Sora had taken up residence in Orochimaru's underground base.
Orochimaru had already formulated a comprehensive training plan for him.
However, Sora had no idea that the coming days would become his worst nightmare.
Early the next morning, before dawn, Sora was rudely awakened by a snake slithering onto his bed.
Startled, he opened his eyes to find the snake staring at him. To his surprise, it spoke in human words—it was undoubtedly a Summoning beast called forth by Orochimaru.
"Sora-sama, Orochimaru-sama is waiting for you."
It was the first time anyone—or rather, anything—had addressed him as "sir." The strange formality from the snake left him feeling unsettled.
When Sora arrived at Orochimaru's office, he found the Sannin engrossed in reading a ninjutsu scroll.
"Since you're here, let's begin. Follow me," Orochimaru instructed, rising from his seat.
Sora followed him to the underground base's training ground. Once there, Orochimaru immediately summoned a swarm of snakes that slithered across the arena floor.
Orochimaru turned to Sora and said, "We'll start with taijutsu training this morning. You are not allowed to use Lightning Style Chakra to enhance your body. Rely solely on your physical strength and aim to strike as many snakes as you can within one minute. When I tell you to stop, you can stop. Understood?"
Sora, who had barely woken up and hadn't even eaten breakfast, was caught off guard by the abruptness of the instructions. Taking a deep breath to steady himself, he nodded. "Understood, Orochimaru-Sama. I'm ready."
"Good. Let's begin. The timer starts now."
Without hesitation, Sora lunged forward, striking the snakes with his hands. Each time he landed a hit, the snakes would vanish in a puff of smoke.
Meanwhile, Orochimaru casually walked to the edge of the training ground, seated himself on a chair that had already been prepared and returned to reading his scroll as if the exercise were of no consequence.
The first minute passed quickly, and Sora found it easy—after all, it was just a short burst of effort.
As he moved to report that the time was up, Orochimaru, without even glancing up from his scroll, said, "Continue."
Confused but compliant, Sora resumed striking the snakes.
Another minute passed, then another. Sora quickly lost track of how many minutes had gone by. Each time he thought it was over, Orochimaru repeated the same command in a calm, detached voice.
"Continue."
The snakes on the training ground seemed endless, constantly being resummoned. At first, Sora didn't mind; his movements were sharp and precise. But as time dragged on, exhaustion began to creep in.
By now, Sora had stopped questioning the task and instinctively moved into the next round, his mind fully focused on the repetitive strikes.
He had started at five in the morning, and now it was nearly ten. The toll on his body was becoming evident. His strikes slowed, and his breath grew heavier with each passing minute.
The one-minute training continued.
Sora's movements became slower, his steps heavier, and he was bitten by snakes multiple times. Thankfully, these snakes weren't venomous—otherwise, he would have died countless times by now.
When Sora was bitten for the first time, Orochimaru allowed him to activate his Sharingan for the training.
With the Sharingan's enhanced dynamic vision, the task became noticeably easier at first. However, the Sharingan couldn't compensate for Sora's physical exhaustion, and the snakes remained swift and relentless. Before long, the training grew difficult again.
Since Sora had stopped asking how much longer the session would last, Orochimaru remained focused on his ninjutsu scrolls, barely acknowledging his student. This disregard left Sora feeling frustrated and disheartened.
Distracted, Sora was bitten on the arm by another snake. He shook it off and prepared to continue for yet another minute, but Orochimaru's raspy voice finally broke the monotony.
"Let's end the taijutsu training here."
Sora had never found Orochimaru's voice so soothing. Collapsing to the ground, he gasped for air, his body trembling with exhaustion.
The exercise had seemed simple on the surface, but it was anything but. It tested his accuracy, concentration, endurance, and speed—all while straining his vision to its limits. Keeping his eyes locked on the snakes' movements for hours left them sore and strained, his vision blurring into double images.
Orochimaru closed the scroll in his hands, stood, and walked over to Sora.
"Your problems are significant," Orochimaru began. "Your speed and endurance are overly reliant on using Lightning Style Chakra to stimulate your body."
He gestured toward the training ground. "At the start, without using Lightning Style Chakra, you managed to strike about 120 snakes per minute—approximately two per second. That's excellent for someone your age. However, for someone aiming to excel in speed, that efficiency is unacceptable."
Orochimaru continued, "Your endurance is also lacking. After an hour, your strike speed dropped noticeably. In battle, this would mean your combat effectiveness would diminish significantly after an extended fight.
"As for your concentration, it's passable at best. You lasted two hours before the first bite, but your use of the Sharingan was subpar. The Sharingan grants enhanced dynamic vision, yet you focused only on the nearest snakes, just as you did without it. You need to fully utilize your vision to anticipate movements across the entire field and react proactively."
He paused, his sharp gaze piercing. "You are far too dependent on the enhancements of Lightning Style Chakra. To truly improve, you need to build your physical foundation first. Only then can you use the Lightning Style to enhance your body further. When your physical fitness improves, so will your speed and endurance, even with chakra support."
Orochimaru concluded, "Starting tomorrow, your physical training will include strength training in addition to this exercise."
Sora listened intently, accepting the critique humbly, though disappointment lingered in his heart. He had thought of himself as strong, having trained diligently. Yet, by Orochimaru's standards, he fell far short.
I have to try harder… much harder.
"Thank you, Orochimaru-sama," Sora said, bowing slightly. "I'll give it my all!"
Orochimaru nodded. "Good. Now, have dinner. We'll begin ninjutsu training this afternoon."
Sora followed him out of the training ground. To his surprise, Orochimaru prepared the meal himself: omelette rice. The omurice, drizzled with a rich sauce, looked unexpectedly delicious.
Taking a bite, Sora realized it was delicious. The contrast between Orochimaru's fearsome persona and his culinary skills left him feeling bewildered.
Even as they ate, Orochimaru continued reading his scroll, proving yet again his obsession with ninjutsu.
The afternoon's ninjutsu training proved even more gruelling than the morning's taijutsu drills.
Since Sora knew only one technique—Thunder Breathing—Orochimaru began by teaching him four basic C-rank techniques: one each from Lightning, Fire, Water, and Earth Releases. Sora practised them repeatedly, depleting his chakra reserves over and over.
When his chakra ran out, he meditated on the spot to refine more before resuming practice. These brief moments of chakra refinement were the only breaks he got.
The relentless training finally ended at around six in the evening. After a quick and simple dinner, Sora dragged himself to his bed, collapsing into it.
He had pushed his body to the limit in the morning and his chakra reserves to exhaustion in the afternoon. The first day of training was nothing short of torture.
As Sora lay there, staring at the ceiling, his body trembling with fatigue, he couldn't help but dread what the next day would bring.
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