Let's Be Friends

The outcome had been decided.

After exchanging glances, the three teachers announced, "The winner is Orochimaru."

Jiraiya's jaw nearly hit the floor. The reversal had come far too suddenly. Though he vaguely understood Orochimaru's method, he still could not quite wrap his head around it. "He, he..."

Hayate found Jiraiya's expression secretly amusing. Picking up where Jiraiya had left off, he explained, "He used wire and Kunai to create a simple trap. He first threw the Kunai to mislead his opponent, while secretly releasing the wire.

"If you watched carefully, you could see that he kept circling around Saito as he dodged. That was to lay down enough wire.

"Once Saito had been caught inside it, he deliberately fell over, using the movement to hide his intention of reaching for the Kunai. Then he pulled the wires from both sides at once and tripped Saito.

"Saito fell for it."

Jiraiya, who had still been rather confused, immediately understood after hearing Hayate's explanation. He put away his earlier contempt for Orochimaru and began taking the boy he had previously looked down on seriously. "Now that you put it that way, I think I should make friends with him. It's better to befriend someone that smart."

Meanwhile, Saito Chang, lying on the ground, finally recovered from his shock as he stared at Orochimaru standing before him. Angrily, he shoved Orochimaru and roared, "You bastard, you were tricking me the whole time! I refuse to accept this!"

As he spoke, he turned to the three teachers. "Teachers, I wouldn't have lost to him in terms of strength! It's only because he kept deceiving me that I made a mistake. If I could do it again—"

Before Saito Chang could finish, Teacher Mitsui cut him off. "Enough. Stop saying such pointless things, Saito. A loss is a loss. Judging your opponent's mindset is also a required lesson for a ninja, and Orochimaru did better than you in that regard.

"Besides, didn't you see Hayate's match against Uchiha Iwa earlier? Your situation was no different from Hayate's at the time.

"But what did Hayate do? And what did you do? I hope you think carefully about that in the future.

"And that goes not only for you. I hope every student here learns from today's match.

"You should all be grateful that you learned such valuable knowledge here. In your future careers as ninjas, you will encounter situations even more deceptive than this one.

"If you can recall today's match at such a time, it may very well save your life."

Hearing Teacher Mitsui's words, Saito Chang lowered his head dejectedly. He knew Teacher Mitsui was right, and he also understood that a loss was a loss. There was no changing it now.

The chubby boy bowed to Teacher Mitsui, then turned and left without another word. Orochimaru's actions had taught him a valuable lesson, but the tuition had been far too costly.

After finishing his lecture, Teacher Mitsui nodded at Orochimaru. "As agreed, you may join Class A. Don't go to the wrong classroom next week."

Orochimaru gratefully bowed to Teacher Mitsui once more, then turned to leave the Ninja Academy.

With his back turned, Orochimaru clenched his fists tightly. His lips pressed together as an overwhelming urge to burst into tears rose within him.

Dad, Mom, did you see that? I'm not useless. I can go to Class A now.

From being the Dead Last of Class C at the start of the school year to successfully joining Class A through relentless effort, the hardships along the way were beyond what outsiders could understand.

Orochimaru blinked twice. Just as his tears were about to fall, someone suddenly patted him on the back. Startled, he hurriedly wiped the corner of his eye and turned around.

The moment he turned, he saw three boys about his age smiling at him.

The one who had patted his shoulder was Jiraiya. After saying that he wanted to be friends with Orochimaru, he had dragged Hayate and Sakumo over. He spoke to Orochimaru in his usual carefree manner. "Hey, you were amazing in that match just now. You almost surpassed the great Jiraiya himself. I think you're pretty interesting. Want to be friends with me?"

Orochimaru's eyes were still red as he looked Jiraiya up and down. For a moment, he did not know whether to laugh or cry. While he stood there in a daze, the black-haired boy beside Jiraiya spoke up as well.

"Hello, Orochimaru. The three of us will be your classmates from now on. I'm Hayate Hoshi, that idiot is Jiraiya, and the one beside him is Hatake Sakumo. Please take care of us."

Compared to the baffling Jiraiya, Hayate's introduction was far more normal. Orochimaru finally realized that these three truly wanted to be friends with him.

At the thought of the word "friends," Orochimaru suddenly felt the urge to cry again. Since he had been the Dead Last in Class C, everyone had thought he was the kind of trash who would eventually be expelled.

No one had ever thought highly of him. Whenever they saw him working hard, they only mocked him, so he had not had a single friend in Class C.

And now, all of a sudden, three people wanted to be his friends. It made Orochimaru want to cry again.

Seeing that Orochimaru looked ready to cry once more, Jiraiya could not understand it. He tilted his head and met Orochimaru's gaze as the latter hung his head. "Hey, seriously? Why are you crying just because the three of us came over to be your friends? You know, back in Class A, tons of people were fighting to be friends with us."

At that moment, Sakumo, who had been silent all this time, suddenly spoke. "Hayate and I. Not you."

Sakumo truly was Sakumo. The moment he opened his mouth, he drove the knife in deep.

Jiraiya's face flushed bright red. Turning to Sakumo, he said irritably, "Could you at least give me some face in front of our new friend? You're making this really awkward."

The interruption left Orochimaru unable to cry anymore. Since he could not cry, he simply decided not to. Sniffling, he raised his head and formally introduced himself to the three of them. "My name is Orochimaru. I'm six years old, and I'll be your classmate from now on. Please take care of me."

Jiraiya turned back and waved a hand. "Ah, Orochimaru, you're so lame. Even your self-introduction has no creativity. Watch me give you a creative one."

As he spoke, Jiraiya turned around to compose himself, then suddenly spun back. While facing away from them, he had taken the time to touch up the paint on his face, making it look even more ridiculous.

Yet Jiraiya did not find it ridiculous at all. He crouched low, stretching his neck out long and widening his eyes until they resembled brass bells. It even seemed as though his own personal background music had begun playing behind him.

With all five fingers spread, he held one hand before his body and the other behind him. His bent left leg rose and swept a semicircle through the air before stomping down heavily. His wooden sandal clicked against the ground, and only then did he strike a pose and declare, "Yahoo~ I am Jiraiya the Gallant! Please~ take care of me!"

At that bizarre sight, Hayate and Sakumo both took three steps back, drawing a clear line between themselves and him.

A completely bewildered Orochimaru stood frozen for a long while before finally walking around Jiraiya and saying to Hayate, "You were right. He really is an idiot."