When Orochimaru called her "big sister," Mito Uzumaki bead with joy.
Then she glanced at Tsunade and Uchiha Hikaru, her aning clear—she wanted them to follow suit and change how they addressed her.
But all she got in return was the sight of the two pretending to admire the scenery, looking around aimlessly.
In truth, Uchiha Hikaru was already praising Orochimaru in his heart.
’As expected of Orochimaru. Does he already have a snake’s danger-sensing instinct at such a young age?’
Mito Uzumaki didn’t dwell too much on how she was addressed. Since Uchiha Hikaru had made a good friend on his first day of school and brought him ho, of course she had to treat him warmly.
She crouched down to Orochimaru’s level and looked at the slightly nervous child, saying gently:
"You too—hello there. I’m Tsunade and Hikaru’s grandmother. Welco to our ho."
As long as Mito Uzumaki wasn’t angry, she was a very gentle person.
And with her respectful and considerate tone, she seed even more approachable.
This helped ease Orochimaru’s nerves.
Looking at the kindly smiling Mito Uzumaki, he asked in a soft voice:
"Then... can I call you Grandma too?"
Orochimaru had never t any relatives aside from his parents.
Although Mito Uzumaki didn’t look particularly old, her kind expression and deanor perfectly matched the image of a grandmother.
So Orochimaru let his childlike side show in front of her.
But Mito Uzumaki froze for a mont upon hearing his words. Still, when she saw the cautious child in front of her, she just couldn’t bring herself to say no.
’I am just an old lady anyway... better not make things harder for the kid.’
With that thought, Mito Uzumaki relaxed.
"No problem. You can call Grandma from now on."
Orochimaru’s eyes lit up, and he cheerfully replied:
"Grandma!"
This ti, Mito Uzumaki didn’t fuss over the title and just smiled warmly.
Uchiha Hikaru and Tsunade were both surprised by the interaction—they hadn’t expected Mito Uzumaki to compromise on sothing like this.
Especially Tsunade, who had been lectured plenty of tis by her grandmother over similar things.
Seeing this shift in her grandmother’s behavior left her genuinely puzzled.
But she quickly gave up trying to make sense of it.
It wasn’t really a bad thing, after all. No point getting hung up on sothing so minor.
After so brief conversation, the group entered the Senju compound.
Senju Yosuke and his wife, though spared from returning to the battlefield, were still quite busy.
The reason was simple—a certain Uzumaki clan mber had been slacking off and kept taking ti off, leading to a mountain of unfinished affairs for the Senju clan.
With no other choice, the two had to handle things personally.
When he’d first heard about it, Uchiha Hikaru couldn’t help but think: Good grief.
’So this is where Tsunade learned to dump work on Shizune and sneak off to drink—she got it from you two!’
As they walked through the compound, Orochimaru’s eyes lit up when he saw the training grounds.
This was exactly what he’d co for—he wanted Uchiha Hikaru to guide him in his training. Now that he saw the place, he couldn’t take his eyes off it.
Seeing his expression, Uchiha Hikaru imdiately understood what was going through his head.
He turned to Mito Uzumaki and Tsunade and said:
"Grandma, you and Tsunade go on ahead. I’ll stay here and train with Orochimaru for a bit."
Training was always a good thing, and Mito Uzumaki trusted Uchiha Hikaru completely. She knew he wouldn’t do anything reckless.
So she just nodded and left with Tsunade.
Once they were gone, Uchiha Hikaru turned to face Orochimaru.
He had no idea what this younger version of Orochimaru was capable of yet.
So he asked:
"Orochimaru, what can you do right now?"
Orochimaru thought for a mont before answering:
"I’ve already learned Chakra Control and the Clone Transformation techniques. I also know a D-rank Fireball Jutsu."
"I’ve also mastered Tree Walking and Water Walking."
Uchiha Hikaru looked at him in admiration—he was only six years old and had already learned everything a Chūnin was expected to know.
And it wasn’t because he lacked the ability to learn more—only that he lacked the resources.
As one of the rare ninja with an affinity for all chakra natures, even Yin and Yang, Orochimaru was a true prodigy.
The only thing that limited his potential was the era he was born into.
Once he reached the peak of his innate talent, he started trying to break through his limits.
Whether it was Hashirama’s cells or the Sharingan, he saw everything as a target for experintation.
The direction was right—but the thod was wrong.
If soone had shown him the truth about the world earlier, Orochimaru’s achievents could have been unimaginable.
But he was still young now—and with Uchiha Hikaru, an outsider to this world, involved, who could say what might happen?
Snapping out of his wandering thoughts, Uchiha Hikaru asked:
"Is there anything you want to learn right now?"
This ti, Orochimaru answered without hesitation:
"Hikaru-kun, my dream is to learn every Ninjutsu there is."
"So it doesn’t matter what you teach —anything is fine."
As he spoke, he radiated imnse confidence.
It was as if he were saying: No matter the technique—I’ll master it.
Seeing this side of Orochimaru gave Uchiha Hikaru a slight headache.
Teaching him regular Ninjutsu would certainly make him stronger in the short term.
But it felt like a waste of his imnse talent for research.
So he started recalling how Orochimaru behaved in the ani.
An arsenal of serpent-based techniques... the creation of the Eight-Headed Serpent Technique to fight Tailed Beasts... even improving the Second Hokage’s Edo Tensei and breaking the Reaper Death Seal.
That’s when it hit him.
A skyscraper begins at the foundation. Fundantals matter.
He should teach him basic elental techniques, but not just how to use them—he needed to make sure Orochimaru understood why they worked.
Once Orochimaru learned a technique, he could study its structure.
Why did a certain hand seal unleash this technique? Could the hand seals be skipped entirely?
Could an A-rank technique be modified into a B-rank, or even C-rank, to make it easier to learn?
If successful, more people could master high-level techniques, and the village’s strength would increase.
All of this could be Orochimaru’s domain—and it would steer him toward research, killing two birds with one stone.
As for whether it would be a lot of work... well, that wasn’t Uchiha Hikaru’s concern.
After all, he’d be giving away knowledge. Naturally, he expected sothing in return.
One-sided giving wasn’t sustainable.
Even with family, things should be clear and fair.
Having sorted out his thoughts, Uchiha Hikaru looked at the expectant Orochimaru and slowly spoke:
"Orochimaru-kun, I just gave this a lot of thought."
"I acknowledge your talent—and I want to officially ntor you. That’s different from simply giving you a few tips. ntoring you would an granting access to the Senju Clan’s hidden jutsu vault."
"So you’ll have to give sothing in return."
"If you’re not okay with that, it’s fine. But I can only offer you basic knowledge in that case."
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