The meal was decent, just home-style cooking. Of course, that was also because Orochimaru wasn't picky about food.
His real pickiness was reserved for another kind of "food." Because of that, the meal was finished quickly.
Ninjas already ate fast, and Orochimaru didn't slow down on purpose. Affected by him, Anko also finished quickly.
After cleaning the table and going back to busy herself in the kitchen again, Anko returned to the living room. Orochimaru, who had been watching her, spoke after a moment of thought.
"Anko, you've already met Yamato, haven't you?"
The joy on Anko's face froze for a moment, and she lowered her head, answering gloomily.
She had not only seen Yamato, she also knew he was a Wood Release user, with the same Kekkei Genkai as the First Hokage.
Orochimaru-sama's new recruit made her feel a heavy pressure.
Orochimaru saw her change in mood and added, "Then you should also know that I've taken Guy as my student."
Anko bit her lip, nodded, and looked a little wronged.
Yes, she knew, but she couldn't understand.
Yamato having Wood Release was one thing, but Guy, who only knew Taijutsu, what right did he have?
Anko didn't look down on Guy, but she respected Orochimaru-sama far more. As a teammate, Guy was fine, no problem. But as Orochimaru-sama's student… no way!
Orochimaru shook his head. For someone her age, still carrying her own bias, truly seeing Guy's talent and gifts was almost impossible.
He didn't plan to waste more words.
"Come with me, I'll teach you a new ability."
Orochimaru stood up, walked out the door, and stepped into the wide courtyard.
Anko's face lit up when she heard this. She quickly wiped her hands on her apron, pulled it off, and hurried after him.
Orochimaru didn't hold anything back. He passed on "Water Breathing" to Anko without reserve.
For now, "Water Breathing" didn't have its matching sword techniques. Instead, Orochimaru had tested and modified it, keeping only the breathing-based training method.
Aside from an outlier like Guy, ordinary shinobi weren't suited to a "one move for everything" style of fighting. On the contrary, Ninjutsu, Taijutsu, sealing, weapon throwing… ninja used everything at their disposal.
And, in Orochimaru's eyes, treating "Water Breathing" only as a combat skill was a waste.
Ninja mixed body energy with spiritual energy to refine chakra. Though people called it training, in truth, natural talent decided almost everything.
Breathing techniques, however, were different.
In the demon-slaying world Genie spoke of, those hunters knew from the start that their bodies couldn't compare to demons. So instead of demanding from within, they worked outward, drawing in natural energy and strengthening themselves from the outside in.
The "Transparent World" was the highest pursuit of demon hunters.
In this, the ninja world lagged far behind.
For thousands of years, the only thing tied to natural energy—Senjutsu—was still in the hands of the sacred places.
The snakes, the toads, their sizes kept growing bigger, but ninja research into natural energy was still a blank.
The breathing techniques could very well break the sacred places' monopoly on natural energy.
Orochimaru thought about this, recording some important data.
Anko's talent was only average. That applied not just to her skills as a ninja, but also to her mind.
If Kakashi and Guy were taken as full marks, Anko was an ordinary person, maybe around seventy points, at best slightly above average.
But it was exactly for that reason that Anko had research value.
Through her, Orochimaru could see whether the breathing techniques had the potential he expected, and whether they were worth spreading widely.
Genie was already pushing ahead to expand, so how could Orochimaru let himself fall behind?
For now, Konohagakure was too small a field, unable to give him the value he wanted.
"Hoo…"
The afternoon sun was blazing. Beads of sweat ran down Anko's forehead as she stumbled through several rounds of breathing cycles.
The theory was more or less fine by now.
Orochimaru called her to stop before she collapsed, smiling slightly. "This is a new Taijutsu I developed. If you keep at it for a long time, it will raise your talent and close the gap between you and those geniuses. You must stick with it."
"Yes, I'll work hard to surpass Kakashi and the others."
Anko was breathing heavily, but her face glowed with excitement. Her teacher Orochimaru still believed in her after all.
Then Orochimaru changed the subject. "But, I'm taking back your Curse Mark."
Anko's expression changed. She instinctively covered her neck.
Aside from everything else, just the extra chakra from the mark made her unwilling to give it up.
"Don't overthink it. The Curse Mark wasn't perfect when I first developed it. Lately I've found many limits in it."
Orochimaru read her feelings clearly, and the corners of his mouth lifted. "Or is it that without the power I gave you, you've got no confidence left?"
Anko was provoked by those words and immediately raised her head. "Of course not, I won't let you down."
Orochimaru gave a small smile, pressed one hand on Anko's neck, and easily undid the curse mark, taking back his chakra and soul.
As her chakra was pulled away in an instant, Anko's eyelids grew heavy and she collapsed, only to be caught.
After setting Anko down, Orochimaru returned to the courtyard. Before his eyes, a faint translucent screen appeared, showing that his soul strength hadn't changed at all. His brows furrowed.
"Don't rush, it won't be that fast," Genie said lazily. "Instead of worrying, you'd be better off figuring out how to enter the Pure Land."
Orochimaru shook his head. "Whether this goes smoothly or not depends on if the old man agrees."
The Second Hokage's research on Edo Tensei was something Orochimaru had to get his hands on.
In the past, whether the Third Hokage agreed or not, Orochimaru always had a plan. But now, he wasn't willing to give up the village of Konoha, his field of crops, so some extreme methods couldn't be used.
Considering how heavily guarded the secret archives were, he had to get the Third Hokage's permission—but that was the problem.
Even after leading the Konoha ninja army to drive back the Cloud, he still had no confidence in this.
Edo Tensei wasn't just any forbidden jutsu. It desecrated the bodies of dead shinobi. Even back when the Second Hokage used it, it sparked controversy. Now, it was very unlikely the Third Hokage would allow it to be released again.
"What's the big deal, it's nothing serious."
Genie glanced at Orochimaru and chuckled. "If a room is full of people and you want to open a window, maybe someone won't like it. But if you say you'll tear the whole roof off, then suddenly that window doesn't seem so bad."
"In the end, it's just throwing one bad choice and an even worse choice in front of him, leaving him no room to refuse."
Hearing this, Orochimaru's eyes lit up, like he had awakened a new Izumi, and a flood of schemes rushed out from his mind.
---
You can read 50 Chapters ahead on my
pat reon.com/GMadman
Free member can read 3 chapters ahead