Testing
Orochimaru materialized on the training ground without a sound, his serpentine smile curling as he said,
"Hiruzen-sama speaks very highly of you. He's requested I consider taking you as my disciple."
For a moment, Chiyu's brain short-circuited.
That Hiruzen Sarutobi favored him was clear—Chiyu had picked up on the hints. The Third Hokage had suggested, more than once, that Chiyu could graduate early and become a full-fledged genin.
But Chiyu had played dumb, skillfully dodging the implications.
He wasn't interested in rushing into grunt work—fetching scrolls, tracking cats, or completing mundane D-rank missions. That kind of "progress" was just a way to stagnate. Unless Sarutobi-sensei guaranteed he'd be assigned real combat missions right out the gate, Chiyu wasn't gambling his future on that dice roll.
If the gamble failed, he'd be stuck picking weeds and scrubbing graffiti.
Now, two days before his graduation exam, Orochimaru himself had appeared.
And it was Hiruzen who had recommended him.
Only now did Chiyu truly grasp the magnitude of the moment. This was before Orochimaru's descent into forbidden jutsu obsession and villainy. Right now, he was still the pride of Konoha, the most gifted of the Sannin, and Hiruzen's star pupil.
A genius. A legend-in-the-making.
He hadn't yet been shattered by the deaths of Kato Dan and Nawaki—though the cracks were forming. The seeds of darkness had already been planted, and loss was already reshaping him. The man before him hadn't been branded a traitor yet, but his moral compass was already drifting.
Chiyu knew the future. He knew Orochimaru would later conspire with Konoha's higher-ups, conducting human experiments in secret. He'd pursue Hashirama Senju's DNA, chase the secrets of the Wood Release, and break every taboo to achieve immortality.
And Chiyu... with Senju blood in his veins, might be prime material.
But that time hadn't come yet.
The Impure World Reincarnation technique? Not yet mastered.
The twisted obsession with cloning and body-hopping? Still theoretical.
Right now, Orochimaru was dangerous, yes—but not yet the monster he would become.
And above all, he was a phenomenal teacher.
Later, he'd train Uchiha Sasuke to master the Curse Mark, unravel enemy jutsu, and fight with surgical precision. His pedagogy wasn't nurturing—but it was brutally effective.
Chiyu had mastered the Full Thunder Breathing Sword Style on his own, but his growth had hit a bottleneck. Without new input, new techniques, and a mentor to challenge his limits, he was merely recycling what he already knew.
He needed someone like Orochimaru.
Chiyu dropped to one knee, bowing low.
"Please accept me as your disciple, Orochimaru-sama!"
Orochimaru chuckled, voice as smooth as poison silk.
"Hiruzen may wish it, and I am... intrigued by your potential. But that alone is not enough. If you want to be my student, you must earn it."
He licked his lips. "I'll give you a test. Fight me with the resolve that if you don't kill me, you'll die. Only then will I recognize your will—and perhaps, accept you."
Chiyu stood and met his gaze, eyes resolute.
"I understand. Does the test begin now?"
Orochimaru nodded slowly.
"Indeed. It begins now."
The moment the words fell, Chiyu moved.
He leapt backward, katana half-drawn, right hand wrapped around the hilt. Lightning surged through his limbs, chakra flaring in sharp pulses of blue.
Orochimaru's eyes narrowed, lips curling in interest.
"Thunder Breathing: First Form – Thunderclap and Flash!"
The sound cracked like lightning tearing the sky. Chiyu vanished in a blur, his blade slashing in a flash of pure velocity—a speed that defied the eye.
But the blade cut only air.
Orochimaru was gone.
Chiyu's eyes twitched.
That was a Body Flicker Technique. And a damn fast one.
From the side, Orochimaru's voice slithered in.
"Your speed is impressive... but predictable. That technique is a straight line. No mid-air corrections. Once I saw your angle, I simply shifted out of range."
He finished a hand seal, arm snapping forward.
"Hidden Shadow Snake Hands."
Snakes burst from his sleeve, lunging at Chiyu with snapping jaws.
Chiyu pivoted sharply and charged straight through.
"Thunder Breathing: Fourth Form – Distant Thunder!"
Crackling arcs of lightning exploded from Chiyu's body. The summoned snakes never reached him—they were fried mid-flight, their bodies smoking.
Chiyu closed in again, blade lashing in fast, looping arcs, but Orochimaru danced away with unnerving ease.
"Your lightning chakra... stronger this time. You've sacrificed a bit of speed for power. Smart adaptation."
While dodging, Orochimaru completed another hand seal sequence.
"Wind Release: Great Breakthrough!"
He exhaled a massive gust of wind—more like a cyclone than a breath.
Though ranked C-rank, in the hands of someone like Orochimaru, it packed the force to uproot trees.
Chiyu was thrown backwards, lightning chakra dissipating from his body as wind overtook him.
Before he could regain control—snap!—a snake coiled around his waist, tethered to Orochimaru's arm. Chiyu was suspended midair like a dangling puppet.
Before he could sever the coil, Orochimaru yanked.
Chiyu hurtled forward—straight into a brutal punch.
Thud.
Air fled his lungs. His stomach twisted. He hit the ground hard and rolled.
"Urgh... cough..."
Orochimaru approached, not gloating, merely evaluating.
"You lack improvisation. When I launched the snakes, when I cast the wind jutsu, and even as I pulled you—each moment was a chance to counter. You missed all of them."
Chiyu groaned, hand on his abdomen. But he stood.
His vision sharpened. His pupils swirled.
The Sharingan awakened.