Listening to Orochimaru's words, Uchiha Hayashi gave a small nod.
"No one is immortal, are they?"
"Indeed. Nothing lasts forever. Even someone like the Sage of Six Paths vanished into the river of history," Orochimaru replied with a sigh.
"Aging, fading away without a trace… life feels hollow. And though I'm barely twenty, I already feel it deeply," Orochimaru said.
"Hayashi, what do you think of life?" His golden, serpent-like eyes narrowed as he asked.
"What's wrong? Did something happen?" Hayashi didn't answer directly.
To him, Orochimaru's interest felt a little excessive. How could a twenty-year-old jōnin pose such a heavy question to a nine-year-old boy?
"Haha… perhaps I was abrupt," Orochimaru said, his hoarse voice softening into a rare, magnetic smile.
"The first time I saw you, I felt something unusual. You don't quite fit in with the world around you. Despite being a child, you carry yourself as though your soul is much older. It fascinates me."
Hayashi's guard went up. Orochimaru's perception was sharp, almost uncomfortably so.
"You feel like a storm that will one day shake the world. That's why I expect your answer to be… interesting."
Orochimaru paused, then continued. "Since the day my parents died and I became an orphan, I've always been prepared for death. Yet, on the battlefield, that feeling changes. Out there, you feel how small you really are. Death is everywhere. Corpses—enemies, comrades, even your classmates and friends—litter the ground."
"And what do we gain from all that sacrifice? Nothing but experience and knowledge of war."
"Life… is dull." Orochimaru refilled his cup and drank.
"Yes. We're all just ordinary people, chasing happiness, though not all of us will find it," Hayashi said with a thoughtful nod.
Orochimaru's eyes darkened. He repeated Hayashi's words quietly, as though remembering something lost to him forever.
After a long silence, Hayashi picked at the dish in front of him. "Is the war about to start?"
"Yes. Some regions are already in chaos. The conflict between the Land of Rain and the Land of Grass grows worse by the day. And the Land of Wind and the Land of Earth have begun gathering troops at their borders. If this continues, Konoha will be at a severe disadvantage once war breaks out."
"Then why return now, of all times?" Hayashi already had a suspicion, but asked anyway.
"The Third Hokage summoned us. The jōnin have been reassigned missions," Orochimaru answered with his usual hoarse smile.
He picked up peanuts with his chopsticks as he went on, "We've been called back as team leaders for you students."
"Team leaders? But we're only in the fifth year, we haven't graduated yet," Hayashi asked, puzzled.
"Yes. Precisely because you haven't graduated. Once war begins, no one will have time to babysit you. At that point… you'll be sent straight to the battlefield."
"You genin are Konoha's future. That's why the Hokage wants you exposed early, so that your first bloodshed won't be in the middle of a war. Fewer deaths that way."
Hayashi nodded slowly.
"So, Orochimaru-sama, are you my team leader?"
"That's right. Originally, it was meant to be Tsunade. But the Uchiha clan head requested that I take you instead," Orochimaru said with a meaningful glance.
Hayashi didn't reply. Uchiha Yama… always causing problems.
"What about Tsunade-sensei?"
"She went to argue with the Hokage… and smashed his office door."
"..."
"In the end, she extorted two thousand ryō from him and went straight to the casino."
"..."
"So, in her eyes, I'm worth two thousand ryō?" Hayashi sighed, brushing his hair back.
Just then, the tavern owner brought over a roast chicken.
"This is too much. Sorry to trouble you. You're far kinder to me than Tsunade-sensei," Hayashi said with an embarrassed smile, though his hand was already reaching for the chicken.
"Don't be hasty. That chicken isn't for you," Orochimaru stopped him. "It's for a guest."
"Guest?" Hayashi blinked.
Orochimaru didn't explain. Instead, he bit his finger, pressed his bloodied hand to the floor, and called out, "Summoning Technique!"
A puff of white smoke rose, and from it emerged a pale snake over a meter long, with two small purple horns sprouting from its head.
"Here," Orochimaru said, lifting the chicken.
The snake's mouth stretched unnaturally wide, swallowing the bird whole.
Tch… not even afraid of choking.
Once finished, the snake gave a satisfied look before glancing at Orochimaru, then down at Hayashi with disdain—as if the boy were an eyesore.
"This kid? He's too small," the snake hissed, its tongue flicking as it studied Hayashi.
"It doesn't matter. We'll need him sooner or later," Orochimaru replied. "Give me the scroll."
Without a word, the snake regurgitated a sealed scroll.
"This is a summoning contract. Write your name here, in blood," Orochimaru instructed, opening it to a blank space.
"I believe you've already learned the hand seals for the Summoning Technique from Jiraiya's foolish student. Consider this contract a gift, since you'll be joining me on missions starting tomorrow."
After Hayashi signed, the snake swallowed the scroll again and vanished using the Reverse Summoning Technique.
Orochimaru's body also dissolved into smoke.
"Damn… another shadow clone," Hayashi muttered, touching his temple with a wry smile.
But his smile froze.
He suddenly realized something dreadful.
Orochimaru had left without paying the bill.
____
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