"I understand, Lord Orochimaru. Thank you for your guidance; it helped me realise my mistake in time."
Ren bowed 90 degrees to Orochimaru with great solemnity. Putting everything else aside, Orochimaru had certainly helped him a great deal this time. If not for his guidance, Ren didn't know when he would not have come to his senses.
"Heh heh, you're welcome. Oh, that reminds me."
Orochimaru waved his hand, signalling him to rise, then paused for a moment before continuing.
"Ren-kun, are you interested in becoming my experimental assistant?"
As he spoke, Orochimaru looked at Ren with interest, awaiting his reply.
"I…"
Ren hesitated. Although he was very willing to come to Orochimaru, he knew he wouldn't regret it given Orochimaru's achievements in Ninjutsu. However, he was already training in many other things, and becoming an assistant here might not leave him enough time for his other studies.
Seeing Ren's hesitation, Orochimaru quickly understood his concerns after a moment of thought. He then offered a solution in a gentle tone.
"It's fine, Ren-kun. I only conduct experiments every two or three days. You just need to come and assist me. I also have other research projects, so you won't be too busy. And my pay here is quite good."
"Then, I look forward to learning from you in the future, Lord Orochimaru."
Ren breathed a sigh of relief upon hearing this. He extended his hand and shook Orochimaru's. Ren was now an employee, but his boss was one of the Sannin—how exciting did that sound?
"Then let's start today. Do you recognise all of these?"
Orochimaru led Ren to the experimental table and shifted his gaze to Ren, asking.
"I recognise most of them, but there are a few I haven't seen."
Ren answered honestly. Orochimaru didn't mind; he picked up a scalpel and began to explain patiently.
"A scalpel is used to cut open the skin and organs on the surface of a living being."
After a brief explanation, he put down the scalpel and picked up surgical scissors to continue explaining.
"Surgical scissors are used to cut soft tissues like skin and muscle. They can also be used for tissue dissection, which involves inserting the tip of the scissors into tissue gaps to separate connective tissues without large blood vessels."
After speaking, he picked up a hemostat.
"A hemostat, also known as a clamp…"
"An arterial clamp, used to block arterial blood flow…"
Fifteen minutes later…
"How was it? Did you remember everything?"
Orochimaru put down the last instrument and turned his gaze to Ren.
"Yes, I remembered everything."
Ren wiped the sweat from his forehead. Fortunately, his mental strength was powerful, and his memory was exceptional. Coupled with years of compulsory education in his previous life, he had basically memorised everything. He just needed to consolidate it when he had free time, and there would be no problem.
"Oh?"
Orochimaru was a little surprised. He had thought it would be good if Ren could remember half of it, but he didn't expect the child to have such a good memory.
"If you've memorised it, then let's begin."
Orochimaru paused slightly, then continued the unfinished experiment.
He picked up bone forceps, carefully observed the skull that Orochimaru had cut open for a moment, then inserted the bone forceps, opened the cranial cavity, and handed the bone forceps to Ren without raising his head, saying.
"Hemostat."
"Yes."
Ren paused for a moment, then quickly picked up the hemostat and handed it to Orochimaru, while taking the bone forceps and returning them to their original position.
A moment later, Orochimaru handed back the hemostat, still without raising his head, saying.
"Adson forceps."
"Coming!"
From initial unfamiliarity to gradual proficiency, their tacit understanding slowly improved.
"That's enough for today."
Orochimaru took off his Slinky clothes, and Ren immediately took them and hung them on a hanger.
Orochimaru looked at Ren with a hint of approval.
"It seems you're adapting well, Ren-kun."
"Thank you for the compliment, Lord Orochimaru."
Ren also breathed a sigh of relief. This job was not easy; Orochimaru's pace was so fast that he almost couldn't keep up, but fortunately, he managed to get through it without a hitch.
"This will be your salary for this month. I think you'll like it very much."
Upon hearing Orochimaru's words, Ren instinctively reached out his hand, then saw Orochimaru ponder for a moment. Then, a horrifying scene unfolded: Orochimaru opened his mouth wide and spat out a scroll, which he then placed in Ren's hand.
"What is this?"
Ren looked at the scroll, which was covered in Orochimaru's saliva, but he didn't really mind. He could just wipe it clean and still use it.
"Take it back and look at it. From now on, just come here on Wednesdays and Saturday afternoons."
"Then I shall take my leave, Lord Orochimaru."
Ren sensed that Orochimaru was dismissing him. He nodded in acknowledgement, then pushed open the door and walked out.
"Heh heh heh."
Orochimaru watched Ren walk out, chuckled twice, then turned his head to continue his new round of experiments.
Ren passed through the tunnel and exited the laboratory. Orochimaru, sensing someone coming out from inside, paid no attention, merely opening a man-high slit for Ren to exit.
After Ren left, Orochimaru covered the slit again and continued to lie there quietly.
…
"Phew, finally out."
Ren had just rushed out of the forest, looking at Konoha Village bathed in the twilight. He took two steps forward, then sat down cross-legged on the Second Hokage's stone face.
A gentle breeze blew, and Ren felt a cool sensation on his face. With a single glance, the entire panorama of Konoha Village was visible.
Feeling a cool touch on the side of his face, Ren turned his head to see that it was Little Slinky, coiled on his shoulder, rubbing against his cheek.
"You little rascal, you startled me."
Ren reached out and stroked the scales on Little White's body. He stood up, dusted himself off, and walked towards the path down the mountain.
"Let's go, we're going home."
…
"We're home."
Ren opened the door, changed into his slippers, and eagerly went to the living room. He sat down at the table, took out the scroll Orochimaru had given him, first wiping the surface of the scroll clean with paper, thenunrollingd it to examine its contents.
"Water Release: Water Dragon Jutsu."
Ren mumbled the name aloud, then his eyes lit up. As expected of one of the Sannin, he was indeed generous, giving a B-rank Ninjutsu as a salary right off the bat.
Water Dragon Jutsu—it was perfect, as he currently lacked a powerful Ninjutsu to decide battles. This Water Dragon Jutsu came at just the right time.
Water Dragon Jutsu is a very representative Water Release Ninjutsu. This Jutsu has two activation methods: one uses water from the surrounding environment to condense into a dragon shape to attack the enemy, and the other directly exhales a stream of water from the mouth to form a water dragon to attack.
There are many ways to form hand seals for this Ninjutsu. The most complex and original version used 44 seals, as seen with Zabuza Momochi and Kakashi. Perhaps finding these seals too troublesome, the Water Release master, Second Hokage Tobirama Senju, simplified the hand seals for this Jutsu to just 4 seals: Child-Dragon-Rabbit-Tiger.
Maruboshi Kosuke, who was once taught by the Second Hokage, used a simplified version of the Water Dragon Jutsu with 6 seals: Child-Ox-Tiger-Snake-Horse-Rooster.
The scroll contained the simplified six seals. Here, Ren couldn't help but praise Orochimaru; truly one of the Sannin, his consideration was meticulous and thoughtful.
So, the next step is to devote himself to training. Ninjutsu, Taijutsu, Genjutsu, Medical Ninjutsu, Sage Mode—none of them can fall behind. There are still two years…