"Then, there can be only one truth!"
Motomu's thoughts fixed on the raspy voice of the Academy teacher from his memories.
That was it!
Orochimaru was likely looking for Anko at the school back then.
After defeating Anko with his Sharingan, he must have caught Orochimaru's eye.
That was probably when Uncle Snake took an interest in him.
With just one sentence, he had caused Motomu to slip up during the fight with Old Ma.
Perhaps Anko's encounter this afternoon was also orchestrated by Orochimaru.
Damn it!
The terrifying old demon weaves his clever trap, while little Motomu wanders straight toward the executioner's block.
Given the situation, I'll have to feel out Uncle Snake's intentions first.
Pulling himself together, Motomu suppressed his unease and asked calmly.
"Lord Orochimaru, what do you mean by that?"
"Do you want to become my disciple, just like Anko?"
*Heh.*
'As if I don't know what you'll do in the future!'
'He could leave a Cursed Seal on Anko, and he could do the same to me.'
'Those seals seem harmless and even provide a power boost.'
'But if Orochimaru dies...'
'Uncle Snake could crawl back out of one.'
'In the original story, only Itachi could use the Totsuka Blade to seal the Orochimaru that emerged from Sasuke's seal.'
'If I become his disciple and he bites my neck one day, my life won't be my own anymore.'
'After a rogue Orochimaru gets thrashed by Itachi...'
'...he'll suddenly remember he has another Sharingan vessel.'
*Snap.*
'And I'm gone.'
At that thought...
Motomu didn't hesitate to decline.
"Thank you for your high regard, Lord Orochimaru. However, as a member of the Uchiha clan, the Patriarch also values me greatly."
"I'm afraid becoming your disciple might be... inappropriate."
"Is your eye injured, Motomu-kun?"
Cold sweat soaked his back as Motomu quickly changed the subject.
"No, I just feel that taking on a master is a very solemn matter."
"Doing it like this seems a bit too hasty."
*Interesting. It really is the power of the Sharingan.*
Orochimaru looked away from the gauze over Motomu's eye and spoke casually.
"Motomu-kun, since you've agreed..."
"...then this meal will serve as our apprenticeship banquet."
...
Despite getting a free meal, Motomu's mood didn't improve one bit.
"Nothing is going my way!"
"Well, at least the issue of Anko being bullied is settled."
Lying on his cream-colored bed...
With his arms behind his head, Motomu's thoughts drifted.
The only difference between the current Orochimaru and a time bomb is that Orochimaru has no timer.
Judging by how Kakashi from the Anbu was frozen by a single glance from a rogue Orochimaru...
Uncle Snake's defection should happen sometime after the Third Shinobi War.
And Anko's Cursed Seal was implanted before his defection.
I could have a seal slapped on me at any moment.
In this world...
Strength is everything!
Defeating Kemono requires strength, and dealing with Orochimaru requires even more!
In the Shinobi World, in this Tale of the Eyeballs, the Uchiha clan—who rely heavily on both skill and growth—are still too vulnerable!
Motomu touched his empty right eye socket and turned his attention back to the Big Eyeball roaming free outside.
To hell with it!
No sleep tonight!
I'll just catch up on sleep during class tomorrow.
Tonight, I'm pulling an all-nighter to level up the Big Eyeball.
Each time the Big Eyeball levels up, it grows larger, and its Special Attack stat increases.
It has 144 grams of telekinetic force at Level 3. If I grind it to Level 100, I might be able to use Confusion to pull off a Planetary Devastation!
Besides, Psychic-type moves like Confusion are super effective against someone like Uncle Snake, who's been reborn multiple times!
'I might not know Genjutsu, but that doesn't mean I can't stab your brain with a mental shock.'
Motomu's mood brightened instantly.
The gloom of the last two days vanished.
Having made up his mind, Motomu thought about how to level up the Big Eyeball quickly and safely.
Now that he knew Orochimaru was watching, Motomu definitely didn't dare to go on a collaborative hunt with the Big Eyeball.
He decided to let the Big Eyeball go out alone and farm the easiest dungeons first.
The Big Eyeball, glaring with its Sharingan, flew over the rooftops of the Uchiha compound.
It soon reached the clan training grounds.
The Big Eyeball looked down, scanning the area.
To Motomu's surprise, he saw Obito there.
Obito was pulling an all-nighter, practicing his shuriken throwing one after another.
"Good, he's got plenty of spirit."
"Since my little brother is working so hard, his big brother better get started too!"
The Sharingan's vision clearly tracked a small bird on a branch.
The Big Eyeball's telekinesis slammed into it.
[RIGHT EYE (LV. 3) USED CONFUSION!]
[PIDGEY HP: -8]
[VICTORY!]
[THE WILD PIDGEY (LV. 1) FLED]
[RIGHT EYE GAINED +3 EXP]
Because the enemy's level was low, the experience gained was also minimal.
Motomu calculated that he'd need at least seven more battles.
And with telekinetic attacks of this magnitude, his chakra reserves could last for over a hundred uses.
Leveling up was going to be a breeze!
The Big Eyeball's moves were chosen at Level 3.
If his guess was correct, the system granted moves in a level sequence like 1, 3, 5, 7, 9.
At Level 5, besides the stat increases, the Big Eyeball might get to pick another move.
Motomu waited with anticipation.
He controlled the Big Eyeball, continuously causing trouble for the Pidgeys in the training grounds.
By midnight, when Obito finished his training and headed back...
Motomu's Big Eyeball successfully reached Level 5.
[RIGHT EYE (LV. 4) USED TACKLE!]
[PIDGEY HP: -10]
[VICTORY!]
[THE WILD PIDGEY (LV. 1) FLED]
[RIGHT EYE GAINED +2 EXP]
[RIGHT EYE HAS LEVELED UP! IT SEEMS TO HAVE LEARNED SOMETHING]
[1. CRUNCH 2. BITE]
[3. SNARL 4. REFLECT]
"System, view descriptions."
[CRUNCH: THE POKEMON OPENS ITS LARGE MOUTH AND CRUNCHES THE TARGET]
[BITE: THE POKEMON OPENS ITS LARGE MOUTH AND BITES THE TARGET]
[SNARL: THE POKEMON YELLS AS IF IT'S RANTING ABOUT SOMETHING, LOWERING THE TARGET'S STATS]
[REFLECT: CREATES A TRANSPARENT, RIGID WALL EQUAL TO (CURRENT SP. DEF) X (POKEMON'S DEFENSE)]
The first three moves were complete trash and were immediately ruled out.
Without hesitation, Motomu chose the most useful move: Reflect.
[DING]
[POKEMON HAS FILLED FOUR MOVE SLOTS FOR THE FIRST TIME]
[TRAINER NOTICES:]
[TO LEARN A NEW MOVE, THE TRAINER MUST REPLACE ONE OF THE FOUR EXISTING MOVES]
[EVERY 10 LEVELS, THE POKEMON WILL ACQUIRE A RARE SPECIAL PASSIVE ABILITY. THESE ABILITIES CAN STACK INFINITELY]
Motomu looked at the system prompts and analyzed them inwardly.
He was familiar with replacing moves. Once he got better ones, he could swap out the useless Tackle and Leer.
But what about those special passive abilities?
Motomu was both curious and expectant.
'Moves can be passive?'
'And the rarity... once every ten levels.'
'It sounds like they'll be pretty overpowered!'
'But I'm only at Level 5, so I'm still quite far off.'
Speaking of levels, Motomu opened the system panel to check the experience needed for the next level.
[POKEMON: ONE-TOMOE SHARINGAN]
[LEVEL: 5]
[TYPE: PSYCHIC/DARK]
[CURRENT EXP: 1/50]
[STATS: HP: 19 | ATTACK: 11 | DEFENSE: 2 | SP. ATK: 22 | SP. DEF: 15 | SPEED: 5]
[IV: 22/31]
[EV: 33/100]
[NATURE: BOLD]
[MOVES: TACKLE, LEER, CONFUSION, REFLECT]
Another 49 experience points to go!
'I wonder how much a Level 1 Pidgey gives now that I'm at this level?'