"Out this late and still not going home to rest?"
Kenichi Amemiya looked helplessly at the little tail following behind him. Why did this kid like sticking to him so much?
"Senpai… sensei hasn't talked to me for days."
Anko Mitarashi hung her head, poking her fingers together, looking completely dejected.
"Is he mad at me…?"
Kenichi scratched his head.
He did know what was going on.
Orochimaru had already told him: Anko wasn't someone he planned to take along when he left Konoha. For her, he had another arrangement—erase her connection to him, let her live on in the village as an ordinary kunoichi.
But even knowing that, Kenichi couldn't exactly tell her.
So he could only pick his words carefully.
"Of course not," he said, putting on a relaxed smile. "Sensei's just really busy lately. Even I barely see him."
"Even you…?"
Anko's eyes widened a little.
Kenichi nodded.
If you wanted to comfort someone, the fastest way was to stand with them first—
Make them feel you were in the same boat. Then they'd actually let you in.
That was one of the few useful lessons he'd brought over from his previous life.
"Sensei's got his hands full," Kenichi continued. "You know everyone in the village was saying he might become Fourth Hokage, right?"
Anko's mood loosened. She started chattering again, hopping from topic to topic, small complaints mixed with admiration for their teacher.
Kenichi listened quietly, bought two skewers of dango from a street stall, and handed one to her.
As he looked at the dango in his hand, his thoughts drifted to Itachi and Shisui.
The Uchiha clan really did produce monsters—especially once those eyes evolved into Mangekyō. Even in the later, power-crept ninja world, Mangekyō Sharingan was still top-tier power.
"Right, senpai…"
Anko suddenly tugged his sleeve, as if she'd remembered something.
"Hm? What is it?" Kenichi asked.
"That jutsu sensei showed me last time… I still don't really get it. Could you teach me? Pleaaase?"
She looked up at him with bright, expectant eyes.
Kenichi rubbed his neck.
He couldn't say he was surprised.
Still, it wasn't a bad idea.
Orochimaru had already told him to keep his head down for a while. Playing the role of a normal older student, helping his junior with ninjutsu—
On the surface, it was the perfect camouflage.
"Sure," he said. "Let's go to the training ground. I'll walk you through it."
They headed over and ran a simple training session. With how fast Kenichi's strength had grown recently, teaching Anko didn't feel difficult at all—it even felt a bit like light stretching.
The lesson, however, ended sooner than planned.
Not because Anko ran out of energy, but because a blinding flash tore across the sky, followed by a deafening crack of thunder.
"Thunder, huh…"
Kenichi glanced up, thoughtful.
He remembered Sasuke's future technique—Lightning Release: Kirin.
A jutsu that weaponized the power of natural lightning. Terrifyingly strong.
But it needed the Sharingan to properly read and guide the lightning's path.
Not exactly beginner-friendly.
He opened his mental panel and checked his current Sharingan research progress.
Three-Tomoe Sharingan – 23%
"Not that slow," he muttered. "But still a ways to go."
Without a fully realized Sharingan, he had no intention of experimenting with Kirin-like techniques. That was how you got turned into charcoal.
After escorting Anko safely home, Kenichi finally made his way back to his own little place and flopped onto his bed.
The next morning, he'd barely woken up when Orochimaru showed up and dragged him out of the house.
"Kenichi," Orochimaru said casually as they walked, "you know about summoning beasts, don't you?"
"Of course," Kenichi replied.
In the world of shinobi, the most famous summons were definitely the toads of Mount Myōboku. They were practically co-stars whenever the main character showed up.
Then there was his own teacher's contract beast—Manda.
Though, if he was being honest, Kenichi had zero interest in working with that overgrown reptile. Manda's personality was… horrible.
After that came Katsuyu, salamanders, ninja hounds, crows—summons came in all shapes and sizes.
Purely in terms of strength, the sacred places were still the cream of the crop.
"Sensei, are you going to let me sign a contract with a summoning beast?"
Kenichi tilted his head, a bit curious.
Summons were incredibly useful. Well—
Except maybe the ones from Ryūchi Cave. The conditions over there tended to be… steep.
"No."
Orochimaru shook his head. "Right now, you should focus on honing your own techniques."
He spoke calmly, but Kenichi could hear the familiar teacher's standard hidden inside.
From genin to jōnin, the real path was just one thing: solid fundamentals.
Chūnin was an awkward rank—too strong to be called rookies, not strong enough to be considered elites. But it was still the foundation. If your base was solid, stepping into jōnin-level strength was only a matter of time.
In the end, whether you were labeled genin, chūnin, or jōnin didn't matter that much.
What mattered was power.
Even a "mere genin" could, under the right conditions, explode and take down a jōnin—or even someone near Kage level.
"You're my disciple," Orochimaru added with a faint smile. "If your strength doesn't at least reach elite jōnin one day… I'd be embarrassed to admit it."
"Heh… I'll do my best," Kenichi said.
He really would.
Having Hashirama's body and still ending up mediocre? That'd be a crime.
"But then, sensei," he continued, "what did you bring me out here for?"
Orochimaru's eyes narrowed slightly.
"I was thinking," he said, voice smooth, "whether summoning beasts can develop cancer."
Kenichi's mouth twitched.
Summoning beasts… getting cancer?
That was one hell of a research direction.
If this were his previous world, he'd answer without hesitation: of course.
Animals were animals. Cancer didn't discriminate.
But this was the ninja world.
Summoning beasts—especially the big names—had physical resilience far beyond most shinobi. Add in sage chakra on top of that, and things got even murkier.
"Honestly, sensei," Kenichi said slowly, "we'll need experiments to know for sure. Are you planning to call Manda out?"
He couldn't stop himself from rubbing his hands together a bit at that thought.
"Don't mention that thing," Orochimaru's face darkened instantly.
Manda had only gotten more arrogant over the years.
If not for the presence looming behind it—the White Snake Sage…
Kenichi coughed twice to hide a smile.
True enough. The only time he'd ever seen Orochimaru summon Manda was during the war. Under normal circumstances, he avoided bringing that snake out at all costs.
"And now sensei wants to… give his summoning beast a full medical checkup," Kenichi thought, eyes glinting.
Teacher's familiar is going to need a physical.
Perfect.
(End of Chapter 26)