"You passed the test."
Orochimaru dismissed the summoned snakes and released the struggling Anko, formally announcing that both of them had passed his trial.
Stealing the bell was the method used by the Third Hokage to assess them. As the Third Hokage himself had once explained, they too had undergone the same test during their apprenticeship under the Second Hokage. This method had since become an unspoken tradition among the Hokage line.
Though it always centered on seizing the bell, the true essence of the assessment was to evaluate whether the participants' actions aligned with the examiner's expectations.
In these tests, the examiner was usually a high-level ninja—sometimes even the Kage of a village—while the examinees were often newly graduated Genin or at most Chunin. With such a significant disparity in power, it was understood that unless the examiner went easy on them, the test would be impossible to pass. For example, consider Hatake Kakashi in the future.
Therefore, those who passed were usually individuals who had displayed qualities that matched the examiner's values. Some examiners preferred cunning, others favored teamwork or raw talent, and so on.
Orochimaru never actually expected the two to steal the bell. What he wanted to observe was the potential they displayed during the attempt. Had they failed to get the bell but demonstrated promising traits, he would still have passed them.
But what Nara Haruki and Anko achieved clearly exceeded his expectations.
"Did we really pass?" Anko scrambled up from the ground, not at all embarrassed by her disheveled state. Her joy was written all over her face.
"You passed," Orochimaru said, patting her head. He then led both of them to the tree where the Ryuchi Cave scroll lay and unrolled it to the last blank section.
"Before you sign the contract, let me give you a word of caution." Orochimaru's gaze turned cold and oppressive, freezing Anko in place. The joy on her face faded instantly.
"Don't summon the giant snakes of Ryuchi Cave unless you're truly strong enough. They won't obey you just because you're their contractor. They are dangerous in their own right."
Both Haruki and Anko nodded seriously.
Of course, Orochimaru was just giving a warning. At their current chakra level, they couldn't summon large beasts. At most, they could summon common snakes from Ryuchi Cave.
Those were essentially cannon fodder—plentiful and disposable. Most average ninjas could handle one or two without issue.
"Do you still have energy left?" Orochimaru asked.
"Yes, Orochimaru-sensei!" Anko raised her hand quickly, though it was obvious she wasn't in great shape.
Haruki, standing beside her, was even paler. The shadow binding technique he had used to stall Orochimaru, followed by his shadow coffin and shadow seam jutsu, had almost completely drained his chakra.
"That's enough for today. Regroup here tomorrow. I'll begin teaching you some ninjutsu then."
"So what should we do now? Why don't we celebrate at the barbecue restaurant, Orochimaru-sensei?" Anko asked, nodding enthusiastically.
Her adoration for Orochimaru was borderline fanatic. Orochimaru glanced at her, then at the clearly-exhausted Haruki who had finally shown a bit of that classic Nara laziness. After a moment of consideration, he nodded.
"Let's go."
When they lifted the curtain of the barbecue restaurant, Orochimaru led Haruki and Anko to a semi-private booth. But as they passed another room, Orochimaru paused, sensing something. He lifted the curtain to peek inside.
Inside were three familiar figures—a white-haired young man, a blonde man, and a red-haired girl. They stopped their conversation and turned toward the newcomer.
"Orochimaru?" Jiraiya stood up in surprise.
"Orochimaru-sensei," said the blonde-haired man respectfully, pulling the redhead beside him to greet him.
"Minato. Kushina," Orochimaru acknowledged, recognizing the rare reunion between teacher and students. He was just about to step back when a small head popped out behind him.
"Sensei?" Anko looked into the room, puzzled. After a moment, her eyes widened in realization and turned toward Orochimaru.
"Sensei?" Jiraiya caught the title. "You're leading a team again?"
"This is Mitarashi Anko, and this is Nara Haruki." Orochimaru introduced them, resting a hand on each of their heads. "They became my disciples today."
"That's Jiraiya—stay away from him. And that's Namikaze Minato, Jiraiya's student."
Orochimaru didn't introduce Kushina. Ignored, Kushina remained composed—she was used to it. Her temper had cooled, especially with Minato by her side.
"Hello," Minato greeted warmly, pulling out two uniquely forked kunai and handing them to Haruki and Anko. "I don't have much on me, so take these as gifts."
Haruki examined the kunai, noticing mysterious runes on them. Although he hadn't learned sealing techniques yet, he recognized the research potential and appreciated the gift.
He looked at Minato, feeling a strange calm and warmth in his presence. Chakra-sensitive individuals could often judge someone's character through their aura—like Karin of the future Uzumaki clan.
"Minato-senpai is so kind!" Anko chirped, her eyes sparkling. Haruki twitched at her obvious infatuation.
"Join us? Let's make this a class dinner party," Jiraiya offered cheerfully.
Orochimaru glanced at his students. Anko nodded excitedly, and Haruki gave a noncommittal nod.
Soon, the room became lively. Jiraiya regaled them with tales from his travels, earning rapt attention from both Anko and Kushina. Even Haruki found himself drawn in while steadily replenishing his energy with grilled meat.
By the end of the evening, both groups left the restaurant content.
Back home, Haruki went to his lab to feed his green-white insects before heading to the courtyard to try out his new summoning technique.
He bit his finger, smeared blood on his palm, and performed the hand signs:
Hai – Xu – You – Shen – Wei.
Summoning from the earth.
With a puff of smoke, a baby-arm-thick snake slithered onto the ground from Ryuchi Cave.
Haruki felt his chakra drain again. But in its place was a mysterious mental connection with the snake. It coiled into a spiral, its tongue flickering, golden eyes locking with Haruki's.
He could control it. It didn't have the intelligence to resist. This was likely the lowest-level snake in Ryuchi Cave—poisonous but dumb.
Haruki tested its obedience:
Attack a target.
Search for life forms.
The simpler the command, the quicker it responded. More complex instructions left it confused.
Conclusion: Summoning a single snake was practically useless. To inflict real damage, he'd need to use a large amount of chakra and summon a mass of them—creating a tide of poisonous serpents.
He continued experimenting until his chakra was completely depleted, learning through trial and error.
Key Discovery: The more chakra used, the stronger the summoned snake. Some, including the massive ones, possessed higher intelligence and could understand human language—but they also had the right to resist summons. During his experiments, one such snake had rejected him.
The next day, Haruki and Anko regrouped at the test site. As soon as Haruki saw Orochimaru, he began asking questions based on his summoning experiments.
Orochimaru listened, then nodded.
"The truly powerful ones in Ryuchi Cave are those who can communicate with humans. But they each have their own personality. If you want them to fight for you, you must first meet their demands."
"So the contract is just a first step. You need to negotiate separate terms with each intelligent snake?" Haruki asked.
"Exactly. For instance, the snake I summon—Manda—only fights for me if I provide a human sacrifice afterward."
"A sacrifice?" Anko blinked.
"Human," Orochimaru said plainly. "Many snakes prefer human flesh. But they have no access to it within Ryuchi Cave."
Anko shivered.
"If you want to contract a snake with power equal to Manda's, you must visit Ryuchi Cave and negotiate directly. But be warned—if you're not strong enough, you'll be eaten, contract or not."
"So summoning is really that dangerous..." Anko murmured, conflicted.
"Only Ryuchi Cave is like this. The other two sacred summoning realms—Mount Myoboku and the Shikkotsu Forest—are far less dangerous. The toads are much more agreeable, and the slugs of Tsunade's are the most gentle of all."
With that, Orochimaru gave a brief comparison of the three sacred summoning locations. Then, he narrowed his eyes and glanced meaningfully at Haruki.
"Although Ryuchi Cave follows the law of the jungle, if you have the strength, you can conduct any research you want on its snakes. You won't be hindered by their sages or punished for it."