Orochimaru thought fast.
He'd been turning it over in his head the whole way here, and he still couldn't figure out what Hiruzen Sarutobi was planning…
It had been years since they'd had a private conversation.
So why, the moment his teacher summoned him, was he being called straight to the Sarutobi home for dinner?
What kind of play was this?
After he stepped inside, though, he relaxed a little.
Biwako Sarutobi greeted him warmly, and the air carried the scent of apples and eggs, the exact kind of simple food he preferred…
But when he heard Hiruzen had gone to the training grounds, curiosity stirred.
The old man had been drowning in paperwork for ages… had he really kept up daily training?
With how exhausted he'd always looked, Orochimaru couldn't imagine he had that kind of energy left.
Then Orochimaru reached the entrance of the training ground and saw him.
His teacher looked powerful, fierce, almost as if time had reversed in his favor, and Orochimaru's mouth twitched despite himself.
No. Seriously.
Was this even the same person?
Ten years younger, just like that?
"You're early." Hiruzen lifted the steel staff like it weighed nothing and rested it across his shoulder, smiling as he spoke. "Didn't I tell you to just come at dinner? What, you starving? Eat a couple extra bowls later. Your teacher's wife made a bunch of dishes!"
The tone was so casual it felt like Orochimaru was a kid coming home after school.
Orochimaru blinked, studying Hiruzen's body with sharp, searching eyes. "Sensei… what is this?"
"Ah. The work pressure got too heavy, so I got seriously sick."
Hiruzen's voice was open, even a little reflective. "When you're sick, you have no choice but to slow down. And once you slow down, you start thinking clearly. My mind eased up, and my body followed. I even tried practicing some of the jutsu Lord Tobirama left behind."
"I worked a few things out. Seems like it's not bad."
Orochimaru nodded seriously. "It's very good. I thought you'd made initial progress on the Reserve Seal…"
"I'm nowhere near that yet, but I do want to train the Reserve Seal."
Hiruzen sighed softly. "A strong Hokage always puts people at ease more than a frail little old man…"
A spark lit in Orochimaru's eyes.
Those words made him genuinely happy.
Sensei had realized how terrifying aging was, and he was finally willing to solve it with ninjutsu?
You, the so-called Professor, had finally woken up?
Wasn't ninjutsu invented to solve problems in the first place?
"Sensei, you should've thought like that ages ago. I can help you…"
"Speaking like that, you've learned a lot of new jutsu these last two years?" Hiruzen chuckled. "Show your teacher a few."
Orochimaru's heart shifted.
Long ago, whenever he mastered a new jutsu, he'd run straight to Hiruzen to demonstrate it.
And every time, Hiruzen would watch patiently to the end, then give meticulous guidance, helping him truly grasp it.
"Those days…"
A breeze stirred Orochimaru's earring. "Sensei, are you going to guide me again? For the first time in a long while?"
The jutsu he'd been researching lately wasn't something he could show Hiruzen.
It was a forbidden technique that violated every line of human decency, a technique called Immortality Jutsu, meant to steal another person's body.
But putting that aside…
A proper teaching match with a teacher who'd finally regained his spirit was something Orochimaru wanted.
He wanted to feel this change for himself.
"Guide you?" Hiruzen shook his head with a smile. "You might be stronger than me now, Orochimaru…"
"But if my student invites me and I refuse, that wouldn't be much of a teacher, would it?"
"Sensei, then be a little serious." Orochimaru's long tongue slid out on instinct, wetting the corner of his mouth. The clean, blunt way he said it only made him more amused. "Should I notify Anbu?"
Even with his excitement rising, he was thinking carefully.
If they really cut loose…
The commotion would be enormous. Without Anbu maintaining order in the village, it would cause panic.
Hiruzen laughed, hands moving quickly through seals. "Earth Style: Mud Wall!"
Tall, thick earthen walls surged up from the ground, sealing the training field from all sides.
The training ground was wide, but he and Orochimaru weren't ordinary shinobi. If they got carried away, the damage radius could spiral fast.
"Thorough as always, Orochimaru. You've had a Hokage's way of thinking since you were a kid."
Hiruzen praised him without hesitation, then waved a hand. "No need to notify anyone."
"I was very dissatisfied about what happened when Kushina Uzumaki was taken by Kumogakure…"
"This time, no notice, no warning, no reception, no reports. You and I will do it right here and see how fast the village reacts."
Orochimaru gave a small nod, anticipation deepening in his eyes.
Whether it was being told he thought like a Hokage, or the way his teacher wanted to test Konoha's response speed without following the usual rigid procedure…
It delighted him.
Hiruzen rummaged through his ninja tool pouch and took out a slightly rusted bell.
"Sensei, are we still doing the bell test?" Orochimaru laughed softly. "I'm not a fresh academy graduate."
"Recognize it?" Hiruzen's voice turned a little nostalgic. "This is the one you used when you were kids. I kept it as a memento."
Orochimaru's heart jolted.
The old man had kept that bell in his pouch all this time?
Something strange tightened in Orochimaru's chest.
Hiruzen smiled faintly.
In truth, the bell had been placed there later.
His plan had been to accidentally show it to Orochimaru someday, to close the distance between them.
He hadn't expected the perfect moment to come so quickly.
Fair was fair. The old Hiruzen had loved the three Sannin deeply.
But the pressure of being Hokage had nearly suffocated him. He became cautious about everything. And with the rigid mindset of an old-school shinobi, he couldn't express affection the way Hiruzen could now.
Teacher and student were like father and child. Silent. Reserved. Easy to build walls between.
Over time, those tiny gaps stacked up until the two were held apart, drifting farther and farther away.
Even if you could reconcile someday, turning back with regret in your eyes… how much did it matter by then?
So it was better to be an emotionally steady old father who gave his student real encouragement, openly and without shame.
That kind of person was far easier to love.
The slight upward curve of Orochimaru's mouth proved the point.
"If we're doing the bell test, then one-on-one isn't bad…" Orochimaru pressed down his emotions and spoke carefully.
"Orochimaru, you've always been my proudest student." The bell chimed lightly as the breeze touched it.
"Heh…"
Orochimaru's laugh came out husky. "Sensei, why are you saying things like that?"
"Didn't I always say it when you were kids? Not used to it anymore? That's on me. You got older, and I stopped saying it as much…" Hiruzen tossed the bell toward him. "How about this? Today, I'm the one trying to take it. Let's see what you're made of. Let's see if your shoulders can really carry it now."
Orochimaru caught the bell on reflex, and his chest tightened.
Sensei was taking the bell?
What did that mean?
Am I overthinking this? he asked himself, but he couldn't shake the sting of it.
Hiruzen drew chakra through his body, his expression sharpening.
There were several reasons he'd put Orochimaru on defense.
First, even if the original body's combat instincts had fused into him decently, attacking was still easier than defending. It would expose fewer openings.
Second, it was a signal. A way to show he believed in Orochimaru, to raise his goodwill. He needed to pull this research genius back to his side.
Third, the stage they'd built with their back-and-forth was perfect for establishing authority.
Once high-powered jutsu started flying, whether they were fast or not, Anbu, the Uchiha Clan's police force, and the rest would arrive.
The Hokage, who hadn't truly displayed his power in a long time, needed to create a scene that left people stunned.
That would boost his authority.
"My chakra reserves are much bigger than before… so I don't need to be stingy. I need presence. I need ferocity." Hiruzen organized his approach.
Orochimaru came back to himself and stared at Hiruzen, eager and ready, and a chill ran down his spine.
Something was off.
A moment ago, it felt like the old man was testing him…
Now it felt like he'd been lured into a trap. Like his teacher was about to find an excuse to beat him senseless.
But—
"A changed sensei is… really interesting."
Orochimaru licked the corner of his mouth, thinking, A little dangerous, but let's add some fuel.
He cleared his throat and flipped the script completely.
"Sensei, do you remember what you told us back when we did the bell test?"
"You said we should attack with the intent to kill you…"
"Sensei, today… you can take that mindset too."
Hiruzen's eyes lit up immediately.
There were students who asked for this?
He'd been trying to figure out how to balance the intensity.
Because even if Orochimaru had requested sparring, if Hiruzen went too far, it could leave a crack between them.
But if Orochimaru himself said it first…
That changed everything.
Seeing Hiruzen's gaze, Orochimaru suddenly felt a little nervous and hurriedly patched it up. "Five minutes, sensei!"
"If you can't break through in five minutes, then I win…"
Hiruzen laughed. "Fine."
Before the last syllable even settled, his fingers moved like fluttering butterflies, seals snapping into place.
Hiruzen inhaled deep, his chest swelling.
"Fire Style: Dragon Flame Bomb!"
Chakra poured out without restraint.
Flame surged forward, twisting into the shape of a dragon, vicious and overwhelming, swallowing the entire training ground in its path.
The blaze roared bright. Light flickered across the Mud Wall like it was about to catch fire itself.
"Red-white flames? And that range…"
This was Sarutobi clan fire style. The jutsu itself wasn't complicated.
But the fundamentals behind it, especially the nature transformation, were anything but basic.
"Good. Then I'll finally use some ordinary nature jutsu again…" Orochimaru drew up chakra as well. Like Hiruzen, he was a shinobi who had mastered all seven chakra natures.
"Fire Style: Dragon Flame Jutsu!"
The fireballs collided head-on. The two forces tangled, then detonated at the center, forming a towering, snarling fire tornado that twisted into the sky.
For an instant, it looked like a massive firework had exploded overhead.
"The old man's fire style is… vicious. The temperature's this high?" Orochimaru retreated quickly, dragging his thumb across his lip. Blood spattered the ground. He slammed his hands together.
"Summoning Jutsu: Rashomon!"
A monstrous gate with a demon face surged from the earth, cutting off the raging flames.
The red-white blaze split around both sides of the gate and smashed into the Mud Wall surrounding the field, making the solid earth begin to melt.
"Sensei, did your fundamentals improve again?"
Orochimaru stood atop Rashomon and swept his gaze outward, voice layered with meaning. "But someone will be arriving soon…"
"Kid, show the village the strongest side of you." Hiruzen's voice rang out. "A match isn't a game. If you fall behind, go back and train. Same for me."
"This stage belongs to both of us."
Orochimaru laughed.
He laughed the way he had as a child.
Honestly, if it was a fight to the death, he had no confidence against Hiruzen.
But with five minutes as the line? With his techniques? Dragging it out would be absurdly easy. Even with the field restricted, he had that much faith in himself.
In the entire shinobi world, how many people could claim their techniques were more bizarre, their survivability higher?
He'd been worried that if Hiruzen couldn't pin him down in front of everyone, it would damage the Hokage's face.
But instead, sensei was acting like a young man, not talking about politics or restraint at all, only talking about steel and blood.
It felt good.
"The body-modification jutsu I've used rarely before will eventually be noticed…"
"And the old man used to be extremely sensitive about this sort of thing."
"Today, I'll show a little. If sensei turns on me, then fine. Better to plan early."
Orochimaru's thoughts flashed like lightning as he formed seals again. "Summoning Jutsu: Five-Layer Rashomon!"
He usually summoned three gates.
Today, Orochimaru brought out five in one breath.
Five towering, iron-hard Rashomon gates rose across Konoha's widest training ground. With the earlier one, they formed an irregular arrangement, like a labyrinth.
That was Orochimaru's plan.
With his movement, weaving through multiple Rashomon gates, he'd be as slippery as a snake. Even the most elite hunter would end up bitten.
Hiruzen and Orochimaru waited, both of them silently confident.
A moment later, Anbu arrived.
Sakumo Hatake was first, followed closely by Hiruzen's eldest son, Shinnosuke Sarutobi.
Both were Anbu squad captains.
Seeing his father and his father's prized student facing off like drawn blades, Shinnosuke looked genuinely lost. "Father, what is this…?"
"The speed is barely acceptable, but slower than I expected." Hiruzen's voice turned heavy. "Sakumo, you take control of the scene. Maintain order and record the arrival times of every department and every unit."
"Yes, Hokage-sama." Sakumo answered immediately.
Hiruzen examined the man briefly, that pine-straight posture and calm presence, then nodded once.
Loyal.
Hiruzen shifted his gaze back.
And in that moment, Orochimaru was already half-transformed, his body taking on serpentine traits as he met his teacher's eyes with excitement and careful testing.
"Hm?"
Orochimaru's heart leapt. He didn't see any displeasure in Hiruzen's eyes, only curiosity.
That curiosity…
Saying it like this felt like another reversal, but it was true. It looked just like Orochimaru's own.
A hunger to understand any jutsu.
"Give me more surprises, sensei."
Orochimaru slipped into the labyrinth of gates. Hissing echoed without pause, clearly the sound of countless snakes lying in wait, and his voice carried from somewhere deep within.
"Old man, I'm not feeling any pressure at all. Come on, use more jutsu!"
Hiruzen's mouth twisted into a crooked grin.
His student really was something else.
And at that moment, the Uchiha Clan arrived as well, the police force of Konoha.
"Perfect timing…"
"Guerrilla tactics against me? Then I'll just melt the whole area."
"Let me see what this body can really handle!"
The Hokage's chakra surged.