"You've got it rough, huh?" Akaba said lightly.
This was something Akaba truly meant.
He might not have known the true strength of Yizhong Akimichi and Take Yamano, but he did know one thing—both had slight personality issues.
"What can I do?"
Nara Loe sighed. Ever since joining Konoha, the Ino–Shika–Cho trio had always moved forward together. Many things simply left him no choice.
"Good luck."
Orochimaru had countless thoughts in his heart, yet only offered this one word of encouragement.
Then, he entered the restaurant first.
Akaba followed behind. This yakiniku place was newly opened, its interior still fresh and clean.
The space wasn't big, but more than enough for a small group.
After entering, Akaba chose a seat in the corner.
The two sat down, but after a while, Loe was dragged away by Take.
At this moment, Orochimaru pulled out a manga from his waist pouch.
"Huh? This is the latest volume—where'd you get it?"
Akaba felt slightly puzzled. This manga had just been released, and so far, the only customers were Loe and his group.
"I took it from Take," Orochimaru replied with a slight smile, bending his arm backward.
He flipped open the first page and took a glance before saying, "Didn't expect it to be about the Chunin Exams."
"It came to me during the exam, so I drew it as soon as I finished testing," Akaba explained.
Orochimaru nodded and focused on reading.
He read silently without uttering a word, flipping all the way to the last page before closing the book. A faint contemplative look appeared on his face.
Akaba sipped his tea, unaware of his expression.
A moment later, Orochimaru's face changed.
The more he studied the Sharingan, the clearer he became about its power.
Could taijutsu really achieve such effects?
Orochimaru himself wasn't skilled in taijutsu nor had he researched it much, so naturally, doubts arose—"Is that even possible?"
"What?"
Akaba leaned over. Seeing the scene where Lee kicked Sasuke flying, he immediately understood.
After considering how to phrase it, he said, "There's no limit to human potential. Taijutsu can do this too—but only with endless effort. Besides, Sasuke only has two tomoe."
"That makes sense." Orochimaru paused briefly before nodding.
After reading up on it, he now understood the Sharingan well—he certainly knew that more tomoe meant greater power.
He kept flipping through until the last page, then closed the manga again.
What mattered most to him about this comic was whether anything could spark inspiration. The only part worth noting in this volume was Guy and Lee's taijutsu.
But taijutsu itself—
Seemed quite difficult to study thoroughly.
"The human body really is a mystery," Orochimaru mused aloud.
Take the Taki ninja Yauma's abnormal chakra, for example—it allowed him to regenerate endlessly until death.
If he could reproduce similar effects through research, maybe he wouldn't need extreme physical training to reach the results shown in the manga.
But that was just idle thinking. Taijutsu didn't interest Orochimaru anyway.
"A person's potential is immense. Take for example the Eight Gates of the body."
"The Eight Gates?"
Orochimaru was recalling; he had heard this term before.
"The Opening Gate, the Healing Gate..."
Akaba listed the names of the Eight Gates one by one.
Orochimaru had read too many books and had gradually forgotten much, but hearing the specific names now instantly brought those terms back to his mind.
"The Eight Gates of the Human Body are barriers that limit chakra consumption."
Orochimaru interrupted, indicating he'd already remembered.
Akaba nodded in acknowledgment.
He himself had seen records about the Eight Gates within his clan's library.
The ancestors of the Sakuma clan once explored manipulating the Eight Gates to overcome physical limits — only to conclude that the more Gates were opened, the faster one would die.
If their clan even had such records, then Konoha and Anbu definitely knew as well.
Given Orochimaru's collaboration with Danzo, he must have seen similar documents.
"Chakra is the combination of physical energy and spiritual energy. The existence of the Eight Gates acts like a lock, restricting chakra expenditure to safe levels. If one opens the Eight Gates..."
Orochimaru's mind worked quickly; reminded by Akaba, a pile of theories surfaced in his mind, letting him understand most of its meaning almost immediately.
Opening the Eight Gates would unleash overwhelming power, but unlocking this forbidden bodily lock comes at a single price—death!
"I'm really curious what it would be like if someone actually opened all Eight Gates."
Orochimaru sighed.
He had developed some interest in the Eight Gates, though upon thinking further, he realized there was still too much missing information.
The development difficulty was enormous, likely consuming lots of time.
"We aren't even close-range combat specialists."
Akaba mused inwardly.
Although it was extremely powerful—Guy nearly won the decisive battle using nothing but his kicks—it came at the fatal cost, making Akaba hesitant to consider it.
Of course,
without opening all Eight Gates, it was still pretty good.
He thought to himself.
"I agree."
Orochimaru lightly chuckled.
At this point, he hadn't yet sought immortality, though he still valued life greatly.
Meanwhile, a few others had initially wanted to join them. But upon overhearing their conversation, they quickly decided not to interrupt and walked away without getting too close.
"By the way, in the upcoming plot, a major antagonist will appear."
Akaba murmured after a moment's thought.
"Oh?"
Orochimaru raised his eyebrows slightly. After pondering briefly, he suddenly looked up, surprised, "You don't mean you're going to use my image, right?"
"Mm, I did think about that."
Akaba nodded. He was just about to continue speaking when suddenly his shoulder was tapped.
He turned his head and saw Tsunade standing behind him.
"What are you two chatting about? What image? Is it for a manga?"
Tsunade naturally sat down at their table. Behind her, Jiraiya followed with an awkward expression.
They both sat down, completely occupying the entire table.
Orochimaru shot Akaba a knowing look, signaling they could talk about it in private later. Akaba subtly nodded in understanding.
"What image? Is it something good-looking?"
Jiraiya perked up, only to shut his mouth immediately upon lifting his head and seeing Tsunade seated across from him.
"It's characters created using your images for a manga."
Akaba explained.
"Us? No way!"
Tsunade strongly objected, clearly excited.
"Why not?"
"Orochimaru and Jiraiya both froze, looking at Tsunade in confusion.
Especially Orochimaru—who hadn't even gotten a chance to speak yet—why was Tsunade getting so worked up over him being drawn as the villain?
"No way. If you draw us all the way to our grandchildren's generation, we'll be ancient!"
Tsunade held up her fingers and began counting together with Akaba. By that time, she'd definitely be pushing fifty—aging was every girl's worst nightmare!
"Now that you mention it, I'm actually curious too. What would an older Tsunade look like? Hmm, maybe I should try drawing it sometime."
Jiraiya simply had no idea how important physical appearance and age were for girls.
Orochimaru sighed. That guy really had a death wish—again!
Predictably—
Bang!
One punch, and Jiraiya was sent flying.
An angry vein popped on Tsunade's forehead as she threatened him: "If you dare to draw me like that, I swear I'll break your hands!"
"U-uh… s-sorry…"
Jiraiya instinctively apologized—it was no surprise, really. Around Tsunade, he apologized just as often as he acted recklessly.
"In any case, I'm against this."
Tsunade turned away stubbornly, showing no room for negotiation.
"Actually, what you're worrying about doesn't matter. From what I remember, Grandma Mito is pretty old, but still youthful and charming."
At first, Akaba had been completely confused by the conversation.
Then he realized—it must be because Tsunade hadn't learned Medical Ninjutsu yet, let alone mastered the Yin Seal Technique. Naturally, she hadn't discovered the secret technique to maintaining eternal youth.
"Ah, that's right," Tsunade paused, then her eyes gradually brightened, "[Secret Jutsu!] There must be one!"
"Wait, there's actually a technique like that?"
Jiraiya looked surprised.
"It's probably the Uzumaki Clan's constitution?" Orochimaru offered. "Combine that with certain secret techniques, and perhaps one can achieve such a state."
They'd all seen Mito Uzumaki's current appearance at the previous manga con; clearly, Orochimaru had done his research afterward.
"If that's the case, then I agree!"
Tsunade grinned happily.
"You sure flipped quickly," Orochimaru muttered helplessly. As soon as she heard Akaba could draw her as eternally young and beautiful, she agreed immediately without even asking how she might appear. Such simple thinking!
"Naturally. Besides, I'm really curious now too—I wonder what Akaba will draw me like!"
Orochimaru shot a sidelong glance. Jiraiya obviously felt the same.
He let out a quiet sigh without giving a direct response.
"Whether or not you get included hasn't been decided yet. I'll show it to you when the time comes."
Akaba didn't pressure them to agree right away.
He could've used different characters for the Chunin Exams, but swapping Orochimaru would've ruined the whole arc.
Besides, for now, the plot hadn't reached their appearances yet—the timing wasn't urgent. He only casually asked during this gathering.
Orochimaru nodded once, as if they both knew what the other was thinking.
"Here we go."
Tsunade tugged on Akaba's arm, signaling him to pay attention forward.
It was Hyuga Kazuhiko.
Looking up, Akaba spotted Hyuga Kazuhiko—the young man wore the traditional Hyuga attire, and his demeanor and movements were surprisingly mature.
"Masterful political maneuvering."
Orochimaru gave a cold snort, picked up a piece of meat, and began roasting it himself.
"The saying goes, 'When you eat someone's bread, you keep your opinions to yourself,' but honestly, his approach is rather distasteful."
Akaba kept his expression neutral, maintaining a smile on his face while voicing dissatisfaction in his words.
This guy used team affiliations to get Inuzuka Ishi to bring in Sakumo, then leveraged Sakumo and Inuzuka Ishi's connections to pull in the rest of their classmates, creating this gathering.
"What do you mean by that?"
"There are plenty of people here who'll go on to become top figures in Konoha—Jiraiya being one of them. Get it now?"
Tsunade whispered softly.
Their seat was relatively secluded; after lowering their voices, others couldn't hear them from the front, so they naturally didn't need to worry about being overheard.
"What kind of logic is that? If someone lacks talent, shouldn't he work even harder?"
Jiraiya wasn't closed-minded—he just liked to keep things simple.
After exchanging greetings with everyone one by one, Hyuga Kazuhiko seemed to "finally" notice where Akaba and the others were sitting, and walked toward their table.
"I didn't expect you all to be sitting so far back. I'm sorry—the place is new and space was limited when we made the arrangements."
Hyuga Kazuhiko politely bowed in apology.
However, the smile on his face reminded Akaba of Sai from the manga.
No, his fake smile wasn't even as good as Sai's.
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