Ryoma and his two teammates, after completing this mission, paused briefly before immediately rushing back to Konoha without delay.
Throughout the journey, Chōza, observing the three who had clearly become far less talkative, felt a twinge of guilt in his heart.
He could see just how excellent these students were, and he thought to himself, "If only they had been born in a time of peace, they surely could have grown up happily, without having to face such a cruel world so early."
But there was no helping it; recently, a large portion of Konoha's B-rank and above missions were directed against Iwa-nin, investigating their intelligence and objectives, and their activities were growing increasingly frequent, with them secretly transporting various supplies as if preparing for a great war.
Although the Land of Fire and the Land of Earth were buffered by the Lands of Waterfall, Grass, and Rain, the situation was still becoming more severe by the day.
Chōza could clearly sense that Konoha had begun to gradually accelerate the training of this year's graduating class, as if hoping to equip them with combat capability as soon as possible.
Konoha had its own anxieties and was quietly making preparations for any eventuality.
Watching the three silently hurrying along, Chōza offered a small suggestion: "Everyone, you completed this mission flawlessly. As a reward, how about I treat you all to some yakiniku?"
The moment Ryoma and the other two heard the word "yakiniku," a recently somewhat-dead memory started attacking them all over again, and Asuma's complexion noticeably paled—he had just finished making one batch of "yakiniku."
Ryoma, suppressing his own discomfort, could only helplessly reply, "Thanks, but I'll have to pass, Chōza-sensei."
Chōza, finally catching on, gave an awkward laugh. "Ahaha, well then, I'll give you three days off. Everyone, take this time to properly adjust yourselves. Three days from now, at 8 a.m., assemble at the mission hall entrance."
This past month of high-intensity mission grinding had indeed left Ryoma and the others somewhat exhausted, and combined with their first blood-committing mission, Chōza felt it was absolutely necessary for his three students to rest a few days.
After all, shinobi were human too; if they were always wound too tight, that string would eventually snap.
...
Ryoma hadn't slept very well last night.
Not because of nightmares, of course, but because after returning home and, as usual, communicating with several Shadow Masks, he had discovered a惊喜.
The barrier on the Giant Mask—that invisible layer that had always prevented Ryoma from fully mastering it—had broken after he killed someone for the first time.
'Could it be that the sheer impact of taking a life for the first time in two lifetimes was so great it just punched straight through that barrier?' Ryoma mused silently.
Nevertheless, this discovery significantly diluted the complicated feelings he had after his first kill.
Without dwelling on it, Ryoma immediately steadied his mind and, just as he had when summoning General Niga, began to communicate with the Giant Mask.
The shadows beneath Ryoma's feet gradually spread, and a massive figure, fierce-faced, eyes wide with rage, his entire body covered in green skin, slowly solidified.
He had orange facial hair and eyebrows, wore cyan-blue armor, and stood a full four or five meters tall, tearing a massive hole straight through Ryoma's room and the second floor above it.
His presence was overwhelmingly oppressive. Upon seeing Ryoma, he immediately dropped to one knee, slamming the ground with a resounding boom, and a voice as deep and resonant as a bell tolled: "Samo, pledges his allegiance to my king!"
Ryoma looked up at the figure kneeling before him, who was even taller than him even in this position, and inwardly, he was already overjoyed.
This meant that, starting today, besides General Niga, he had another trump card: General Samo!
The future was bright, so very bright.
He just had to remember, next time he summoned Samo, to do it outside the house.
Otherwise, a single floor of this house probably couldn't accommodate Samo's enormous frame.
It was way too hard on the building.
Ryoma immediately decided to have the Shadow Corps soldiers help repair the roof tomorrow; after all, they were the most versatile~
The Shadow Corps soldiers thought: "We built this!"
...
Waking up groggy in the afternoon after sleeping straight through, Ryoma found the familiar panda eyes back on his face.
Arriving at Orochimaru's experimental base, he found Orochimaru, like a static NPC, doing the same as always—researching his jars and flasks.
Sensing Ryoma's arrival, Orochimaru set down the test tube he was holding, looked at him, and his hoarse voice rasped, "Ryoma-kun, how does it feel to kill someone for the first time?"
Ryoma, sporting his panda eyes, looked back at Orochimaru and replied helplessly, "Orochimaru-sensei, you already knew about this."
Orochimaru smiled faintly. "As your teacher, I naturally have a responsibility to understand your progress. I can see that Ryoma-kun has been working very hard lately."
Ryoma gave a bitter laugh. "Please, don't mock me, Orochimaru-sensei. They were just D-rank missions, not even worth mentioning."
Orochimaru gave a noncommittal smile and said slowly, "From my perspective, this was also Ryoma-kun using the opportunity of completing missions to further strengthen the use of his Kekkei Genkai."
He really did, I'm crying.
Again, the saying held true: when it came to disciples he acknowledged, Orochimaru was truly beyond reproach!!!
I was rooting for Orochimaru!
Next election, I'm voting for Orochimaru!
Seeing Ryoma looking so sleep-deprived, Orochimaru stated flatly, "It's fine, go out more often. You'll get used to it. This world is just like this. If you don't kill others, they will come to kill you. To live longer, lamenting the dead holds no meaning, Ryoma-kun."
"If death has any meaning, it exists only when it can be utilized—for instance, when it allows you to quickly recognize this real world."
Ryoma looked at Orochimaru, who seemed to be radiating philosophical light, and honestly, he was a little captivated by his force of personality.
No wonder a man called the Calamity, the Madman of the Shinobi World, still had so many people utterly devoted to him, willing to lay down their lives for him at any moment.
Orochimaru's charm definitely wasn't as superficial as it appeared on the surface.
Just look at this talk-no-jutsu; it was practically on par with Naruto's.
Under the influence of Orochimaru's loving guidance, you know what? Ryoma actually did feel quite a bit better.
And through Ryoma's persistent pestering, Orochimaru finally agreed to temporarily set aside his research and take a walk with him.
Ryoma remarked that if Orochimaru didn't get out and see the world soon, he wouldn't even know the outside had already moved on to 5G.
Orochimaru considered this; it had indeed been a long time since he had left his laboratory during the daytime.
Nights spent sneaking off to secret bases for human experimentation naturally didn't count.
Just a little snake who liked to do small experiments.
...
Ryoma and Orochimaru walked along Konoha's streets.
The clothes the master and disciple wore were very similar in both color and style.
After spending a long time around Orochimaru, Ryoma increasingly felt that the man's fashion sense had a certain flashy elegance to it~
It had gotten to the point where Ryoma now wore either white with purple or black with purple.
In two words: flashy and sharp~
Ryoma distinctly noticed that the streets were much livelier than usual today.
Upon inquiring, he found out that a ramen shop run by a squinty-eyed uncle was officially opening today.
Rumor had it that everything was half-price today, which had driven everyone to rush over and try the ramen.
Ryoma's mind trembled.
He had appeared, that man.
The man who, whether during the Konoha Crush or Pain's assault, could not be moved from his ramen shop—Ōtsutsuki Ichiraku.
Legend had it that hidden behind those squinted eyes were the Rinnegan, which he was simply trying not to reveal!
Orochimaru, looking at the long line snaking ahead, fell into deep thought.
Humans were such boring creatures, wasting time in a queue this long just for a bowl of ramen.
But unable to refuse Ryoma, who insisted on trying Ōtsutsuki Ichiraku's craftsmanship, he reluctantly joined him at the very end of the line.
Suddenly, Ryoma overheard two villagers waiting in line ahead of them chatting.
"Hey, hey, did you hear? That guy, Konoha White Fang, actually abandoned his mission on his own initiative. It caused the village a considerable loss," one said.
The man beside him replied, "I heard it was to save some comrades?"
"Well, whatever the reason, a person who gives up on a mission is a disgrace to us Konoha shinobi. How can a ninja just abandon a mission so easily? A ninja who doesn't follow the rules is nothing but trash!"
"Exactly, exactly. He's no longer worthy of the title Konoha White Fang!"
"Right, right..."
Listening to the conversation ahead, Ryoma froze for a moment.
It seemed that incident was about to begin.
He turned to look at Orochimaru behind him.
Orochimaru had clearly heard the villagers' discussion too.
His eyes flickered briefly, but he said nothing.
In Orochimaru's heart, rules had never been able to bind him, and naturally, they couldn't bind a powerful shinobi like White Fang either.
Still, Orochimaru was somewhat surprised—surprised that this matter had already spread to the ears of ordinary people.
"The more so-called 'facts' the lower classes know, the more it proves that someone wanted them to know these so-called 'facts,'" Orochimaru's hoarse voice drifted into Ryoma's ears.
Ryoma nodded noncommittally and said, "During an avalanche, not a single snowflake ever feels responsible."
Orochimaru patted Ryoma's head approvingly. This disciple of his was very similar to him in many ways; even their views on certain matters were strikingly consistent.
Ryoma didn't express much further thought. He simply felt that the death of White Fang was not only a tremendous loss for Konoha but also a clear and ominous sign of the storm about to break before the Third Great Ninja War.
---
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