Chapter 15: Chapter 15: The Affable Orochimaru
Soraki couldn't help but stare directly at Orochimaru. Despite his best efforts to avoid looking at him, Orochimaru was like a massive black hole that could swallow everything, firmly drawing Soraki's gaze.
At this moment, Soraki finally understood how Sasuke felt when he was maliciously eyed by Orochimaru back then. And the Orochimaru before him wasn't even at his future peak.
The genuine killing intent was like countless small knives swirling around Soraki. No matter how he tried to evade, it remained firmly pressed against his throat.
"This is a kind of overwhelming aura, an imposing presence that makes one dare not look directly at a strong person," Soraki thought to himself. And now, Orochimaru was undoubtedly intending to imprint this overwhelming aura onto Soraki.
"Fire Style: Great Fireball Jutsu!"
Just then, Obito finally released the ninjutsu he had been preparing. Although its power wasn't immense, a half-meter-sized fireball shot towards Orochimaru.
Compared to the tiny flames Obito used to spit out that would quickly extinguish, this was undoubtedly a significant improvement.
The fireball wasn't large, but it fully demonstrated the power of the ninjutsu. Though its speed wasn't fast, the air distorted rapidly under the high temperature as it passed, and the ground was plowed with a trench several centimeters deep.
However, such a level of ninjutsu obviously had no effect on Orochimaru. Just as the fireball was about to engulf him, Orochimaru's figure flickered and disappeared from in front of the fireball.
His speed was astonishing; he didn't even use a Substitution Jutsu but simply evaded the incoming fireball with a Body Flicker Technique.
Soraki couldn't help but feel relieved. Fortunately, at that moment, Obito's ninjutsu interrupted Orochimaru's oppressive aura. If not for Obito's intervention, perhaps a shadow would have been left in Soraki's heart, just like what happened to Kakashi later on—even if Soraki's own strength might not necessarily be inferior.
"Quite an impressive young man," Orochimaru suddenly appeared ten meters behind Soraki, casually tossing Uchiha Ru onto the ground. Instead, his sharp eyes looked intently at Soraki and Obito.
Although his psychological attack on Soraki had been interrupted by Obito's ninjutsu, leaving no marks in Soraki's heart, Orochimaru didn't mind. With his status, whether such marks existed was of little concern to him.
At this moment, Obito was drenched in sweat, as if he had just undergone an intense physical exertion. The Great Fireball Jutsu was still quite a burden for him.
Dragging his heavy body, Obito walked up to Soraki, his eyes filled with astonishment as he looked at the calmly standing Orochimaru.
One had to admit that Orochimaru was indeed very charismatic. Even if you could clearly sense his evil, there was still an inexplicable aura that made people unconsciously drawn to him. Soraki couldn't help but wonder if this was some kind of genjutsu.
After a brief silence, Soraki seemed to snap back to reality. He pulled the still-shocked Uchiha Obito, and together they bowed respectfully towards Orochimaru, addressing him as "Orochimaru-sama."
Regardless of how many evil deeds Orochimaru had committed, or how much outrage he had caused, at least for now, he was still one of Konoha's Legendary Sannin and was highly likely to become the Fourth Hokage in the future.
Unexpectedly, Orochimaru nodded courteously in response to Soraki and Obito. "Next time, spar under your teacher's supervision. It's dangerous to duel privately like this," Orochimaru said in a hoarse voice.
"Yes, thank you, Orochimaru-sama," Soraki respectfully bowed again.
Obito's earlier Fire Style had already alerted the teachers at the Ninja Academy. Given the Uchiha clan's tendencies—or rather, the current attitude of most academy teachers—there was an eighty to ninety percent chance that Soraki and Obito would face expulsion.
After all, private fights could easily lead to casualties if something went wrong. This was strictly prohibited in the Ninja Academy and even the entire Konoha Village.
But now, Orochimaru had already defined the nature of the incident—that it was a sparring session without a teacher present. Since that was the case, no matter how they were punished, it would at most be a verbal reprimand. It seemed the Ninja Academy didn't have any severe disciplinary measures.
This essentially saved the futures of Soraki and Obito. Although Soraki had considered taking a break from school upon learning of his powerful family background, he decisively abandoned that idea.
Studying at the Ninja Academy would at least let him understand the gap between himself and other ninjas. Isolating himself was unnecessary; he still needed to go out and experience the world.
Moreover, Orochimaru's words were another way of backing Soraki and Obito. At the very least, it informed the Uchiha clan members behind Uchiha Ru that Soraki and Obito were people Orochimaru favored. It also served as a deterrent against certain Uchiha lackeys seeking private revenge.
Therefore, Soraki solemnly bowed to Orochimaru and sincerely expressed his gratitude. He even thought to himself that Orochimaru might not be so bad after all.
What is considered evil? Anything detrimental to oneself is evil; anyone harmful to oneself is a bad person.
As for Orochimaru killing his teacher, experimenting on villagers, or attempting to destroy Konoha—as long as it had nothing to do with him, to Soraki, Orochimaru was just a passerby.
Regardless of how despicable Orochimaru might become in the future, at this moment Soraki was genuinely grateful to him.
Soraki's quick reaction slightly surprised Orochimaru. For a six-year-old child to think of so much, even in the world of Naruto, was quite precocious. This made Orochimaru, who initially only valued Soraki's ruthlessness in battle, develop a bit more interest in him.
However, it was just a bit of interest. Currently, Soraki wasn't significant enough in Orochimaru's eyes.
Still, Orochimaru unconsciously stuck out his tongue, swiftly circling it around his lips. "Interesting," he murmured.
Perhaps this was a habit of Orochimaru when he was excited, but upon seeing this action, cold sweat broke out on Soraki's forehead. "Oh my god, that's terrifying! Even if he's a good person, I'd better stay away from him!"
If it weren't for Soraki's strong mental fortitude, he might have turned and run right there.
"The afternoon class is about to start; you should hurry back to the classroom," Orochimaru said. He turned and left silently. Unlike Jiraiya, he wasn't an idle wanderer with nothing better to do; he had plenty of things to keep him busy, especially now that the Second Ninja World War had just ended.
"Orochimaru-sama is really quite kind!"
Watching Orochimaru's graceful departure, Obito suddenly uttered a sentence that nearly scared Soraki to death.
Weekly Power Status
-- Power
Ranking 
-- Power
stone