Konoha Training Ground.
Ninjas wearing green flak jackets were all in position.
There were also some ninjas surrounding the perimeter, preventing others in the village from prying.
After all, there were still spies in the village.
Among the ninjas standing in the training ground.
There were quite a few young ones.
Orochimaru's eyes lowered.
These young children made up half the team.
They were also the group of children who had graduated early.
The teaching at the Ninja Academy was mostly education-oriented, but after becoming a ninja, it was mission-centric, and the growth rate was faster than in the Academy.
A year of mission training had indeed formed them into a force that wasn't weak.
At the same time, they had seen blood during missions, so they wouldn't show too much cowardice in life-and-death struggles.
But doing missions and going to the battlefield were two different things.
He didn't think these children could survive on the battlefield.
Right now, he felt like what he was doing was leading them to their deaths.
But this was the only strength left in the village.
Although Hiruzen Sarutobi had advanced the graduation of the Ninja Academy, he still had a bit of conscience. He didn't send them to the battlefield immediately but kept them as the village's defensive force.
To preserve this conscience, he pushed the responsibility onto Orochimaru.
Orochimaru didn't care at all.
"Everyone, for Konoha, may your martial fortunes be prosperous!"
"For Konoha! May martial fortunes be prosperous!" The crowd shouted in unison. From their excited expressions, they obviously didn't know they were going to the most dangerous battlefield.
Orochimaru had no words to boost morale, and he didn't even speak to some of the young ninjas.
Snakes are cold-blooded animals and don't care about these things, but Orochimaru was human, and humans inevitably acted on emotion.
But the influence of emotions on him was only slight.
Just as he was about to lead the people out.
Chaos erupted among the ninjas guarding outside the training ground.
A voice came from the chaotic place.
"I want to see Jonin Orochimaru! I want to go to the front lines too!"
Orochimaru frowned. All the strength the village could spare was here. The rest were ninjas guarding the village.
Or ninjas who were useless on the battlefield.
Hearing the chaotic sounds outside.
The Jonin beside Orochimaru half-knelt on the ground.
"Lord Orochimaru, it's a trash Genin with no ninja talent. I'll drive him away immediately."
This ninja knew who had arrived.
However, Orochimaru narrowed his eyes.
"I'm actually quite curious. How could a trash Genin attract the attention of a Jonin like you?"
Sweat broke out on the forehead of the Jonin kneeling on the ground.
He cursed wildly in his heart.
Damn Might Duy, can't you just stay peacefully in the village?
Regardless of the Jonin's psychology, Orochimaru asked.
"Bring him to see me."
"Yes!" The Jonin could only agree, walking towards the chaotic guard post.
Soon, he brought Might Duy over.
Orochimaru licked his lips.
"I didn't expect to see a familiar face. Long time no see, Duy-kun."
Might Duy half-knelt in front of Orochimaru with some surprise.
"I didn't expect Jonin Orochimaru to still remember me."
"Duy-kun's taijutsu from before left a deep impression on me."
The two were once classmates at the Ninja Academy.
Back when the Second Hokage was still around, Might Duy belonged to Class A.
But after the Second Hokage passed away, Might Duy was thrown into Class C because his ninjutsu talent was too poor.
After that, he hadn't seen much of Duy.
Orochimaru sighed inwardly that things had changed with the passage of time.
Time passed so quickly.
"Lord Orochimaru, please let me join the team. I also want to fight for Konoha." Might Duy knelt on the ground and begged.
"Lord Orochimaru, Might Duy has absolutely no talent for ninjutsu. He's just a taijutsu ninja. His wife even just gave birth to a child."
The ninja who had been stopping Might Duy also spoke up, trying his best to stop Might Duy from entering the battlefield.
"Regrettably, Duy-kun, you are useless on the battlefield. Just taijutsu is not enough on the battlefield."
Orochimaru shook his head regretfully. Whether the ninja stopping Might Duy was acting out of kindness or malice, he didn't know.
But a ninja who focused only on taijutsu...
On the battlefield, they were even worse than cannon fodder. Under a barrage of ninjutsu, people would just disappear.
Did he think everyone was Uchiha Jin?
"Lord Orochimaru, I can use ninjutsu now."
Might Duy wasn't resigned.
"Look."
His hands began to form seals clumsily.
Instantly, everyone surrounded him, all drawing their weapons.
Forming seals in front of the commander at a time like this would definitely be considered an attack.
But Orochimaru raised his hand to stop everyone, narrowing his eyes at Might Duy's clumsy way of forming seals.
If Orochimaru hadn't been fast enough, Might Duy would have been killed instantly.
Watching Duy's speed of forming seals.
The seals for a Transformation Technique actually took nearly twenty seconds.
The others shook their heads and sighed. With this seal-forming speed, he couldn't even stabilize his chakra, let alone successfully cast the jutsu.
Amidst everyone's mocking gazes.
Might Duy grinned, showing his teeth.
"Thank you for supporting my efforts!"
"Transformation Technique!"
Poof!
Might Duy turned into an exact copy of Orochimaru.
This elicited surprise from everyone.
Even the ninjas who knew Might Duy looked surprised.
In their impression, Might Duy shouldn't be able to do anything except taijutsu.
But what was most surprising was how the seals, which should have failed, succeeded.
"Impossible!!?"
"Forming seals so slowly, the chakra would be unstable! How could it succeed?!"
"Cheating, right? But how can you cheat with this kind of ninjutsu!"
Everyone's worldview was shattered by Might Duy's way of forming seals.
Besides wanting to cast ninjutsu quickly, forming seals quickly was also to use ninjutsu smoothly while the chakra was stable.
Forming seals for a long time would make the chakra less stable than at the beginning.
This performance also made Orochimaru narrow his eyes. He detected the traces of Internal Cultivation.
The merit requirement for Internal Cultivation was getting higher and higher now. It wasn't something an ordinary Genin could easily exchange for.
So, Orochimaru had a guess about the source of where the other party got it.
At the same time, it reminded him of what someone once said.
"In terms of taijutsu, I'm just average. I know someone in the village who, if he risked his life, couldn't be stopped even by the Third Hokage with just taijutsu."
But he had never heard of such a person.
"Duy-kun, do you know Uchiha Jin?"
"Youth Jin." Might Duy scratched his head, revealing a kind-hearted toothy grin and giving a thumbs up.
"He is an amazing person."
Sure enough.
Orochimaru licked his lips with his snake-like tongue.
He seemed to have found the man with the strongest taijutsu that Jin spoke of.
"Duy-kun, if you want to go to the front lines, you need to test your strength."
"My Lord, let me do it."
The ninja who had been stopping Might Duy spoke up quickly.
"No." A smile appeared on Orochimaru's face.
"I will test Duy-kun's strength personally."