The morning sun filtered through the tiled rooftops of Konoha as children bustled toward the academy in swarms. Some looked excited. Some looked like they'd swallowed a shuriken. Orochimaru, meanwhile, walked like a child-sized noble philosopher who'd been tricked into attending a public kindergarten.
Beside him, Jiraiya was babbling about wanting to create a harem jutsu. Again.
"And then, like—boom! I summon ten girls, all wearing—"
"Clothes?" Orochimaru offered without looking up.
"Obviously not," Jiraiya pouted. "You really don't get the vision."
"I do. That's why I'm trying to burn it out of my mind with fire release later."
As they approached the academy gates, Orochimaru's golden eyes caught a ripple of controlled chakra being discharged in the yard.
A group of boys went flying.
"TSUNADE-SAMA, PLEASE FORGIVE US!"
Tsunade stood in the middle of the scene like a small war goddess, cracking her knuckles. One boy was twitching on the floor in a puddle of what might've once been pride.
"Interesting," Orochimaru mused, adjusting his collar. "Her chakra coils are developing faster than average. Remarkable control for someone her age."
"She's scary," Jiraiya whispered, awestruck. "I think I'm in love again."
"That's the third time this morning," Orochimaru said flatly. "Your heart is like a poorly secured scroll—always unraveling."
"Do you write this stuff down? Or is it just off the top of your head?"
"Both."
_______
Inside the Classroom
The trio were seated—by what could only be called divine irony—in the back row, left corner. The troublemaker corner. Tsunade glanced sideways at her desk neighbors and groaned.
"Why am I stuck with you two?"
"Because fate clearly enjoys sarcasm," Orochimaru replied.
"I think it's romantic," Jiraiya added, dodging a kunai-shaped eraser Tsunade flung at his head.
The instructor began his welcome speech. Orochimaru tuned it out.
"These next few years will be crucial. I need to understand the foundation of Konoha's curriculum, not just to excel—but to dissect the limitations placed on shinobi."
"I'm not just chasing knowledge. I'm chasing transcendence—of body, of chakra, of spirit."
"To evolve, one must understand chakra not just as energy, but as essence. Physical, spiritual, elemental, and natural. Yin. Yang. Sage energy. All of it."
He blinked as a chalk hit his forehead.
"OROCHIMARU!" the teacher barked. "Pay attention!"
"I am," Orochimaru replied smoothly. "I was just observing how your chakra flow increases whenever you raise your voice. Likely blood pressure-related. Might want to cut back on salt."
The class giggled. The teacher looked like he wanted to throw him out a window.
Later — Practical Session: Shuriken Throwing
Each student lined up in front of a dummy. Jiraiya threw with his eyes closed and hit a bystander.
"Oops?"
Tsunade nailed the target dead center with precision.
When it was Orochimaru's turn, he closed his eyes.
Threw once.
The shuriken curved mid-air unnaturally, slicing across all five targets—embedding precisely in the center of each dummy's "heart."
Silence.
Then a slow clap—from himself.
"I knew it," he said. "I'm amazing."
"You're insufferable," Tsunade muttered, but her lips twitched.
_______
After Class — Under the Tree
The trio sat beneath a tree, watching the sky shift toward orange.
"You're weird," Tsunade said suddenly.
"Accurate," Orochimaru replied.
"You act older. Like, way older. But you're not mean. You're just... distant."
He paused. That small crack of honesty felt more dangerous than a kunai.
"I've seen things... in dreams," he lied, carefully. "Things that made me want to protect this village. Even if I don't always understand it."
Tsunade stared at him for a beat, then nodded.
Jiraiya, meanwhile, was carving something into the tree.
"What are you doing?" Tsunade asked.
"Writing the future: 'Legendary Ninja Trio was here.'"
Orochimaru rolled his eyes. "You can't just manifest titles."
"Sure I can. Believe it!"
"You're ten years early for that catchphrase," Orochimaru muttered.
_______
Nightfall, Hidden Training Grounds
The moon hung like a pale eye above the canopy, casting soft silver light over the clearing near the edge of the Senju training forest. The wind was quiet, almost reverent, as if it knew that something sacred was happening.
In the middle of that silence stood a boy.
Six years old in body.Thirty-seven in soul.And already walking the edge of something far greater than himself.
Orochimaru knelt on the grass, back straight, palms pressed together in a meditative seal. Sweat rolled down his brow, but his breathing remained steady.
"Control. Not power. Not volume. Control is the key."
A single leaf lay flat on his right hand, unmoving.
Chakra—thin as spider silk—flowed up from his tenketsu, wrapping around the leaf like invisible threads. He balanced it, not physically, but with intent. Will. Precision.
And then, on purpose, he let his chakra ripple too wide.
The leaf vibrated, twitched—then crumbled into ash.
Orochimaru opened his eyes, golden slits narrowing in disappointment.
"Too much yin focus. I'm over-saturating the external layer. Again."
He picked up another leaf. And began again.
Hours Later — Advanced Chakra Thread Practice
Tiny strands of chakra flicked from his fingers like ghostly needles. Ten at once. Then twelve. Then fifteen.
Each thread reached toward a pebble, attempting to lift it without breaking the connection. Most academy students wouldn't even learn this until graduation.
He wasn't most students.
One by one, the stones floated into the air—trembling with each movement of his fingers.
Then came the next phase: shaping chakra inside his own tenketsu.
"If chakra is forged from physical and spiritual energies… then evolving it means evolving both systems simultaneously."
He dropped into a strange cross-seal, shifting chakra from his lower dantian up to his head.
"Spiritual rotation… feel it… visualize it… mold it like clay."
A faint blue glow shimmered around his body—barely visible unless someone looked directly at it.
A nearby squirrel, drawn by the energy, stepped too close and promptly fainted.
He barely noticed.
Orochimaru finally collapsed backward onto the grass, limbs trembling, lungs aching from too much internal cycling.
Stars blinked overhead.
He stared up at them, feeling his chakra coils thrum like plucked strings, raw and sore from overuse.
But still... he smiled.
"I'm not there yet. But I will be."
"One day… I'll evolve chakra beyond what this world understands. Not to cheat death, but to redefine what life even means."
He closed his eyes, the first light of morning just starting to pierce the horizon.
Meanwhile… In a Nearby Tree
A silent figure crouched in the shadows.
Hiruzen Sarutobi, the current Third Hokage, adjusted his pipe and narrowed his eyes behind a pair of observation glasses. He had been tracking chakra signatures in the forest when he noticed a strange anomaly.
What he found instead was a six-year-old child performing chakra control exercises at a jōnin level… and talking about spiritual evolution and chakra-based transcendence.
He exhaled softly.
"Orochimaru… you might just be the most terrifying prodigy this village has ever seen."