"A passing grade, but I'm not particularly satisfied. I can only give you seventy-five points; you're far from excellent.
You know it yourself being soft-hearted is a fatal flaw for a ninja, often harming both others and oneself.
However, you were cautious enough, using both a Ninja Crow and Sensing Ninjutsu, and your brain isn't too slow. You've earned just enough extra credit to push you past the sixty-point passing mark for the mission."
Orochimaru stood with his hands behind his back, his narrow, snake-like pupils fixed on Uchiha Gen.
Uchiha Gen raised his head, meeting Orochimaru's gaze. It seemed the words he had spoken last night had a decent effect.
"Above passing, but not excellent? Then..."
"You've barely passed. Now, you may address me as 'Sensei'."
"Yes! Orochimaru-sensei!"
Uchiha Gen and Uzuki Ruri glanced at each other, then spoke in unison.
Orochimaru shifted his gaze toward Sarutobi Enjun, who was walking back toward them.
"Eh? Eh! Orochimaru-sensei?! We passed the assessment?"
Sarutobi Enjun exclaimed in surprise.
Looking at the noisy Sarutobi Enjun, Orochimaru waved his hand dismissively and turned to leave.
"Since the mission is complete, let's return to the village to hand it in."
...The next morning.
Dewdrops condensed on the flowers and grass outside the Hokage Building, sparkling brilliantly under the morning light.
"Orochimaru, you're still being a bit too reckless."
In the Hokage Office, the Third Hokage sat in the chair before his desk. He took the mission report handed over by Orochimaru and spoke after flipping through it for a few moments.
"But the results are quite good, aren't they? Since they were assigned to me by you, Lord Sarutobi, their talent and abilities wouldn't be too bad. What needed testing was merely their personality, character, intelligence, and perhaps the 'stance' that you value so much."
Orochimaru watched as Hiruzen Sarutobi took out a seal and stamped the mission report, then continued:
"Enjun's personality is too naive. Over the years, perhaps you and Biwako have taught him strictly, but ultimately he was protected too well. He is not only immature but also has overly naive thoughts. To be honest, if he doesn't change, Nawaki's cautionary tale is right before us."
Hiruzen Sarutobi set aside the seal and lifted his pipe, taking a heavy drag. Feeling the expansion and satisfaction as the smoke entered his lungs, he temporarily cleared the worries from his mind.
"That is precisely why I entrusted him to you, Orochimaru."
The Third Hokage slowly exhaled a plume of white smoke, looking at his prized disciple before him.
Two or three years ago, Nawaki's death caused a massive stir in Konoha; even the elderly Uzumaki Mito had made a public appearance because of it. Even though the incident was entirely caused by Nawaki's recklessness, as Nawaki's teacher, Orochimaru was naturally blamed for failing to look after him properly.
"I believe you won't let such a thing happen again. In the entire village, yours are the abilities I trust most, Orochimaru. If even you can't handle being the Jonin leader for this squad, who can? I believe you will train these three children well, just as I trained you, Tsunade, and Jiraiya back then."
The legendary 'God of Shinobi,' still in his prime, looked at Orochimaru warmly, his eyes filled with trust.
The current Orochimaru was indeed the successor to his mantle in his eyes. Young, powerful, brilliant, and like himself, proficient in Ninjutsu of all five elements. He handed Sarutobi Enjun to Orochimaru because, in the current Konoha, Orochimaru was the candidate with the most hope of becoming the Fourth Hokage in the future.
Orochimaru's eyes flickered as he changed the subject:
"He really is a lot like Jiraiya was when he was a child."
If it weren't for Uchiha Gen, given Sarutobi Enjun's performance, he wouldn't have wanted to take on this hot potato.
The Third Hokage then asked:
"What about the other two children? Especially the boy, Uchiha Gen. From his performance in the mission report, this child is indeed like you were when you were young smart, rational, and exceptionally gifted. But I want to know your further evaluation of him, to see if he has the potential to become a bridge for communication between the village and the Uchiha Clan in the future."
"Lord Sarutobi, since you think he's a lot like I was as a child, shouldn't I know best how to guide him?"
"It seems you believe this child is worth guiding."
Hiruzen Sarutobi smiled faintly.
"I used to be a windmill that needed the wind to move me. But now, I'd very much like to experience the pleasure of becoming the wind."
Orochimaru also had a smile on his lips, his eyes filled with the same confidence that always belonged to a genius.
He actually had a talent for influencing children and nurturing talent; he just needed the right opportunity to bring it out. Whether it was the future Sasuke, Kimimaro, or Team Taka, they all proved how skilled Orochimaru was at training others.
"Then I shall wait and see."
Hiruzen Sarutobi pulled out a thick stack of documents.
"However, although this squad has completed a C-rank mission, it doesn't mean they have the ability to consistently perform missions of that level. They don't even know the complete workflow for a mission, let alone missions with potential danger. So, they still have to make up for the D-rank missions that all Genin must go through."
"They do need to make them up, but the first thing to supplement isn't a D-rank mission."
Orochimaru smiled slightly.
"Oh? What do you want to do?"
"Lord Sarutobi, do you have any bells here? The bells I need might be a little more than usual."
...The administrative mission hall reception on the first floor of the Hokage Building.
The three members of the Orochimaru Squad were staying here, waiting for Orochimaru to finish handing in the mission with the Hokage.
Uchiha Gen was currently sitting on a stool, flipping through a scroll in his hand and occasionally making marks on it with a pen.
The scroll was a Ninjutsu scroll, recording the Wind Release: Gale Palm.
Since he now had a master-level Ninjutsu teacher like Orochimaru, he naturally had to make good use of this resource. In the past, the clan school only taught Fire Release, and his parents hadn't left behind any training materials for Wind Release. But when Uchiha Gen actually started training in Wind Release Ninjutsu, he discovered that his talent in Wind Release seemed even better than his talent in Fire Release.
In just two or three short days, amidst the busyness of the mission, he only had a few hours in total to practice. Yet, with just a bit of organization, he was already able to fire off a blast of wind. This learning speed was quite a bit faster than when he first learned the Great Fireball Technique.
For Uchiha Gen, who had never had any experience in Wind Release training before, this was rare and precious. In his notebook, he had already recorded several points of confusion from his training, just waiting for an opportunity to ask Orochimaru.