Chapter 21: Konoha Shaken—An Eight-Year-Old Genin Intercepted Orochimaru?

Faced with the combined efforts of Kakashi and Might Guy, along with a large number of ANBU providing support from the sidelines, even Orochimaru was no match for them.

Not to mention that Orochimaru was already injured.

His battle with Reiji earlier had also consumed a considerable amount of chakra.

Even Reiji couldn’t help wondering whether Orochimaru would actually manage to escape this time.

However—

Orochimaru was still Orochimaru.

After summoning Manda and letting the giant serpent rampage through the battlefield, he left behind a clone to draw the enemy’s fire while his real body quietly escaped underground using Earth Release.

"Uchiha Reiji, I’ll remember you."

Before the clone Orochimaru was destroyed, he left behind those words.

His voice was as cold and sinister as a venomous snake, yet there was also a hint of amusement in it.

Reiji remained expressionless.

But inwardly, he couldn’t help thinking again: What did I ever do to deserve this...?

He had inexplicably stumbled into this whole mess.

Still, he didn’t regret intercepting Orochimaru.

At the time, he simply hadn’t had any other choice.

Whether he allowed Orochimaru to leave or tried to escape himself, Orochimaru might have killed him along the way.

Alternatively, Sarutobi Shinnosuke could have shifted the blame for Orochimaru’s escape onto him afterward.

"Reiji, I’m sorry."

After the battle ended, Might Guy deactivated the Eight Gates and spoke with a face full of guilt.

"I was too careless. Orochimaru lured me away, and that left you in danger."

Reiji rolled his eyes weakly.

The aftereffects of the Eight Gates hadn’t worn off yet, and he didn’t even feel like moving.

In his opinion, they should never have gotten involved in something like intercepting Orochimaru in the first place!

This wasn’t even his job!

It was that old man Sarutobi Hiruzen who had let Orochimaru escape, and pursuing Orochimaru was the ANBU’s responsibility!

However, when the ANBU nearby heard Guy say this, they couldn’t help feeling awkward.

Because they had also been lured away by Orochimaru with a simple trick...

A whole group of ANBU had been played around by Orochimaru.

Meanwhile, Reiji, an eight-year-old child, had stubbornly held Orochimaru back until they returned.

And even then, they still hadn’t managed to capture Orochimaru...

Compared side by side, the ANBU felt even more ashamed.

Sarutobi Shinnosuke’s expression was particularly sour.

After Orochimaru escaped underground, he had now completely disappeared.

The great achievement of hunting down Orochimaru was no longer within Shinnosuke’s reach.

Worse still—

As the ANBU commander, he would have to bear the responsibility for the failed pursuit.

For a moment, he even felt resentful, thinking that it would have been better if Reiji had simply let Orochimaru escape.

That way, at least he would have had someone to shift the blame onto.

But now—

Not only could he no longer push the responsibility onto Reiji, the boy had actually become the hero who had held Orochimaru back until they returned!

The thought made Sarutobi Shinnosuke feel increasingly annoyed.

His expression became even uglier whenever he looked at Reiji.

Kakashi tried using his ninja hounds to track Orochimaru’s scent, but after failing, he gave up as well.

He then turned and walked over to Reiji, looking curious.

"At your age, you actually managed to hold Orochimaru back for that long. How did you do it?"

"I mainly bought quite a bit of time by talking to him. After that, I just relied on the Eight Gates to hold him off."

Reiji forced himself to move slightly, only to discover that his entire body was aching, so he simply lay flat on the ground.

"I should also thank you, Kakashi-senior. If you’d arrived any later, the duration of the Eight Gates would have ended."

As Might Guy’s student, Reiji had interacted with Kakashi many times, so the two were fairly familiar with each other.

"The Eight Gates?"

Kakashi was somewhat surprised.

He knew that Reiji followed Might Guy in high-intensity training every day.

But he hadn’t known that Reiji had already mastered the Eight Gates.

"Reiji can already maintain the Third Gate for more than a minute!"

Might Guy gave a thumbs-up, looking extremely proud.

"After opening the Third Gate, Reiji can even fight a Jonin for a short period of time!"

The words were like a massive boulder thrown into the lake of the ANBU’s hearts.

They all knew about the Eight Gates, understood how powerful this forbidden technique was, and knew how difficult it was to master!

Only by tempering the body day after day could one unleash such overwhelming power at a critical moment.

Some of the ANBU had also tried to master the Eight Gates, but most had failed.

Even Hatake Kakashi could only master the first two Gates at most.

Yet Reiji, an eight-year-old child, could actually open the Third Gate?

Furthermore, according to Might Guy, this child could fight a Jonin after opening the Eight Gates.

Didn’t that imply that his normal strength was already at the level of a Jonin?

The ANBU looked at one another.

Many of them felt deeply ashamed.

Not many ANBU possessed the strength to contend with a Jonin for a short period of time...

Many of them were still only Chunin.

"Well, looks like you’ll probably become famous after we return to Konoha," Kakashi said.

And that was exactly what happened.

After they returned to Konoha and the ANBU submitted their pursuit report, news of the battle quickly spread!

"Uchiha Reiji... held Orochimaru back for more than a minute?"

Sarutobi Hiruzen was so shocked that he nearly dropped the pipe from his mouth as he stared at his eldest son.

"That is indeed what happened."

Sarutobi Shinnosuke reluctantly nodded.

"His Sharingan had reached the two-tomoe stage, and he possesses a number of Fire Release and Genjutsu techniques that require no hand seals. He can also open the first three Gates of the Eight Gates, and Orochimaru was injured as well."

"However, Orochimaru probably wasn’t taking him seriously at first. That’s why the boy was able to stall him for enough time."

Sarutobi Hiruzen slowly nodded.

He stood and walked to the window, looking out over Konoha.

Light and shadow shifted in his eyes as he fell into thought.

At the Root base—

"He held Orochimaru back for more than a minute? Eight years old? Chunin-level strength? The Eight Gates?"

Shimura Danzo’s remaining left eye was sharp as he questioned the subordinate before him.

Only after receiving another confirmation from his subordinate did Danzo finally believe it.

"Uchiha Reiji... and that Uchiha Itachi as well. The Uchiha clan is becoming stronger and stronger..."

Similar scenes played out throughout Konoha.

After hearing about Reiji’s achievement, many clan heads sighed in amazement.

Some clan heads even remarked that possessing Chunin-level strength at eight years old was a talent almost comparable to Kakashi, who had become a Chunin at the age of six.

At the gates of Konoha—

Uchiha Itachi walked into the village with a vacant expression.

He had awakened his Sharingan.

Yet he wasn’t nearly as happy as he had imagined he would be.

During his previous mission, his squad had encountered an attack from a masked monster.

One of his teammates had died in front of him while protecting him.

And he had successfully awakened a one-tomoe Sharingan.

"Uchiha... the Sharingan..."

Uchiha Itachi touched the area around his eyes, an emotion of hatred rising within his heart.

"...What a sinful power."

Suddenly—

He thought of something.

A spark of life appeared in his eyes.

He hurried back to the Uchiha clan compound.

He didn’t even return home.

Instead, he immediately ran toward Reiji’s house.