One half of the white chakra induction paper ignited, while the remaining half wrinkled amidst crackling lightning, before gradually crumbling into fragments of earth.
Fire, Lightning, and Earth—three natures.
Motomu's chakra wasn't exactly versatile, but at least the Fire and Earth natures were sufficient for his needs.
He first unfurled the scroll for the B-rank ninjutsu, Earth Style: Mud Wall.
Snake → Boar → Dog
Three seals—it was quite simple.
His fingers twitched, but Motomu suppressed the urge to test it immediately.
After spending the whole night memorizing these three ninjutsu, Motomu welcomed the early dawn, along with Orochimaru and young Anko standing at his door.
Motomu, who was just about to head to the ninja academy, froze at the entrance. The sleepiness from staying up all night was instantly dispelled.
"O-Orochimaru-sensei."
"What are you doing here!?"
"Follow me."
"Oh, okay."
The Forest of Death.
Branches trembled as three figures darted past, the sound of wind whistling in their wake.
They were traveling quickly.
Motomu and Anko glanced at each other, both seeing the same confusion in the other's eyes.
Very soon.
Orochimaru, leading the way, reached the destination and came to a halt.
He reached out and tapped a hidden switch on a nearby large tree.
A slight tremor came from the ground. In front of Motomu, between two massive trees at least three meters in diameter...
A secret passage appeared, shimmering with a metallic luster and paved entirely with special alloys.
The passage slanted downward, leading deep underground.
*Fwoosh!*
In the dim tunnel, bright white lights illuminated the path.
Watching this scene, it wasn't hard for Motomu to guess that this was Orochimaru's secret base.
Orochimaru's golden snake pupils, framed by long purple eye markings, looked toward Motomu and Anko.
"This is where I usually reside. If you have something particularly important, you can leave a message here."
"Um, Teacher, what about the academy today?"
Orochimaru looked at the questioning Motomu and replied.
"The borders are tense. Hatake Sakumo's mission has run into issues. I'm back for one day and will leave tomorrow."
Sakumo's mission?
The moment these keywords appeared, Motomu's scalp went numb.
'Wait, could the mission Orochimaru is talking about be the one that leads to Hatake Sakumo's suicide?'
Seeing Orochimaru's solemn expression, the situation seemed dire.
'I'll have to probe Kakashi later. I hope it's not actually that incident.'
The changes in Motomu's expression were all captured by Orochimaru.
"Time is short. Now that I've returned, have you decided what you want to learn?"
Motomu's mind was still entirely on what Orochimaru had just said.
Hearing the question, he didn't think much.
He blurted out the Summoning Jutsu, which he had already put on his must-learn list.
Only after the words left his mouth did he realize—but it was too late to take them back.
'Who asks to learn someone's signature move right off the bat?'
'Normally, wouldn't you first ask what the teacher wants to teach!'
"Summoning Jutsu? It seems Motomu-kun knows his teacher quite well."
"No... It's just your signature ninjutsu, Teacher. Everyone knows it, and everyone wants to learn it."
But seeing Orochimaru ponder for a moment before agreeing...
Uchiha Motomu began to wonder if he was overthinking things.
While lost in thought, he and Anko followed Orochimaru into the secret base.
The underground space wasn't large. The room was bright, reflecting light off the silver-white walls.
Orochimaru took out a scroll as tall as young Anko and unfurled it.
Motomu narrowed his eyes slightly.
This scroll...
It must be the Ryuchi Cave summoning contract.
Within the vast blank space of the scroll, he saw only six names signed.
Orochimaru's name was in the very last slot.
Based on the Mount Myoboku summoning scroll in the original story, Motomu guessed this was the list of those who had previously signed a contract with Ryuchi Cave.
What he didn't expect was that this scroll was actually kept in Orochimaru's possession.
"Write your name in blood and press your thumbprint."
Orochimaru's raspy instructions were brief.
After Motomu and Anko followed suit...
Two new names appeared on the summoning scroll.
"You should have already learned the seals at the academy."
"I will demonstrate the seals and the chakra circulation order once. Then, try it yourselves."
Motomu didn't blink, staring intently at Orochimaru's deliberately slowed hand seals.
Boar → Dog → Bird → Monkey → Ram
Once the five seals were complete, Orochimaru bit his finger and lightly pressed his hand onto the table.
Black, tadpole-like runes emerged from his palm, forming an array-like pattern in the blink of an eye.
*Poof!*
The white smoke cleared.
A small green snake appeared on the table. Its triangular head flicked a forked tongue, and its cold vertical pupils seemed to hold intelligence as it looked at the three people before it in confusion.
As a girl, young Anko wasn't afraid of snakes at all.
Driven by curiosity, she actually reached out to rub the snake's head.
"Motomu, it's so well-behaved!"
Motomu also reached out to try, but the little snake's attitude toward him was one of cold indifference.
The little guy even actively shrank toward Anko's hand, as if it really disliked him.
*Poof!*
The little snake vanished into white smoke, and Orochimaru's voice rang out at the right moment.
"Your learning goal for today is to summon a beast like the one just now."
As if thinking of a certain someone, Orochimaru added...
"Also remember, summoning beasts don't have foolish 'bonds.' As daily combat consumables, those with poor combat power should be discarded early."
Jiraiya, huh?
Motomu immediately understood who Orochimaru was badmouthing.
They were kicked out by Orochimaru, who was eager to get back to his experiments.
Motomu and Anko squatted side-by-side on the ground outside the lab.
Boar → Dog → Bird → Monkey → Ram
Motomu pressed his palm to the ground. After a puff of white smoke, a white snake egg appeared before him.
*Poof!*
A dense cloud of white smoke also appeared on Anko's side.
Once the smoke cleared, a small snake with pink scales appeared at Anko's feet.
"So cute!"
Obviously, a young girl couldn't resist pink, cute little animals.
Crying out how cute it was, she grabbed the little snake.
Motomu saw the pleading look in the snake's vertical pupils, but he signaled that he was powerless to help.
Releasing the summon, the snake egg disappeared.
Motomu gathered his chakra and began forming seals again.
...
After dozens of attempts, Motomu finally completed the summoning in the afternoon.
The smoke cleared, and a purple python half the height of a man appeared.
Motomu let out a long sigh of relief.
Although he was a bit slow, a surge of accomplishment still welled up within him.
This was the first time he had completed a ninjutsu entirely through his own practice.
From now on...
He had combat power even without relying on his 'Big Eyeball'!
Though it was just a summoned snake, it was the first step.
Later, there would be Fire Style, Earth Style, Lightning Style...
Sooner or later, I will become a true powerhouse.
As Motomu released the summon, he walked toward Orochimaru's base alone.
Anko, who had succeeded on her first try, had already gone back to the academy for afternoon classes.
Currently, in Orochimaru's base, there were only Motomu and Uncle Snake.
Motomu reined in his minor self-satisfaction.
Glancing at Orochimaru's tightly closed laboratory, he realized that he would have to lay his cards on the table appropriately.
There was a high probability that Hatake Sakumo was about to be gone. His plan to delay Orochimaru by becoming Kakashi's teammate had fallen through.
Now, the only option was to take the initiative, test Orochimaru's purpose for taking him as a disciple, and find out the progress of his Cursed Seal research.
This would allow him to gain more informational advantages for his future rebellion against Orochimaru.