The Birth of the Sage

It had been a week since Mizuki and Anko had taken on their rolls as Orochimaru's assistants.

It was clear that he did not trust them yet though, as they had seen nothing of his human experimentation or his tampering with Kekkei Genkai.

Instead, they had working to create jutsu, which surprised both Mizuki and Anko greatly.

Anko was surprised due to how ultimately challenging the task they were taking on was despite being genin.

Mizuki on the other hand, was surprised at the fact that they were taking on a task that was so close to Orochimaru so quickly.

Regardless of this, both Mizuki and Anko were able to create his first technique in three days.

Mizuki's technique was based on the fireball jutsu where one would shoot a large fireball out of their mouths.

Mizuki changed the shape manipulation of the technique from a ball, to a cone like shape that would start at his mouth for a short ranged breath attack.

After messing around with the hand seals, Mizuki came to the conclusion that the jutsu was best when he used the Boar, Horse and Tiger hand seals.

(A/N: I just chose random hand seals here, I know there is some vague system in place for hand seals but I couldn't find it)

Orochimaru then carefully recorded the jutsu's power, range, chakra cost, and other important factors before coming to a conclusion.

Orochimaru: "The jutsu is short range and deals decent damage, although any chuunin worth their salt could probably dodge it."

Orochimaru: "It is pretty cheap for chakra though so that's a plus and also has only three hand seals. Overall I rate it on the lower end of D Rank Jutsu, which is decent for a first time jutsu."

Orochimaru: "So, have a name in mind for it?"

Mizuki: "How about Fire Burp?"

Mizuki could notice Anko holding in her laughter as he suggested the name, and Orochimaru twitched slightly.

Orochimaru: "Fire Burp?"

Mizuki: "Because it is a fire style jutsu and overly weak, too weak to give it a good name"

Orochimaru shook his head as he recorded the jutsu into his catalogue, coming ever so slightly closer to meeting his goal of mastering all jutsu.

Anko, alternatively was actually able to create a jutsu that was slightly better than Mizuki's, at least as far as utility is concerned.

The jutsu in question used her lightning affinity in order to infuse senbon that she had thrown with electricity in order to shock her enemies.

It was based on a similar jutsu that Itachi had used when they were training where he sprayed his shuriken in fire chakra as he had thrown them.

Whilst Anko's jutsu was less destructive than Mizuki's, as it shocked opponents who came into contact with the senbon and even stunned them.

It also consumed much less chakra and only required two hand seals, making it much easier to use overall.

Regardless of this, her jutsu was also named as D rank, albeit in the middle of the rank as opposed to the bottom, and was dubbed "Sparky Pointies" by Anko, much to her and her teammate's amusement.

Mizuki and Anko were also incredibly busy with what they had learned in the library.

As they did not want to reveal that they knew how to use Shadow Clones to their sensei, they settled for simply not using them when they were in his office.

They decided that the area that they wanted to focus on first was Fuinjutsu, as seals was an area that they were both clueless about and this granted them the rare opportunity to learn them.

In the week that had passed, both Anko and Mizuki absorbed the knowledge that they could get from the library like sponges.

In just that week, they were able to perform the enclosing and unsealing techniques, and were currently in the middle of trying to find out how each is created.

However, their plans were interrupted when Orochimaru called both of them to the training room.

This surprised them both as they were never called there ever, as a sensei, Orochimaru always took the stance of approaching challenges individually.

Unlike what Kakashi or Jiraiya did with their students where they told them what they were going to teach them, Orochimaru did nothing of the sort.

He simply told them to approach him with what they wanted to learn, and with conditions, he would help them get access to resources available at his level.

Anko and Mizuki put their books and notes down as they noted where they were before getting up and walking down the hall to the training room.

Orochimaru was wearing the standard jonin outfit, a green flak jacket with a blue body glove underneath.

Although, one thing that was abnormal was that he had an overly large scroll hanging off of his lower back.

Orochimaru: "A deal is a deal, today I am going to teach you how to summon snakes."

Mizuki and Anko had looks of glee on their faces as they realized that they would finally learn the infamous summoning technique.

However, the look of glee on their faces was quickly replaced with a serious one as they looked towards their sensei and focused, anxious to learn how to perform the jutsu.

Orochimaru: "To using the summoning technique, one must first draw their own blood before welding the appropriate hand signs and then applying the blood to a surface."

Without pausing, Orochimaru continued his lecture.

Orochimaru: "Before you try that though, you must sign a contract with a certain animal so that you can actually summon them."

Anko: "What happens if you try the jutsu without signing a contract?"

Orochimaru: "The effects vary from person to person, but sometimes nothing happens, other times your entire chakra reserves are drained.

Orochimaru: "I have even seen people get summoned to someplace totally random, which can be dangerous for obvious reasons."

A/N: *cough* Jiraiya *cough*

Orochimaru: "Continuing on, the contract comes in the form of the scroll and the one you see on my back is the snake scroll."

Mizuki: "How do we sign the contract"

Orochimaru took the scroll off the harness on his back before tossing it on the ground, as it unwound in the process, showing a series of names written vertically.

Orochimaru: "Write your name with your blood on the scroll before leaving an imprint of the hand you wish to use for when you summon."

As soon as he said this, Orochimaru quickly executed the hand seals at a speed too quick for Mizuki to track before pressing his left hand onto the ground.

Orochimaru: "Summoning Jutsu"

Instantly, a snake that had ash grey scales appeared, circling around Orochimaru's body before quickly disappearing back to Ryuchi Cave in a puff of smoke.

Orochimaru: "The hand seals are Boar, Dog, Bird, Monkey, and Ram, in that order"

Immediately after they finished, Mizuki and Anko approached the scroll and kneeled down on the floor in order to reach it.

Mizuki and Anko bit into their thumbs, drawing blood as they then proceeded to write their names on the scroll, with Mizuki's being before Anko's.

However, where they differed is the hand that they used.

Mizuki used his thumb to dab his other fingers in blood before pressing his left hand into the scroll, imprinting his left as the one that would summon.

Alternatively, Anko used the same process however she used her right hand to summon the snakes.

Seeing that both of them were done recording their names on the scroll, Orochimaru swiped it up and placed it on his back before facing the now standing genin.

Orochimaru: "Now, it is just a matter of practicing the technique until you find the snake that will end up being your partner"

Anko: "Partner? I thought we could summon any snake"

Orochimaru: "That's right, whilst you can summon any snake, your partner is the one that you are the most familiar with and as a result will obey you and grow with you."

Seeing all of their questions answered, Orochimaru turned and left the genin to practice the jutsu.

Little did he know, that this moment would mark the birth of a being which reached the realm he never could, A Sage.