Orochimaru blearily took in his surroundings upon waking slowly recalling the events of the previous day and his late night reading binge. Perhaps staying up all night wasn't the smartest strategy.
The joys of hindsight.
He turned to his right and thankfully it seems he had enough sense to neatly tuck his new books away before losing consciousness, Tsubaki's silent threat still lingered and he didn't know what she would do if he had ruined them less than a day after letting him borrow them.
Kami forbid he ever finds out just thinking about it made his body involuntarily shiver.
Shaking off those worrying though he gave a large yawn and with a quick stretch, he made his way out of bed and began his daily morning routine wash up, brush teeth, and started training.
Simple and efficient for a four-year-old kid.
Beginning his rituals the boy couldn't help but go over what he'd learned during his reading last night, having made it halfway through the first book he had covered most of the more popular and quirky ninja arts included and now had a fair grasp of the different techniques found throughout the continent.
The book had spent the most time on the three most popular style of jutsu being ninjutsu, taijutsu, and genjutsu seeing as most ninja's skill sets would include at least two of these three arts.
Ninjutsu, as the book described it was best suited for more destructive and ranged offensive fighting, though it was noted there were plenty of defensive ninjutsu as well and one could become a walking fortress with the proper arsenal of techniques. Regarded as the most popular branch of jutsu for its inherently flashy nature and pure power a ninjutsu specialist was not one to be underestimated.
Taijutsu, the second most popular branch encompassed hand to hand combat and the enhancement of the body. This brach while listed as second in popularity is arguably the most used branch as close quarter combat was simply an inevitability in the world of ninja, simply put everyone needed to know how to fight and taijutsu masters were no less fearsome than their ninjutsu wielding counterparts, maybe even more so.
Lastly, genjutsu, the most obscure of the three major arts but no less lethal in the right hands was the art of illusions and misdirection. Used to distract and disorient enemies genjutsu is a favorite among those who lack much physical power and instead opt for finesse to engage opponents, striking while they have their guard lowered or leading them into traps. Master of genjutsu are not popularly known, but who is to that that isn't intentional given their natural affinity towards deception and hiding.
Already he had a lot to consider and that was just the major three the book covered many different styles and approaches many of which he would never have even considered.
That also brought him to another very important piece of information the book hard imparted upon him. The knowledge of the very lifeforce of all living creatures.
Chakra.
A mix of physical and spiritual energy, it was the catalyst that enabled the use of most shinobi techniques and augmentation on top of its arguably more important function.
Keeping its users alive.
The book had stressed that chakra was not infinite and if too much was used without the chance to recover a user could very well die. Essentially the reason all children weren't taught to breath fire at people was the chance of chakra exhaustion.
That and giving a bunch of temperamental brats fire breath was an awful idea anyway.
Moving on from his more morbid thoughts he returned to the question at hand. He still needed more information, finishing up in the bathroom he made his back into his bedroom and grabbed the two books carrying them back to the kitchen where he eat his breakfast and go over the second half of the guide book.
While he waited he skimmed through the second half of the book and found it was mostly comprised of bits of advice for the various branches of jutsu and warnings for the more dangerous or obscure techniques.
Essentially useless until he figured out exactly what he wanted to learn.
Sighing to himself he closed the book and pushed it away for the time being he could come back to it later. Moving his attention to the second book he felt a bit of excitement come over him at the thought of viewing strong and famous shinobi from other countries. He wondered if any of them could compare to the First?
Quickly, but carefully opening the book the young reincarnator was immediately met with a picture of a rather unassuming brown-haired man who appeared to be in his mid-twenties. He was garbed in a maroon long sleeved shirt and baggy black pants, at his hip Orochimaru could make out the handle of some form of a blade but couldn't tell exactly what kind from the picture alone. Around his neck rested a headband with the symbol of what appeared to be rocks etched onto a metal plate.
Beneath the photo, an overview offered some more insight.
Name: Takeshi Gozu
Alias: "The iron skinned ninja"
Age: 25
Affiliation: Iwakagure
Rank: Chunin
Status: Alive
Info: Extremely proficient in Iwakagure's signature enhancement technique "Iron Shell" that hardens the user's skin equal to the amount of Chakra used, Gozu has built a reputation as one of the village's most sturdy ninja being near impervious to traditional weaponry and taijutsu. Average in earth style ninjutsu and taijutsu and slightly above average in kenjutsu Gozu focuses more on outlasting his opponents than outmaneuvering them.
Threat level: High C-rank to low B-rank
Orochimaru made a mental note to thank Amagi for suggesting this book, one page in and he was already hooked! The idea of being almost immune to damage was still pretty cool in his eyes.
He also made note of his skills, earth ninjutsu and kenjutsu. The guide mentioned Chakra could take the form of five primary elements those being earth, water, fire, wind, and lightning respectively each having a weakness and strength against one of the other elements creating a sort of balance.
Maybe elemental ninjutsu was his calling? He would have to find out more though, he doubted it would be as easy as picking an element and flinging it around as he pleased.
He could hope though.
Finishing his breakfast Orochimaru decided he needed to take a break he had spent all night and most of his morning reading his body demanded exercise.
Gathering his outfit consisting of a pair of black shorts, a white shirt with an black spiral on the back, and finished off with a pair of blue sandals he quickly changed and made his way out the orphanage. Deciding against heading further into the village he made his way towards the outskirts of the village instead, in the direction the outer training grounds.