chang's calf. The wire's starting point was the training Kunai in Orochimaru's other hand.

Saito Chang finally realized that he had fallen for Orochimaru's scheme. He hurriedly struggled, trying to untangle the wire.

But he suddenly discovered that Orochimaru was several times faster than before. In just a few seconds, he had rushed to Saito Chang's side, the Kunai in his hand aimed straight at his throat.