"Anko."
At dusk.
Anko, who had been happily replenishing her sugar levels, jumped at the sudden voice of Orochimaru behind her.
"Teacher! You can't keep scaring girls like this!"
"We'll age faster!"
Her face was a picture of displeasure.
"If you keep this up, you'll lose me one day, Teacher!"
Orochimaru was speechless.
Lose me one day...
Was that a threat?
How utterly foolish.
"Haruko is hungry. Go buy her some food."
Still smiling, Orochimaru spoke softly, every bit the caring mentor.
"Fine..."
Anko, long accustomed to running errands, grumbled but got up immediately.
"Honestly, who's the senior disciple here?"
Three months had passed.
Since little Haruko officially became her junior, Anko's daily tasks had included one extra chore: running errands for food.
But Anko didn't mind.
In fact, watching Haruko wolf down her meals gave her a strange sense of pride—I raised this girl!
It was oddly satisfying.
She headed straight for the dango shop, a familiar routine.
Using the year's worth of meal funds Orochimaru had provided, she ordered three extra-sweet dango skewers and dashed back.
Knock knock knock!
"Haruko, time to eat!"
"Just a moment."
A soft, melodic but slightly weak voice came from inside.
Soon, the door opened, revealing Haruko—her face pale but still smiling.
"Here, your favorite extra-sweet dango."
Anko handed over the skewers, her expression tinged with concern.
"Teacher pushed you hard again today, didn't he... Ugh."
"Too much talent isn't always a good thing."
She sighed, cursing Orochimaru in her heart while pitying her junior.
But mostly, she felt relief.
Orochimaru's training methods for Haruko were nothing like what she'd experienced.
For her, it had been a few hand seals, some theory, and the occasional progress check.
But for Haruko?
It was brutal, relentless combat training!
No one knew what this always-smiling girl had endured over the past three months...
Every time Anko visited, Haruko's face was drained of color—
The look of someone pushed to their absolute limits.
Anko chalked it up to Haruko's incompatibility with Orochimaru's techniques, forcing her to train this way...
"Thanks, Anko-senpai."
Haruko kept smiling.
She took the dango, saw Anko off, then returned inside—
And collapsed onto the floor!
"Orochimaru... I'll kill you sooner or later!"
Her smile twisted into a snarl.
Haruko gritted her teeth, seething.
Too ruthless.
No mercy for a girl, let alone a child!
For three months, Haruko's daily routine had been simple: fight Orochimaru.
And not spar—fight.
One misstep, and she'd end up with at least a broken bone!
Orochimaru was relentless.
Perhaps sensing his time in Konoha was limited, he pushed Haruko's limits to the extreme.
She devoured a dango skewer.
The massive sugar rush restored her stamina rapidly.
Coupled with her "smile recovery buff," the exhaustion flooding her body began to recede.
"At this rate..."
"Another three months, and the Three Tomoe should be mine."
Her system panel showed the side quest at 60% completion.
Two Tomoe.
Three months of high-frequency Shikai use, her mind constantly tempered, had extended her Shikai duration to one minute—
And the Two Tomoe had arrived right on schedule.
Still in the beginner phase.
But achieving this at six—no, seven—years old was already absurd.
Ten days ago, after a three-hour battle with Orochimaru, Haruko had celebrated her birthday.
Her first in this world.
As a gift to herself, she'd managed to land a Shikai strike on Orochimaru's face.
The feeling?
Pure bliss.
"I wonder how Itachi's doing..."
"Obito better not screw this up."
Munching on dango, Haruko muttered to herself.
---
"You're moving too slowly."
"The village has taken notice. You'd best pick up the pace."
In a dimly lit laboratory, the mummy-like Danzo frowned at Orochimaru, who seemed engrossed in his work.
"If necessary, pause the experiments and lay low for now."
"The Third has been pressuring me lately. Root is under scrutiny. We can resume after things calm down."
If not for the arm synthesized entirely from Wood Release cells, Danzo wouldn't have supported Orochimaru's research so fervently.
That arm represented hope.
The hope of reviving the First Hokage's legendary power!
The Nine-Tails' rampage had left deep scars on Konoha.
Tailed Beasts, as weapons, required absolute control—
Something even more reliable than the Uchiha's Sharingan.
But the current Jinchūriki was still young, and the Eight Trigrams Seal remained at its peak.
A pause of a month or two wouldn't hurt.
"I understand. Once this phase concludes, I'll adopt a more conservative approach."
Orochimaru replied without looking up, his tone distracted.
"See that you do."
Satisfied, Danzo nodded and left without another word.
Their partnership was... unconventional.
But Orochimaru's genius was undeniable.
When it came to Wood Release, his expertise was unmatched.
"Anger... dislike."
"Are these emotions triggered by fear?"
After Danzo left, Orochimaru paused his work, murmuring to himself.
He recalled Anko's earlier words...
"It seems Haruko's emotional responses align with ordinary girls."
"How intriguing..."
His long tongue flicked out, his face alight with fascination.
The research continued.
But what exactly he was researching—perhaps only he knew...
———— 🌟🌟 ————
ps:Support and join my Patreon
patreon.c@om/chenc11 [Remove @]
You can read up to 20+ premium chapters.