"Ebisu, Ebisu..."
"Wake up already..."
A faint voice echoed near Ebisu's ear, along with a light slap on his face, gradually pulling him out of unconsciousness.
"What... what happened to me..."
Lying on the ground, Ebisu murmured, feeling an inexplicable soreness all over his body. His mind was hazy, like a mess of mush.
The only thing he vaguely remembered was catching the little girl who had fallen from the tree and then...
And then... a terrifying image of enormous snake-like eyes suddenly flashed in his mind!
"Ah!"
Ebisu instantly remembered everything and screamed as he abruptly sat up.
But just as he was trying to convince himself that it was only a nightmare, the first thing that greeted his eyes was the head of a giant snake!
Turns out... the nightmare wasn't over yet!
"Ah..."
Ebisu let out another scream, rolled his eyes, and was about to pass out again...
Unexpectedly, at that moment, two hands from either side suddenly supported his back, preventing him from collapsing.
Instinctively, Ebisu glanced to his left and right, only to see Asuma and Obito looking at him with mischievous smiles.
"Ebisu, you're finally awake," Obito said. "I actually advised Asuma not to scare you like this, but he wouldn't listen."
"...After all, he's the captain," Obito added.
"So, you're willing to acknowledge me as the captain now?" Asuma rolled his eyes slightly and said, "But before you say that, can you stop grinning so smugly?"
Listening to their playful banter, Ebisu's anxiety finally eased.
When he took a closer look, he realised that what he was seeing was merely the corpse of the giant snake!
It seemed... the battle had already ended while he was unconscious.
As for the outcome, judging by the scene before him, it was pretty obvious...
...
"Sugoi!"
As Asuma and Obito animatedly recounted how they defeated the giant snake, the young girl, Anko, was circling the massive snake corpse, bouncing around and cheering excitedly.
"Sugoi!"
This time, she had finally learned her lesson and didn't act rashly or carelessly.
Even when the tremendous aura from Asuma and Obito's ultimate attacks burst forth, she didn't sneak a peek but hid away quietly.
Thus, she missed witnessing the moment they slayed the giant snake together.
However, after confirming the battle was over, Anko walked onto the scorched battlefield and, upon seeing the charred remains of the giant snake, was left utterly shocked.
It was difficult for her to associate the scene in front of her with two people who were not much older than herself.
Of course, since Anko had not yet started at the Ninja Academy, she had no clear understanding of a ninja's true strength.
She quickly convinced herself that what they did was just standard procedure for academy students, leaving her full of admiration and eager anticipation for her upcoming academy life.
All these mixed emotions converged into one more shout from Anko:
"Sugo——i!!!"
—Well, perhaps due to not starting school yet, her vocabulary seemed a bit lacking.
As for Ebisu, being an experienced academy student, his thoughts ran deeper.
Having listened to the entire story from Asuma and Obito, Ebisu was left in awe.
He never imagined that so much had happened after he passed out.
Simultaneously, he couldn't help but feel a tinge of bitterness.
As expected, he still couldn't measure up to them...
Ebisu smiled bitterly to himself.
He had thought that by joining the research team and receiving guidance from teacher Summer Flame, he was catching up to the others. But now, the gap seemed to be widening instead.
Despite his significant progress, those with ninja clan bloodlines hadn't stopped improving, and their advancements appeared to be even greater.
Was this the insurmountable gap between ninjas of clans and commoners?
Indeed, it's not just talent that's intimidating—it's that these geniuses put in just as much effort!
Even though Ebisu knew that their victory over the giant snake was mainly due to the sudden appearance of those two ultimate shuriken, it still required the strength to execute such techniques in the first place.
After all, performing those ultimate moves almost drained them of chakra, and Ebisu, with his chronically low chakra reserves, would never have been able to do it.
More importantly, he had passed out during the battle.
Compared to those who held on until the end and claimed the ultimate shuriken, Ebisu didn't even have the chance to try.
Thinking of this, a question suddenly occurred to Ebisu.
Asuma and Obito described him as lying on the ground from the start.
But his memory stopped at the moment he saved Anko...
So how had he ended up safely on the ground?
Ebisu quickly voiced his confusion.
To his surprise, after hearing the question, Asuma and Obito exchanged strange looks.
"Ebisu, are you joking?" Asuma scratched his head. "You finally did something cool for once—are you seriously telling me you don't remember any of it?"
Seeing Ebisu's still puzzled expression, Asuma and Obito shared a resigned glance. Then, reluctantly, they began recounting the entire battle, replaying the "best moments" for him.
"You... you're saying I did all that?"
A while later, Ebisu stammered, pointing at himself.
Obito and Asuma nodded wearily.
This was the third time Ebisu had asked the same question.
After confirming their story multiple times, Ebisu finally believed them.
They had no reason to joke about something like this, and besides, there was no other explanation for how he and Anko had escaped the snake's threat and safely reached the ground.
Ebisu couldn't help but raise his hands and examine them closely, still in disbelief.
Could there really be some hidden power within him that he didn't even know about?
...
Just as Ebisu was beginning to wonder if he had been adopted, Anko, having vented all her excitement, approached them.
"Thanks to you guys today!"
"Otherwise, that big bad snake would've eaten me for sure!"
Anko bowed deeply to express her gratitude, then said her goodbyes and prepared to head home.
At that moment, Asuma suddenly called out to her, "Anko, do you happen to know someone named Orochimaru...?"
Asuma wasn't asking this without reason.
Earlier, when they hadn't yet escaped danger, he hadn't dwelled on it much, but now that he had time to think, the appearance and actions of that giant snake seemed suspicious...
First of all, such a massive snake being near Konoha was highly unusual—but not entirely impossible.
Then, there was the fact that Anko, who hadn't even started at the academy, managed to avoid getting caught—that could be explained as the snake toying with its prey.
But is the snake speaking human language at the end? That couldn't be dismissed easily.
Naturally, Asuma thought of the one man in the village most closely associated with snakes—the one whose very name included the word "serpent."
"Huh? You know my teacher, too, Asuma-nii?" Anko said proudly, hands on her hips. "I just became Orochimaru-sensei's student today. They say he's a super powerful ninja!"
But then she muttered to herself, "Though maybe he's not as amazing as I thought... I hadn't gotten far from his lab when that bad snake attacked me, and he never showed up..."
No, he was probably watching the whole time, Asuma thought, wiping a bit of sweat from his brow.
After hearing Anko's words, Asuma was now convinced that the giant snake was indeed Orochimaru's summoned beast!
Who would've guessed that even for a young disciple who hadn't even started school, Orochimaru would use such an extreme test...
Thank goodness I'm learning under Natsuhiko-sensei, Asuma thought.
Just as this thought crossed his mind, he suddenly remembered that mysterious ultimate shuriken that had appeared out of nowhere...
Could it be...
Could Natsuhiko-sensei also have been watching from nearby?
The image of Natsuhiko-sensei and Orochimaru silently observing them while munching snacks flashed through Asuma's mind, sending a chill down his spine.
What's wrong with this village? How are we students supposed to meet our teachers' expectations?
Asuma glanced at Anko with sympathy and said, "It looks like we both ended up with some tough teachers."
"Huh?" Anko looked confused.
"Nothing," Asuma replied quickly.
He dared not speak ill of either teacher aloud—after all, he didn't know if those two mischievous individuals might still be lurking nearby…
Afterwards, the three of them decided to escort Anko home just to be safe. So, they left the battlefield and headed towards the village.
Moments after they left, Natsuhiko suddenly appeared next to the giant snake corpse... No, it should be said, next to the snake's shed skin.
He had actually gone home to fetch a storage scroll earlier.
Because the snake shed was quite large, the storage scrolls and storage cards he had on him weren't enough.
After all, storage tools like these cannot be stored within other storage tools, so he was limited in what he had.
He initially thought of asking Asuma and the others to help, but when he returned, they were already gone.
"Forget it, it doesn't matter."
Natsuhiko rubbed his hands, looking at the snake shed like a chef sizing up ingredients, calculating how to make the most use out of it.
One should know that this snake shed from Ryūchidō isn't an accessible material to come by.
At least part of the materials needed for upgrading his and his students' battle suits were now secured...
...
Meanwhile, Asuma and the others were still escorting Anko home.
Along the way, though Asuma didn't dare to say it outright, he started telling Anko about Orochimaru's famous deeds with the intention of annoying the culprit behind the earlier incident.
A ninjutsu genius from a commoner background, a disciple of the Third Hokage, who fought alongside Jiraiya and Tsunade against Hanzo and earned the title of one of the Legendary Sannin...
These remarkable feats left even the undersized and inexperienced Anko amazed, making her admire her newly sworn teacher even more.
But next came the moment Asuma had been waiting for.
He casually started explaining the concept of summoning beasts to Anko and casually mentioned that Orochimaru had signed a contract with Ryūchidō, giving him the ability to summon giant snakes...
Having just been attacked by a giant snake, Anko quickly pieced things together.
Asuma chuckled to himself.
He was simply telling her things that many people already knew. She would have figured it out sooner or later; he just sped up the process.
Then, he heard Anko exclaim excitedly:
"So Orochimaru-sensei can summon big bad snakes like the one earlier? That's so cool!"
"I want to learn that too!"
Is that really the point?
Asuma internally sighed.
Seeing Anko's eager and completely unsuspecting expression, he couldn't help but think: "Anko doesn't seem all that sharp..."
...
Time flew by, and soon, another ten days had passed.
In the afternoon, Anko left her teacher's laboratory as usual and returned to the village.
Though only a few days had passed, her face already showed signs of profound fatigue.
It seemed as though she was bearing a pressure that someone her age shouldn't have to endure.
Even her small red backpack looked especially heavy.
Initially, after hearing about her teacher's feats from Asuma, Anko had eagerly anticipated her lessons.
She looked forward to learning powerful techniques from her teacher, and though she didn't expect to be as strong as him, at the very least, she didn't want to fall behind Asuma and the others.
However, once the lessons started, she was dismayed to find that the first thing Orochimaru taught her was a strange ninjutsu called Sealing Techniques.
This type of ninjutsu, which involved drawing cryptic symbols, was clearly not suited to Anko's lively nature, so she protested.
But Orochimaru didn't change his mind. He even told Anko:
"Anko, the reason I'm teaching you about sealing techniques first is that there might be an upcoming selection test on sealing techniques when the ninja academy starts."
"And that will also be my test for you."
"If you can't successfully join that sealing techniques research group, you won't become my true disciple..."
Recalling Orochimaru's smile and words that didn't seem like a joke, Anko felt a bitter taste in her heart.
Clearly, although Orochimaru had agreed to exchange knowledge with Natsuhiko, he hadn't given up on finding other ways to benefit from Natsuhiko's ideas.
As the leader of the group that tested Natsuhiko's inventions, Orochimaru certainly didn't want to miss the chance to plant someone in there.
And after witnessing Natsuhiko's students' performance, Orochimaru held his teaching methods in high regard.
Since he didn't have the time to personally instruct Anko, instead of leaving her to her own devices, he decided to foster her by placing her in Natsuhiko's research group.
Perhaps, in a few years, Anko might surprise him.
But Anko, unaware of her teacher's plans, was filled with resentment towards sealing jutsu.
Even though today's lesson was over, she still had a pile of related homework waiting for her at home, leaving her no time to rest.
This was supposed to be her last carefree time before starting at the Ninja Academy. Why did she have to carry such a heavy burden for a sealing jutsu test?
Sealing jutsu, ugh, how annoying!
As Anko grumbled about sealing jutsu in her heart, she wandered into a small alley...
Suddenly, a small figure passed slowly in front of her, catching her attention.
Because...what she saw was a little plant that could walk!
Not only was the plant walking on its roots, but it even had two round, black eyes on its trumpet-shaped bud, making it look adorable.
"Wow, how adorable!"
Anko exclaimed instinctively, and all her previous fatigue vanished in an instant.
But the little plant, startled by her voice, quickly picked up speed and ran ahead.
"Hey, wait!"
Anko called out, chasing after it excitedly.
Of course, she'd much rather admire this little cutie than go home and do her homework.
In fact, she had another thought:
If she could give this little creature to Orochimaru-sensei and plead with him, maybe she could avoid the dreaded sealing technique lessons...
With that thought, Anko quickened her pace, following the little plant with her short legs.
"Don't run, I mean no harm."
As for whether Orochimaru would put the creature on a dissecting table, well, that wasn't something little Anko could control.
Anko kept calling out as she followed, but unfortunately, the little plant didn't respond and continued to weave through the narrow alleys of Konoha at a quick pace.
After chasing it for a while without success, Anko's stubborn streak kicked in.
She wasn't going to give up until she caught that little thing!
After some time, an out-of-breath Anko chased the plant out of the alley and onto a main street.
Then, to her surprise, she saw several identical little plants running down the street!
And behind them were other children like her, all wearing equally astonished expressions.
They had all thought they were the chosen one, the only one to encounter such a magical plant.
Little did they know, there were so many "chosen ones"...
But they didn't have time to ponder this because the plants had started to converge, running in the same direction.
Anko and the other kids exchanged glances, unwilling to be outdone, and continued chasing after the plants.
Although something felt off, at this point, they could not let someone else claim this opportunity.
Soon, Anko and the other children followed the plants to a shop they had never seen before.
Above the door was a sign with 3 prominent characters:
"Konoha Game Hall"
(End of Chapter)
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