So that was it...
To think the father he had never even met had bought him one last favor with his life.
As Orochimaru's faint smile lingered, Habu Sora fell into deep thought.
In the original story, Anko had become Orochimaru's disciple during the Third Great Ninja War. For several years, he treated her almost like an adopted daughter, always calling her "my little fool" with an odd kind of affection.
It seemed that at this point in time, Orochimaru hadn't yet fully lost his humanity. He still held a sliver of emotion toward the son of a former comrade.
After all, the Orochimaru before him was still a hero of Konoha, one of the candidates for the Fourth Hokage.
Not yet the man who would swap bodies like clothing, view life as expendable, and pursue immortality above all else.
"You really do look just like your father," Orochimaru said softly as he approached.
His pale, slightly cold hand brushed gently across Sora's face.
Sora involuntarily flinched. He was still afraid.
"What kind of person do you wish to become, Sora-kun?"
The question caught Sora off guard. But he quickly straightened up and replied firmly:
"I want to become a great ninja like my father, someone who can protect Konoha, and defend his friends and loved ones."
What's your dream? What kind of person do you want to be? What is your ninja way?
In the Naruto world, those questions were almost a rite of passage. Sora had long prepared his answer.
No matter what he truly thought, he would stick to one principle, channel the Will of Fire to its fullest.
"Heh."
Orochimaru let out a low chuckle.
"Humans are so fragile. A single shuriken, a single explosive tag, sometimes that's all it takes to snuff out a life. You really think you can protect anything?"
"I'll do everything I can," Sora replied shamelessly. "Even if it costs me my life."
Orochimaru stared at him again, as though trying to peer straight through his soul.
"In that case…"
A much colder voice echoed from deep within the house.
From the shadows, another Orochimaru emerged, peeling off a pair of rubber experiment gloves as he stepped forward.
POOF!
The first Orochimaru that had been speaking to Sora vanished in a puff of smoke.
It was a shadow clone the entire time.
Sora blinked.
So the real Orochimaru had been busy the whole time, probably buried in some secret lab, conducting who-knows-what kind of human experiments.
An image flashed in his mind: a dark, blood-stained lab, Orochimaru slicing open test subjects without emotion, extracting their organs piece by piece…
Just as he'd begun to relax, fear came crashing back. Cold sweat beaded on his skin again.
THUD!
A large bundle landed with a thump in front of him.
"You have half a day to study these."
With that single indifferent sentence, Orochimaru vanished once more into the darkness.
Baffled, Sora slowly opened the bundle.
Inside were several scrolls of varying size.
"Ninja scrolls?"
His eyes lit up.
Looks like Orochimaru really is treating his old comrade's son pretty well. This is a big haul, just tossing out scrolls like it's nothing.
He opened the first one.
"Core Principles of Basic Taijutsu."
The second: "Applications and Nuances of the Three Basic Techniques."
The third: "Body Flicker Technique: Movement and Transition Drills."
Sora's enthusiasm immediately died down.
So much for high-level ninjutsu.
This is all beginner stuff. C'mon, you're one of the Legendary Sannin, can you not be so stingy?
Then he opened the last scroll: "Secret Chakra Technique: Cellular Vitalization."
Sora's eyes lit up again.
Cellular Vitalization: a secret art that enhanced the body's recovery and life force by stimulating it at the cellular level.
Whether it was boosting constitution, increasing chakra reserves, or reducing the strain from techniques like the Eight Gates, this technique could be game-changing.
For someone like Sora, whose spiritual energy was overwhelming but whose body was frail, this might be the key to bridging that gap.
Finally, something actually high-level.
He hugged the scrolls to his chest and eagerly began reading.
Thanks to his strong spiritual energy, Sora could process information at high speed. In no time, he had flipped through all the scrolls and committed most of the contents to memory.
"Slowly infuse chakra into each of your body's cells. Locate the cell's core and awaken its full potential…"
The core of a cell? You mean like the nucleus in biology? How am I supposed to find that using chakra?
Sora began following the steps to practice Cellular Vitalization, but immediately hit roadblocks.
One issue was that the biology of the Naruto world was vastly different from the middle-school biology he'd learned in his past life. Much of the cellular theory made no real sense to him.
The other issue was chakra control.
Even with his mental strength, he hadn't yet built up the finesse needed for fine chakra manipulation. It would take time.
Time passed quickly while training.
Eventually, his stomach began growling loudly, so fiercely it almost cramped.
He was starving, the kind of hunger that only hits after more than ten hours without food.
"You're hungry, aren't you, Sora-kun? Come, I'll take you somewhere to eat."
That low, raspy voice drifted from the darkness.
For the first time ever, Sora thought Orochimaru's voice sounded… comforting.
Eating out? Nice! Must be a feast!
"Thank you, Orochimaru-sama!" Sora said quickly.
"Heh, no need to thank me. I promised Harano-kun I'd take care of you."
Orochimaru hoisted him up and vanished using Body Flicker.
Sora's mind blanked. Again with the kidnapping carry?! Can't we just walk like normal people?!
At least this time, he didn't scream like he did with Jiraiya. Maybe he was getting used to it.
"So fast…"
They came to a stop. Sora glanced around.
It was pitch black. They were surrounded by dense forest. Orochimaru stood silently on a tree branch.
"Ugh, hey!"
Sora let out a cry as he was unceremoniously tossed to the ground.
"I thought we were going to eat, Orochimaru-sama?"
"Patience. The main course is about to arrive."
Orochimaru gave a twisted smile, then pulled out a small vial from his robes and tossed it toward Sora.
BOOM!
With a flash of hand signs, the vial exploded mid-air.
A purple smoke cloud burst out, enveloping Sora's entire body.
"Cough! Cough cough!"
He stumbled out of the cloud, now drenched in a strong, pungent odor that clung to his clothes and skin.
"This is the Forest of Death. The beasts here will all be drawn to your scent. Enjoy your meal… Sora-kun."
Orochimaru's voice echoed like a devil's whisper through the woods.
But the man himself was nowhere to be seen.
The Forest of Death?!
The very name meant this place was lethal.
The beasts here were monstrously large, constantly starving, and aggressively territorial.
This is the same place where Naruto's team had to take the Chūnin Exam! And I'm still in the Academy! Not even a genin yet! How the hell am I supposed to survive?!
"Are you kidding me?! This is your idea of taking care of me?!"
Sora couldn't hold back anymore and shouted in frustration.
"Awooo, !!"
"ROAR!!"
The smell from the purple smoke spread rapidly through the forest, carried by the night breeze.
In the distance, howls and growls erupted in all directions.
Through the dark foliage, Sora couldn't see clearly, but one by one, pairs of glowing crimson eyes began appearing in the trees.
<150 P.S = 1 Extra Chapter>