"Honestly… it's pretty terrifying," Uchiha Ran said with a light chuckle, fingers brushing the hilt of the blade in his hand."First I get tested by Jonin instructor Yūhi Shinku, and now it's one of the Legendary Sannin—Orochimaru-sensei himself."
He glanced up.
On the surface, Ran looked tense—but the gleam in his eyes betrayed an unmistakable eagerness.
Orochimaru immediately saw through it.
He's not nervous at all.
That kind of temperament wasn't bad.Very different from Nawaki's impulsiveness.
The thought made Orochimaru pause.
Nawaki… and Kato Dan.
Memories surfaced unbidden, stirring complex emotions deep within him.
Once, the Three Sannin had been a team—comrades who carried out missions together.
But the deaths of Nawaki and Kato Dan had become the fuse that ignited a chain of irreversible changes.
Orochimaru still remembered those days clearly.
During that dark period, Konoha had felt suffocating—heavy with grief and tension.
Tsunade—their companion, once gentle yet unyielding, a proud member of the Sannin—had been broken by those losses. Disheartened and hollow, she ultimately chose to leave Konoha.
That departure shattered their bond.
The Three Sannin went their separate ways.
The once hopeless underdog Jiraiya, loud and free-spirited as ever, set out to search for the so-called Child of Prophecy. He believed that only by finding this destined figure could the future calamities be prevented.
And Orochimaru himself…
He chose a different path.
The path toward immortality.
Orochimaru knew better than anyone that the pursuit of eternal life was no easy endeavor.
He traveled the world in search of forbidden techniques, probing the mysteries that lay beyond life and death.
Every experiment.Every failure.
Each only hardened his resolve.
He was willing to pay any price—any—to uncover the secret of immortality.
And yet…
Somewhere deep inside, fragments of the past still lingered.
More than once, his thoughts drifted back to the days when the Three Sannin fought side by side—when trust and coordination came as naturally as breathing.
Those memories made him scoff inwardly.
Why should someone chasing immortality still cling to such mundane emotions?
This kid… he really does resemble Nawaki a little.
Orochimaru's gaze sharpened.
No. I've already chosen my path. Immortality was never meant to be understood. I'll walk it alone.
"Orochimaru-sensei?" Ran's voice broke his thoughts."You zoned out again. Aren't we starting?"
Ran seriously suspected that the ninjas he kept meeting all had a habit of drifting into their own thoughts mid-conversation.
"…It's nothing," Orochimaru replied coolly."Let's begin."
The spar between Orochimaru and Uchiha Ran erupted instantly.
One was a renowned Kage-level shinobi, feared throughout the ninja world.
The other—a young Uchiha who had already awakened the three-tomoe Sharingan.
There were no witnesses.
Orochimaru was well aware of his teacher Hiruzen's Telescope Technique, which was why he had deliberately chosen a dense forest—one difficult to observe.
Before a single move was made—
Killing intent.
Completely different from Yūhi Shinku's.
Even before the battle began, Orochimaru's killing intent locked onto Ran.
The sensation was utterly alien.
Like an icy wind piercing straight through bone.
It congealed around the heart, dragging buried fear violently to the surface.
The very air seemed to freeze.
Being targeted by that killing intent felt as though an invisible hand had clenched around Ran's heart—tightening, suffocating, paralyzing.
Like a blade pressed against his back.
Every heartbeat carried crushing pressure.
Interesting, Ran thought.Even most chunin wouldn't be able to stand in front of this kind of killing intent.
"Whoa~ Orochimaru-sensei," Ran said cheerfully instead of attacking,"that's a pretty impressive trick."
It sounded like praise—
But no matter how one looked at it, it was blatant provocation.
And it clearly didn't faze him at all.
Orochimaru felt a spark of excitement.
As expected of an Uchiha.
"Hidden Shadow Snake Hands."
The moment combat began, Orochimaru unleashed one of his signature techniques.
The air filled with the scent of serpents.
Snakes shot out from his sleeves in writhing waves, lunging straight for Ran.
Sharingan.
Three tomoe spun sharply in Ran's eyes.
Using the Sharingan's predictive vision, he read the snakes' trajectories and slipped through their attacks with fluid precision.
While dodging, he flicked his wrist—
Klang!
Kunai tore through the air toward Orochimaru.
Ordinarily, Orochimaru could have ignored them entirely.Kunai posed little threat to a Kage-level shinobi—especially one like him.
But to properly test Ran, he chose to respond using standard shinobi tactics.
"Earth Release: Hiding Like a Mole Technique."
Orochimaru melted into the ground.
Earth Release chakra allowed him to move freely underground, effortlessly avoiding the incoming kunai.
Ran didn't panic when Orochimaru vanished.
No matter how refined an Earth Release technique was, movement underground always produced disturbances.
And sooner or later—
Orochimaru would attack.
"Fire Release: Great Fireball Technique."
Ran quickly formed hand seals, chakra surging as he prepared to ignite the ground beneath his feet.
But just before the jutsu could be released—
Orochimaru burst from the earth directly in front of him.
Snakes shot forth again—
And from each serpent's mouth extended a Kusanagi sword.
The blades moved as naturally as limbs, each following a different trajectory.
In a blur of steel—
They slashed through Ran's body.
Blood sprayed as his flesh was cut open.
Orochimaru did not stop.
The battle intensified, pushing into a brutal rhythm.
Snake techniques.More powerful Earth Release.
Ran staggered through the onslaught, wounded again and again—yet continued fighting, Sharingan blazing as he countered with kunai and Fire Release woven seamlessly into his movements.
But as the injuries on Ran's body multiplied—
Orochimaru frowned.
Something's wrong.
Suddenly, realization struck.
I've been caught… in a subtle genjutsu.
"When did it happen…?"
Even as he spoke, Orochimaru unleashed Swamp of the Underworld, disrupting Ran's movement—while simultaneously disturbing his own chakra flow to break free from the illusion.
The world snapped back into clarity.
Before him—
Ran stood uninjured.
Not a single wound.
Orochimaru exhaled softly, genuine admiration in his eyes.
"Excellent," he said."You used genjutsu masterfully. On a real battlefield, you'd be the kind of Uchiha people fear before they even see you."
"You flatter me, Orochimaru-sensei," Ran replied calmly.
His hand moved behind his back—
And closed around the hilt of his blade.
"Oho?" Orochimaru's golden pupils narrowed."So… you're finally bringing out your sword?"
He understood instantly.
This was the combat style Hiruzen had mentioned—
The fusion of illusion and swordsmanship.
Uchiha Ran's true specialty.
Orochimaru smiled.
"Very well," he murmured."Show me."