"Sasuke seems even more popular at school than you were, Yan."
"......"
If you'd just kept quiet, no one would think you were mute.
You're acting like you were some kind of heartthrob yourself!
If it were anyone else, Yan could've clapped back.
But there was no way to roast Orochimaru.
Sure, he might be a venomous snake now, a dark and twisted one.
But as a kid, this guy was a total golden boy—popular, smart, strong, and good-looking...
Girls at school liked him in droves.
Otherwise, Jiraiya wouldn't have picked on Orochimaru so much when they were kids—it was pure jealousy.
If you think about it, it's pretty obvious.
Aside from bad grades making him the perfect contrast to Orochimaru, Jiraiya had no real beef with him.
Jiraiya had a crush on Tsunade from the start, and Orochimaru never cared about girls.
There was no rivalry, no grudges—Jiraiya was just salty because Orochimaru was too well-liked.
Even after they grew up, among the three Sannin, aside from Tsunade having her own special status, Orochimaru was more respected and had a better reputation than Jiraiya.
And back then, Orochimaru would actually nod and smile at people when he met them.
With his natural advantages, it was impossible for him not to be popular.
Yan could come up with a comeback for anyone else, but trying to roast Orochimaru would just be asking for frustration.
Still, there was a way around it.
Yan glanced at Orochimaru and casually said,
"You're not any better. Being popular doesn't mean shit."
Orochimaru's smile suddenly froze.
He had a feeling that Yan was thinking something rude and offensive, but he had no proof.
"By the way, don't you have a few Kusanagi Swords? Give one to Sasuke. As for compensation, just talk to the Patriarch and work something out."
There was no way he was paying out of his own pocket for Sasuke's weapon. Otherwise, who knew what kind of scheme Orochimaru had up his sleeve?
If anyone should pay, it should be Uchiha Fugaku!
Sasuke was his son, after all. If his son got a powerful weapon, it wasn't unreasonable for the father to pay for it or make some kind of trade, right?
"Sure."
It was just a Kusanagi Sword. Orochimaru didn't really care.
He had several of them anyway, so giving one to Sasuke wasn't a big deal.
In fact, if Yan wanted them, he could take them all. Orochimaru never had much interest in using weapons himself.
So he agreed right away.
As for asking Fugaku for something in return?
Forget it. Fugaku didn't have anything he wanted, and asking for money would be too tacky. It was better to just give the sword to Sasuke—it might even earn him some goodwill from both Sasuke and Fugaku.
"Well then, I'll leave Sasuke to you. And that girl, Karin—train her properly. Also, tell her to stop biting people all the time.
She's a perfectly fine girl, but she's covered in bite scars. It looks terrible."
There were plenty of ways to heal. Why did she have to bite people and drain their life force to recover?
That was just messed up.
To Yan, this kind of behavior was downright creepy.
Orochimaru gave a half-smile and nodded. He had thought Yan was planning to train Karin so she could be a useful partner to Sasuke.
But no—he was strictly forbidding anyone from messing with Karin. No, not messing with—biting her.
That being said, Orochimaru actually agreed with Yan. A girl covered in scars from biting herself really didn't look good.
With that decided, Jiraiya started teaching Naruto the Rasengan.
With Naruto's talent and learning speed, there was no way he could master it in a short time. Yan estimated it would take at least six months.
Like Jiraiya, Naruto was the type to improve dramatically as he grew older. His talent would keep increasing over time, making him ridiculously strong in the future.
Sasuke, on the other hand, had been impressive from the very start.
What really shocked Yan was that he somehow got Naruto to use Senjutsu chakra!
That was crazy. Naruto hadn't even trained at Mount Myoboku yet, so where did this Senjutsu chakra come from?
Was it Mount Myoboku's doing?
Or was Asura's chakra having an even greater influence on Naruto now?
Yan didn't really care. As far as he was concerned, the stronger Indra and Asura's chakra affected Naruto and Sasuke, the better.
First, it benefited him personally—he could copy them and gain more chakra.
Second, if Sasuke and Naruto got stronger, it was only good for Konoha.
In the original timeline, Sasuke had been too rebellious. But this version of Sasuke had a stable family, the Uchiha Clan was fine, and nothing bad had happened.
He had people watching over him, guiding him, and his family cared for him. Sasuke just liked acting cool—his personality wasn't like the original version, where he was both edgy and rebellious while also being ridiculously cold-hearted.
Of course, Sasuke being cold-hearted was all thanks to Itachi.
Without Itachi constantly pushing him and without going through all those dark experiences, Sasuke's personality wouldn't have changed much. Otherwise, his family—Fugaku, Mikoto, and Itachi—would have corrected him right away, without needing Yan to step in.
"Elder, Sasuke has already awakened his two-tomoe Sharingan."
On the way to Iwagakure, Itachi, who was traveling with Yan as a guard, shared the news.
"Really? It looks like Sasuke's talent is starting to show. Orochimaru truly deserves his reputation as one of the Sannin."
Shisui, who was also assigned as a guard, was happy to hear it.
"Is that so? It seems like the equipment Orochimaru provided really suits us Uchiha. Plus, he's a capable teacher—he knows how to guide a student like Sasuke, helping him unlock his potential. Compared to that, even if one of us taught him personally, we might not have achieved such fast progress."
Awakening the two-tomoe Sharingan before turning ten is quite impressive.
It's clear that Orochimaru put in the effort, and Sasuke must have gone through a lot because of it.
Yan hadn't planned on bringing Shisui and Itachi along, but after being persuaded by Tsunade and Fugaku, he had no choice but to take them.
As an advisor to the Hokage, representing the village in diplomatic visits to other ninja villages and handling important matters, he had to maintain the level of prestige expected from a village leader.
And so, Yan's escort team included three full Anbu squads.
On top of that, the Uchiha clan arranged for two additional ninja squads to follow.
Fugaku put it bluntly: Yan is one of the highest-ranking officials in the village, second only to the Hokage in power and influence. Everything he says and does represents both the village and the Uchiha clan, so his security and status must be guaranteed.
Fugaku didn't trust the village's security arrangements, so he sent Uchiha elites instead.
With Itachi and Shisui as his right- and left-hand protectors, plus two squads of elite Jonin, the display of power was overwhelming.
Those who knew what was going on understood that they were heading to Iwagakure for an important mission.
Those who didn't might have mistaken it for the start of a small war.
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