Gojo Yoru had already been mentally prepared for Orochimaru's question.
The moment Orochimaru saw the Rasengan, Yoru knew a test was coming.
After organizing his thoughts, Gojo Yoru met Orochimaru's gaze and answered without hesitation, "A ninja's battle is a battle of information. I don't want other people knowing my trump cards, and I don't want to graduate early. I still want to learn more at school."
Orochimaru was visibly taken aback by the seriousness in Gojo Yoru's expression.
Clearly, he hadn't expected a child to give that kind of answer.
But when he recovered, the look in his eyes changed. Admiration slowly took root there, quiet and unmistakable.
This child was not merely precocious in body. He was precocious in mind as well.
While other children were still playing at being ninjas, and even most prodigies would have been unable to resist the temptation of early graduation and official recognition, Gojo Yoru had chosen the opposite path. He hid his strength. He buried his edge. He kept learning and kept waiting.
What kind of experience would force a child into that way of thinking?
To Orochimaru, the answer came almost at once.
The deaths of the Gojo couple.
In that instant, Orochimaru seemed to catch a faint glimpse of himself in the white-haired boy before him.
He, too, had changed after losing both of his parents.
Because of that, Orochimaru understood Gojo Yoru's reasoning with unsettling ease.
If one possessed a powerful trump card, then the wisest choice was not always to brandish it. Sometimes, concealing it was what allowed a miracle to happen in a desperate situation. Sometimes, the only way to turn certain death into a narrow chance of survival was to make sure the enemy never saw your last card until the moment it mattered most.
So it was not that Gojo Yoru feared becoming a ninja early and seeing blood too soon. It was the opposite.
He wanted to become stronger.
He wanted to learn more.
He wanted to prepare for the unexpected, so that neither he nor the people beside him would walk the same road his parents had walked.
The more Orochimaru thought about it, the more his fondness for the boy deepened.
On the surface, however, all he did was give calm, measured praise. "A very good way of thinking. As expected of Hayate and Mio's son. If they could see you from the Pure Land, they would surely be proud."
His golden eyes narrowed slightly as he continued, "In the future, I believe you will surpass them and become one of Konoha's true blades."
Before Gojo Yoru could offer a modest reply, Orochimaru asked another question, his tone light, but his focus razor sharp. "The ninjutsu you used just now... was it left to you by Hayate?"
Gojo Yoru shook his head. "No. The Rasengan is a ninjutsu I developed myself."
"Rasengan?" Orochimaru repeated, and the corner of his lips curved ever so slightly. "A good name."
He sounded calm, but inwardly, he had already reached a conclusion.
If such a ninjutsu had truly been developed by Gojo Hayate, or handed down through the Gojo family, then it would not have remained hidden. A technique of that level would have spread through Konoha, perhaps even through the wider ninja world, long ago.
Which meant the answer was exactly what the boy had said.
He had created it himself.
Even Orochimaru could not help but click his tongue inwardly at that realization.
To develop a ninjutsu at that age, one whose training difficulty was at least B-rank and very likely A-rank, was dazzling.
No matter how he looked at it, it was the kind of talent that could not be ignored.
Still, Orochimaru kept his voice casual as he spoke again. "That ninjutsu is powerful. Its shape transformation and chakra control are both first-rate. And if I am not mistaken, it is a non-attribute, seal-less technique."
His gaze sharpened.
"Were you trying to add nature transformation to it... and failed?"
The shock that spread across Gojo Yoru's face came instantly and with perfect timing.
"As expected of Lord Orochimaru!"
He stared at Orochimaru wide-eyed, his expression full of astonishment, as though the other man had effortlessly seen straight through everything.
Then, just as quickly, that astonishment turned into open admiration. The anticipation in his eyes could no longer be hidden. It burned hot and bright, carrying the feverish respect of a child standing before a legendary figure.
Orochimaru's lips lifted a little more.
Then he raised his right hand.
At some point, a small white snake had coiled itself around his wrist. The little snake opened its mouth, and from between its jaws it spat out a red scroll far too large for its body.
The scroll landed neatly in Gojo Yoru's hands.
Orochimaru said, "This contains my understanding of nature transformation over the years. I have no use for it anymore, so I'll give it to you."
For the first time, Gojo Yoru's composure genuinely wavered.
The hand holding the scroll trembled ever so slightly.
Then delight lit his face in an instant. He bowed so deeply his upper body nearly folded in half, his voice ringing with unrestrained gratitude. "Thank you, Orochimaru-sensei!"
Orochimaru saw every shift in his expression.
He saw the tremor in the hand that accepted the scroll. He saw the brightening eyes. He heard the deliberate change in address.
And yet he did not correct him.
He simply left behind a sentence, calm and meaningful. "I hope that the next time we meet, your growth will surprise me."
The moment the words fell, his figure blurred and vanished.
He disappeared so cleanly it was as though he had never been there at all.
Only after more than ten seconds had passed did Gojo Yoru finally straighten up.
He looked down at the scroll in his hand, and the joy in his eyes deepened.
This had been a truly pleasant surprise.
The surprise wasn't the scroll itself, though that was valuable beyond question.
No, the real surprise was that Orochimaru had not rejected that increasingly presumptuous form of address.
That mattered far more.
Originally, Gojo Yoru had assumed that the first of the Sannin he would come into contact with would either be Tsunade, through Kushina Uzumaki, or Jiraiya, through Minato Namikaze. Those had always been the routes in his plans, the lines he had drawn for himself when trying to map out a future in this dangerous world.
But reality had gone another way.
The first Sannin he had met was Orochimaru.
And not only had he met him, he had left a favorable impression.
This was not the Orochimaru of later years, the man who would dive into darkness and become a byword for terror. This was still the legendary genius of Konoha, the direct disciple of the Third Hokage, the man whose talent and intellect were second only to Tobirama Senju in Yoru's estimation. A monster of learning. A monster of research. A man who would survive from the earliest era of the original story all the way into Boruto, and not merely survive, but continue thriving by carving a new path with science and technology.
And now, that same person seemed to think highly of him.
If that was true, then perhaps he no longer needed to rely entirely on Kushina Uzumaki as a bridge to Tsunade.
If he could draw closer to Orochimaru, the gains would be difficult to measure.
He could access Orochimaru's resources.
He could gain access to Orochimaru's network.
More importantly, if things progressed far enough, there was even a chance he could sign a contract with Ryuchi Cave and obtain its Sage Mode.
And once Sage Mode entered the equation, everything would change.
At that point, his space-time chakra would become space-time sage chakra.
Just the thought of it made Gojo Yoru's pulse quicken.
He could scarcely imagine how terrifying his strength would become by then.
Standing in the quiet after Orochimaru's departure, Gojo Yoru forced himself to calm down and began carefully analyzing the meaning behind what had just happened.
Orochimaru had not rejected the title.
That alone revealed a great deal.
At the end of the day, it still came down to one thing.
Talent.
Before awakening his space-time abilities, Gojo Yoru's original plan had been to use the Rasengan to shake Konoha, to make the upper ranks see him, value him, and tacitly approve his contact with Kushina Uzumaki. As long as he displayed enough brilliance, then even if Kushina's importance was obvious, the people behind her would not casually sever that connection.
And to develop an A-rank, seal-less ninjutsu at the age of nine...
That level of talent was enough to turn heads anywhere.
No powerful figure could ignore it.
Especially not Orochimaru.
After all, the Rasengan already possessed first-rate chakra control and first-rate shape transformation. If nature transformation could be added on top of that, then the technique would no longer merely be excellent. It would become a finished monster, a true ultimate ninjutsu.
An S-rank technique.
That was the highest class of ninjutsu in the entire ninja world.
They were not techniques one could master just by working hard. They were not techniques that could be duplicated casually. Even the Sharingan could not simply copy them.
Within the Five Great Ninja Villages, ninjutsu of that class would be recorded in the Book of Seals, or locked away in forbidden archives as village trump cards and forbidden techniques.
A ninja who mastered such a technique already possessed the qualifications to threaten a Kage.
And once the rest of their overall abilities caught up, they would become the true aces of a great village, the elite jonin who stood at the very top of the regular ninja system.
Those people were more than just powerful jonin.
They were Hokage candidates.
In times of emergency, they could issue A-rank missions to any ninja in the village.
If one of the Five Kage died in battle or stepped down, people of that class had the qualification to run for the position and cast votes in the process.
That was what Orochimaru already was now.
And Gojo Yoru had shown the potential to one day become the same kind of existence.
Orochimaru, whose dream at this stage was still to become the Fourth Hokage, naturally needed his own people. He needed trustworthy subordinates. He needed capable followers. He needed a team of people with talent, value, and room to grow.
Gojo Yoru fit all of those requirements.
His potential was excellent.
His identity was clean and favorable.
His age was ideal.
Everything about him made him suitable for investment.
This scroll, along with Orochimaru's tacit acceptance of that title, was proof of it.
It represented both investment and expectation.
As long as Gojo Yoru continued to display that kind of value, Orochimaru would keep increasing his investment. He would continue observing him. Nurturing him. Guiding him. Even if he never formally took him in as a disciple, the privileges that came with being the Hokage's disciple could still be used to pave part of the road for him.
For a transmigrator like Gojo Yoru, that mattered more than words could say.
At long last, he had found the powerful backer he had always dreamed of.