I'm Quite Taken with You

A capable ninja could always endure loneliness.

A ninja needed only a day and a night to travel from Konoha to the Capital of the Land of Fire, but the convoy needed nearly four days.

During the day, the convoy bumped slowly along the road, while the official under their protection braced himself against the carriage and complained incessantly.

At night, the Bald Official burst with an energy that belied his age, making the carriage rock like a begonia leaf swaying in the wind.

They were all ninja. Hearing those sounds, they knew perfectly well why the Bald Official was so listless during the day.

It was an important matter concerning human reproduction.

Blushing, Oto Uchiha slipped aside to discuss ninjutsu with Zou Hyuga. Developing those new techniques was not something they could finish in a day or two; it required sustained research.

During that time, Zou Hyuga tried to approach Anko, only for her to mistake his intentions for an attempt to steal her food and glare at him several times.

Who would steal your red bean dumplings? They're all junk food!

A capable Genin had to maintain a perfect physique, abstain from smoking and drinking, and strictly observe the three ninja prohibitions.

Just like him.

After inwardly griping, Zou Hyuga leaped into a nearby treetop and began surveying their surroundings.

With Orochimaru there, they stood a good chance against an ordinary ninja squad, but what if they encountered a squad of Jonin, or a Kage from another ninja village?

This was a B-Rank Mission, not a joke. Orochimaru might not fear those enemies, but he did!

Just then, Zou Hyuga spotted a snake's elongated shadow in the moonlight. He instinctively swallowed, his whole body tensing.

Few people in the shinobi world worked with snakes, and Orochimaru was the best among them.

Had Orochimaru set his sights on him? He had heard Orochimaru's laboratory was huge and quite entertaining, but he had no desire to visit, much less sightsee as a test subject.

Orochimaru glided over, revealing his vertical pupils as he fixed Zou Hyuga with an intense stare.

"I've been watching you for a long time. You're cautious and meticulous. No wonder the old man thinks so highly of you..."

"Lord Third thinks highly of me...? Uh, I'm just a lowly Genin. I'm not even eligible to enter the chunin ninja exams."

Orochimaru gave a sinister chuckle. Under the moonlight, his pale face looked even colder.

"You really are amusing, Zou. I've read your file and that Uchiha girl's. There isn't a single fault to be found in your mission records.

"But enough small talk. Would you consider working under me, Zou? I'm quite taken with you..."

Orochimaru spoke evenly, yet the force behind his words seemed to bear down on Zou Hyuga, leaving him feeling stifled.

Zou Hyuga fell silent, while Orochimaru watched him quietly.

The night wind swept over the hills, rustling the treetops.

After a long while, Zou Hyuga gently shook his head and answered, "I'm sorry, Lord Orochimaru, but I have no intention of joining your ranks. Rather than becoming your subordinate, I would prefer to serve as a Genin, one of Konoha's foundation stones."

Orochimaru stared at Zou Hyuga for a long time. Perhaps he had never expected to be refused.

An invitation from one of the Sannin was something countless ninja dreamed of. It represented a chance to rise to the top in a single step.

"If you're unwilling, I won't force you. Still, Zou, I'm rather interested in the ninjutsu you and that Uchiha are researching."

"They're only unfinished techniques, barely enough for self-defense. If you want them, Lord Orochimaru, I can immediately..."

"No need. What I want is the finished product." Orochimaru folded his arms across his chest. "Once you finish it, you can come to me. I'll make it worth your while."

Before his words had fully faded, Orochimaru vanished into the darkness, leaving only the rustle of wind through the leaves.

Zou Hyuga slowly exhaled. It would have been a lie to say he had not been nervous facing Orochimaru.

He had thought Orochimaru had discovered his secret concerning senjutsu and intended to launch a surprise attack. He had never expected the man to be interested only in the ninjutsu he and Oto were researching.

Those techniques all focused on long-range attacks. Without senjutsu to bolster them, they had no practical value at all.

Still, when Orochimaru formally extended the invitation, he had been a little tempted.

Orochimaru was a renowned scientist in the shinobi world. Though he could not practice senjutsu himself, he had researched it extensively, developing the Cursed Seal, a simplified form of senjutsu, through his studies of Jugo.

Zou Hyuga had once wondered whether the markings on his body were a Cursed Seal, but his black markings were far beyond anything a Cursed Seal could compare to. In fact, apart from the drawback of petrification, using senjutsu left him with no aftereffects whatsoever.

So, after careful consideration, he had refused Orochimaru's invitation.

He had even prepared to fight him. Together, he and Oto could not defeat Orochimaru, but they should still have been able to escape.

As for the Caged Bird Seal, that would have to wait until they returned to the village.

Fortunately, Orochimaru was not yet as deranged as he would become after defecting from the village, and Zou himself was not worth attacking. Perhaps Orochimaru had merely found the idea of Genin developing ninjutsu intriguing.

Suppressing the thoughts that grew wildly like weeds, Zou Hyuga activated his Byakugan. After committing nearby terrain where enemies might lie in ambush to memory, he returned to the campsite.

At the camp, Oto Uchiha noticed the beads of sweat on Zou Hyuga's forehead. She reached out to wipe them away, then withdrew her hand.

"Zou, did you find enemies outside the camp?"

"No..." Zou Hyuga shook his head and took a bite of a dry, hard ration pill. "Lord Orochimaru just had a little heart-to-heart with me. Perhaps after this mission, we won't be proud Genin anymore."

"Are we getting promoted to Chunin? We should be able to pass the chunin ninja exams, right?"

Oto Uchiha removed her Goggles, rubbed her dry eyes, and put them back on.

"Once we become Chunin, we'll be able to take missions above C-rank... Will we run into opponents like Pakura of Sunagakure?"

"No idea." Zou Hyuga leaned against a large tree. The first time they had gone onto a battlefield, they had encountered Pakura, Sunagakure's famous kunoichi.

It was an unforgettable experience, but not one they wished to revisit.

Crackle, crackle... It was the sound of flames consuming branches.

Zou Hyuga gazed at the sky, turning many thoughts over in his mind. Perhaps he had worried too much earlier.

In his recollection, Orochimaru was a cold-blooded scientist, but the Orochimaru of this moment would not attack the village's ninja. Perhaps he was still a young man with hot blood flowing through his veins.

Still, the restraints of the Caged Bird Seal were truly infuriating.

On the morning of the third day, the convoy resumed its journey once the Bald Official woke.

They had not traveled far before the convoy ran into trouble-or perhaps running into the convoy was trouble for the other side.

On a broad road in the Land of Fire, a group of ragged bandits blocked the convoy's path.

There might have been ninja among them, but most were mountain folk carrying kitchen knives and wooden clubs. At the sight of the Forehead Protectors identifying them as Konoha Ninja, they instinctively retreated a few steps, then mustered their courage and gathered together again.

Zou Hyuga did not act. He simply watched them.

Years of war had disrupted order within every nation. A ninja proficient in elemental techniques needed only a single Fire Release technique to destroy an entire year's production.

Ninja might be powerful, but they could not conjure rice out of thin air.

And so farmers who had lost their fields and food became displaced wanderers and bandits.

The Bald Official lifted the curtain and looked irritably at the displaced people ahead. He wanted to berate the ninja for doing nothing, but Orochimaru's status gave him pause, leaving him to offer a quiet reminder instead.

"Konoha Ninja, isn't it time you made yourselves useful? I paid three hundred thousand ryō, you know."

At those words, Orochimaru's expression shifted slightly, as though he had remembered his duties. He then ordered his subordinates to eliminate the bandits blocking the road.

It was neither Zou Hyuga nor Oto Uchiha who acted, but Anko, who had finished her dumplings.