Chapter 10: The Survival Test | In Naruto With an Achievement System

Technically speaking this was supposed to be SIruka week, but I was really itching to write this out! For supporters of that story, don’t worry I’ll guarantee to update it! 

In Naruto With an Achievement System

Chapter 10: The Survival Test 

The early morning air of Training Ground Three was cool and damp, heavy with the scent of wet earth. I arrived five minutes early, but I wasn't the first.

Anko was already there, a bundle of barely contained energy. She wasn't standing still but pacing near the three training posts, throwing sharp, crisp punches at the empty air. A wide, excited grin was plastered on her face; she was practically vibrating with anticipation. To her, this wasn't a test to be feared, but the glorious first day of the rest of her life.

A grimace tugged at my lips, an involuntary reaction to seeing her so full of life and naive hope. I can't help but think on what I knew of the future from canon — the agonizing pain of the Cursed Seal, the psychological trauma, the years of being a pariah and abandoned by the very man she idolized — flickered through my mind. She was my teammate now, she had also been a friend in the Academy. But she was also Orochimaru’s future project. I'm going to need to find a way to distance her from our sensei.

I pushed the thought down, burying it under a layer of calm. "Morning, Mitarashi." I let out a slight yawn, I hadn't been able to sleep well at all.

She stopped her shadowboxing and whirled around, her grin widening. "Kagurazaka! You ready for this? Training under Orochimaru-sama! We're gonna be legends!" she was nearly shouting.

Before I could offer a noncommittal reply, the casual crunch of gravel on the path announced a third arrival. Asuma Sarutobi sauntered into the clearing, his hands stuffed in his pockets, an air of bored confidence radiating from him. He stopped a few feet away, looking us over with a dismissive smirk.

"Well, look at you two," he drawled, his voice laced with condescension. "Eager to impress, are we?"

I wasn't a child, and I had dealt with far more pressing threats in the last twenty-four hours than a pre-teen's posturing. Asuma would either grow up or he wouldn't; still, dealing with the condescension from a brat at the start of the day was a bit annoying.

Anko, bristled instantly. Her excitement curdled into sharp-edged annoyance.

"What's that supposed to mean, pretty boy?" she shot back, planting her hands on her hips. "You think you're hot stuff just 'cause your dad runs the place?"

Asuma’s smirk widened, clearly enjoying the reaction. "At least my family teaches manners," he retorted coolly. "Try not to shout so much. You'll scare off the birds."

"Why you—!" Anko took a half-step forward, her fists clenching, ready to continue the argument.

"Come on, that's enough," I snapped, my voice cutting through their bickering like a shard of glass. Yesterday night had been a sleepless one, the sheer existential dread — it had frayed my patience to nothing.

Anko whirled on me, her expression a mask of indignation. "Hey! Stay out of this, Kagurazaka!"

I ignored her, turning my attention to Asuma. "Really? Antagonism against your own teammates? Is that what your father taught you?" I said, the annoyance clear in my tone. A low-blow but they're loud voices were giving me a headache.

"You have no right—" Asuma started, his own face flushing with anger.

Just as they both opened their mouths to retort, a new sound sliced through the morning quiet. It wasn't the chirp of a bird or the rustle of leaves. It was the sharp, distinct whistle of metal cutting through the air at high speed. My [Train the Slayer] enhanced hearing picked it up instantly — two projectiles, aimed directly at the distracted heads of my bickering teammates.

There was no time to think, only to react.

"Swift!" I muttered under my breath, a single, sharp command.

The familiar draining sensation pulled from my Strength, flooding my limbs with a surge of impossible lightness. I exploded forward from my spot, a blur of motion closing the distance between us in a fraction of a second. I didn't have time for a warning. A rough shove to Anko's shoulder sent her stumbling to the ground with a yelp of surprise. Another to Asuma sent him sprawling in the opposite direction.

In the same smooth, economical motion, my hand shot to my hip pouch. My fingers closed around the cool metal of a kunai as two dark shapes flashed through the space where their heads had just been.

CLANG!

A sharp ring of steel on steel echoed through the clearing as I deflected the first projectile. The second I simply batted away, the impact jarring my arm. The two enemy kunai clattered uselessly to the packed earth.

I landed in a low crouch between my fallen teammates, my own kunai held ready, my eyes already locked on the source of the attack.

He was leaning against a large oak tree at the edge of the clearing, as if he had been there all along. Orochimaru pushed himself off the trunk, a slow, almost gentle smile gracing his pale features. It wasn't a polite smile, or a mocking one. It was a look of pure, genuine delight, the expression of a researcher who had just witnessed a fascinating and unexpected result.

"Kukuku," he chuckled, the sound was a soft, lilting hiss that sent a fresh wave of ice down my spine. "Very good reflexes and agility, Yuuki-kun."

"S-Sensei!" Anko stammered, scrambling to her feet and hastily brushing the dirt from her clothes. Asuma was a half-second behind her, his face a mixture of indignation from my comment and shock at our teacher's sudden, violent appearance.

Orochimaru’s gaze slid from me to them, his smile never wavering. "Yuuki-kun was correct," he said, his voice a gentle, melodic praise that made my stomach clench. He then turned that gentle tone on the other two, and it became a tool of subtle reprimand. "You should not be squabbling over such childish things."

He took a slow step forward, his presence commanding the clearing. "Asuma-kun, I expect better from you. A shinobi who cannot get along with their team is a corpse waiting to happen. And you, Anko-chan," he added, his voice softening even further, "people on the battlefield will provoke you far worse than a simple jibe. You must learn to master that fire, not be consumed by it."

His voice was firm enough to convey the seriousness of the lesson, yet gentle enough to feel like guidance rather than a scolding. I watched, unnerved, as the anger and defiance visibly drained from my teammates' shoulders. They relaxed, their expressions shifting from confrontational to receptive, even a little ashamed. It was like watching a snake hypnotize a pair of mice. He was a master manipulator, a charismatic predator, and I felt sick knowing I was the only one here who could see the monster behind the mask.

"That kunai," Orochimaru continued, gesturing vaguely to where the weapons lay, "would have cut both of your cheeks. A temporary scar to remind you of your carelessness. But Yuuki-kun saved you. Remember this. You must always stay focused, always be aware. You — we — are a team now."

They both paled at the casual mention of being scarred. A flicker of genuine gratitude was aimed my way from both of them, a silent nod of thanks.

"Now," Orochimaru said, straightening up. The gentle, instructive smile began to recede, replaced by something colder, sharper. "While you have been assigned to me, I can still deem you unworthy. I have no time to waste on failures. As I said yesterday, you will have a test."

A predatory glint entered his eyes, and a slow, unsettling smile began to creep back onto his face. I couldn't help but get a profoundly bad feeling.

"Your test to officially become my team is… simple," he purred. "Survive for just twenty minutes, and you will pass. If you don't?" He paused, letting the implication hang in the air. "Well, there are other, more mediocre sensei for mediocre children."

That barb hit its mark. I saw Anko and Asuma bristle, their pride stung, but they remained silent under his heavy gaze. I, on the other hand, stayed perfectly still, my focus entirely on him.

His lips curled into a full, terrifying smile. "Your test is to survive me."

And with that, the world changed.

It wasn't a sound or a movement. It was a pressure, a suffocating weight that crashed down on the clearing, pressing the very air from my lungs. The temperature plummeted. The cheerful morning light seemed to dim, the shadows of the trees lengthening into grasping claws. My own body screamed at me, every primal instinct, every nerve ending firing a single, frantic signal directly into my brain: Threat. Predator. Death.

My mind, reeling under the psychic assault, could only translate the raw, overwhelming malice into a single, repeating word.

DIE. DIE. DIE. DIE.

I grit my teeth, my knuckles white on the kunai I still held, my body trembling uncontrollably. Anko and Asuma were frozen beside me, their faces ashen, their eyes wide with a pure, paralyzing terror they couldn't comprehend.

But I could. I knew what this was.

This was Killing Intent.

I WAS GOING TO DIE. DIE. DIE. DIE. DIE. I SHOULD JUST END IT NOW. GIVE UP. IT'S HOPELESS.

The thoughts weren't my own, yet they screamed from the deepest, most primitive part of my brain. My vision tunneled, my muscles locked, my will to fight dissolving into a primal urge to simply lie down and wait for the inevitable.

Just as the spiral of despair threatened to consume me completely, I acted. With a surge of desperate clarity, I bit down on my own tongue. Hard.

A sharp, coppery burst of pain exploded in my mouth, a grounding, agonizing sensation that sliced through the paralyzing fear. The pressure was still there, a crushing weight threatening to suffocate me, but the mental trance was broken. I could think again. I could move.

I firmed my stance, my legs trembling but holding, and met our sensei's gaze. His smile widened, stretching for a moment beyond what should have been humanly possible, his golden eyes gleaming with an unholy delight. He simply stood and watched, a predator observing its prey, curious to see what I would do next.

I did what any reasonable person would do when faced with a monster.

I ran.

Pouring nearly every point from my Strength into Agility, I felt my body become impossibly light. I didn't hesitate. I lunged forward, grabbing the back of Anko's flak jacket with one hand and Asuma's with the other. They were still frozen, dead weight, their faces slack with terror.

It didn't matter.

I bolted, dragging them with me, my feet barely touching the ground as I launched us towards the dense cover of the forest. The world became a blur of green and brown. I was moving fast. Very, very fast.

As we crashed through the first line of trees, I leaned in and yelled directly into their ears, my voice a harsh bark over the rushing wind.

"Get yourselves together! That intent works like a genjutsu! Use pain! Snap out of it!"

The forest canopy swallowed us whole, the sudden shift from open ground to dense woods a jarring transition. I didn't slow down, my enhanced agility allowing me to weave through the trees, dragging my two shell-shocked teammates behind me. I could feel them starting to come to, their dead weight becoming stumbling, uncoordinated steps.

"What... what was that?" Asuma gasped, his voice shaky as the paralyzing fear began to recede, replaced by a dawning comprehension of the danger.

Anko, ever the fighter, was the first to fully recover. She ripped her jacket from my grasp with a grunt of frustration. "Let go of me! We have to fight!"

"We fight and we die," I shot back, not breaking my stride. "We need cover, a plan—"

My foot snagged on something thin and taut stretched between two roots. A tripwire.

My instincts screamed, but it was too late. The ground beneath my feet erupted, not with a fiery explosion, but with a thick, acrid plume of grey smoke. It billowed outwards instantly, engulfing us in a blinding, choking cloud.

Kukuku...

The sound was everywhere and nowhere at once, a disembodied, sibilant chuckle that slithered through the smoke.

"Lesson one, my dear students," Orochimaru's voice echoed, dripping with condescending amusement. "Always be aware of your surroundings. In a real battle, that would have been an explosive tag. You would all be dead."

The smoke stung my eyes, my lungs burning. I couldn't see a thing. Beside me, I heard Asuma cough violently. Then, from thirty or so feet to my left, I heard Anko let out another frustrated grunt.

That was all I needed.

The world might have vanished, but my hearing, sharpened by [Train the Slayer], painted a map of sound in the darkness. I could pinpoint her exact location, the rustle of her clothes, the shift of her feet on the forest floor.

"Asuma, grab my hand!" I ordered, reaching back into the smoke. I felt his hand blindly find mine, his grip tight. "Follow me. Now!"

Using Anko's grunt as a beacon, I moved, pulling Asuma with me. We burst out of the choking cloud and into the dappled sunlight, just in time to see Orochimaru engaging our teammate.

He wasn't even trying. Anko was a flurry of desperate punches and kicks, but Orochimaru flowed around them like water, his hands clasped calmly behind his back. He sidestepped a punch, leaned back from a kick, his movements economical and utterly effortless.

Seeing her attacks failing, Anko did something unexpected. With a snarl, she scooped up a handful of dirt and loose leaves and flung it directly into Orochimaru's face.

A genuine, appreciative smile touched Orochimaru's lips. "Excellent, Anko-chan! There are no cheap tactics in war, only effective ones."

But the dirt had no effect. He didn't even blink as the grit peppered his face. His golden eyes, now watering slightly, remained fixed on her, his expression one of pure amusement.

"Did you truly think," he said, his voice soft as he took a half-step forward, "that you were the first to try that?"

Before Anko could react, his leg swept out in a single, fluid motion. It connected with her stomach not with killing force, but with the solid, dismissive impact of a master swatting away a child. She was lifted off her feet, sent skidding across the forest floor to land in a heap by the base of a tree, the wind knocked out of her.

"Asuma," I hissed, my voice low and urgent. "Go. Get her and run. Head north. I'll distract him."

Asuma stared, his face a mask of disbelief and pride. "No! We will fight him together! You can't face him alone!"

I whirled on him, channeling all the fear and adrenaline of the last few minutes into a single, harsh glare that made him flinch.

"There is no 'together' against that! Now go, Sarutobi!"

The use of his surname, the cold command in my voice, it cut through his pride. He hesitated for only a fraction of a second more, then gave a sharp, reluctant nod before sprinting towards Anko's crumpled form.

Alright… Yuuki, this is what you've been training for. I hyped myself up, the coppery tang of blood from my bitten tongue a sharp reminder of the stakes. I threw myself straight at him.

Orochimaru’s smile didn't falter. If anything, it widened with predatory delight. "Kukuku, facing me alone, Yuuki-kun? How brave… or foolish."

I didn't answer. Words were a waste of breath. I activated "Swift."

The world seemed to slow as my body became a conduit for pure speed. I exploded from my position, the ground cracking under the force of my launch. In the space of a single heartbeat, I crossed the twenty feet between us, my form a low, blurring shadow. I led with a sweeping leg kick aimed at his knee, a probe designed to test his reaction.

He didn't even seem to move. He simply flowed backwards, the kick whistling through the empty air where his leg had been. I transitioned seamlessly, my momentum carrying me into a spinning back-fist. He ducked under it with serpentine grace. A flurry of jabs, each one strong enough to shatter the training posts followed. He parried them all, his hands a pale, fluid blur, his movements unnervingly calm.

Speed alone wasn't enough. I needed to break his composure.

Mid-flurry, as my right hand shot out for another jab, I shifted. "Might!"

The change was instantaneous. The feeling of lightness vanished, replaced by a crushing density. My muscles coiled, my frame feeling like solid iron. The jab transformed into a sledgehammer, the air crackling around my fist.

Orochimaru raised his forearm to block, his expression still one of detached amusement. The impact was like a thunderclap.

BOOM!

The amusement vanished, replaced by a flicker of genuine surprise. He wasn't just pushed back; he was sent sliding several feet, his sandals carving deep gouges in the earth. He looked from his arm, which had to be numb, to me, and his golden eyes gleamed with an analytical fire.

"Kukuku… fascinating," he hissed, a genuine, almost academic curiosity in his voice. "When you focus on speed, you surpass any specialist I have ever seen. And your strength… for one so young as you, truly remarkable. To switch between such extremes so flawlessly… how utterly magnificent."

I didn't give him time to analyze further. I pressed the advantage, each step a ground-shaking stomp. I threw a haymaker, not with technique, but with the raw, overwhelming force of a falling meteor. He was forced to evade, the wind from my punch tearing leaves from the trees behind him. I was a walking demolition, sacrificing all finesse for pure, unstoppable power.

But he was a Sannin. And it would seem he was done playing.

As I wound up for another devastating blow, he saw the opening I had created. In my "Might" state, my raw speed was drastically reduced. He was faster. Far faster. He didn't try to meet my punch. Instead, he flowed inside its arc, a pale snake darting through a clumsy bear's swing. His hand, open-palmed, shot towards my chest.

I saw it coming, but I was too slow to dodge. I had only one option. "Guard!"

Just before his palm connected, my body hardened. The sensation was like flash-freezing, my muscles locking, my skin becoming as resilient as stone. His palm-heel strike landed with a dull, solid THUD. The force was immense, enough to have shattered the ribs of a normal person, what the fuck was he trying to kill me? Still, I barely felt it. I didn't even grunt.

But I had fallen into his trap.

Now I was in "Guard," a living statue with immense durability but drastically lowered strength and speed. Orochimaru's smile returned, cold and sharp. He didn't try to hurt me. He simply used my immobility against me. His hand shot out, grabbing the front of my shirt. With a surge of his own considerable strength, he spun and threw me.

I was a human cannonball. The world became a spinning vortex of green and brown as I crashed through the forest, splintering a thick tree trunk in half before finally slamming into another and falling to the ground. The impacts didn't hurt, but I was now dozens of yards away, completely removed from the fight.

He didn't follow. He had proven his point in Taijutsu. Now, it would seem that it was time for lesson two.

He brought his hands together, the seals a blur of motion. "Earth Style: Stone Bullet Jutsu!"

The ground in front of him churned, and a volley of fist-sized rocks erupted, shooting towards me with the speed and intensity of machine-gun fire.

"Swift!" I yelled, pouring everything back into Agility. I scrambled to my feet and dove, the stone bullets peppering the ground where I'd been, kicking up clouds of dirt and making a deep dent in the tree I'd just hit. I weaved through the trees, the barrage relentless, splintering bark and shattering branches all around me. He wasn't trying to kill me, but he was forcing me to move, to constantly evade, to burn through my stamina. This wasn't a contest of power anymore. It was a test of endurance.

Damn it! This was a war of attrition, and he had all the ammunition. I could easily dump points into Endurance to outlast this, but that would mean sacrificing the very Agility I needed to survive the onslaught. I was trapped in a reactive loop, and he knew it. I needed a way out, an opening. It had to be at least half-time by now, maybe more. Ten minutes of this felt like an eternity.

Just as I dove behind a thick oak to avoid another volley, the sound of the barrage stopped. It was replaced by a new sound — the sharp, slicing whistle of dozens of shuriken cutting through the air from a different direction.

I peeked around the tree. A hail of steel was raining down on Orochimaru's position. They weren't normal throws; the shuriken spun with a furious speed, each one trailing a faint, shimmering aura of green chakra.

Anko and Asuma.

From the edge of the clearing, I saw them. Anko was in the middle of a throwing motion, her form practiced and fierce. Beside her, Asuma held a hand seal, his brow furrowed in concentration. He was using his nascent Wind affinity to accelerate her projectiles, turning a standard genin attack into something far more lethal.

Orochimaru simply raised an eyebrow, a flicker of mild interest on his face. He didn't even try to dodge. He just stood there as the storm of wind-enhanced shuriken converged on him.

His body seemed to morph and stretch with an unnatural, boneless fluidity. He didn't dodge so much as he flowed around the projectiles, his form elongating and contorting in ways that defied anatomy. It was a horrifying, mesmerizing display, but I didn't waste more than a single second watching it.

This was my chance.

Still in the Swift state, I bolted. I didn't run away; I ran around. I heard the tell-tale pop of a smoke bomb going off behind me, a smart move by Anko to cover their retreat. I circled wide, using the trees as cover, my feet silent on the forest floor as I looped back towards their last known position.

By the time I got there, the scene had changed. Orochimaru had already countered. A single, lazily formed hand seal had generated a gust of wind, shredding the smoke screen into useless wisps. He now stood facing my teammates, his expression one of mild disappointment.

"A good combination," he stated calmly. "But predictable."

He didn't bother with hand seals. He simply flicked his wrists, and the sleeves of his shirt seemed to come alive. With a series of sickening, wet hisses, dozens of pale white snakes shot out from his sleeves, moving with terrifying speed, their fangs bared.

Anko and Asuma reacted instantly, diving in opposite directions as the serpent swarm converged on the spot where they'd been standing. The snakes hit the ground, immediately coiling and turning, their heads swiveling to track their new targets.

In the split second of chaos, I arrived, appearing silently beside Asuma.

"Time to go," I said, my voice low.

He jumped, startled, but his eyes widened in relief when he saw it was me. Anko, recovering from her roll, glanced over, her expression a mix of frustration and grudging acceptance. The reunion was short-lived. The snakes were already slithering towards us, a tide of white scales and black, unblinking eyes.

We took off running, deeper into the woods. I set a hard pace, but after only a minute, I glanced back. With a grimace, I saw that both Anko and Asuma were already flagging, their breathing ragged, sweat plastering their hair to their foreheads. They were running on fumes.

"Any idea how much time is left?" I asked, slowing just enough for them to keep up.

Asuma replied gruffly between gasps, "About... five minutes… maybe."

"Fuck!" The word escaped me in a hiss of frustration. Five minutes - more or less was an eternity. "We can't keep running. You'll tire yourselves out completely. He isn't even chasing us right now, he's just letting us drain our own stamina." I skidded to a halt behind a thicket of ferns, forcing them to stop with me. "We have to engage."

Both of them whirled on me, their expressions incredulous.

"Are you crazy?!" Asuma snapped, leaning against a tree to catch his breath. "Weren't you the one who said there was no fighting against that!?"

"There's no fighting him alone," I corrected, my mind racing, formulating a desperate, half-baked plan. "He's testing us as a team, not just as individuals. If all three of us bombard him at once, he'll have to divide his attention. It worked before, with your shuriken."

I looked between them, my gaze hard. "I'll engage him in taijutsu. I can keep him busy. When it looks like I'm in trouble, or when you see an opening, you attack. Distract him. Go in yourselves. Whatever it takes to keep the pressure on from all sides. It's the only thing I can think of right now."

It didn't take him more than a minute to find us. One moment the forest was quiet, the next he was simply there, leaning against a tree as if he'd been waiting for us to stop.

"Oh?" he said, a slow, amused smile spreading across his face. "You're not running anymore? How bold. Kukuku."

I didn't give Anko or Asuma a chance to reply. I met their eyes with a sharp, definitive nod. Now.

I shot forward first. "Swift!"

The world bled into a soft-focused blur as I became a grey streak, weaving between the trees to approach from his blind spot. I burst from the foliage, my fist aimed not for his head, but for his center of mass, a solid, testing blow. He didn't turn. He simply swayed to the side, my fist punching through empty air as he flowed out of the way like smoke.

I didn't let up. I was a whirlwind of motion, a constant barrage of feints, kicks, and jabs from every conceivable angle. He met it all with an unnerving calm, his movements minimal and impossibly precise, parrying and dodging with an ease that was infuriating. He was toying with me.

I needed to force his hand. As I threw a wide, sweeping hook, I switched. "Might!"

My body instantly felt like a block of granite. The hook, once a blur of speed, became a battering ram, slower but carrying immense, crushing force. This was the moment, the opening he'd exploited before.

And just as he moved to slip inside my guard, to take advantage of my reduced speed, the forest floor erupted.

"Wind Style: Dust Cloud Jutsu!" Asuma yelled. A powerful gust of wind blasted from his position, kicking up a massive screen of dirt, leaves, and debris, engulfing Orochimaru. Simultaneously, a volley of kunai, thrown by Anko, sliced through the newly formed cloud.

Orochimaru clicked his tongue in mild annoyance, his hand a pale blur as he deflected the kunai with casual flicks of his wrist. But his attention was divided.

That was the opening I needed.

I charged through the dust, a juggernaut of pure strength, my fist cocked back for a blow meant to shatter stone. He saw me coming, his golden eyes gleaming through the haze. He met Anko's follow-up charge with one hand, catching her fist easily, while his other leg lashed out in a sharp kick that forced Asuma to leap back, disrupting his stance.

He was overwhelming them. With a flick of his wrist, he twisted Anko's arm, using her momentum to spin her around and grab her by the ankle. He was about to fling her away, to use her as a human projectile against Asuma. His focus, for a single, critical instant, was entirely on them.

I saw it. The perfect distraction.

I dropped "Might" and poured everything into "Swift."

The world slowed to a crawl. I launched myself forward, my feet barely touching the ground, each step a controlled explosion building on the last. I was a coiled spring, a cannonball shot from a cannon, building a terrifying amount of kinetic energy. The ten yards between us vanished in less than a second.

Just as I reached him, just as his head began to turn, his serpentine eyes widening as he registered the new threat, I made the final switch.

"Might!"

All that impossible speed, all that momentum, was instantly converted into mass and power. My fist, a blur with the sheer momentum of the charge, slammed into the side of his jaw.

There was no loud boom. There was just a sickening, wet CRACK that echoed through the clearing, followed by a ripple of force that kicked up a perfect ring of dust around us.

For the second time, Orochimaru was moved against his will. Unlike the previous time, this time he was sent flying, not tumbling, but crashing backwards, his body a rigid line. He flew a good ten paces before his training took over, twisting his body in mid-air to absorb the force. He landed silently, dropping into a low, perfect crouch, one hand touching the ground for balance.

He slowly raised his head, a thin trickle of blood leaking from the corner of his mouth. The polite, amused smile was gone. In its place was a wide, ecstatic, utterly feral grin. His golden eyes burned with a wild, predatory gleam, and in that moment, he looked less like a man and more like a monster that had finally found a worthy toy.

"Kukuku," Orochimaru chuckled, the sound a low, guttural rumble. He slowly straightened up, wiping the trickle of blood from his chin with the back of his thumb. He looked at the blood for a moment, then back at me, his grin never wavering. "Such a good hit, Yuuki-kun."

He took a step forward, and I instinctively tensed, my body screaming in protest.

"It's a pity," he said, his voice laced with a theatrical sigh of disappointment, "that the time is over."

"HUH?!"

The synchronized exclamation came from Anko and Asuma behind me. The moment the words registered, the adrenaline that had been holding me together vanished. The tension snapped. I collapsed like a puppet whose strings had just been cut, landing on my hands and knees, gasping for air I didn't realize I'd been holding.

"Oh yes," Orochimaru continued, his tone light and conversational as he strolled towards us. "The twenty minutes ended five minutes ago. But you were all doing so wonderfully. How could I possibly stop you?"

Fucking asshole. The thought was a venomous hiss in my exhausted mind.

"Wait," Asuma said, his voice hoarse. "Does that mean we...?"

"Indeed," Orochimaru confirmed, his smile turning back into something more polite, more befitting a sensei. "You all pass."

I couldn't be bothered to celebrate. Anko's ear-piercing squeal of triumph and the little victory jig she did was more than enough for the three of us. Even Asuma, who'd been a hardass all morning, let out a small, exhausted chuckle and a weary grin.

"Well then, Team Orochimaru," our new sensei announced, clapping his hands together lightly. "Let's get lunch. On me, of course. Think of it as an apology for the... extra time."

Ugh. Did I have to get up?

With a deep sigh, I pushed myself to my feet, my muscles trembling with a mixture of overuse and relief. Still, despite the exhaustion, a part of me buzzed with a strange energy. That had been a great fight. The feeling of pushing my limits, of landing that one, perfect hit... I might just be a battle junkie.

The fight had also revealed a dozen flaws in my style — the predictable openings, the over-reliance on raw power over skill and the opening when switching from Swift to Might. I'd need to rethink everything. But as my stomach rumbled loudly, echoing in the now-quiet clearing, I decided those were thoughts for another day. Right now, there was food.

Walking through the village with a Sannin drew a lot of attention. Whispers and stares followed us, the villagers' gazes a mixture of awe for Orochimaru and curiosity for the three bedraggled genin trailing in his wake. It was uncomfortable. I’d gotten used to being overlooked, to being a face in the crowd. This was the opposite of that.

We arrived at a barbeque restaurant, the rich, savory smell of grilled meat wafting out to greet us. Orochimaru led us to a booth, and as we sat down and a server came to take our order, I made a point of ordering three extra plates of premium kalbi, just to make him pay more. It was incredibly petty, a drop in the ocean to a man of his stature, but fuck him. It made me feel a little better.

Once the orders were placed, Orochimaru leaned back, a placid smile on his face. "Now that we are officially a team," he began, his voice smooth and pleasant, "let us properly introduce ourselves. Share your likes, dislikes, and your dream for the future. It is important we understand one another's motivations."

He gestured towards Anko. "Anko-chan, you may begin."

Anko, who had been practically bouncing in her seat, puffed out her chest proudly. "Alright! My name is Anko Mitarashi! I like training, dango, and kicking ass! I dislike hardasses," she shot a pointed glare across the table at Asuma, "and crybabies who give up too easily! My dream is to become the strongest kunoichi in the world, even stronger than you, sensei!"

Orochimaru chuckled softly. "A fine goal. Asuma-kun?"

Asuma leaned back, crossing his arms with a cool, detached air. "Asuma Sarutobi. I like competent people who can pull their own weight. I dislike loudmouths who don't know when to be quiet," he returned Anko's glare with one of his own. "As for a dream... I don't really have one right now."

"That's fine," Orochimaru answered reassuringly, a light, understanding smile on his face. "I didn't have one at your age either." The simple words seemed to relax Asuma slightly, the tension easing from his shoulders. The man was scarily charismatic when he wanted to be.

"And you, Yuuki-kun?" His golden eyes turned to me, their focus sharp and expectant.

It was then I realized, with a jolt, that I didn't really have a goal. Not a real one, anyway. My likes and dislikes in this world were shallow, defined more by necessity than passion. Most of my days were spent training, practicing, improving. Still, I didn't hesitate for long.

"My name is Yuuki Kagurazaka," I said, my voice even. "I like to train and, apparently, a good fight." A brief image of landing that punch flashed through my mind. "I also like hanging out with the few friends I have." Speaking of which, I'd have to visit Hayate and Yugao at some point. It would be good to stay in contact with people outside this... intense new circle.

"My goal," I finished simply, "is to be the best I can be, and live a relaxed life."

It was the truth, in a way. In the end, I didn't want a life of constant stress and endless work. I had no desire to be the Hokage, to carry the weight of an entire village on my shoulders. I just wanted to be strong enough to guarantee my own protection, and the protection of those I cared about. Strong enough to be left alone.

"That's all one can strive to be," my sensei replied, his smile giving nothing away.

The food arrived shortly after, and a comfortable silence fell over the table, punctuated only by the sizzle of meat on the grill and the clinking of chopsticks. We were all too exhausted and hungry for much more conversation.

After the meal, Orochimaru paid the bill as promised and dismissed us with a simple instruction.

"Rest well. We will meet at the same time, same place tomorrow. Our real training begins then."

With that, he was gone, vanishing into the afternoon crowd as if he were never there. Anko and Asuma exchanged a final, weary glare before heading off in their own directions. I turned and started the walk back to my apartment, the weight of the day finally settling in. We were a team. We had a sensei. And tomorrow, the real work would begin.

End of Chapter Ten.

I know that this chapter was mainly combat - If you’re not into that… This chapter was needed. To show off Yuuki and how strong he’s gotten. He has his issues and flaws that he hasn’t realised or fixed which will be explained in the next chapter - Training From Hell. Which will then lead into the War Arc which… is really gonna be AU because frankly the amount of ages that I’ve fucked up is just naturally going to  result in that. Nonetheless, hope you enjoyed the fight.