"Ninja Academy? Is Orochimaru a teacher at the Ninja Academy?"
Uchiha Hikari walked to Orochimaru's side. She remembered that Konoha's Ninja Academy was a school where children learned how to become Ninja, attending from age 4 and graduating at age 12, for a total of 8 years of instruction.
Normally, this was the case. When the First Ninja World War was nearing its end, to compensate for the lack of combat power, many high-achieving Ninja Academy students graduated early.
From what she understood, Orochimaru and Tsunade both graduated from the Ninja Academy at age 6.
"No, I just occasionally go to the Sealing Team to teach Sealing Technique."
Orochimaru looked at Uchiha Hikari, her reluctant expression disappearing. She smelled a fragrance and looked in the direction it came from.
"Mio, did you spray perfume?"
"Perfume?"
Hyuga Mio sniffed her own scent. She often conducted experiments in the Laboratory, so she had no mind to spray perfume on herself, and besides, Orochimaru didn't use perfume either.
"Maybe it's because I changed my shampoo?"
Hyuga Mio suddenly thought of something and said, a hint of delight appearing on her face, happy that Orochimaru noticed her change.
"So that's it."
Orochimaru picked up a strand of Hyuga Mio's black hair and sniffed it.
This… Hyuga Mio's eyes widened, her face feeling a bit hot. She immediately used Chakra to suppress the blood rushing to her face, making her complexion return to normal.
"I thought you used perfume, Mio!"
In Orochimaru's impression, Hyuga Mio never used perfume.
One might ask, what does it mean when a woman who never uses perfume suddenly does? Orochimaru immediately suspected that someone was trying to lure away her important assistant, and she had even thought about where to bury that person.
"I don't like using perfume; it interferes with experiments," Hyuga Mio said seriously. In reality, Orochimaru didn't use perfume, so she didn't want to either. The skincare products Orochimaru gave her were enough.
"Mio, do you have someone special?" Orochimaru asked gossipy, looking at the gentle and beautiful Hyuga Mio.
Her soft, long black hair was coiled on top of her head, and her lab coat could barely conceal her curvaceous and sexy figure. The gold-rimmed glasses on her face softened her Byakugan considerably.
Even with a poker face, she was very charming, considered one of the top beauties in the Hyuga Clan and even all of Konoha. Those pursuing her probably lined up from the Hokage Building to the main gate of Konoha.
Damn it, there must be many people interested in my assistant!
This won't do!
What if Mio gets snatched away?
Orochimaru felt a sense of crisis at this thought.
"Huh?" Hyuga Mio froze, staring blankly at Orochimaru, like a robot whose system had crashed due to overload.
"Mio, someone as charming as you must have many admirers, right? When you find someone special, you must let me help you vet them." Orochimaru's fists clenched at the thought of someone possibly taking away her adorable assistant.
Their body would be buried where Hikari was buried before.
"Orochimaru, it's time for you to go teach at the Ninja Academy." Hyuga Mio pushed Orochimaru out with a cold face.
She knew what kind of person Orochimaru was, yet she couldn't help but get angry.
At the same time, she realized that Orochimaru had never considered the possibility of them liking her, which was why she had never noticed Tsunade's feelings for her.
From her perspective, this was normal. She had never seen a girl fall for another girl in the Ninja World.
When she first realized her feelings for Orochimaru, she had doubted herself for a while.
She wondered if she was sick, if there was something wrong with her psychologically, or if she only liked Orochimaru because she had helped her.
These questions went unanswered after living with Orochimaru for a long time; instead, they simply disappeared as she grew older.
She realized that dwelling on these questions was meaningless. She liked Orochimaru, not her gender. If Orochimaru were male, she would still like her.
After Hyuga Mio discovered Tsunade liked Orochimaru, she wanted to set them up, but giving up just like that felt a bit unwilling.
"Eh?" Orochimaru was pushed out. Seeing her expression colder than usual, she thought she had hit a nerve and struggled, shouting, "Mio, you are my important assistant! Who is that scoundrel? I want to meet him!"
"The 'scoundrel' you speak of doesn't exist!" Hyuga Mio pushed Orochimaru out of the house, slammed the door shut, and leaned against it, a smile playing on her lips, happy that Orochimaru cared so much about her.
"How could this be…" Orochimaru sighed, looking at the closed door, and caught sight of Uchiha Hikari jumping from the second-floor window out of the corner of her eye.
"Hikari?" "Orochimaru, I want to go to the Ninja Academy with you." Uchiha Hikari ran to Orochimaru, her large black eyes looking at her expectantly.
"Let's go." Orochimaru extended her hand, and Uchiha Hikari placed her small hand in her slightly larger one.
"Little Hikari, do you want to attend the Ninja Academy? You could make many friends." Orochimaru asked, although she herself didn't have many friends or talk much to others when she attended the Ninja Academy, appearing very reclusive.
Uchiha Hikari shook her head repeatedly at the thought of sitting among a bunch of 4-year-olds; just imagining the scene made her feel awkward.
Is it because of her age… Orochimaru saw through Uchiha Hikari's thoughts. It was true that her age was not young; at the Ninja Academy, she would be at the age to graduate and become a Genin.
"What do they teach in the Sealing Team? Is it Sealing Technique?" Uchiha Hikari squeezed Orochimaru's hand slightly.
"You guessed correctly, it's Sealing Technique. I am quite skilled in Sealing Technique. Grandma Mito, who came to our house earlier, is the most excellent Sealing Ninja of the Uzumaki Clan and also my teacher in Sealing Technique." Orochimaru gently stroked Uchiha Hikari's head, comforting her, "Don't worry, no one will be able to seal you in the future."
"Um… can I learn Sealing Technique?" Uchiha Hikari looked at Orochimaru cautiously. In her impression, Sealing Technique was a Ninjutsu treasured by clans and not easily taught to outsiders.
"Of course, if you want to learn, I can make time to teach you. Learning Sealing Technique requires a good foundation. After my work at the Ninja Academy is done, I will prepare the books you need to read." Orochimaru remembered the mountain of books and scrolls she had read when she first learned Sealing Technique, a smile playing on her face. Just these materials would be enough for Uchiha Hikari to study for half a year. Once she had a solid foundation, she could teach her Sealing Technique and some basic Ninjutsu.
"…" For some reason, Uchiha Hikari suddenly had a bad feeling.
"Big Sister Orochimaru!" Outside the Ninja Academy, Nawaki saw Orochimaru approaching, jumped from a high-swinging swing, spun as he landed, and dashed to Orochimaru.
"Nawaki, why aren't you in school? Where's Grandma Mito?" Orochimaru patted Nawaki's head. She didn't sense Grandma Mito's Chakra nearby; instead, she sensed Grandma Mito's Chakra in the Hokage Building.
"Oh?" Orochimaru let out a soft sound, a little curious about why Grandma Mito went to the Hokage Building. She figured she must be chatting with Hiruzen-sensei.
"Let's go, it's time for the Sealing Team's class." Orochimaru walked into the Ninja Academy, holding Nawaki's hand with her left and Uchiha Hikari's hand with her right.
Hokage Building, conference room.
Hiruzen Sarutobi, Danzo Shimura, Utatane Koharu, and Homura Mitokado looked at the blueprints of the Spiral Tower on the table. Uzumaki Mito held a teacup with both hands, took a sip of tea, and quietly waited for them to finish looking at the blueprints.
"Lady Mito, with your current suppression of the Nine-Tailed, isn't building the Spiral Tower a bit too early?" Hiruzen Sarutobi considered Lady Mito's suppression of the Nine-Tailed and the fact that it had never gone out of control, believing that building the Spiral Tower now was too hasty. It was as if they were worried the Nine-Tailed would go berserk.
"Lady Mito, given your current physical condition, there's no need to build the Spiral Tower yet, is there?" Danzo Shimura's thoughts were the same as Hiruzen Sarutobi's. A deeper consideration was that once the Spiral Tower was built, Orochimaru, who was proficient in Sealing Technique, would surely discern its purpose. At that point, they, the Konoha Higher-Ups, would be the ones to take the blame.
Geniuses like Orochimaru always had their own ideas. If she truly became estranged from the Konoha Higher-Ups, it would be a huge loss for Konoha.
"You should consider my age as an elderly person. There's no harm in building it in advance; it's better to be prepared." Uzumaki Mito took a sip of tea. She was determined to have them build the Spiral Tower. If they waited until her suppression of the Nine-Tailed weakened to build it, it would be too late.
She didn't want to grow old and, because she couldn't suppress the Nine-Tailed, cause damage to the Village that Hashirama loved. In that case, she would truly be ashamed to face him in the next world.
"Since Lady Mito has said so, I have no objection to building the Spiral Tower." Utatane Koharu believed this was a good thing, as it could prevent problems before they arose. Moreover, Lady Mito had already made up her mind.
However, why would Danzo oppose such a good thing for the Village? Utatane Koharu found it a bit strange; based on her understanding of Danzo Shimura, he shouldn't refuse something like this.
"I also have no objection." Homura Mitokado looked at Hiruzen Sarutobi and Danzo Shimura and advised, "Hiruzen, Danzo, why not do as Lady Mito suggests and build the Spiral Tower."
"Hiruzen, you make the decision. You are the Hokage; this kind of matter should be decided by you." All decisions are made by you, Hiruzen Sarutobi, and have nothing to do with me, Danzo Shimura.
Danzo Shimura no longer wanted to deal with this matter. He was just there for the regular meeting, offering no opinions, neither agreeing nor disagreeing.
"Danzo, don't forget you are the Assistant Hokage!" Hiruzen Sarutobi reminded him sternly. How could he not see Danzo Shimura's intentions? He would absolutely not take this blame alone!
If we're taking the blame, we're doing it together!
The children in the Sealing Team were all growing. Even if Lady Mito's suppression of the Nine-Tailed Lord weakened, by the time those children graduated from the Ninja Academy, they would all become excellent Sealing Ninja. With their assistance, it would be impossible for the Nine-Tailed to go out of control and rampage.
However, Lady Mito was determined to build the Spiral Tower, and he was quite helpless. Utatane Koharu and Homura Mitokado did not share their views.
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