Terrifying Aunt Snake
"By then, I had already mastered the basics taught at the academy—things like shuriken practice."
After speaking, Shirō met the students' disdainful gazes. He didn't argue back; instead, he silently pulled out several shuriken, walked to the target range, and decided to let action speak for him. After all, he wasn't skilled in verbal sparring.
The other students watched curiously. Hitting the bullseye was something most of them could already do—so what made Shirō think his shurikenjutsu was worth bragging about?
When they saw his relaxed, almost careless throwing posture, their disdain grew. But then—clang, clang, clang!—a flurry of strikes landed squarely on the bullseye. Each shuriken curved mid-air, adjusting its flight path unnaturally before embedding itself dead-center.
"Haha! Not bad, right? But that's not all."
With a flick of his wrist, Shirō launched another volley. Then, without pause, he drew a kunai, turned sideways, and let it fly. The kunai pierced cleanly through the holes of three spinning shuriken and drove them all into the bullseye in a single motion.
It was unmistakable—he had just performed Uchiha-style shurikenjutsu, a technique renowned for its precision and deceptive angles.
When it came to showmanship, no clan outdid the "King of Pretenders." And for Shirō, who possessed Clairvoyance, replicating such trick throws wasn't difficult. In real combat there were still flaws, but for bluffing his classmates, it was more than enough.
Next, he displayed a few taijutsu maneuvers—flashy but impractical techniques that demanded a solid grasp of fundamentals. The class watched in silence, their earlier scorn replaced by astonishment.
Satisfied, Shirō left them behind and returned to training.
---
That evening, he reported his training regimen to Hatake Sakumo and then carefully brought up Kakashi's situation. With some discussion, he obtained Sakumo's agreement to quietly withdraw Kakashi's early graduation request.
For Sakumo, his son's happiness mattered more than the glory of raising a so-called "genius."
---
A Week Later
In his private training grounds, two blue figures clashed again and again—Shirō and his own Shadow Clone!
No, it wasn't a trick. The clone hadn't been altered, nor was it some loophole. It was Shirō's own method.
He had realized that while clones were fragile, they still required force to dispel. Recalling how Naruto's Shadow Clones endured after being cloaked in the Nine-Tails' chakra, Shirō experimented with reinforcing them. By channeling Reinforcement Magic into a clone, he increased its durability severalfold.
The results worked—but at a cost. The chakra consumption was immense, and his reserves were meager. He was forced to siphon chakra from the engraved circuits he carried, though he normally reserved those for emergencies. The supply couldn't be replenished quickly, but with no missions looming, he could afford the expenditure.
Still, he avoided tapping into his magic crystal, letting it continue its slow, steady production.
His training method was simple but effective: sparring with his clone using the Eight Inner Gates and the Six Great Openings of Bajiquan (Eight Extremities Fist). The constant duels sharpened his taijutsu much faster than solo drills.
Progress was steady. He was stronger than before.
Clap. Clap. Clap.
The sound echoed as the clone dispersed. From the treeline, a figure emerged, applauding.
"Orochimaru…" Shirō narrowed his eyes.
"Shirō-kun's taijutsu is quite profound," Orochimaru said with his usual serpentine smile.
"Orochimaru-senpai flatters me," Shirō replied cautiously. "It's only a minor skill. May I ask what brings you here?"
"Hehe… nothing urgent. Merely something I'd like to show you."
With a fluid gesture, Orochimaru raised his hand. A stream of water coiled and shaped itself into a serpent, writhing in his palm.
Shirō froze. His eyes widened.
"That's… Magic!"
---
What Orochimaru had displayed was undeniably Magecraft—the real thing.
Shirō had once assumed his Reinforcement Magic only worked due to the structural similarity between magic circuits and chakra pathways. But over time, he realized it wasn't that simple. True magic required more: the Root and a Magic Foundation.
The Root remained out of reach. Even his damaged system couldn't detect or analyze it. Whether it existed in this world at all was uncertain.
But the Magic Foundation—that was different. A Foundation was like an engine inscribed onto the world, pre-established formulas allowing a magus to convert prana into results. Range and power depended on the Foundation's complexity. Without one, magecraft wouldn't even function in this world.
Shirō's system acted as a substitute, serving both as Root-link and Foundation, enabling his magecraft to operate here. By contrast, Orochimaru had somehow constructed a true Foundation within the Naruto world.
It was crude—his system detected only a handful of magical formulas—but the fact it existed at all was staggering.
Shirō could hardly believe it. While he still struggled to set up a basic Workshop, Orochimaru had already touched the theory of Foundations.
The gap between them was overwhelming.
For the first time in weeks, Shirō's heart eased. If Orochimaru could reach this point on his own, then perhaps he would lose interest in Shirō's body. After all, knowledge and inheritance were different things.
As expected of Aunt Snake… truly terrifying.
Orochimaru tilted his head, studying Shirō's shifting expression with amusement. First came shock, then visible relief.
His assessment was correct—Shirō had relaxed. Because if Orochimaru had already grasped magecraft, then at least for now, he wouldn't need Shirō as a test subject.
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