Chapter 9: A New Body
He looked at the small vial in his hand. The Super-Soldier Serum. So, that's where his frog had been all this time—it had gone to the world of Marvel.
It had even brought back a photo. The picture showed his little frog sneaking the serum, posing next to Howard Stark, while scientists scrambled in the background looking for it. The frog's eyes looked so innocent. It wasn't a mighty hero in that world, just a little guy getting by.
He was so focused on the serum he almost missed it—his frog was hurt. He quickly opened the system interface. There was a 'Heal' option, but it would take a while. The frog couldn't travel again until it was rested and repaired.
He carefully put the frog away to rest. I need to save up more clover, he thought. The clover grew over time. With more of it, he could buy his frog better meals and lucky charms. Then it could bring back even better things.
His attention returned to the serum. This was the real deal. This stuff turned a skinny guy from Brooklyn into a legend.
But the bottle in his hand was small, probably a concentrated version.
He opened it. A sweet, fruity smell hit him—it was blueberry flavor.
He was careful. He didn't dare drink it all at once. What if he turned into a giant overnight? People would get suspicious. He decided to only drink about a third of it.
Five minutes after drinking, the effect began. A powerful energy, like a herd of wild horses, stampeded through his body. He wanted to scream, but his friends were sleeping right next to him. He could only grit his teeth and bear it.
He didn't know how long it took, but the process finally ended. The ground beneath him was wet with sweat. He was breathing heavily, finally taking his hand away from his mouth. He looked up at the full moon, its light shining softly on him.
He looked at his body. It was strong, perfect. Not bulky with muscle, but defined with smooth, powerful lines. An eight-pack core. Every tendon was packed with explosive power. It wasn't like the Eight Gates, but his body's quality was far better than before.
He felt that if he faced those jonin now, he could handle them easily. He wouldn't get tired after just a few moves. He looked over his new body with satisfaction, even a little vanity. With a body like this, who could escape me?
Combined with his already handsome face, if he took his shirt off, he'd be a real lady-killer.
He found a water bottle in his bag and washed off the sticky sweat.
Luckily, his clothes were a little loose. The change in his body wasn't too obvious, especially since he hadn't drunk the whole vial.
He planned to split the rest of the serum into smaller doses. After all, this stuff didn't just build muscle; it could make you taller, too. Growing twenty centimeters overnight would definitely get him sent to the hospital to be studied.
He wondered if drinking it all would make him as tall and strong as Captain America. The thought was fun, but he knew it was just a daydream. Real strength had to be earned.
He stretched and was about to go back to sleep when he saw it—a flicker of light in the moonlight that didn't belong. His voice was cold.
"Who's there?!"
This woke the others. Might Guy jumped to his feet. "Takahashi! What is it? An attack?"
"Not sure yet," Takahashi said.
Then, from the forest shadows in front of them, a figure walked out. It had a woman's face but a man's voice. A long tongue flicked out, tasting the air.
"Long time no see, Guy," the figure said.
Might Guy frowned. He didn't recognize the face, but then he saw the grey-spotted python coiled around the person's arm. He remembered. There were very few ninja who commanded snakes, and only one of them knew him well: the traitor, Orochimaru.
Guy immediately took a fighting stance. "What are you doing here, traitor?"
Orochimaru sighed. "That tone is so hurtful. Is that any way to greet an old friend? I simply saw that Konoha has another interesting boy. My curiosity got the better of me."
Guy might not know all the details of Orochimaru's twisted experiments, but he knew one thing: Orochimaru wanting to "look" at Takahashi was very, very bad.
"If you're so wary of me, I'll be sad," Orochimaru said.
As soon as he finished speaking, a huge rock suddenly fell from the sky toward them.
Everyone scattered. Looking up, they saw a fat man wearing a sumo wrestler's belt not far away. Jirobo, one of Orochimaru's followers, sneered down at them.
At the same moment, the sound of a distant flute reached them. A red-haired woman, Tayuya, stood on a higher rock, playing a strange tune.
While they were distracted, Orochimaru's body slithered across the ground like a snake, moving incredibly fast toward Takahashi.
Guy moved to block him, but he was too slow. Orochimaru's neck stretched out more than ten meters, his head snapping toward Takahashi's neck to bite him.
But Takahashi was faster. His senses were sharp, his body reacting instantly. The kunai in his hand became a blur of slashing light.
Orochimaru's eyes widened in interest. He pulled his neck back just in time. If he had been any slower, he might have lost his head instead of taking a bite.
"What a powerful boy," Orochimaru hissed, his voice full of dark excitement. "Konoha's talent never ends. And I smell a special scent on you... You can't hide. I've marked you. Your body will be mine sooner or later. This was just a hello. We will meet again."
With those words, he and his followers vanished back into the darkness.
Might Guy rushed to Takahashi's side. "Are you okay?!"
"Don't worry, Guy-sensei. I'm fine. That guy wasn't fast enough to touch me."
Seeing Takahashi's calm face, Guy finally let out a sigh of relief. He clapped a hand on Takahashi's shoulder.
"That's my student," he said, pride in his voice.
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Orochi would have been vaporized by guy.