Leaving the secret chamber, Orochimaru cleaned the slightly dusty ancestral tablets and then scanned the area repeatedly to ensure the chamber's location wouldn't be easily discovered before finally closing the wooden door of the shrine.
The sky had cleared by now. Although the ground was still a bit damp, it was a good day for training.
He went to his bedroom, changed into a short training outfit, tied his kunai pouch to his right leg, and quickly grabbed some money from the drawer mentioned in his mother's last will. Then, Orochimaru left the house.
Walking down the street, Orochimaru began to contemplate his next plan.
Before his rebirth, his inner chakra was already at the Genin (Low Ninja) level. Now, after his rebirth and the fusion with the powerful soul that had lived for decades in his previous life, his spiritual energy (or mental fortitude) had skyrocketed. His chakra naturally increased significantly; though it hadn't reached the Chūnin (Middle Ninja) level, it wasn't far off.
Moreover, with decades of combat experience and countless forbidden and secret jutsu, Orochimaru was confident that he could easily deal with a Chūnin now.
Currently, the only thing restricting his true strength was the quantity of his chakra.
Regarding this theoretical knowledge, Orochimaru was arguably a professor-level figure in the ninja world. He knew exactly what was needed for chakra growth: with his massive spiritual energy, as long as his physical strength increased, his chakra quantity would naturally also increase significantly.
With this thought, Orochimaru quickened his steps toward the clothing store to purchase 22 lbs weighted training vest.
The owner of the clothing store, having settled in Konoha for years, was prepared for all sorts of odd requests from ninjas. Weighted clothing and accessories were, of course, essential training tools.
A server first used a soft tape measure to size Orochimaru's body, then took down a finished product, trimmed it a few times with a cutting knife, and filled the pockets in various parts of the weighted vest with iron blocks totaling 22 lbs.
Orochimaru took the 22 lbs weighted vest and put it on over his inner clothes.
The fitted white weighted vest was very convenient to put on and take off using several clasps. It not only allowed him to train his strength anytime and anywhere, but the iron blocks in the vest could also provide some defense against attacks, making it highly practical.
Orochimaru paid the money with satisfaction. Without delay, he activated the Ninja Walk (a technique to concentrate chakra in the feet for running/leaping) and headed toward the dense forest outside the village.
The sound of "whoosh, whoosh—" rushed past his ears. A stream of scenery was left behind him. After putting on the weighted vest, the chakra consumption for using the Ninja Walk increased considerably.
By the time he reached the Konoha forest about 3 miles away, Orochimaru was slightly out of breath!
He had calculated the weight of the vest precisely: 22 lbs, the limit for his six-year-old body, which also wouldn't hinder his development.
Orochimaru stopped in a secluded, relatively remote clearing in the woods.
He sat cross-legged on the ground to rest for a while, taking the opportunity to recall some of the jutsu and battle techniques from his past life that he could use now.
Five minutes later, Orochimaru stood up. Thin, sharp beams of light flashed within his dark-golden snake eyes, as if they contained razor-sharp blades.
Faint chakra fluctuations emanated from his small body, along with a terrifying, surprisingly strong killing intent.
"Chirp, chirp, chatter, flap, flap—"
The terrifying killing intent frightened away flocks of birds in the forest.
Orochimaru ignored everything else. He calmed his mind and focused his energy. His pale, slender hands crossed in front of his chest, instantly changing hand signs like a butterfly flitting through flowers.
Thumbs pointing up, left hand higher, straight and overlapping—unformed seal!
Thumbs overlapping, left thumb on top—the Snake (Mi) seal was formed!
Both thumbs straight—the Tiger (Yin) seal was formed!
Orochimaru formed these three basic jutsu seals in just over a second.
With a sound of "poof—," a cloud of smoke surged next to Orochimaru. As the smoke cleared, an identical clone stood quietly. Except for its slightly vacant eyes, every other part was exactly the same.
Orochimaru glanced at the clone, his expression unchanged, and continued to form seals in his hands.
"Poof—" With another puff of smoke, a capable, robust young man who subtly emanated a faint aura of leadership emerged where Orochimaru's main body stood—it was Hiruzen Sarutobi.
Orochimaru changed the hand signs again, and the "Hiruzen Sarutobi" instantly transformed into a log (Body Replacement Technique).
The sound of "poof, poof, poof—" from the jutsu explosions was continuous. The basic Three-Jutsu (Substitution, Transformation, Clone) were effortlessly executed in Orochimaru's hands. During this rapid, continuous sealing process, Orochimaru's seal-forming speed and chakra control technique rapidly improved, as if on a rocket.
The dark-golden snake eyes shone brighter and brighter. When he sensed that three seals per second was likely his current limit, the basic seals for the Three-Jutsu suddenly changed dramatically.
Snake (Mi) - Ram (Hitsuji) - Monkey (Saru) - Boar (I) - Horse (Uma) - Tiger (Tora)
Fire Release: Great Fireball Technique!
Six complex seals were formed in the span of a breath. He placed his right hand cup-shaped over his mouth.
A wave of intense, blazing flame shot out of Orochimaru's mouth. Three meters in front of him, it abruptly expanded into a high-temperature fireball the size of a millstone.
"Boom—"
The scorching fireball burned a charred, one-meter-diameter crater into the grass in front of him. Faint smells of scorch gradually dissipated into the air.
"Swoosh—"
From the adjacent forest, an extremely faint sound of air being cut could be heard, and a black shadow darted past within it.
Suddenly, the black shadow detected the chakra fluctuation from this side and stopped. With a "swoosh—," its figure flickered, and when it reappeared, it was standing on the branch of a towering tree, looking down at Orochimaru in the forest clearing.
Orochimaru, in his short training outfit, gave a faint side-glance at the destructive power of the Great Fireball Technique. He frowned slightly, his eyes sharpened, and the seals in his pale hands changed again, forming an even more complex sequence than before.
Faint blue chakra ripples permeated Orochimaru's body. He took a deep breath, aimed at his cup-shaped right hand, and exhaled all the air in his chest in one forceful blow.
Fire Release: Great Fire Annihilation!
"Whoosh, BOOM—"
Rolling heat waves warped the air. The scorching stream of flame shot out five meters, expanding into a gigantic fireball the size of a passenger hydrogen balloon. The entire forest clearing was lit up in fiery red. The intense heat was noticeable even to the black shadow watching nearby, whose eyes showed a look of profound disbelief.
"Whew, whew—"
Slightly breathless, Orochimaru looked at the crater, which had been deepened several times over, and smiled with satisfaction.
Suddenly, a strong feeling of alarm arose in Orochimaru's heart. Under the perception of his spiritual energy, he detected an abnormal, turbulent aura in the nearby forest, which flashed and then disappeared.
"Who is there???"
Orochimaru roared.
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