The Wooden Sword unexpectedly struck Orochimaru, but something stirred in Chihane's mind. Instead of following through, he pulled his blade back, turned, and slashed behind him.
Bang!
Orochimaru's body dissolved into a cloud of smoke. The moment he realized Chihane had resisted his Genjutsu, he had used the Substitution Technique. Now, the Shuriken knocked down at Chihane's feet suddenly took on Orochimaru's appearance.
"Winding Evil Snake!"
Orochimaru summoned a massive snake, intending to knock Chihane into the air. But Chihane wore three hundred kilograms of weights. Even when walking on solid ground, every step left a clear footprint. A large snake could hardly knock him aside so easily.
"Two-Sword Style! Hawk Wave!"
Facing Orochimaru below him, Chihane gripped his swords in both hands and slashed downward. Black Haki wrapped tightly around the Wooden Swords, darkening them considerably. Clearly, his Haki had improved a little more during the battle.
"Earth Release! Earth-Style Wall!"
Orochimaru had already experienced the power of Chihane's Wooden Swords firsthand and had no intention of meeting them head-on. He rapidly formed Hand Seals, using an Earth-Style Wall to hold Chihane back for a moment while he used the Body Flicker Technique to put some distance between them.
"All right! Let's stop here. Your strength truly exceeded my expectations, Chihane!"
"We'll meet again!"
After distancing himself from Chihane, Orochimaru decided to end the fight. They had already gone far enough for him to learn what he wanted to know. If they continued, he would probably have to use forbidden techniques and various powerful Ninjutsu. That would no longer be a test, but a fight to the death.
With that, Orochimaru vanished.
Although Chihane had been bewildered throughout the fight, he knew he could not defeat Orochimaru as he was now.
Lasting this long against Orochimaru did not mean his strength rivaled Orochimaru's. Rather, Orochimaru knew nothing about his abilities, while he knew a great deal about Orochimaru. He had only achieved this result by being prepared against an unprepared opponent. If they kept fighting, he would definitely lose!
Since Orochimaru wanted to stop, Chihane certainly would not make a nuisance of himself. Although he still had not figured out Orochimaru's intentions, he knew that this venomous snake had probably set his sights on him.
Shaking his head, Chihane cast those distracting thoughts aside and began training even harder. After all, as long as he was strong enough, Orochimaru would not be able to do anything to him.
The next day
Konoha
The Ninja Academy
Time flew, and before they knew it, everyone was about to graduate. They were all gathered in the classroom, waiting for their Jonin team leaders to arrive.
"Chihane, I wonder if we'll end up on the same team. I heard Lord Orochimaru and Jonin Minato will both be leading teams this time! It would be great if we could join Minato-sensei's team together. Then the two of us and Kakashi could go on missions and train together. That would be wonderful."
Kurenai Yuhi sat beside Chihane, cupping her face in both hands as she looked at him expectantly.
"Orochimaru is leading a team too? Of course, being on the same team as you would be best, Kurenai! But I heard Uncle Shinku is also going to be a team leader. He'll probably take you himself, and there's no way he'll let me onto his team!"
Hearing Kurenai Yuhi say that Orochimaru would also be leading a team immediately gave Chihane a bad feeling. If this had been peacetime, he would have wanted to graduate normally, receive an ordinary team assignment, and become an unremarkable Konoha Genin.
Then he could enjoy the easygoing work of Genin missions, grow closer to the boy and girl on his three-person team along the way, and truly savor the energy and beauty of being this age.
But with the Third Shinobi World War looming in the near future, what Chihane wanted most was to improve his strength. The place he really wanted to join was the ANBU, where he could quickly encounter and fight ninja from outside the village.
He did not want to stay in the village taking D-Rank Missions, finding people's cats and dogs, chopping firewood, felling trees, and doing farm chores every day.
"There's just no getting through to my father. Then I won't be able to be on your team, Chihane. I wonder who you'll end up with. Just thinking about it is so frustrating!"
Thinking back on Shinku Yuhi's attitude toward Chihane over the years, Kurenai Yuhi immediately grew dejected. She knew her father all too well. He would never let her spend much time with Chihane.
"It would be lovely to join Jonin Minato's team. He's so gentle!"
Beside them, Rin Nohara clasped her hands in front of her chest and spoke softly, her cheeks flushed.
Clearly, she was another young admirer drawn to Minato Namikaze's "little sun" nickname, which circulated only among the village's women.
"You might really end up joining Jonin Minato's team, Rin!"
Thinking of Minato Namikaze's team, Chihane was not sure whether his presence would affect the original story. But based on his understanding of Hiruzen Sarutobi, the lineup would probably still be Kakashi, Rin Nohara, and Obito Uchiha.
"Really? You think so too, Chihane? That's wonderful!"
Chihane was now the Ninja Academy's greatest prodigy. With Makoto Uchiha having graduated early, Chihane had already gained his own fan club. His words naturally carried some weight and inspired confidence.
"Chihane, you bastard! What are you talking to Rin about?"
Watching Rin Nohara chatting with Chihane a short distance away, her face flushed, Obito Uchiha immediately felt threatened. He walked over and interrupted.
Chihane's handsome looks had already put Obito under considerable pressure. Now he had the aura of a genius on top of that. Naturally, seeing him talking with Rin Nohara filled Obito with an intense sense of crisis. He feared Chihane might charm her away before he knew it.
"We're discussing the team assignments. You'll probably both join Jonin Minato's team."
As the original class's two dead lasts, Chihane and Obito Uchiha already shared a fairly good friendship. Chihane also knew what Obito would achieve after turning to darkness in the future, so he naturally did not mind the rudeness in his words.
"Together with Rin? Haha, together with Rin."
By then, Obito Uchiha had not really heard anything else Chihane said. All he could think about was being assigned to the same team as Rin. He had already started imagining whether their first child would be a boy or a girl, and had even picked out a name.
Watching Obito lose himself in his own little world, Chihane could not help shaking his head. Forget winning over Rin Nohara-with that attitude, you couldn't win over anyone! A hopelessly clueless straight guy, confirmed! There's no saving you!
"Hyuga Namikaze, Saburo Oda, Tenten Amada, come with me!"
The first team's Jonin had come in and taken three classmates away. The remaining students immediately grew nervous, and their discussions fell silent. They all fixed their eyes on the doorway, afraid of missing anything.
After they had stared for a long while, another Jonin finally walked in. It was none other than Shinku Yuhi.
"Kurenai Yuhi, Itsuki Nomori, come with me."
After entering, Shinku Yuhi first shot Chihane a glare, then called Kurenai Yuhi and another teammate over and left with them. The Hokage had insisted that Asuma was still young and needed a steady Jonin teacher, so Shinku Yuhi had ultimately been unable to refuse. But the consequences for Asuma were easy to imagine. If Asuma had known what awaited him, he would probably have wanted to repeat another year!
Before you continue