After returning to Konoha, Kiyosuke spent the night crashing at Orochimaru's place.
The next day, Orochimaru officially began instructing him.
Now that Kiyosuke had signed a summoning contract with Ryūchi, he no longer needed to hide snakes up his sleeves like before. He could now summon them directly with the Summoning Technique and use Hidden Shadow Snake Hands at will.
The snakes from Ryūchi were far more intelligent than ordinary ones and made for much more effective attacks. As a result, there was no need for him to formally learn the upgraded version, Many Hidden Shadow Snake Hands.
That technique was essentially just summoning more, larger, fiercer, and smarter snakes than the basic version. With his Ryūchidō contract, Kiyosuke could already use it. Orochimaru simply explained a few things to keep in mind.
"This time, I'll teach you a sneak-attack jutsu. It's also built on the foundation of the Summoning Technique," Orochimaru said.
Kiyosuke's eyes lit up. "Orochimaru-sensei, what kind of jutsu is it?"
Whenever a sneak-attack jutsu came up, he was all in. Sure, flashy, powerful ninjutsu were great, but at the end of the day, those relied on personal strength. Sneak attacks, though—they were all about catching your opponent off guard, striking when they least expected it.
He didn't mind being a sneaky bastard. Not one bit.
Orochimaru nodded. "This one's called Snake Charmer Technique. You summon a snake through your mouth. It latches onto a nearby enemy and takes them out in one hit with its venom."
Kiyosuke: "…"
Ah yes. This kind of technique. Classic Orochimaru.
I spit a snake. The snake spits me. The snake spits another snake. I spit myself. I spit a sword. The snake spits a sword...
It was disgusting, sure, but after training with Orochimaru for so long, Kiyosuke felt like certain lines were slowly eroding.
"What do I do first?"
Orochimaru was pleased that Kiyosuke didn't flinch. He knew his jutsu were a bit... unpalatable. Most people couldn't handle them.
He patiently explained, "First, summon a small venomous snake."
"Yes, sensei."
Kiyosuke rolled up his left sleeve, bit his finger, drew blood, then swiped it across his arm to make a summoning mark. Forming hand signs just as Orochimaru had taught him, he shouted,
"Summoning Technique!"
Poof!
A small, green, triangle-headed snake appeared in front of him, flicking its tongue at Kiyosuke.
"Your hand sign speed still needs work," Orochimaru noted. "You're used to relying on your kekkei genkai, but when it comes to ninjutsu, you need to get faster. In a real fight, even a tenth of a second can be the difference between victory and death."
"Oh."
Orochimaru picked up the little snake, which looked completely harmless in his hands. "Open your mouth."
"…Huh?"
"You need to swallow it first," Orochimaru said matter-of-factly.
Kiyosuke had mentally prepared himself, but his scalp still went numb. He gritted his teeth and opened his mouth. Orochimaru shoved the snake in.
"Mmghhh!"
"Don't bite down. If you do, there's nothing I can do to save you," Orochimaru warned.
Kiyosuke forced down his gag reflex and, after a painful struggle, managed to swallow the entire thing.
"Ugh—"
Doubling over, he dry heaved, only to suddenly realize the snake had vanished from his stomach.
Wait... is my stomach that strong?
"That snake just returned to Ryūchi," Orochimaru said. "Next time you use the jutsu, you'll summon it again. It'll shoot straight out of your mouth and bite your enemy."
"Orochimaru-sensei... You don't happen to have any other jutsu like this, do you? I think I'm good for now."
Orochimaru chuckled and brushed it off like a child throwing a tantrum.
"Heh. You'll understand someday."
I really, really don't want to.
"Alright, let's go over the hand signs for Snake Charmer Technique. The opening sign is the Serpent Seal..."
For all his quirks, Orochimaru's teaching was top-notch—clear, thorough, and easy to understand. If he weren't such a total creep, he could've been an incredible teacher.
But his legacy to the world would always be that of a freak, a madman, and a pervert.
Kiyosuke, meanwhile, had excellent comprehension and could quickly absorb Orochimaru's lessons, even building on them with his own ideas.
This jutsu could actually be set up in advance. In a battle, you could pre-summon the snake and embed it inside yourself, so when things got intense, you wouldn't have to waste time forming signs. Just one surprise strike—and boom, kill confirmed.
"Alright, give it a try."
Kiyosuke nodded, followed Orochimaru's instructions, formed the hand seals, then opened his mouth.
The venomous snake he had just swallowed reappeared, shooting out of his mouth in a quick strike. At close range, it was definitely effective.
"Orochimaru-sensei, can I summon different types of snakes? Like ones that don't kill, but paralyze the enemy instead?"
"Of course. The summoning is under your control. It depends on your intent. So just summon a different snake and swallow it. No need for me to guide you again—you're on your own."
"..." Kiyosuke.
Never mind.
He glanced at the time. It was almost noon.
"Orochimaru-sensei, let's go grab some lunch."
"You go ahead. I've got some experiments to finish. A soldier pill is good enough for me."
At Orochimaru's level, most of the missions he received were A-rank or S-rank. But those didn't come in frequently, so he usually had a lot of free time. When he wasn't teaching Kiyosuke, he was holed up at home conducting experiments.
He hardly ever went out. A couple of soldier pills got the job done, even if they tasted terrible.
"Orochimaru-sensei, you haven't stepped outside in almost three months. It's time you got some fresh air. Besides, there's a new ramen shop opening in Konoha today. Let's go check it out together."
"It's been three months?" Orochimaru, immersed in his research, had lost all sense of time. Still, there was no use in isolating himself forever. Who knew—maybe going out would spark new inspiration. After all, last time he went out, he ended up picking up Kiyosuke.
Maybe it was time for another walk.
"Alright, let's go."
"Great!"
And so, the two of them left the lab together.
Today, Konoha was buzzing with activity. A new ramen shop had opened, small in size, but already gaining a reputation for its incredible flavor.
The shop was called Ichiraku. Its owner, Teuchi, always had his eyes nearly shut and was known for his impressive noodle-making skills.
As the most iconic ramen spot in the entire Naruto series—and a legendary dish in the anime world—there was no way Kiyosuke was going to pass it up.
He strolled toward Ichiraku leisurely. No rush. It was opening day, and prices were half-off, but the place was packed. Rushing wouldn't help.
As they passed an alley, they overheard a rather gruff voice proudly exclaiming,
"See that, Minato? That secret jutsu you've been working on for three years—I've already mastered it! Pretty impressive, right?"
"No surprise there, Jiraiya-sensei. But I've got something to do, so I'll be going now."
Minato quickly took off, leaving Jiraiya standing in place, holding a Rasengan in his palm, completely stunned.
...
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Pls Drop some Power Stones
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