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In the training grounds of Konoha, a group of shinobi wearing green vests had assembled.
On the perimeter, other shinobi were stationed, preventing anyone from spying on the gathering.
After all, there were still spies within the village.
Among the assembled shinobi, quite a few were notably young.
Orochimaru's eyes darkened.
These young ones made up half of the group.
They were the children who had been graduated early.
The training at the Academy was mostly about education, but once they became shinobi, their focus shifted to missions, accelerating their growth compared to staying in the Academy.
A year of missions had indeed forged them into a decent fighting force.
They had seen bloodshed during their missions and wouldn't be overly frightened in the face of life-and-death battles.
But a mission and a battlefield were two different things.
Orochimaru doubted that these kids would survive on the battlefield.
He felt like he was leading them to their deaths.
But these children were among the last reserves Konoha could muster.
Although Hiruzen had pushed for early graduation, he still had a conscience and hadn't immediately sent them to the front lines. Instead, they were kept as a defensive force within the village.
To preserve that conscience, the responsibility was now on Orochimaru's shoulders.
Not that Orochimaru cared.
"Everyone, for Konoha, may fortune favor you in battle!"
"For Konoha! Fortune in battle!" the group shouted in unison, their faces filled with excitement, oblivious to the fact that they were heading to the most dangerous battlefield.
Orochimaru had no stirring words to uplift their spirits. He didn't even bother speaking to the youngest among them.
Snakes are cold-blooded and don't care about such things, but Orochimaru was still human, and humans, inevitably, are swayed by emotions.
But emotions only influenced him to a certain extent.
Just as he was about to lead the group out, there was a disturbance at the edge of the training grounds.
Amidst the commotion, a voice shouted, "I need to see Orochimaru-sensei! I want to go to the front lines too!"
Orochimaru frowned. The remaining forces in the village were either those defending Konoha or those of no use on the battlefield.
Recognizing the voice outside, a shinobi kneeling beside Orochimaru spoke up, "Orochimaru-sama, it's a worthless genin with no talent. I'll remove him immediately."
This shinobi knew exactly who it was.
But Orochimaru narrowed his eyes.
"I'm curious why a worthless genin would catch the attention of a jonin like you."
Cold sweat formed on the kneeling shinobi's forehead as he cursed inwardly.
"Damn it, Might Duy, can't you just stay quietly in the village?"
Orochimaru, uninterested in the shinobi's motivations, instructed, "Bring him to me."
"Yes, sir!" the jonin responded, and soon brought Might Duy forward.
Orochimaru licked his lips.
"Didn't expect to see a familiar face. It's been a while, Duy-kun."
Might Duy, surprised but hopeful, knelt before Orochimaru.
"I didn't think Orochimaru-sama would still remember me."
"How could I forget Duy-kun? Your taijutsu left a strong impression on me."
They had been Academy classmates once. Back when the Second Hokage was still alive, Duy had been in Class A. But after the Second Hokage's death, Duy had been relegated to Class C due to his lack of talent in ninjutsu.
Since then, Orochimaru hadn't seen much of Duy.
Orochimaru couldn't help but feel nostalgic, realizing how much had changed.
Time flies.
"Orochimaru-sama, please let me join the ranks. I want to fight for Konoha," Might Duy pleaded from his knees.
"Orochimaru-sama, Might Duy has no talent for ninjutsu, he's merely a taijutsu user, and he has a wife who just gave birth," the shinobi who had brought Duy interjected, trying to stop him from going to the battlefield.
"Unfortunately, Duy-kun, you'd be of no use on the battlefield. Taijutsu alone isn't enough," Orochimaru said with regret, shaking his head. Whether the shinobi was acting out of malice or kindness was unclear, but Orochimaru's reasoning was straightforward.
A shinobi who relied solely on taijutsu wouldn't even qualify as cannon fodder on the battlefield. One barrage of ninjutsu and they'd be wiped out.
Not everyone was like Uchiha Jin.
"Orochimaru-sama, I can use ninjutsu now," Might Duy insisted.
"Watch."
With clumsy hands, he began forming hand seals.
Immediately, everyone around drew their weapons.
In times like these, making hand seals in front of the commander would be seen as an attack.
But Orochimaru raised a hand, stopping them, his eyes narrowing as he watched Duy's awkward attempt at hand seals.
Had Orochimaru not acted quickly, Duy might have been killed instantly.
It took Duy nearly twenty seconds to complete a single seal for a transformation jutsu.
The others around shook their heads in disappointment. At that speed, there was no way he could stabilize his chakra, let alone successfully perform the jutsu.
Under the mocking stares of the others, Duy grinned.
"Thank you all for supporting my efforts!"
"Transformation Jutsu!"
Poof!
Might Duy transformed into a perfect copy of Orochimaru.
Everyone was stunned.
Even the shinobi who knew Might Duy were taken aback.
They all remembered him as someone who couldn't do anything but taijutsu.
What shocked them most was that a jutsu that should have failed had succeeded.
"How is that possible!?"
"His chakra should have been unstable with those slow hand seals! How did it work?"
"He must have cheated! But how do you cheat with a jutsu like that?"
Their worldview was shattered by Might Duy's performance.
The reason for quick hand seals was not just to execute the jutsu faster but also to stabilize chakra for the jutsu. Slow hand seals usually meant unstable chakra, which led to failure.
Orochimaru, now more intrigued, noticed traces of foundational ninjutsu training.
Lately, the requirements for mastering basic ninjutsu had increased significantly, making it difficult for an ordinary genin to acquire.
Orochimaru had a hunch about where Duy had learned this.
It reminded him of something someone had once said to him.
"In taijutsu, I'm just average, but I know someone in the village who, if he goes all out, can even hold off the Third Hokage with just taijutsu."
But he hadn't heard of anyone like that.
"Duy-kun, do you know Uchiha Jin?"
"Young Jin? He's an impressive one!" Might Duy scratched his head, flashing a kind smile and giving a thumbs up.
As expected.
Orochimaru licked his lips like a snake.
He seemed to have found the strongest taijutsu practitioner Jin had mentioned.
"Duy-kun, if you want to go to the front lines, we'll need to test your abilities."
"Allow me, Orochimaru-sama," the shinobi who had been trying to prevent Duy from going to war quickly volunteered.
"No," Orochimaru said with a smile.
"I'll be the one to test Duy-kun's strength."
(End of Chapter)