Bang—!
Jiraiya landed butt-first, his body twitching.
Hiruzen Sarutobi and Orochimaru looked at Jiraiya's unsightly posture and simultaneously turned to Tsunade.
"I didn't even use much force, he's just too weak!"
Tsunade crossed her arms and snorted.
"What did you say?!"
Jiraiya sprang up from the ground like a jumping fish.
I have to say, people in this world really have strong resistance to blows.
After being punched so high by Tsunade and falling down, he was completely fine, as if nothing had happened.
"Cough!"
Hiruzen Sarutobi lightly coughed, extended his hand, attracting the attention of the three, and as he opened his palm, two bells fell from his hand, shaking and making a crisp sound.
"There are two bells, and what they represent is..."
Hiruzen Sarutobi didn't continue, believing that the smart trio already knew the consequences for those who didn't get a bell.
"Will we be tied to a stake?"
Jiraiya looked at the bells in Hiruzen Sarutobi's hand and stated the consequence of not getting a bell.
"Very perceptive, Jiraiya."
"If I get a bell, will you go on a date with me?"
Jiraiya looked at Orochimaru and said, not daring to harass Tsunade, that violent person.
Still not giving up?
Orochimaru sighed inwardly, having thought Jiraiya was talking to Tsunade.
Suddenly realizing that Tsunade, Hiruzen Sarutobi, and Jiraiya's gazes were all on her, Orochimaru belatedly understood.
"Huh? Are you talking to me?"
"If not to you, then to that violent woman?!"
Jiraiya said, exasperated, as if all his emotional build-up had gone unnoticed by the other party.
"Who are you calling a violent woman, you pervert!"
Tsunade clenched her fist, ready to punch Jiraiya.
"Isn't it you!"
Jiraiya pointed at Tsunade.
"Say it again!"
"I won't!"
Orochimaru, caught between the two, looked at them with difficulty, cold sweat dripping down, very wary of Tsunade's monstrous strength, hoping she wouldn't accidentally hit her while hitting Jiraiya.
Hiruzen Sarutobi watched this scene, sighing at how good the relationship between the three little ones was, believing they would surely become trusted friends who could entrust their backs to each other in the future.
"Alright."
Hiruzen Sarutobi clapped his hands, stopping Jiraiya and Tsunade's argument, and said, "It officially begins now. Those who don't get a bell will be tied to a stake."
Hiruzen Sarutobi paused here, then said seriously, "Attack me with the resolve to kill me!"
As soon as Hiruzen Sarutobi finished speaking, the three transformed into three dark shadows and disappeared from Hiruzen Sarutobi's sight.
The Bell Test, Hiruzen Sarutobi had once competed for it with Utatane Koharu and Homura Mitokado when he was young, and then he was tied to a stake by the Second Hokage.
The Bell Test primarily tests teamwork, strategic planning, and reaction capabilities.
Although the First Shinobi World War had passed, there were still minor skirmishes between Konoha and other Ninja villages. Hiruzen Sarutobi wanted to use the Bell Test to see the quality of his students as Ninja, which was also related to his subsequent teaching.
No rash actions?
Hiruzen Sarutobi waited for a while, but no one actively appeared to snatch the bell from his hand. He placed one bell on the ground, took out his bento, and began to eat, certain that someone would be unable to resist rushing forward when such a large opening was exposed.
Orochimaru crouched in the bushes, watching Hiruzen Sarutobi eat his bento with a look of ecstasy. To be honest, she couldn't see what was so delicious about that bento; it was probably some 'loving wife bento'.
No one is moving?
Tsunade crouched in a tree, watching Hiruzen Sarutobi brazenly begin to eat his bento, and immediately spotted Jiraiya behind another tree.
No way... Tsunade realized something. Sure enough, just as she thought, Jiraiya rushed towards Hiruzen Sarutobi, who seemed to be full of openings, reached out to grab the bell on the ground, and was then hoisted up by a rope, swaying in the air like a fish caught by a fisherman, wriggling its body vigorously just after leaving the water.
"Cooperate?"
"How to cooperate?"
Tsunade looked at Orochimaru below the tree and jumped to the ground.
"Surprise attack."
Orochimaru formed hand signs, and with a puff, the smoke cleared, and a Shadow Clone appeared beside her. Then, her main body transformed into a shuriken, and the Shadow Clone reached out and gripped the shuriken.
"I'll attract Hiruzen-sensei's attention, and you'll figure out a way to make Hiruzen-sensei not notice the shuriken."
Orochimaru's Shadow Clone showed Tsunade the shuriken that her main body had transformed into.
"Understood."
Tsunade understood Orochimaru's plan, a look of excitement on her face.
"Then, the operation begins."
Orochimaru rushed out from behind the tree, threw the shuriken, precisely cutting the rope on Jiraiya's feet, and then threw several more shuriken.
Jiraiya gasped, landing face-first.
Hiruzen Sarutobi easily dodged the shuriken thrown by Orochimaru.
"Got him!"
Tsunade rushed out from a tree, her clenched fist striking at Hiruzen Sarutobi.
Bang—!
The shuriken stuck in the tree turned into smoke, and Orochimaru's main body appeared, aiming for the bell at Hiruzen Sarutobi's waist.
Bang—!
Hiruzen Sarutobi turned into a log in the smoke, then was shattered by Tsunade's punch.
Substitution Jutsu?!
A trace of surprise flashed in Tsunade's eyes.
Orochimaru's heart skipped a beat, and she took a smoke bomb from her Ninja tool pouch and threw it on the ground.
That is!
As the smoke cleared, Jiraiya saw a bell on the ground, thinking Hiruzen Sarutobi had accidentally dropped it. He reached out to pick it up. Suddenly, cracks appeared in the ground, and a pair of hands emerged from the ground, grabbing his feet.
"Earth Release: Underground Headhunter Technique!"
Jiraiya gasped, his entire body pulled into the ground, with only his head exposed.
Hiruzen Sarutobi looked speechlessly at Jiraiya, who had fallen for the same trap twice. Such an obvious trap, only Jiraiya would fall for it multiple times.
Jiraiya looked at the bell within reach, his face full of unwillingness, thinking that if he had been a little faster, he might have gotten the bell.
Bang—!
The bell transformed into Orochimaru, and the bell Hiruzen Sarutobi had intentionally used as a trap fell into Orochimaru's hand.
So that's it. The smoke bomb just now... She anticipated that I would set a trap, so she... switched the bells in the smoke?
A hint of surprise and understanding flashed in Hiruzen Sarutobi's eyes. He suddenly thought that the Orochimaru in front of him might not be the real Orochimaru, but a Shadow Clone.
Just then, the sound of the ground cracking echoed.
Cracks appeared in the ground, and a pair of pale hands emerged from the ground, grabbing his feet—it was the Earth Release: Underground Headhunter Technique!
"Good opportunity!"
Tsunade seized this opportunity and snatched the bell from Hiruzen Sarutobi's waist.
"Orochimaru, when did you learn Earth Release?"
Hiruzen Sarutobi knew Orochimaru could use Shadow Clone, but he didn't know she could also use Earth Release.
"Hiruzen-sensei, you just used it."
Orochimaru took the bell from the Shadow Clone's hand and dispelled the Shadow Clone.
"Orochimaru, you truly are a genius!"
Hiruzen Sarutobi exclaimed, praising Orochimaru without reservation, his evaluation of her talent in Ninjutsu growing even higher.
"Tch..."
Jiraiya made a disgruntled sound.
A moment later, Jiraiya was tied to a stake, looking resentfully at Orochimaru and Tsunade.
"What kind of look is that! You dead last who couldn't get a bell!"
Tsunade extended her hand, showing the bell to Jiraiya.
"Shut up! You violent, super flat-chested Tsunade!"
"What did you say! You pervert!"
Tsunade and Jiraiya started arguing again.
Orochimaru subtly glanced at Tsunade's chest, then at her own, praying inwardly that having an A-cup would be enough for her in the future, and that she would never become a 'fat sheep' like Tsunade.
However, why did Tsunade grow so big? Her secondary development was simply too exaggerated.
"Alright, alright, stop arguing. Tsunade and Orochimaru, you two can go back first."
Hiruzen Sarutobi soothed Tsunade and Jiraiya's emotions.
"Hi~!"
Tsunade turned and waved to Hiruzen Sarutobi and Jiraiya, then made a face and stuck out her tongue at Jiraiya, showing off the bell in her hand, and dragged Orochimaru out of the training ground.
No, why are you dragging me?
Orochimaru was full of question marks as Tsunade dragged her along.
"Let's go, I'll treat you to something to eat!"
Tsunade was in a good mood, saying with a smiling face.
"Okay."
Orochimaru hesitated for a moment but didn't pull away from Tsunade's hand, mainly because her strength was too great; she couldn't break free even if she tried.
In the evening, as the sun was about to set, a crescent moon was faintly visible in the reddish sky.
Orochimaru, back near her home, looked up at the sky, suddenly remembering that the moon in this world was created by Otsutsuki Hagoromo and Otsutsuki Hamura to seal Ōtsutsuki Kaguya.
Even if she left Konoha, she couldn't stay out of the Fourth Shinobi World War, nor the Ōtsutsuki Clan that appeared in boruto.
The Ōtsutsuki Clan... the God Tree... Ōtsutsuki Kaguya... the Six Paths Sage... the Tailed Beasts... Orochimaru lacked confidence in herself. Even if she was Orochimaru now, she had no confidence in surpassing the original Orochimaru. She could only do her best, to the limit of what she could do.