Orochimaru did not answer. His gaze rested on the tri-pronged kunai.
"You think I'm bluffing?" Shimizu let out a short laugh. "Want to test it? Is your speed faster—or is my no-seal Summoning Technique faster?"
"I only need to inject the slightest bit of chakra… and everything will be just like the night the Third Kazekage's secret letter was stolen…"
The theft of the Third Kazekage's confidential letter had shocked Konoha's upper ranks. One could even say that incident directly pushed the village toward the abyss of war.
And the man at the center of it—Konoha ANBU jōnin, Shimizu Uzuki—had even trespassed into Root's headquarters in the dead of night.
Danzō should not have let that go lightly…
But the matter ultimately involved Minato Namikaze—disciple of Jiraiya, and grand-disciple of the Third Hokage.
And how had Minato appeared at the scene so promptly?
Because of the kunai engraved with the Flying Thunder God formula.
And where had that kunai come from?
"Uzuki-kun, you've given me quite a few surprises…" Orochimaru's voice returned to its earlier leisurely tone.
The sea of snakes coiled around him slowly receded. No longer on guard, he continued, "The deal is indeed simple. But how do you guarantee your promise?"
Without hesitation, Shimizu used Lightning Release chakra to slice a small cut across his wrist. A streak of crimson immediately surfaced.
"As for the blood, I can give it to you now. When will you give me Flying Thunder God?"
Orochimaru's snake-like pupils fixed tightly on the blood. His tongue lightly swept across his lips—his fervor unmistakable.
Tch. Typical.
Shimizu knew Orochimaru craved immortality, which was exactly why he had shouted "Time Reversal" during the fight. Would you be willing to kill a man who seemingly held the secrets of time? Even if the bluff wouldn't hold up forever, it served its purpose.
Furthermore, anything that could make Orochimaru go through such trouble had to be of significant value. It seemed his blood... held quite a secret.
"Since Uzuki-kun is so sincere…" Orochimaru retrieved two sheets of paper folded into small squares from his ninja pouch, along with an empty vial.
"Throw it over." Shimizu had no intention of getting close to Orochimaru again.
"Heh. Very well."
Orochimaru neatly placed the papers into the vial and tossed it over.
Shimizu unfolded the pages and inspected them carefully.
The handwriting… indeed bore the mark of the Second Hokage.
The contents… truly detailed everything regarding Flying Thunder God.
These were two of the pages originally torn from the scroll of secret techniques.
But in his memory, five pages had been torn out.
Where were the other three?
He had no intention of letting that go.
"There are three more pages."
"Uzuki-kun, we agreed—you only wanted Flying Thunder God."
Orochimaru revealed a meaningful smile.
That smile sent a chill across Shimizu's skin.
"…Right. A perfect transaction."
With that, Shimizu tossed the vial—now filled with his blood—back to Orochimaru.
Awkward.
He hadn't even considered there might be something else…
But what were the remaining three pages?
Noticing that Shimizu's hand had never once left the tri-pronged kunai, Orochimaru reminded him:
"Uzuki-kun, there's no need to be so wary. When I agree to something, I fulfill it. Since I chose to trade, I will not resort to force to achieve my goal. As for you…"
"I'll repeat myself," Shimizu interrupted firmly. "You were the one who first gave me filtered ninjutsu—what was your intention? Since you weren't honest, why should I strictly honor the so-called deal?"
"This time is the same. I said Flying Thunder God—and that is exactly all I require. You may keep the remaining three pages…"
"That's fair."
Shimizu's heart was bleeding. It took immense courage to act with such feigned indifference. A deep sense of regret gnawed at him; he felt as though he had just missed out on hundreds of millions of Ryo.
"I wonder," Orochimaru said thoughtfully, "what was that secret technique you used to restore your chakra? Was it truly time-based ninjutsu? Or perhaps something related to the Uzumaki clan?"
A man as erudite and deeply versed in forbidden techniques as Orochimaru could hardly have been truly deceived by Shimizu's so-called "time ninjutsu."
The shock—
Had only lasted that very first moment.
Analyzing it now, it was most likely that he had stored chakra through some special method. And that method of storage was probably achieved by utilizing the immense vitality of the Uzumaki clan.
It should be something similar to Tsunade's Strength of a Hundred Seal—a type of sealing technique.
The only question was: what were the side effects?
"That's a second transaction. What use do you have for my blood?"
Shimizu truly couldn't figure out what Orochimaru wanted his blood for. He was, admittedly, a little curious about Orochimaru's objective.
But only a little.
"Why is Uzuki-kun so eager to investigate that?"
Orochimaru was clearly unwilling to reveal what Shimizu's blood was for.
"Then the transaction is over." Shimizu gestured at the battlefield, now in complete disarray. "But what about this place?"
The lake water would naturally dissipate in a few hours.
But how were these broken trees supposed to be restored?
If Konoha's ANBU passed by, they would certainly notice something unusual.
And if an investigation followed, the transaction with Orochimaru might very well be exposed…
That would drag a lot of other matters into the light.
"Someone will handle it properly."
Root shinobi, most likely.
But from Orochimaru's tone, it sounded easy.
To restore everything here… could it be Wood Release?
Yamato?!
"I never expected that in just a few months, Uzuki-kun would wield the Second Hokage's Water Release techniques with such mastery. That is true genius… And an ordinary jōnin could never have exchanged so many rounds with me."
Orochimaru's praise sounded sincere.
"That wasn't everything," Shimizu replied. Then, half seriously and half jokingly, he added, "I was afraid of going too far and destroying the entire Forest of Death."
There was still one ultimate move he hadn't used…
Though under the current conditions, he couldn't activate that technique anyway.
"Oh? Is that so… I look forward to it." Orochimaru turned to leave. "…Uzuki-kun, I will come to find you again."
Fine, just make sure to bring those other three pages of notes.
…
...
......
Shimizu returned home and finally let out a quiet sigh of relief.
Strangely, this empty house gave him a sense of security.
On his way back, he had already noticed the two small puncture marks on his chest—
Snake fang marks.
Yet for some reason, he showed no signs of poisoning.
Was it because the contact had been too brief, the venom not injected in time?
Or just as Orochimaru had said—had he spared his life?
Thinking back carefully, it was only at that final moment of close combat that he had been ambushed like that.
It had been unbelievably fast…
If Orochimaru had seized the opportunity to use that move from the very beginning, the battle might have ended long ago.
Against that kind of speed—how was Shimizu supposed to defend?
The battle with Orochimaru had begun with hot-blooded fighting spirit.
Now that he had calmed down, he clearly saw the gap between himself and one of the Sannin.
Chakra went without saying—the difference was severalfold, something not easily bridged.
Orochimaru's tactical arsenal was incredibly rich. He had already displayed Wind Release and Earth Release techniques, subtle genjutsu cast without a trace, snake-based secret arts that could both attack and defend, and he had yet to reveal the Kusanagi Sword or Manda.
As the prized disciple of the Third Hokage, Orochimaru's mastery of the remaining three elemental transformations must also be extraordinary.
Today's battle had revealed only the tip of his strength.
After all, Orochimaru—one of the Sannin—possessed decades of accumulated foundation.
That was something a newly promoted jōnin like Shimizu simply could not compare to.
Moreover, Shimizu's own strength was relatively constrained by environment and a somewhat specialized combat style.
Of course, that also had something to do with his longsword not yet being in hand.
Still, Shimizu did not belittle himself.
Jōnin. Elite jōnin. Sannin.
Between each of those tiers lay an enormous gulf.
Yet his current strength had undoubtedly reached the level of an elite jōnin.
A 20-year-old elite jōnin—
Even in a village overflowing with prodigies like Konohagakure, that was an outstanding existence.