Reborn in the Shinobi World with an Arceus Inside

Orochimaru. The most profound memory Kaito had of him was his incredible survivability. In terms of ninjutsu, he probably hadn't learned many of his truly disgusting techniques yet. However, when it came to pure combat intelligence, Orochimaru was likely the strongest of the Sannin. His meticulous mind wouldn't leave any openings for Kaito to easily exploit.

This would probably be the most difficult battle yet. A careful thought surfaced in Kaito's mind: 'This time, I'm afraid I'll have to make good use of my tongue.'

He deactivated the Bulk Up technique, and his body returned to normal. A tearing pain shot through his muscles, especially in his right arm, which was already bruised and swollen. The intense pain made him grimace.

"It seems the side effects of your secret technique are quite severe. That's a relief," Orochimaru said in his hoarse voice.

"It's fine. I'm used to it. It's no big deal. Besides..." Kaito placed his relatively unharmed left hand on his chest. Accompanied by the clear chime of a bell, a soft white light enveloped his entire body, and the bruising faded at a speed visible to the naked eye.

"That's... medical ninjutsu?!" Tsunade, who was healing herself, couldn't help but stare, her eyes wide. "He knows medical ninjutsu, too?! But it seems different from mine."

Jiraiya was equally astonished. "How does he know how to do everything?"

Orochimaru's expression grew more serious, but he didn't interrupt the healing, waiting quietly until the white light around Kaito had faded.

"You surprise me. I didn't think someone as cold-looking as you would adhere to so-called fair play, just like Jiraiya," Kaito said, brushing his damp hair back and smiling at Orochimaru.

"You misunderstand," Orochimaru said flatly. "While healing can mend your injuries, it requires a large amount of your chakra in exchange. After two battles, your chakra should be nearly depleted, shouldn't it? Can you still use those secret techniques for explosive speed and power?"

"Hmm, who knows?" Kaito's expression didn't change in the slightest.

"Putting on a front." Orochimaru reached behind him and pulled out a short sword, which unfolded into a large shuriken. "Your taijutsu was enough to defeat Tsunade. I won't humiliate myself by fighting you up close."

He threw the large shuriken with great force and simultaneously formed hand seals. "Shuriken Shadow Clone Jutsu!"

The single shuriken multiplied in mid-air, and a swarm of identical copies flew continuously toward Kaito.

"Much more accurate than Jiraiya's," Kaito commented, drawing one of the swords from his waist for the first time.

With a few swishing sounds, he cleanly sliced the shuriken into puffs of smoke.

"Swordsmanship this time?" Orochimaru had no intention of giving Kaito a moment to breathe. He began to form hand seals again. "Earth Release: Earth Dragon Bullet!"

A giant dragon head made of mud rose from the ground and spat large clumps of mud at Kaito.

Kaito dodged left and right, moving like a slippery loach to avoid all the mud projectiles, getting closer and closer to Orochimaru.

He was met with a fierce gale of wind expelled from Orochimaru's mouth. "Wind Release: Great Breakthrough!"

"I can do that, too." Kaito puffed out his cheeks and exhaled an equally powerful gust of wind. But this wind carried an icy chill, overpowering Orochimaru's and instantly causing ice crystals to form on his body.

Seizing the opportunity, Kaito swept his sword across, cutting the Orochimaru before him in half at the waist.

"Orochimaru!" Jiraiya cried out nervously.

Tsunade, standing beside him, covered her ears and said irritably, "Can't you have a little faith in Orochimaru? Is he someone who can be taken down that easily?"

"Oh, oh, right." Jiraiya turned his head and saw that the bisected Orochimaru had turned into mud. "An Earth Clone. You scared me."

Kaito wasn't surprised in the slightest. If Orochimaru could be defeated that easily, he wouldn't have become the great future villain he was destined to be.

A rustling sound arose. He looked toward the edge of the forest and saw many small snakes slithering rapidly toward him.

"You plan to use these little snakes against me? You underestimate me."

Kaito stomped lightly on the ground, releasing a wave of icy air that instantly froze all the approaching snakes solid.

"I'm not underestimating you. I just don't want to be defeated by one of your unexpected moves," Orochimaru's hoarse voice echoed across the clearing, but it was too ethereal to pinpoint the source. "Terrifying speed like a golden flash, monstrous strength comparable to Tsunade's, sharp swordsmanship, medical ninjutsu, and the ability to use Fire and Ice Release without hand seals... How much more are you hiding?"

"Now that Orochimaru mentions it, I didn't realize the kid had so many weird moves. He can't be an adult yet, right? What a freak. No, wait!" Jiraiya looked as if he had just remembered something, and his expression became incredibly strange. "Could it be that he's..."

"Jiraiya, what are you talking about? He's what?" Tsunade asked, puzzled.

"It's nothing." Jiraiya shook his head with a foolish grin, but his eyes were fixed firmly on Kaito, a hint of hope within them.

"I'm hiding a lot of things. You'll just have to slowly uncover them," Kaito replied.

"However, one thing I am certain of is that you have no sensory abilities, so you cannot find where I am hiding. I already stand in an invincible position."

"But you can't defeat me, either," Kaito said, casually swatting away a kunai that came flying from behind his back. He smiled. "Since you want to drag this out, let's have a little chat."

Using a large-scale Fire or Earth Release technique might have forced Orochimaru out, but unfortunately, Kaito didn't have that much energy left.

"For our topic, how about we start with simple preferences?"

Kaito leisurely deflected kunai and shuriken coming from all directions, dodging the ones with explosive tags attached, and continued, "In terms of food, I like fried chicken and skewers. To drink, it's obviously Happy Otaku Water. In my spare time, I like to read novels and play games. What about you? Don't tell me you spend all your time training?"

"I know this one!" Before Orochimaru could answer, Jiraiya shouted, "This guy Orochimaru, he loves to just space out. Occasionally, he'll take out his little snakes to play with. By the way, my favorite thing is beautiful women, especially Tsunade. In my spare time, my favorite thing to do is go to the bath—Oof!"

POW!

Tsunade finally couldn't take it anymore and decked Jiraiya with one punch. "You idiot! Don't be a bad influence!"

"Hahahaha! You guys are so interesting." Kaito couldn't help but laugh. "It's great to meet you while you're all so full of life."

"Of course we are," Tsunade couldn't help but laugh as well. She could sense that Kaito held no real malice toward them.

But Orochimaru remained silent.

Kaito couldn't resist playing his trump card. "Orochimaru, I can see the confusion in your eyes. Don't tell me you still don't know what it is you truly want?"

"To live a life without a goal is a truly sad thing. You will gradually grow tired of everything around you. You might even lose the will to live."

After a moment of silence, Orochimaru's figure appeared at the edge of the forest. He stepped out from the shadows, his expression unreadable. "My goal is to master every jutsu in this world."

"Oh, really? I don't believe you."

Even Kaito, who knew the plot, didn't know what Orochimaru truly wanted. Was it eternal life, the pursuit of the world's truths, or simply the desire to acquire knowledge that interested him?