"How terrifying," Uchiha Ran said as he gently rested a hand on the hilt of the zanpakutō at his waist. "After being tested by Instructor Yūhi Kurenai, I'm now being tested by one of the Sannin—Orochimaru-sensei."
Orochimaru glanced at him.
Ran looked tense on the surface, but the gleam in his eyes betrayed clear excitement. There wasn't a shred of real nervousness in him.
That kind of temperament… isn't bad, Orochimaru thought.
Very different from Nawaki's impulsiveness.
His mind drifted—unbidden—toward Senju Nawaki, and Kato Dan.
For a moment, nostalgia welled up.
Once, the Sannin had been a tightly knit trio, carrying out missions side by side. But the deaths of Nawaki and Dan had become the fuse that set everything ablaze.
Orochimaru remembered those days vividly.
The atmosphere in Konoha had grown heavy and oppressive, shrouded in grief.
Tsunade—his teammate, once gentle yet unbreakable—had lost both her brother and the man she loved. Her spirit shattered. In the end, she left Konoha altogether.
That departure severed the bond of the Sannin.
Jiraiya, the once hopeless dead-last, the free-spirited shinobi, chose to wander the world in search of the so-called Child of Prophecy, believing that only such a figure could avert the disasters of the future.
And Orochimaru himself…
He had chosen a different path.
The path of immortality.
He knew full well that the pursuit of eternal life was no easy road.
He scoured the world for forbidden techniques, probing the mysteries that lay beyond life and death. Each experiment, each failure, only hardened his resolve.
Any price was acceptable—so long as he could grasp the secret of immortality.
Yet even so, deep in his heart lingered a faint trace of attachment to the past.
More than once, he recalled the days when the Sannin fought together—their unity, their seamless coordination against powerful enemies.
Those memories made him scoff at himself.
Why cling to such mundane emotions… when I've already chosen this path?
This child really does resemble Nawaki a little…
No. I've already made my choice. Immortality was never meant to be understood. I will walk this road alone.
"Sensei?" Ran's voice cut in. "What are you thinking about? Aren't we starting?"
Ran was starting to feel that many of the shinobi he encountered had a habit of spacing out mid-conversation.
"…Nothing," Orochimaru replied calmly. "Let's begin."
The spar between Orochimaru and Uchiha Ran was about to erupt.
One was a long-established Kage-level shinobi.
The other was an Uchiha who had awakened the three-tomoe Sharingan.
No one would witness this battle.
Orochimaru was well aware of his teacher's Telescope Technique, which was why he had deliberately chosen a deep forest—far from easy surveillance.
Killing intent.
Completely different from Kurenai's.
Before the battle even began, Orochimaru's killing intent had already locked onto Ran.
The sensation was utterly alien.
Like a freezing gale that pierced straight through the bones.
It congealed in the air, stirring primal fear from the depths of the soul. The surrounding space itself seemed to solidify.
Ran felt as if an invisible hand had clenched around his heart—squeezing, suffocating, paralyzing him in place.
It was like a blade pressed against his spine, radiating overwhelming pressure and unease.
Each heartbeat thundered with tension.
Interesting, Ran thought. This level of killing intent… most chūnin wouldn't even be able to stand.
"Wow~" Ran said cheerfully instead of moving, his tone full of admiration. "Orochimaru-sensei, that's a pretty fascinating trick."
No matter how one looked at it, it sounded like provocation.
It clearly hadn't fazed him at all.
Orochimaru's interest flared.
As expected of an Uchiha.
"Hidden Shadow Snake Hands."
The instant the fight began, Orochimaru unleashed his signature snake technique.
The air filled with a nauseating, serpentine presence as countless snakes burst forth from his sleeves, lunging toward Ran.
Sharingan.
Three tomoe spun into place in Ran's crimson eyes.
With predictive clarity, Ran read the snakes' movements and weaved through the gaps, narrowly evading their strikes. In the same motion, he flung several kunai.
The blades cut through the air like arrows, flying straight toward Orochimaru.
Orochimaru could have ignored them entirely. In a frontal confrontation, kunai posed little threat to a Kage-level shinobi—especially someone like him.
But this was a test.
So he responded like a "normal" shinobi.
"Earth Release: Underground Projection Technique."
His body melted into the ground, slipping beneath the earth with fluid ease. The kunai sailed harmlessly overhead.
Ran wasn't flustered when Orochimaru vanished.
No matter how refined an Earth Release technique was, movement underground would always leave traces.
And more importantly—
Sensei has to come out eventually.
"Fire Release: Great Fireball Jutsu."
Ran began forming seals, chakra gathering as he prepared to scorch the ground beneath his feet.
But just as the jutsu was about to be unleashed—
Orochimaru burst out right in front of him.
Snakes shot forward again, and from each open maw extended a Kusanagi Sword.
The blades moved as naturally as fingers, each sword tracing a different trajectory. In an instant, they slashed across Ran's body.
Blood spilled.
Yet Orochimaru did not stop.
The fight escalated, turning fierce and relentless. Snake techniques, stronger Earth Release jutsu—Orochimaru pressed the attack without mercy.
Ran, dragging a seemingly wounded body, continued to fight back with Sharingan-enhanced perception, kunai, and interwoven Fire Release.
Wounds piled up.
Orochimaru frowned.
Something's wrong.
Suddenly, realization struck.
He had been caught—unconsciously—in a suggestive genjutsu.
"When…?" Orochimaru muttered.
Even as he cast Swamp of the Underworld to disrupt Ran's movement, he forcefully disturbed his own chakra flow, breaking free of the illusion.
The scene before him shifted.
Ran stood there—uninjured.
Not a single wound.
Orochimaru let out a low chuckle.
"Outstanding," he said sincerely. "Your use of genjutsu is superb. On a real battlefield, you'd be an Uchiha others would fear to face."
"You flatter me, Orochimaru-sensei," Ran replied calmly.
Slowly, he reached behind him—
And wrapped his fingers around the hilt of his blade.
"Oh?" Orochimaru's eyes gleamed. "Finally going to use your sword?"
He already knew this style.
The fusion of swordsmanship and genjutsu—Ran's unique combat method.
Just as Hiruzen described.
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