The Sannin's appearance is like that of a snake. His aura was far beyond any jōnin he had seen until now.
This is the aura of an elite, someone at the top of this world—an S-rank level ninja.
Jōnin like Tsume-sensei don't compare to this monster, who could take even a jōnin's life as if it were nothing.
The only person Shintoki had ever seen who possessed this kind of presence is the Hokage. The old man smoking in his office was a powerhouse—the same man who had taught the three Sannin and the longest-running Hokage, only beaten by Ōnoki in that regard.
"Orochimaru-sama," said Anko while running to hug him with a smile.
Seeing Anko coming toward him, Orochimaru smiled back.
"Hello," he said while looking past her and glancing at the boys she was with, from the chūnin Ebisu to the scared Tetsu and lastly the tense Shintoki.
"What?! This man is one of the Sannin?" asked Ebisu, shocked. He had always heard about Orochimaru but had never met him.
Of course, not any shinobi gets to meet a Sannin, let alone work with them. After all, they are always busy and nowadays at the front.
The Sannin Tsunade was not even in Konoha, having left Konoha a long time ago for reasons Ebisu didn't know.
But one thing is certain.
"Damn, this man is scaryyyy..."
Ebisu was dumbfounded. His mouth opened in shock. He knew that Anko was being taught by someone exceptional, but instead of saying it, Anko told them it was a secret and that he was the strongest in the village besides Hokage-sama.
But Shintoki knew better—the strongest was neither Orochimaru nor the silly Sannin Jiraiya nor the old monkey Sarutobi. It was a young star, the only man who had managed to master the S-rank spatial jutsu left behind by the Second Hokage: the future Yellow Flash, Minato Namikaze. At sixteen years old, he could already suppress the Nine-Tails and was even compared to the First Hokage. At that age, Minato had already learned Uzumaki techniques, developed the Rasengan, and could use Hiraishin.
And it's been several years since then; Minato only grew stronger afterward.
Still, Orochimaru was no pushover. As a Sannin, he is also a monster.
While Orochimaru is definitely weird, none of his jutsu make sense besides Futon release. Killing Orochimaru is pretty much a laughable attempt. After all, even sacred weapons aren't a guaranteed victory. His strength is definitely undeniable.
While Shintoki was thinking all this, he was sweating profusely while trying his best to keep a neutral expression.
Orochimaru gazed at Shintoki as if studying him. The kid didn't have any particular aura, he thought to himself.
Nor was he from a clan he had learned of yet, but Orochimaru had the feeling that he had some secret he was concealing. Anyway, wouldn't this only make it even more interesting? For someone to survive against a foe with jōnin potential, Orochimaru didn't believe it was luck—Shintoki must be very talented to pull it off.
"Kukukuku... I'm looking forward to seeing your growth, Shintoki," he thought to himself with excitement.
After all, even if he lacked a kekkei genkai, as long as he had talent and was willing to work hard, he could make it and become an exceptional shinobi. If a baka like Jiraiya could do it, then anyone with talent and willpower could rise above all odds.
Orochimaru: "I was going to test you, Anko, but since you are not alone and are with some friends, why not test the three of you? Let me see what you are made of."
Anko: "Sensei, can't we wait until tomorrow? Today is Tetsu's birthday." Anko really wanted to spend more time with Tetsu and her friend. Also, who knew what her crazy sensei had in reserve? She had the feeling that if she went through the test now, she might be unable to move afterward. For now, she could only delay it.
"For real? Anko, your sensei won't get fooled by this. But yeah, we really—"
"Shut it, annoying Ebisu," she said while pulling her tongue at him, all while doing the cute-girl act simultaneously.
Ebisu was dumbfounded; as for Shintoki, he was silent.
His mind was going several kilometers in full cycles over the test part. If there was something Shintoki didn't want, it was to get dragged into anything Orochimaru-based until he was strong enough.
Anko looked at Orochimaru with puppy eyes, completely unbothered by the weird and unsettling look of her mentor. For Anko, without Orochimaru, she wouldn't be where she was now.
If Shintoki was the second most important person in her life, then Orochimaru was like a father to her. So she deeply trusted him.
Orochimaru: "Fine, but I will have to test you tomorrow at 9 AM in Training Ground 11. I need to make sure you didn't slack off. You two should come too. I am interested to know how strong Anko's friends are."
"Wait, I haven't agreed to any of this. I really won't be available tomorrow. I remembered there is something I want to do... hehehe..." Shintoki laughed awkwardly.
Suddenly—smack...
"Ahhhh!" cried Shintoki in pain.
"Damn it, Anko, why did you step on my foot?"
"Wicked girl, you aren't cute at all," while Shintoki started throwing words and complaining along with Ebisu.
Anko: "Thank you, Orochimaru-sensei."
After Orochimaru left, Shintoki released the breath he was holding.
What he needed least was Orochimaru finding out about his kekkei genkai—which he had awakened barely a week ago—and turning him into an experiment. This encounter further reminded Shintoki that he should be careful. And while Orochimaru had yet to fall into darkness, it was still better to be safe than sorry.
And also, a part of him was deeply worried about Anko.
This is the true reason he inevitably didn't refuse to participate. He wanted to study Orochimaru for himself, to see if Anko is safe, at least for now.
Some moments afterward, Shintoki and everyone offered their birthday gifts to Tetsu. Ebisu then called his uncle, after some convincing, to take a photo of them, and since he would also teach the kids shuriken techniques, it was more than satisfying. Once the birthday was over, everyone went their own way.
...
The next morning finally came.
Honestly, Shintoki thought about skipping the test in the first place, but because, at this time, Anko highly respected Orochimaru, he didn't want to end up on her bad side, and as already noted, he wanted to study Orochimaru on his own to see if Anko is still safe. Of course, he could simply wait until Orochimaru defected before fixing things, but who could be certain that things would happen like in the original story? After all, his appearance alone had already changed a lot—like Kotetsu and Izumo's participation in the Chūnin Exam at such a young age.
So, reluctantly, he put his ninja pack on his back before setting his pace toward the meeting point with Orochimaru-sensei.
Speeding through Konoha at fast speed, he gazed around, seeing the joy on everyone's faces, the light shining upon the Village of the Leaf. It was beautiful. Konoha really is a beautiful place; if only its people were not shallow, it would be perfect.
After all, behind this amazing peaceful view is the darkness of Konoha, which lies at its roots and compromises its whole leadership.
Upon arriving at the training ground, the first thing Shintoki noticed was that Ebisu was already there, only missing Anko.
Ebisu: "Yo, how have you been?"
Shintoki: "Alright, Ebisu. Shouldn't we prepare ourselves?"
Ebisu: "What should we do?" They then started talking.
Shintoki: "Fighting him individually is out of the question. If they do, they might as well give up now. The Sannin would beat them all with their hands and feet tied, let alone individually."
They then studied the field to have a better grasp of it and gain some advantage.
They thought about placing traps but eventually gave up—it might turn against them. A trap is worthless against a Sannin.
As for more, they will figure it out when Anko gets there.
Around twenty minutes later, Anko also appeared, looking very cheerful. She greeted Shintoki and Ebisu while approaching them before taking position at their side.
Once Anko was there, they started telling her about their plan. They revised many scenarios while asking Anko what she knew of her sensei.