Orochimaru personally demonstrated the Summoning Teique, and with a burst of smoke, a rge blue snake appeared.

  The blue snake raised its head, its golden eyes gleaming as it spoke in a human voice. "Lord Orochimaru," it greeted respectfully.

  Orochimaru's pierg gaze remained calm as he addressed the serpent. "Bring out the tract scroll."

  The snake opes wide mouth, its body writhing as it regurgitated the scroll used to form tracts with Ryūchi Cave.

  Turning to Sora, Orochimaru expined, "Unroll the scroll, sign your name in blood, and press your bloody handprint onto it with your dominant hand. This will bind you to Ryūchi Cave's summoning tract."

  Sora carefully unrolled the scroll, the surface slightly sticky from the serpent's saliva. As his eyes sed the names, he noticed the st signature beloo Orochimaru, but the other names were unfamiliar.

  Without hesitation, Sora bit his finger, letting a drop of blood pool on his fiip. He signed his name on the scroll and then pressed a bloody handprih it.

  After pleting the tract, Sora rolled the scroll back up and ha to the blue snake.

  The serpent obediently swallowed the scroll bato its stomad said, "Lord Orochimaru, Master Sora, I will return to Ryūchi Cave now."

  Another plume of smoke enveloped the blue snake, and when it cleared, the creature had vanished.

  Orochimaru then pulled out another scroll and tossed it to Sora.

  "This scroll tains one of my secret teiques," Orochimaru expined. "Study it on your own. If you enter anything you don't uand, take note of it. I will returwo weeks to answer your questions."

  He tinued, outlining Sora's training pn. "Your m training—physical ditioning aion exercises—will remain the same. However, your afternoon training will ge. There is o tinue practising low-level ninjutsu.

  "Now that you have obtaihe Uchiha 's Fire Release teiques, you will foastering them. I reviewed the scroll, and the Fireball Jutsu and Great Fire Annihition teiques require mastery of both form transformation and Nature Transformation for fire-based chakra.

  "Since you already have experieh form transformation and Nature Transformation of lightning-based chakra, I won't guide you on those fuals again. Figure out how to apply what you've learo the fire attribute.

  "In addition to this, you will practice the Summoning Teique during your afternoon sessions. Once you've pletely mastered it, you may proceed to train in my secret teique.

  "anize your time wisely," Orochimaru instructed.

  He observed Sora with a faint smirk, clearly fident in his pupil.

  Sora, known for his diligend self-discipline, rarely needed supervisioe the heavier training regimen, he felt motivated.

  'I definitely make breakthrough progress if I follow this pn,' Sora thought, his resolve strengthening as he envisioned his goals.

  "Alright," Orochimaru said, his tone calm yet anding. "You begin your training. I have matters to attend to, so I'll take my leave. If an emergency arises, you fi the Hokage Building. Once you've mastered the Summoning Teique, you also summon a snake from Ryūchi Cave to reach me directly."

  "Uood, Orochimaru-sensei," Qianyu replied with a bow of respect.

  As Orochimaru departed, Sora immediately immersed himself in the raining pn, driven by the determination to grow stronger.

  Uchiha pound

  Upourning to the Uchiha pound, Uchiha Fugaku went straight to his father, Uchiha Masaki.

  Seeing his soer, Uchiha Masaki wasted no time. "Fugaku, how did it go? Sora must have accepted the two scrolls and the goodwill gesture from the Uchiha , right?"

  Before Fugaku could respond, Masaki tinued, his tone self-assured. "There's no way he would refuse. Those scrolls tain the Fire Release teiques passed down through geions of the Uchiha . Even Orochimaru ot replicate their value. Not to mention the Sharingan training tips—he must be grateful to the Uchiha ."

  However, Fugaku's expression darkened, and he hesitated before replying. "Father… Sora didn't accept our overture. He… burhe scrolls."

  For a moment, Uchiha Masaki was stunned, his expression flickeriween disbelief and anger. "He burhe scrolls?" he repeated, his voice ced with incredulity.

  Fugaku nodded grimly. "Yes. He also made it explicitly clear that he does not accept the Uchiha 's apology."

  Masaki's fist smmed against the table with a thunderous crack, shattering it into splinters. His face turned red with fury, and veins bulged on his neck as he shouted, "That boy is nothing more than an outcast we abandoned! Who does he think he is? He's not a member of the Hokage's lineage!"

  Masaki's rage filled the room, his breathing heavy as he struggled to tain his emotions. Fugaku, equally angered, remained silent, his own pride wounded by Sora's as.

  The room fell into an oppressive silence, broken only by Masaki's boured breaths. After a moment, he exhaled deeply, his face regaining its posure. Though his anger simmered beh the surface, he forced himself to think clearly.

  Masaki's tourned cold and calcuted. "If that boy Sora has no sense of shame, we will leave him to his own devices. Fugaku, there's something I need you to do."

  "Yes, Father," Fugaku replied, standing straighter. "What is it?"

  "I'll call for a meeting tomorrow," Masaki said sternly. "From now on, you are to closely monitor the , especially those members proo causing trouble. Keep an eye o all times.

  "If you find anyone engaging in reckless behaviour, report it to me immediately. I will hahe situation personally.

  "The Uchiha must begin ging now. If we dey any further, the sequences could be catastrophic. Fugaku, I foresee turmoil in the ninja world within the year. When that time es, Konoha will have no choice but to rely on the Uchiha 's strength.

  "This war will be our opportunity—our ce to show the entire vilge that the Uchiha is indispensable. But if we tih our arrogance, our downfall will be iable. You know the attitude of our smen. If we emerge victorious, their pride will only grow, and they'll act even more recklessly.

  "ge must start now. If we fail, and the Hokage decides to take a against the Uchiha after the war, it may be the end of acy. We ot allow that to happen during eion."

  Fugaku's expression grew serious as he absorbed his father's words. "Uood, Father. I'll take responsibility for monit the ."

  After Fugaku left, Uchiha Masaki's thoughts lingered on Sora, his anger and unease simmerih his calm demeanour.

  'That boy has bee untouchable,' Masaki thought bitterly.

  Sora was now protected not only by Orochimaru but also by Sarutobi Hiruzen and even Uzumaki Mito. When Sora first returo Konoha, Uzumaki Mito proposed adopting him, though Sarutobi Hiruzen ultimately rejected the idea.

  Still, Uzumaki Mito, a member of the Senju d a formidable figure in her ht would undoubtedly shield Sora if needed. With such powerful allies, Sora had little reason to fear the Uchiha .

  'He no longer aowledges the Uchiha , and if he grows stronger and bees part of the Hokage's inner circle, he'll surely wainst us at every turn,' Masaki thought, his hands g tightly.

  But no matter how much Masaki resented Sora, he khe boy was beyond his reach—at least for now.

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