Perhaps it was because Orochimaru was, at his core, a scientist, that Kadoya didn't sense the kind of cold, serpentine aura one might expect.
Instead, Kadoya perceived in Orochimaru a kind of melancholic, intellectual temperament.
It seems the Third Hokage's three students all had the potential to write books.
Jiraiya could specialize in writing erotic novels, Orochimaru could write a scientific treatise on inventions, and Tsunade could write a book on how to become a fat sheep.
However, despite Orochimaru's current gentleness, human nature is, in reality, the most complex thing.
With enough experience, even the purest person will inevitably change.
The most typical example is Minato. He used to be such a good kid. So innocent and lovable, and he could even smile warmly toward people who disliked him, calling him a Fake Uchiha, the Uchiha trio.
But after spending so much time with Kadoya, his personality now somewhat resembles that of Hashirama to some extent. Happy to spend time with his Uchiha best friend and isn't afraid to throw fists with him from time to time.
Kadoya didn't have any bad feelings toward Orochimaru. The current Orochimaru is definitely still a model young man, wholeheartedly devoted to the Leaf Village.
What kind of despair did he have to experience to transform from a Leaf Village hero of the Second and Third Shinobi World Wars, one of the legendary Sannin, into the person he was in the original story?
In the original story, Orochimaru became a cold and cruel person, obsessed with pursuing immortality, even changing his gender in the process.
He even orchestrated the Konoha Crush, killing his own teacher, the Third Hokage.
"Kadoya, what are you thinking about?" Orochimaru's raspy voice snapped him out of his thoughts.
Kadoya's focused contemplation had piqued his interest.
"It's nothing," He shook his head. "I was just wondering what kind of dreams you have, Snake Uncle."
"Me..." Orochimaru's golden pupils narrowed, and then he closed his eyes for a moment, a complex expression crossing his face. Finally, he spoke in a slow, hoarse voice, tinged with bitterness.
"To master all the techniques in this world. That is my only desire."
"Hmm, a very interesting dream," Kadoya nodded, unsurprised.
"What is it? Don't you think it's an unrealistic delusion?"
"If it's you, you might actually be able to realize such a dream," Kadoya said with confidence.
"Hahaha, you are a truly interesting child," Orochimaru laughed.
Kadoya bit his thumbs and performed a few hand seals.
"Summoning Jutsu."
A puff of smoke appeared, and the white snake that he had signed a summoning contract with appeared.
Currently, Kadoya possesses the summoning contract for ninja frog, healing slug, living fur balls, Mommy, and now snakes.
He couldn't fully recall anyone in the original story using more than one different type of summon beast besides Sasuke with his hawk and snake. But still, he only has two different species of summons, while Kadoya here is starting to look like a Pokemon Trainer.
Still, seeing that his summon didn't reject him, Kadoya decided that he would be a good master and take good care of his summon.
Frogadier: "..."
"Here, Shirohebi, this is for you." Kadoya said, handing his roasted chicken to the white snake.
"You really are generous." She said before opening her mouth and began eating the roasted chicken given to her.
Although he had summoned her before, after Orochimaru ditched him with the bills, it was only for a chat and for Kadoya and Shirohebi to get to know each other. He didn't ask her for anything, and now, during the second summon, he only called her to share food with her.
"You only signed the summoning contract yesterday, and your relationship is already this good," Orochimaru watched the scene before him and smiled slightly.
"I have experience with summon beasts." Kadoya said calmly, watching Shirohebi eat the roast chicken.
With his current lineup of summons, not counting Tiamama. Kadoya has already planned out the position and role for each of his summons.
Greninja would help him in combat, basically acting as a second Kadoya thanks to Battle Bond.
The slug will support healing and keeping the team running.
The Kuriboh are meat shields to block fatal attacks.
And the snake would be the massive summoning beast to help move into the enemy front line.
Kadoya poked the white snake's head with his finger, which this time annoyed the white snake, who flicked her tongue at him in protest, but ultimately touched his finger with her tongue.
"By the way, Orochimaru-sensei," Saiguu piped up between bites, "what's our mission this time?"
Orochimaru looked up from the quietly smoldering campfire. His golden eyes were calm as ever. "There's a group of bandits roaming the eastern provinces. Your task is to find them and eliminate them."
Nawaki frowned. "Is it safe to wait so long before we move out?"
"Ultimately, timing doesn't matter," Orochimaru replied coolly, folding his arms. "As long as they're killed, we'll earn our reward."
Orochimaru continues. "This mission isn't just about a handful of thieves. It's about sharpening your survival instincts. The war is looming; I want you each to know what it means to hunt, and be hunted, before you step onto the battlefield."
Kadoya glanced between his teammates. "Do the other teams have similar assignments?"
"Exactly the same," Orochimaru confirmed. "By the end of this operation, bandit activity in the Land of Fire will be all but stamped out. Whether they're ordinary criminals or enemy spies, it all funnels back to the same goal: securing our home front."
He paused, and the crackle of the fire seemed louder in the still night.
What he didn't voice was the coveted instruction each Jonin had been given: collect every bit of the bandits' loot and food supplies, and send them back to Konoha. If the bandits padded their purses all year long, then those riches would flow back to the village.
The village and its leaders did love their multi‑layered strategies.
Orochimaru rose from his seat, stretching. "That's all for tonight's briefing. You three will stand guard until dawn. Sort out the schedule among yourselves."
Without another word, he headed toward his tent.
...
In a vast forest, Kadoya, Saiguu, and Nawaki were striving for survival.
In the world of ninjas, perhaps due to the high oxygen concentration or the special power of chakra, many animals were enormous.
This was evident from the toads of Mount Myoboku, which seemed to grow uncontrollably as if they had taken growth hormones.
Therefore, this forest not only contained gigantic trees and plants but also large wild beasts and insects.
Many animals could even be trained and used as ninja beasts or even as summoning beasts.
Kadoya, Saiguu, and Nawaki stood panting in front of the defeated massive centipede and praying mantis
His water blade disappeared as he looked down at the dissected pieces of the centipede.
"Alright, today's mission is complete. Let's call it a day," Nawaki said, clapping his hands and standing up.
As for the animals they had just killed, it wasn't that they had actively sought them out; rather, these creatures had come to them.
This is one of the massive forests that contains these massive creatures, which were highly aggressive, as evidenced by the fact that Kadoya and the others had been attacked five or six times in just a few hours.
It would be truly dangerous for ordinary people here.
Although none of the three were professional reconnaissance or scouting ninjas, they could easily foresee many threats with the help of Kadoya's instinct.
In fact, Orochimaru had disappeared three days after instructing them.
They needed to gain a lot of experience and learn survival skills and ninjutsu through practical combat.
No matter how much theory was discussed, it was useless if it couldn't be translated into practical combat.
After Orochimaru left, Kadoya took the lead, guiding Saiguu and, reluctantly, Nawaki toward the mission point.
However, during their high-speed dashes, they also had to be wary of Orochimaru, who was constantly ambushing them.
Kadoya quickly started a fire. They had to eat the food as quickly as possible, of course.
Otherwise, Orochimaru might add some laxatives or something similar to it.
Although it wouldn't kill them, it would be disgusting enough.
Imagine, if your butt is numb from diarrhea, how can you have the energy to travel?
Kadoya, of course, wasn't too worried about this; there is a seal on his body that absorbs the waste his body generates, storing them inside small scrolls that he could later throw out.
He suddenly remembered he didn't give Minato this kind of seal.
Heh, better let him suffer a little, it would be better for his growth.
Sitting in front of the fire, Kadoya gnawed on wild fruits he had found in the forest.
Thanks to his study of plants, he could now identify such fruits, discovering which ones are edible and which are poisonous.
"Hiss~," The white snake wrapped around his neck suddenly warned.
"Ding~"
Then a bell rang, triggered by a simple trap that Nawaki had set up nearby.
When triggered, the bell would make a sound to alert them.
Was it another ambush by Orochimaru?
Kadoya and the others exchanged glances.
Then, he got up and cautiously went to investigate.
However, there were no human footprints on the soft soil, only a series of small animal tracks.
Have they been too nervous these past few days? Still, it would be better safe than sorry.
However, behind him on the soil, a strange bulge was slowly growing larger.
Kadoya suddenly clapped his palms together, forming a water shuriken, and threw it toward the growing bulge.
Orochimaru quickly jumped out from his hiding spot, recognizing the lethality of Kadoya's Water Shurikens.
Multiple kunai were thrown toward him, forcing Orochimaru to use the Substitution Jutsu to escape.
The moment their trap was triggered, they already knew that Orochimaru was coming. Ordinary small animals couldn't trigger such concealed traps.
The reason Kadoya leaned over to check was to give Orochimaru an opportunity to exploit, and time for Saiguu to use her Byakugan to try and spot if Orochimaru had set up any other trap; if not, then she would go right to supporting Kadoya.
Although she could have used her Byakugan to try and locate him at the start, and significantly lowered the risk to their team. Kadoya didn't want her to become a target; after all, she is their team's sensory ninja, a key role.
That's why he openly draws Orochimaru's attention toward him first instead of giving him the chance to sneak attack Saiguu.
Saiguu quickly looked around and spotted Orochimaru's current hiding spot.
"That tree on the left!" She pointed, and Kadoya didn't waste any time rushing toward it with a Rasengan in hand.
"Rasengan!"
Orochimaru barely managed to avoid the attack, as the large tree now has a massive hole in its side.
Although he now possesses even more abilities, Kadoya still doesn't want to reveal all of his cards at this moment. He still needs to wait for the upcoming war first before he can reveal more of his cards.
"Eight Trigrams Air Palm!"
Using her Byakugan, Saiguu was able to pinpoint Orochimaru's vital points and release a high-speed palm thrust.
The vacuum shell compressed using the Gentle Fist crashed into Orochimaru's chest, and his body was flung back.
"Earth Style: Earth Flow Wall."
Nawaki's Earth Style hand seals were already completed.
Then, a thick earthen wall was already waiting for Orochimaru to crash into it.
Just as Orochimaru's body was about to crash into the earthen wall, several snakes suddenly grew out of his hands.
"Hidden Shadow Snake Hands."
Those snakes instantly wrapped around a large tree, instantly pulling Orochimaru's body, which was about to crash into the Earth Style wall.
"Fire Style: Fire Fist!"
Orochimaru's eyes widen in shock, seeing the massive flaming fist coming toward him.
He is starting to regret not taking them seriously, his hand blurs through hand seals.
"Water Style: Water Wall!"
Orochimaru spits a stream of water from his mouth at the ground, which circles around him and rises upward to create a wall. This formed a barrier between him and the massive fire fist.
Hot steam quickly covered the surrounding forest, forcing Saiguu and Nawaki to jump up the tall trees to avoid being attacked inside the thick mist.
Kadoya just closes his eyes and lets his Instinct do the work, his head tilted at a 45-degree angle, barely avoiding a snake coming toward his head.
His hands clapped together, forming into his signature water shuriken before he threw it toward the direction the snake had just come from.
Kadoya quickly formed hand seals.
"Water Style: Water Shuriken Shadow Clone Jutsu!"
From three water shuriken suddenly turn into thirty, and the unfortunate trees look like someone just violently tore into them.
"This is enough, I'm satisfied with the result," Orochimaru said, appearing on the side and calling off the training session for now.
Team Seven has shown that they can work together, and their teamwork could still use a bit of adjusting, but Orochimaru didn't want to accidentally be killed by his own student's water style ninjutsu.
Honestly, how Kadoya managed to turn water into deadly weapons has become a mystery in Konoha by now. Their water ninjutsu needs to be large-scale or high-pressure to become lethal. While he can just clap his palm like the First Hokage and turn water into a lethal force.