Underground Research Facility
"Chidori!"
Lightning screamed through the chamber.
Uchiha Yoru's Sharingan spun to life, two tomoe blazing as the piercing thrust completed in a single, ruthless motion. The target dissolved into mud the instant the attack landed.
Yoru didn't slow.
Steel flashed from its sheath.
Clang. Clang.
His blade struck kunai after kunai as he pressed forward, movements sharp and relentless. The air filled with cold arcs of reflected light.
Across from him stood Orochimaru, smiling casually as he blocked each strike, eyes alight with unsettling interest.
"Your swordsmanship is solid," Orochimaru said lightly. "If your Lightning Release were more refined, once you fully master chakra nature transformation, that blade would be far deadlier."
The blade cut through.
Orochimaru's body collapsed into mud.
Yoru clicked his tongue. The timing was flawless. Even the hand seals had been invisible.
The Sannin were monsters for a reason.
"Wind Release: Great Breakthrough."
The voice came from above.
Yoru barely had time to react before a hurricane tore downward. The pressure slammed him into the ground as stone shattered and debris lifted like paper.
The wind scoured everything in its path.
When the dust finally settled, Orochimaru landed lightly, gazing at the figure emerging from the smoke.
"Fascinating," he rasped. "Your chakra has changed. In just two months, both its volume and control have surpassed ordinary shinobi. Bloodline advancement truly unlocks… potential."
His gaze lingered on Yoru like a collector admiring a rare specimen.
"The human body hides endless possibilities."
Yoru staggered out, coughing, every inch of him burning.
"You went a bit hard, sensei," he muttered wryly.
Orochimaru chuckled. "You're growing fast."
Then his form dispersed in smoke.
A shadow clone.
Yoru exhaled slowly. Only after standing across from someone like this did the gap become undeniable. Kage-level power wasn't something effort alone bridged.
He glanced at his shredded clothing and grimaced.
"…That jacket was expensive."
───
Moments later, inside the laboratory, Orochimaru adjusted a rack of vials as Yoru entered, now changed and composed. He skimmed through reports with practiced ease.
"The Seventh Military Police Division will be available for your use," Yoru said calmly.
Orochimaru paused.
"Oh?" He smiled. "And under what circumstances?"
"I'm the division captain," Yoru replied. "Which means it answers to you."
Orochimaru turned fully this time, amused.
"The Seventh Division is already full of holes."
Yoru wasn't surprised. Every faction had sunk its hooks in.
"There's still an Uchiha core," he said evenly. "Enough to handle sensitive work."
Orochimaru laughed softly.
"Tell me, Yoru," he said, leaning closer. "Do you know what I saw when we first met?"
Yoru met his gaze without flinching. "Enlighten me."
Orochimaru's tongue flicked briefly over his lips.
"Greed," he said. "And an endless hunger for power."
Yoru smiled.
He had never hidden it.
"In this world," Yoru replied, "power is survival."
He hesitated, then asked the question that had been on his mind.
"The village has made its stance clear. You've been sidelined. Yet you're not resisting. What's your plan, sensei?"
Orochimaru's smile deepened.
The answer, clearly, was not going to be simple.