Uchiha's personal opinion

This reminded him of his previous life when he lived in a cramped and messy rented room in Shanghai during the "return of spring" weather, with a sticky, smelly, and pervasive musty odor.

Fortunately, I don't have to worry about buying a house in this lifetime.

Uchiha Tokumitsu inexplicably breathed a sigh of relief.

But then I thought it was a bit ridiculous. Why would someone who has transmigrated and been reborn still be attached to those unpleasant things from their past life?

I thought about it for a while, but I still can't figure it out.

Then let's just stop thinking about it.

Life is fleeting, like grass and trees in autumn, coming like wind and rain and leaving like dust. To be able to live a second life is already a wonderful thing that others envy, so why bother with these things?

Uchiha Tokumitsu swiftly gathered up the ninja tools scattered around the training ground, preparing to complete today's ninja tool throwing training.

Originally, he had arranged to meet with Hatake Sakumo to discuss the reconstruction and strengthening of the mobile force, but a special mission came up and the employer specifically designated Hatake Sakumo to carry it out. With no other choice, Hatake Sakumo had to send a message to Uchiha Tokumitsu, who had been stood up, and hurriedly went out to carry out the mission himself.

Since the meeting place between the two was the Jonin training ground in the village, Uchiha Tokumitsu unusually did not bring any guards or attendants. Moreover, in accordance with the guiding spirit of "since we're already here" from his previous life, he took the opportunity to try out the training ground he had never been to before.

Although he was born into a wealthy family in this life, Uchiha Tokumitsu still did not have the habit of extravagance. In particular, he was very careful to protect his personal belongings. Who knows if some mysterious ninjutsu that could track or curse objects would suddenly appear in the ninja world and come at a critical moment.

After tidying up the ninja tools, Uchiha Tokumitsu habitually spread out his mental energy to scan them, so as not to miss anything.

There are outsiders!

Although it's normal for people to come and go on the training ground, the information fed back from my mental energy indicated that there was a person in a crouching position on the treetop about 100 meters away, facing me as if observing me. That person was obviously not an ordinary user of the training ground.

Without a second thought, Uchiha Tokumitsu casually flung the shuriken he had just collected toward the treetop where the imaginary enemy was, while simultaneously pulling out a summoning scroll containing a large number of explosive tags from the scroll sheath on his upper body.

"Fire Release: Great Fireball Technique!"

Throwing ninja tools is just for probing, and scrolls are for defense. The proper probing attack of the Uchiha clan is usually a fireball to the face.

At the same time, his hands seemed to hang down casually, and thin, almost invisible special chakra wires flew out from his sleeves, spreading outwards under the control of the chakra.

"Water Escape·Water Formation Wall!"

A simple water-style ninjutsu blocked Uchiha Tokumitsu's fireball attack.

The sorcerer's voice was a little hoarse, but it also had a sinister quality.

Amidst the thick smoke and dust generated by the collision of water and fire, a young man with long black hair and pale skin emerged, dressed in a Konoha Jonin uniform.

Although his face is handsome with a touch of wickedness, what is most impressive are his long, golden pupils that resemble those of a venomous snake and his purple eyeshadow that extends to the wings of his nose.

It's Orochimaru!

Uchiha Tokumitsu frowned, not expecting to encounter such a troublesome person at this time.

He had assumed it was someone from an organization like the Anbu or Root that was spying on him, and he was even thinking of teaching them a lesson to vent his anger. But it turned out to be Orochimaru, that troublesome and difficult person.

It seems that this time he has collected the check-in records of all three disciples of the current Hokage.

“It is I, Deguang-kun.”

Orochimaru stopped about ten meters away from Uchiha Tokumitsu, and with an indescribable wicked smile, politely bowed slightly to greet him.

Ten meters is a very delicate distance.

It can show respect when meeting for the first time and take into account the other party's wariness; at the same time, it is a very suitable distance for launching ninja tool throwing and single-target attack ninjutsu. Moreover, for taijutsu masters, a distance of ten meters is not much different from close combat.

"Orochimaru……"

Although Uchiha Tokumitsu was somewhat wary, he did not show any emotion on the surface.

He simply raised his hands slightly, clenched his fingers, and silently retracted the specially made chakra wires distributed around him into his sleeves.

Orochimaru also looked around in slight surprise.

After briefly demonstrating his chakra control and ninja tool manipulation skills to impress Orochimaru, Uchiha Tokumitsu decided to stop while he was ahead.

"Good day, Tokumitsu-kun." Orochimaru's smile faded, and he nodded again to Uchiha Tokumitsu with a slightly serious expression. "I apologize for disturbing you..."

"Good day, Orochimaru, Jonin." Uchiha Tokumitsu nodded politely in return to Orochimaru.

The two fell silent.

Uchiha Tokumitsu remained unwavering in his guard. It's unknown whether Orochimaru had completed his body modification at this point, transforming himself into an indestructible human-skinned snake.

Orochimaru didn't know what to say.

He always felt that Uchiha Tokumitsu's gaze was wandering over his neck, heart, groin, knees and other vital areas. His strong sense of danger was reminding him that the young man in front of him had very bad intentions!

After a while, Orochimaru managed a few dry laughs, barely breaking the deadlock.

"Is Deguang training alone?"

“Yes, come and try out the village’s training ground.” Uchiha Tokumitsu stared directly at Orochimaru, his left hand lightly tapping the tsuba of his katana.

"That's quite rare. It's unusual for Jonin from various ninja clans to come to the village's training grounds. They usually train in their own clan's training grounds using secret techniques." Orochimaru felt the atmosphere of the conversation suddenly improve. "Especially the Uchiha clan. I've never seen an Uchiha ninja come to the village's training grounds before."

Orochimaru's words were a bit verbose, while Uchiha Tokumitsu's answer was very concise.

"My pleasure."

Even Orochimaru, known for his cold and aloof nature, was speechless at Uchiha Tokumitsu's words.

No wonder the Uchiha clan had no allies or friends in the village and was disliked by everyone!

Orochimaru was internally ranting.

"De Guang-kun... seems somewhat wary of me?" Orochimaru took a slight breath, shedding any unnecessary pretense and speaking frankly.

“Yes.” Uchiha Tokumitsu nodded.

Orochimaru's nostrils twitched slightly, and his lips twitched. "Tokumitsu-kun is certainly outspoken, but... why is that?"

He was indeed very curious. He first heard about Uchiha Tokumitsu from his teammate Jiraiya, who described him as a ruthless, bloodthirsty, and misguided teenager in dire need of psychological correction.

However, after returning to the village last night, he received slightly different information while chatting with Tsunade. In her description, Uchiha Tokumitsu was a ninja clan heir who was good at disguise, ambitious, arrogant, and eyeing the Hokage position.

However, neither Jiraiya nor Tsunade's descriptions of Uchiha Tokumitsu match the Uchiha Tokumitsu of this moment.

“Your strength… is very strong.” Uchiha Tokumitsu continued bluntly, his fingers, which had been lightly tapping the hilt of his sword, now gripped it loosely. “Moreover, you are Hiruzen-sensei’s disciple.”

“Actually, there’s no need to be so… wary.” Orochimaru spread his hands in a friendly gesture, carefully choosing his words, and said slowly, “I was just passing by the training ground and took a look out of curiosity. I meant no harm…”

"Since you're curious, would you be interested in a match, Jonin Orochimaru?" Uchiha took the initiative to issue a challenge.

Orochimaru was slightly taken aback.

"This is the first time someone has said something like that to me..." Orochimaru nodded slightly with a wicked smile. "Since it's Tokumitsu-kun's request, I can't very well..."

Before he could finish speaking, Orochimaru suddenly ducked and lunged forward, appearing in front of Uchiha Tokumitsu as if using a shrinking technique.

"……reject."

The unfinished words floated in the air as he suddenly moved forward, followed by—

"Hidden Shadow Serpent Hand!"

Orochimaru's left hand reached for Uchiha Tokumitsu's throat, and several venomous snakes emerged from his sleeve, intertwining and writhing, their tongues and fangs flailing wildly, as if they wanted to devour him.

only--

In Orochimaru's view, Uchiha Tokumitsu, who seemed to be caught off guard by the sudden attack, shattered like a broken mirror just as Orochimaru's left hand was about to choke him.

"Sharingan - Mirror Heaven and Earth Reversal Technique".

Uchiha Tokumitsu stood about five meters in front of Orochimaru and spoke calmly.

The crimson three-tomoe Sharingan slowly rotated, the small katana at his waist was already drawn and held in reverse with his left hand, while his right hand held a "Tiger" seal.

"not good!"

Orochimaru was startled.

But it was too late to stop and dodge.

"Fire Release: Dragon Fire Technique!"

Although the Dragon Fire Technique is a C-rank fire-style ninjutsu, when wielded by Uchiha Tokumitsu, its speed and power are both extremely formidable.

Orochimaru, unable to dodge in time, was struck squarely by the fire pillar. Before he could even scream, he was burned to a crisp by the close-range fire-style ninjutsu, and the venomous snake on his arm turned to ashes under the intense heat.

"Click".

The charred corpse, which was maintaining a forward-leaning standing posture, seemed unable to support its body weight at the knees. With a "crack," its lower leg broke off, and the corpse fell to the ground.

Uchiha Tokumitsu frowned as he looked at the charred corpses before him, their features indistinguishable.

Two minutes later, he slowly spoke, "Orochimaru, Jonin, may you come out now?"

"As expected of a genius from the Uchiha clan..."

A sticky hand emerged from the charred corpse's mouth, shoving its opening open, and a living, sticky Orochimaru crawled out.

Even the clothes he was wearing were still intact.

But this is absolutely disgusting.

Witnessing all this, Uchiha Tokumitsu frowned, feeling a strong wave of discomfort in his stomach.

He had thought Orochimaru's Orochi-ryu Substitution Technique was about tearing off the charred surface, but he never expected it to look so disgusting.

"Orochimaru, with your talent in ninjutsu, there's no need to make your ninjutsu so disgusting, is there?" Uchiha Tokumitsu swallowed hard, suppressing the stomach acid that seemed to be churning up.

"Don't worry about these trivial details..." The new version of Orochimaru twisted his neck with a "crackling" sound and mobilized his chakra to burn off the slime on his body.

Orochimaru, now a charming but wicked young man, stands before me once more.

"Tokuko-kun's genjutsu seems different from other Uchiha Jonin." Orochimaru had a smile on his face, his eyes almost narrowed into slits.

"The power of ninjutsu naturally varies from person to person." Uchiha Tokumitsu casually twirled his sword before sheathing it.

"But... when exactly did Tokuko-kun activate his Sharingan and cast a genjutsu? I had no idea." Orochimaru had a smile on his face, but it was obvious at a glance that it was just a fake smile.

The icy snake eyes swept over Uchiha Tokumitsu, their gaze cold and venomous, like a black mamba about to devour someone, yet also carrying a hint of barely perceptible greed.

"The Sharingan is the source of the Uchiha clan's greatest power." Uchiha Tokumitsu raised his chin arrogantly. "Your every move is under my watchful eye."

Orochimaru, however, withdrew his gaze.

"The Sharingan..." Orochimaru muttered to himself, his head bowed as he looked at his bent and raised hands. "The ninja clan... the bloodline limit... what an enviable power..."

Although they didn't actually fight, in just this one round, Orochimaru understood the difference between himself and the powerful bloodline ninja clans.

Perhaps he is more proficient in ninjutsu, perhaps he has more combat experience, perhaps he has more chakra... but in the face of the Uchiha clan's unreasonable bloodline limit, all differences and gaps seem to be forcibly erased.