Looking at the Ryuchi Cave Summoning Scroll unfurled at his feet, Ren Uchiha fell silent.
At this point, he could no longer deny one simple fact: Orochimaru was genuinely cultivating him as a true disciple. Though the methods were extreme, the results were undeniably effective. Even Ren was surprised—as someone who considered himself a Ninjutsu fool, he had mastered a technique this quickly.
His master was truly a genius at "teaching according to the student's aptitude," and he did so without reservation.
In this era, Orochimaru had not yet performed the Living Corpse Reincarnation. He wasn't yet bound by the desperate need to cycle through bodies every few years. His relationship with Ren wasn't the predatory antagonism he would later have with Sasuke.
Orochimaru's dream was exactly as he had stated: to learn every Jutsu and Forbidden Art, to grasp the ultimate truths of the world, and to become the perfect individual. But that dream was too vast. Thousands of Jutsus existed, and how could one man learn them all in a single lifetime? Especially when one considered Secret Arts, Bloodline Limits, Senjutsu, and the unreachable realm of the Sage of Six Paths.
The more he knew, the more he felt his own insignificance. Just trying to master the Senjutsu of Ryuchi Cave had brought Orochimaru countless failures. The more he struggled, the more lost he felt. It was this desperate pursuit of the unattainable that would eventually turn him into the extreme, paranoid, and inhuman monster of the future.
But now, through a series of coincidences, Orochimaru had found Ren Uchiha. And in Ren, he saw the possibility of success!
The valley continued to burn, thick black smoke billowing into the sky. Sparks danced in the air like brilliant fireworks. Standing amidst the flames, Orochimaru looked at the silent Ren and spoke raspily.
"Are you still hesitating?"
"In your eyes, I see dread, fear, and confusion. But you should have a reason you cannot refuse."
Orochimaru narrowed his golden eyes, a flash of cold killing intent rising within them. He issued a pointed threat.
"My disciple, it's fine if you want to stop here. But if you do, I will truly kill you—in the way you least want to face. You understand what I mean."
Ren took a deep breath. He knew Orochimaru had guessed his strange logic. If even Uchiha Setsuna could corner him with a verbal onslaught, a high-intelligence villain like Orochimaru would be far more ruthless in his threats.
"Orochimaru!" Ren spoke heavily. "You have no idea what you're doing. To fulfill your ambition, you are betting the future of this world on a true coward!"
He stared coldly at Orochimaru, bit his finger, and knelt to sign his name on the Ryuchi Cave scroll. Then, he looked up with a somber gaze.
"Orochimaru, you will regret this. The 'window of peace' for this world will close once I inherit everything you have."
When the abilities of the hardest-to-kill people in the world are concentrated in one person, Ren Uchiha—no matter how much he wanted to die—wouldn't find it easy. From then on, the question wouldn't be how to escape, but how to rewrite the world.
Orochimaru sneered dismissively. "The Substitution Jutsu is only the most basic of my techniques. You are far from inheriting everything. However, to reach a level where no one in this world can kill you... it will likely take three years. For these three years, let me play this game with you."
The Sannin turned and walked away into the inferno. As his figure vanished, a distorted, raspy voice drifted back:
"Keep memorizing that scroll. If you haven't finished it by the time the next messenger snake arrives... those photos of your current 'form' will be sent to those two kids in the Mist and the Village of Hot Springs."
Flash! The sound of a camera shutter rang out. Ren froze, his expression shifting violently. He whirled around to see a small white snake in the mud, carrying a camera and bolting away. Before he could draw a kunai to stop it, the snake swallowed the camera and vanished in a puff of smoke.
Ren stood alone in the valley, stunned. He never expected Orochimaru's "way of killing him" was social death.
Blackmail? With naked photos? That's too low! If those reached Hidan or Mei Terumi, he'd never be able to hold his head up again.
A cold wind blew, making him shiver. He quickly stripped the clothes off his discarded "old skin" and dressed himself.
But then, a new problem arose. Orochimaru had brought him here and then ditched him. How was he supposed to get back? He looked around the wrecked valley, lost. Finally, his eyes fell on the summoning scroll.
Why not ask the magical snakes?
He wove the signs: Boar-Dog-Bird-Monkey-Ram! Following the method Jiraiya taught Naruto, he poured in chakra and slammed his palms onto the scroll.
Summoning markings spread rapidly, and a massive cloud of smoke erupted. The ground beneath Ren's feet surged upward, catapulting him into the sky. Beneath him, a giant purple snake rolled its eyes upward, hissing in annoyance.
"Ngh? Orochimaru, you bastard! Why have you called me out again?! Sacrifices! If you don't give me sacrifices, I'll eat you!"
Ren sat on Manda's head, looking down into the giant snake's eyes. He let out a nervous chuckle and gave a weak wave.
"Hi...!"
Manda's pupils constricted. It recognized the "idiot brat" who had just roasted its skin. Steam erupted from its nostrils in rage. The snake whipped its head back, opening its maw to swallow Ren whole.
Ren panicked. He didn't know how to "un-summon" the beast. He wanted to swap it for a nice, polite snake like Aoda, but he realized he only knew how to bring them out, not send them back.
The valley, which had just fallen silent, began to shake again. A battle of "Primitive Human Child Taming a Vehicle" broke out. This fight lasted from the starlit night until the sun hung high in the sky.
After summoning a dozen different snakes of various sizes, Ren eventually escaped the valley and engaged in a grand pursuit across the wilderness. Finally, he hit the jackpot and summoned the good-natured Aoda. Under the snake's bewildered gaze, Ren frantically learned the seals for releasing the Summoning Jutsu and Reverse Summoning.
Orochimaru, hidden nearby with the Hiding in Rock technique, watched everything with a growing smile. In an extreme combat environment, his disciple had learned a series of summoning-related Jutsus in just half an hour.
Orochimaru vomited a scroll and recorded the data with a brush. As expected, combat accelerates this boy's learning ability. This can be exploited...
He took one last look at Ren, who was sitting on Aoda's head wiping sweat with a "survivor" expression, and chuckled. Orochimaru leaped from the rocks, summoned a snake mid-air, and sped toward the camp.
He checked the sky. It was around 8:00 or 9:00 AM.
"The Uchiha clan should be starting their training for the boy soon," Orochimaru murmured. "But the teaching methods of the Uchiha in the Land of Rain are far too soft. I need to light a fire under them."