Inside the Konoha training ground—
Ninjas clad in green flak jackets stood fully assembled.
Around the perimeter, other shinobi guarded the area, preventing anyone from the village from prying.
After all, there were still spies within the village.
Among those gathered in the training field…
Many of them were young—children, even.
Orochimaru's eyes were dim.
Nearly half of the assembled force were these young ones.
They were the children who had graduated early from the Academy.
The shinobi school primarily focused on education, but once they officially became ninjas, their lives revolved around missions—making them grow far faster than they ever would have in the classroom.
A year's worth of missions and training had indeed forged them into a force to be reckoned with.
They had also seen blood on those missions. They were no longer naïve, and most didn't flinch in the face of death.
But a mission was not the same as a battlefield.
Orochimaru didn't believe these children would survive the front lines.
Right now, what he felt he was doing… was leading them to their deaths.
But this was all that remained of Konoha's fighting strength.
Though Hiruzen Sarutobi had rushed their Academy graduation, he had shown at least a shred of conscience. He hadn't thrown them into battle immediately but instead designated them as the village's defensive force.
To protect that shred of conscience, he had dumped all the responsibility onto Orochimaru's shoulders.
Orochimaru didn't care at all.
"Everyone—for Konoha, may our martial fortune shine bright!"
"For Konoha! May our martial fortune shine bright!" the crowd shouted in unison, faces lit with excitement. They had no idea that their destination was the most dangerous front line.
Orochimaru had no words of encouragement to offer. He didn't even speak to some of the youngest ninjas.
Snakes were cold-blooded creatures, indifferent by nature—but Orochimaru was human. And humans were inevitably driven by emotion.
Still, emotions only affected him slightly.
Just as he was preparing to depart with the troops—
A disturbance broke out near the training field's perimeter.
From the chaotic noise came a voice:
"I want to see Jonin Orochimaru! I want to go to the front lines too!"
Orochimaru frowned.
At this point, all the village's usable forces were gathered here. The rest were either stationed for village defense or deemed completely useless on the battlefield.
Hearing the commotion outside—
The Jonin beside Orochimaru dropped to one knee.
"Orochimaru-sama, it's just a talentless, useless Genin. I'll get rid of him right away."
This Jonin clearly recognized the intruder.
But Orochimaru narrowed his eyes.
"I'm rather curious—why would a Jonin like you pay attention to a so-called useless Genin?"
Sweat beaded on the kneeling Jonin's forehead.
He cursed internally.
"Damn it, Might Duy! Can't you just stay put in the village?!"
Orochimaru ignored the Jonin's flustered state and ordered:
"Bring him to me."
"Yes, sir!" The Jonin could only comply and walked toward the area in disarray.
Before long, he returned—bringing Might Duy with him.
Orochimaru licked his lips.
"Well, well. A familiar face. Long time no see, Duy-kun."
Might Duy looked pleasantly surprised and dropped to one knee before Orochimaru.
"I didn't think Jonin Orochimaru would remember me."
"Your taijutsu left quite the impression back in the day."
They had been classmates at the Ninja Academy.
Back when the Second Hokage was still alive, Might Duy had even been in Class A.
But after the Second Hokage passed, Duy had been demoted to Class C due to his terrible ninjutsu aptitude.
Since then, Orochimaru hadn't seen much of him.
Seeing him now brought on a wave of nostalgia. So much had changed.
Time really flew.
"Orochimaru-sama, please let me join the unit. I want to fight for Konoha too." Might Duy knelt and pleaded earnestly.
"Orochimaru-sama," interjected the Jonin trying to stop Duy, "Might Duy has absolutely no ninjutsu ability. He's purely a taijutsu user—and his wife just gave birth!"
This ninja was doing everything he could to keep Duy off the battlefield.
"I'm sorry, Duy-kun. You'd be of no use in battle. Taijutsu alone just isn't enough."
Orochimaru shook his head with regret. He wasn't sure whether this Jonin was speaking from kindness or cruelty.
But the reality was—taijutsu specialists didn't even make good cannon fodder on the battlefield. A barrage of ninjutsu, and they'd be gone in an instant.
What—did people think everyone was like Uchiha Gin?
"Orochimaru-sama, I can use ninjutsu now!" Might Duy refused to give up.
"Watch!"
He began forming hand signs awkwardly.
Instantly, the surrounding shinobi sprang to action, drawing their weapons.
At a time like this, forming hand seals in front of the commander would usually be seen as an attempted attack.
But Orochimaru raised his hand, signaling everyone to stand down. He squinted, watching Duy's clumsy signs closely.
Had Orochimaru not reacted in time, Duy might have been killed on the spot.
Watching the way Duy formed seals—
Just to perform a simple Transformation Jutsu, he took nearly twenty seconds.
Everyone else shook their heads in disappointment. At that speed, chakra wouldn't remain stable—never mind a successful jutsu.
Amid the mocking stares—
Might Duy grinned, flashing his teeth.
"Thank you all for your support of my hard work!"
"Transformation Jutsu!"
Poof!
In a puff of smoke, Might Duy transformed into a perfect replica of Orochimaru.
Gasps of astonishment rippled through the crowd.
Even those familiar with Duy were visibly stunned.
Their impression of him was that he was utterly hopeless aside from taijutsu.
But the most shocking part was—how did he succeed with such a slow seal?
"What?!"
"That's impossible! His seals were so slow—his chakra couldn't have stayed stable!"
"He must've cheated! But how do you cheat at a jutsu like this?!"
Everyone's worldview was shattered by Might Duy's display.
Fast sealing wasn't just about speed—it ensured the jutsu executed while chakra remained stable.
Long seals meant unstable chakra and near-certain failure.
Yet Duy had succeeded.
Orochimaru narrowed his eyes. He had detected traces of foundational internal energy cultivation.
These internal techniques had recently become harder and harder to acquire—they required more and more merit in battle. No average Genin could just get their hands on it.
So where had Duy learned it? Orochimaru had a guess.
It also reminded him of something someone once said:
"My taijutsu is nothing special, but there's a guy in the village who, if he went all-out, could block even the Third Hokage using only taijutsu."
And yet Orochimaru had never heard of such a person.
"Duy-kun, do you know Uchiha Gin?"
"You mean young Gin?" Duy scratched his head and grinned kindly, giving a thumbs up.
"He's incredible."
Just as he thought.
Orochimaru's tongue flicked like a snake as he licked his lips.
He might've just found the man Gin once claimed was the strongest taijutsu user.
"Duy-kun, if you want to go to the front lines, we'll need to test your strength."
"My lord, allow me." The Jonin who'd been trying to block Duy stepped forward.
"No," Orochimaru said, smiling faintly.
"I'll test Duy-kun myself."