Chapter 41 — Becoming Orochimaru's Disciple
Konoha Ninja Hospital.
Inside a high-level care ward, Jiraiya lay in bed with his head wrapped completely in bandages, leaving only his two eyes exposed.
At this moment, his eyes were vacant, and for the first time, he felt regret. If he hadn't gone peeping, would Tsunade have accepted him by now?
Damn it, I was so close!!!
Seeing the worry on Kinoshita Hikaru's face, a warm current rose in Jiraiya's heart.
"Kid, do you think I was wrong?"
Hikaru did not answer. Seeing that Jiraiya's life was not in danger, he was finally relieved.
As for the relationship between those two, he did not want to say much.
If two people spent their whole lives loving and fighting each other, only to never end up together, then there had to be a problem. And the biggest problem was that both of them had unwavering convictions and their own missions.
He really wanted to say that everything just now had only been an illusion, all of it stirred up by hormones.
"Since you already did it, then don't regret it. Instead of drowning in the past, think about what you should do from now on."
Jiraiya fell silent, not knowing how to respond.
At that moment—
The door to the room opened.
Jiraiya looked up and saw his good friend Orochimaru walk in, holding a bouquet of roses.
Roses?
The flower language of roses was remembrance. What exactly was he trying to remember?
First beaten half to death by his goddess, then mocked by his best friend—Jiraiya felt utterly helpless.
"You bastard, are you here to mourn me?"
"Sorry. I heard Tsunade punched you, so I thought you might be dead." Though Orochimaru said he was sorry, his eyes were full of amusement.
Seeing the two of them loving and bickering as always, Hikaru suddenly felt like a third wheel. He grinned and said, "Since you're already fine, I'll be going now."
"Why are you leaving in such a hurry, Hikaru-kun? I still have many things I'd like to discuss with you," Orochimaru said, asking him about the development level of his bloodline ability.
Hikaru considered it for a moment and chose not to hide the matter. As a scientific-type ninja, Orochimaru had all kinds of imaginative ideas. Talking with him might even speed up the development of the fruit's abilities.
"I developed a new technique. The principle behind it is accelerating blood circulation."
He explained the mechanism of Second Gear, unafraid of it being stolen. This was an ability unique to a rubber man—others simply could not learn it. If they tried recklessly, their internal organs would rupture and they would die.
Orochimaru listened intently, his brown pupils gleaming with excitement. He was deeply interested in such a wild and unconventional idea.
In Orochimaru's view, ninja had always been bound by rules. What they needed was someone to break those rules, step beyond them, and innovate.
"It seems your bloodline ability has tremendous potential, Hikaru-kun. But it also has a flaw—accelerating your blood flow will consume an enormous amount of stamina. That problem needs to be solved."
Hikaru smiled and nodded. The two began exchanging insights on ninjutsu. One had wildly imaginative ideas, the other possessed vast knowledge. Both gained a great deal from the discussion.
This was their first serious conversation, and Hikaru found himself thoroughly impressed by Orochimaru's knowledge.
Should he ask to become his disciple?
Though this was only their first meeting, and they had exchanged only a few words, Hikaru was certain of one thing—Orochimaru wanted to take him as his student.
At this point in time, Orochimaru could be called a perfect ninja. He had deep research in ninjutsu, taijutsu, and genjutsu alike, a passionate interest in ninja arts, and had not yet begun his later scientific experiments. He had not done anything to harm his comrades. There was still light in his heart.
Although Hikaru instinctively felt a certain wariness toward Orochimaru, it did not stop him from wanting to get closer.
This was the greatest scientist in the ninja world, and also a snake who pursued immortality.
And Hikaru was not afraid either. As long as he had a few years to quietly develop himself, he was confident he would one day stand at the very peak of the ninja world.
By then, no matter who fell into darkness, Hikaru had the confidence to deal with them.
Speaking of falling into darkness, there was one bizarre setting in the world of Naruto that had to be mentioned: whenever someone resolved to do certain things, they first had to prove their determination.
For example, by killing someone important to them. The most famous case was the "three who killed their masters," and Orochimaru was one of them. It was practically an inevitable step on the road to corruption.
If Hikaru became Orochimaru's disciple, he would probably face that choice as well.
Even so, the benefits of becoming his disciple were simply too great. Snake-based ninjutsu, sage arts, summoning beasts, immortality techniques—everything was there.
At that moment, Hikaru had already made up his mind. Why overthink it? First take the benefits, then worry about the future later. If he missed this chance, there might never be another one.
Besides, the two of them really did have a strange kind of fate. Both were commoners. Both had lost their parents. And both could do the snake dance.
But even becoming a disciple required the right moment. He couldn't just drop to his knees out of nowhere and start kowtowing. Hikaru was still thinking about how to do it without seeming too abrupt.
All of this was seen clearly by Jiraiya. His best friend had never talked so happily with anyone before.
His eyes turned, and he deliberately said in mock annoyance,
"I say, that's enough, you two. This is a hospital, you know. You're chatting so happily—shouldn't you at least show some concern for me, the patient here? And Orochimaru, if you like this brat that much, then just take him as your disciple already. That way, the two of you can talk every day."
Now that Jiraiya had pierced through the last layer of paper over the window, Orochimaru asked, "Hikaru-kun, what do you think?"
Finding the opportunity, Orochimaru threw the question directly to Hikaru. As a genius of Konoha and the disciple of the Hokage, he had his own pride. He would only ask this once. If Hikaru refused, Orochimaru would never bring up taking him as a disciple again.
This was completely different from a standard three-man squad with a jonin leader. Manga might gloss over the bloodier side of things, but in the ninja world, it was commonplace for jonin to treat genin as cannon fodder.
To many squad leaders, the members of their team were little more than a mission, a means of earning money, disposable tools, people who could be sacrificed.
But a disciple was an inheritor.
Like Kakashi and Sasuke—he passed his unique ninjutsu down to him.
Or Jiraiya and Naruto—he entrusted his own ninja way to him.
That was legacy. That was a bond. It was entirely different from a squad.
Hikaru, of course, didn't refuse.
"Teacher."
Orochimaru had a cool temperament. He was not the type to shout with joy when something pleased him. He merely extended his tongue and licked his lips, a trace of a smile in his eyes as he gently helped Hikaru to his feet.
"Hikaru, from now on, you are the first disciple of me, Orochimaru."
Hikaru's smile turned radiant. He had just opened his mouth to say something moving when Orochimaru suddenly opened his own mouth and pulled out a scroll from inside, its surface coated in saliva.
Ugh (︶︿︶)=凸, this Orochimaru's ninjutsu style is way too heavy on the gross factor (▽).
"This is the contract scroll of Ryūchi Cave, one of the Three Great Sage Regions. Sign your name here, and you'll not only be able to use them in battle, but also summon them to deliver messages."
"Mm."
Hikaru carefully examined the scroll and discovered that only Orochimaru's name remained intact. Every other name had been crossed out with a large X, which meant that Orochimaru was Ryūchi Cave's only remaining contractor.
Without hesitation, Hikaru wrote down his own name.
But the instant he did—
Space suddenly trembled.
A crack split open in the air, rapidly twisting and expanding into a vortex that swallowed Hikaru whole.
He had no time to react. All he felt was an overwhelming suction force dragging him in. He only managed to utter two words:
"Done... al..."
Everything happened too fast. Even someone as powerful as Orochimaru had no time to react, much less stop it.
"What was that?"
"It was reverse summoning. I went through the same thing back then. Looks like Ryūchi Cave has acknowledged Kinoshita Hikaru," Jiraiya said.
It was very similar to what he had experienced in childhood, so he recognized it almost immediately.
"Don't worry. He'll come back on his own."
Orochimaru said nothing, but a trace of worry flashed through his eyes. The snakes in Ryūchi Cave were all extremely violent.
They were nothing like the toads, who were relatively mild-tempered. Those snakes were a group of ill-natured creatures with terrible personalities.
...
Smack!
Hiruzen Sarutobi slammed his palm on the desk, his expression turning dark and uncertain.
At this critical time, Jiraiya had actually been seriously injured—and by Tsunade's hand, no less. The whole thing was simply absurd.
"The Land of Wind is becoming more and more restless!"