"I have a question." Araki didn't answer Orochimaru's question, but instead began to ask.
"Go ahead and ask." Orochimaru maintained his outstretched hand gesture.
"Why me?" Araki was greatly puzzled. If Orochimaru knew that he knew Wood Release, then everything could be explained, but now, this matter could not be explained in this way.
"Because I saw your talent!" Orochimaru narrowed his eyes slightly, concealing the chilling glint in them.
"Tell me more." Araki wasn't the kind of love-starved child who was easily fooled. He wouldn't be swayed by Orochimaru's clever words, or rather, he didn't believe Orochimaru at all. The latter must have some ulterior motive, which was something he didn't know at the moment.
"You little rascal, do you think I'd lie to you?"
Orochimaru paused for a moment, then slowly withdrew his outstretched hand. He understood Araki's meaning, but didn't show it excessively.
He originally thought that a child like Araki would be easy to handle.
After all, the latter hadn't even graduated from the Ninja Academy yet.
He's not even a ninja yet.
and...
Based on his understanding of Araki, this child already has two teachers, so it's strongly discouraged to have another one.
Therefore, according to his plan, all he had to do was announce that he was taking on apprentices, and the other party would easily comply.
At the very beginning.
Orochimaru still thought Araki was unaware of his identity.
She was still thinking about whether she should reveal her identity at the last minute so that she could handle everything at once, so she tried several different approaches to test the waters.
It must be said that this was a rare treat for him, so he didn't rush to reveal his identity. Instead, he tried to gain Araki's trust through various means, but all of them failed.
This, in turn, fueled Orochimaru's competitive spirit.
Orochimaru didn't quite understand why such a young child could become Tsunade's disciple, yet he couldn't easily accept him. It was a very strange feeling that was constantly eroding his heart.
However, after Araki revealed that he knew his true identity, Orochimaru felt even more suspicious. He always felt that Araki was avoiding him, but he couldn't quite put his finger on why.
Being the disciple of two of the Konoha Sannin, isn't that prestigious enough?
Or did Tsunade tell him something?
Between one year old.
Several small question marks also arose in Orochimaru's mind.
These thoughts kept surfacing in his mind, but he couldn't find an answer right away, so his gaze towards Araki became even more intriguing.
But...
Orochimaru also discovered that neither his soft nor hard, good nor bad methods were effective.
Because Araki was just like a piece of wood, he didn't react at all.
At least for now, you must explain why you value him; otherwise, you might not easily listen to him.
Finding an assistant is so troublesome...
After inwardly sighing, Orochimaru looked at Araki, his dim, yellowish snake eyes flashing with intense sincerity. In almost a second, he had perfectly captured the essence of his acting.
"I know you performed a very precise surgery to treat your teacher Might Duy!"
Orochimaru spoke slowly.
I only learned about you from that surgery!
"It was then that I learned Tsunade had secretly taken on a disciple, so I became very curious about you. After a brief investigation, I discovered that you are even more powerful than I imagined!"
"You have great patience and a strong learning ability, making you very suitable to be my disciple!"
Orochimaru called himself a disciple, but what he really wanted was an assistant, because his experiments had reached a bottleneck.
Furthermore, he was finding it difficult to manage on his own, and he needed a trustworthy person who also possessed a certain level of medical expertise. As a result, there weren't many options available for him.
Just as Orochimaru was searching for someone, Araki burst out of the operating room and successfully came into Orochimaru's sight.
"Then why did you say I was your disciple?"
Araki didn't completely believe Orochimaru's words, after all, the latter was Orochimaru, but he believed a little bit of the explanation just now. The part he believed was that he was almost certain that Orochimaru had met him under such circumstances.
That surgery certainly wasn't done discreetly.
In addition, he is Tsunade's disciple!
It would be understandable if a student from the Ninja Academy didn't know what he had done, but it's not particularly strange that Orochimaru of Konoha Sannin, had heard of him.
Araki had considered many possibilities, but this one was relatively more likely. Of course, as long as Orochimaru didn't discover his Gray Wood Release, things wouldn't be particularly dangerous afterward.
At this point, Araki had finally put down the Taiseki that had been hanging over his heart.
"Because I've seen your talent!"
Orochimaru could only approach it from such an abstract and vague angle, because talent is invisible and intangible, but talking about it can make every child feel that they are special.
In a sense, Orochimaru is also very skilled in psychology.
"You really want me to become your disciple?"
After calming down, Araki thought about the problem and realized it wasn't entirely impossible.
He was filled with fear, believing that contacting Orochimaru would be like asking a tiger for its skin, putting him in a relatively dangerous situation.
but...
Now that I've calmed down and am considering this further...
Araki, on the contrary, felt that this was a very safe matter.
In a sense, there are only two people in Konoha who need to fear Araki's Wood Release.
One is Orochimaru.
The other one is Danzo.
Araki has never met either of them before; this is his first time meeting Orochimaru, and he has never met Danzo before.
Therefore, the potential harm posed by these two individuals is merely hypothetical, but this is something that Araki will not take lightly.
If he didn't know the plot of this world, that would be one thing, but he had already read all the plots before he arrived, knew what most people would do, and the conspiracies hidden behind them. This kind of information was even more reliable for him than when he was reborn and traveled to the past.
So after learning about these things, Araki decided to develop slowly and gradually, and absolutely not to put himself in a relatively dangerous situation.
but...
Araki originally thought he wouldn't have to deal with Orochimaru for a long time.
Even when Orochimaru came to say these things, all he could think about was that he would never see Orochimaru again and that he should have as little contact with this person as possible.
But...
After calming down, Araki realized that becoming Orochimaru's disciple would be practically the same as being under Orochimaru's watchful eye, which would actually make him safer.
This is a very relative concept.
As the saying goes, the most dangerous place is the safest place.
Orochimaru had been researching Hashirama Cells in Konoha, hoping to recreate Wood Release ninjas. This was something others didn't know, but Araki did. If he became Orochimaru's apprentice, perhaps his future wouldn't be so dangerous.
Thinking about this...
A very bold idea suddenly popped into Araki's mind.
"I've already invited you twice!" Orochimaru's dim, yellowish snake eyes gleamed with a fierce light. "I've never invited someone twice before. Do I have to say it a third time?"
"Okay, I understand, I agree!"
Araki thought about it again and realized that it was true. When Orochimaru took on disciples in the past, almost all of them became his loyal followers. In fact, they weren't even disciples. As long as they could follow him, he was very happy.
But I have one condition!
"Go on," Orochimaru said calmly.
"You must not tell anyone else that I have become your disciple, or rather, you must not tell anyone for the time being," Araki said softly.
"How can someone so unworthy of being my disciple?" Orochimaru's lips twitched violently. He hadn't intended to make a fuss, but Araki's emphasis made him feel uneasy. Even Might Duy could acknowledge him, so why couldn't he?
"I already have two teachers in a short time, which makes the students at the Ninja Academy very jealous of me. If I were to become your student as well..." Araki didn't finish his sentence, but at that moment, silence spoke louder than words, Orochimaru immediately understood what Araki meant.
"Taking on a disciple is such a hassle!" Orochimaru shook his head with a helpless smile. However, since his goal had been achieved, there was nothing to be upset about. To be precise, he actually wanted to find an assistant, similar to the role of Kabuto Yakushi in the original story.
"If you can accept this condition, then I am willing to become your disciple. But if you cannot accept it, I can only apologize!" Araki said calmly. He did not have any preference, because whether or not he became Orochimaru's disciple did not matter much to him at the moment, since both choices had very obvious advantages and disadvantages.
"What's so unacceptable about that..." Orochimaru's eyes flickered slightly, then he smiled and said, "Getting you to acknowledge me as your teacher is easy enough. I don't even need to say anything; you'll admit it in no time."
"So confident?" Araki looked at Orochimaru with a meaningful expression, a big question mark popping into his mind.
"We'll see!" Orochimaru smiled without saying anything further, turning to Araki and saying, "From now on, you are my disciple!"
"Yes, Orochimaru-sensei!" Araki immediately bowed. In truth, he did not acknowledge Orochimaru in his heart; he was merely using the title to ensure his own safety.
certainly.
Orochimaru is the same.
He doesn't genuinely want to take on apprentices right now.
It's simply about finding someone who is willing to do things for him for a reason.
In fact, he never intended to reveal Araki's identity.
Revealing his identity would only bring him more trouble, so he wanted everything to be done in secret. Araki's condition, in essence, was exactly the same as his own idea, but this feeling made him somewhat uncomfortable.
After all, he was one of the legendary Konoha Sannin.
"Come with me to the secret base. My laboratory is here; I'll show you around."
Orochimaru walked directly toward the iron gate hidden in the shade of the trees at the foot of the small hill, with Araki following behind him.
Chapter 7 Instructing Jonin (Please subscribe and vote with monthly tickets)
Araki followed Orochimaru through the iron gate.
The hill looked small, but once you entered through the iron gate, it was a completely different world. There was a long, downward-facing corridor, and the darkness suddenly enveloped everything.
"Smack!"
Orochimaru snapped his fingers lightly, and instantly Kakkō lit up. Candlesticks lined both sides of the retro, dimly lit corridor, each holding a candle that had not yet burned out.