Naruto: I Became Orochimaru's Apprentice

Orochimaru sighed, looking at his now worthless body.

"Perhaps I should find a new one soon."

He stared at Teriyaki deviously.

"Boy, I have changed my mind. You will need to become slightly more adept at combat to leave. I want you to learn some jutsus, I will personally teach you some to speed up the process."

Teriyaki stared back, nodding his head calmly.

"If that's what you want, Master."

Perhaps this is the part where I can become relatively strong, Teriyaki thought.

"First I'll teach you the stealth technique that many ninjas use. It allows you to blend into your surroundings, it's perfect for spying. It's a nessecity for my subordinates."

Camouflage Technique:

Rank: C-Rank Type: Ninjutsu Description:This jutsu allows the user to blend into their environment by matching their body's appearance and chakra signature to the surroundings.

After one week, Teriyaki could use his flexibility to hide in large cracks in the wall. The technique wasn't too hard considering he had already practiced alot of chakra control techniques, learning chakra transfer through his sweat glands had been far harder.

"Next I'll teach you the substituion technique."

Substitution Jutsu 

Rank: E-Rank (Academy Level)Type: Ninjutsu (Basic)Description:This is one of the most basic techniques taught at the Ninja Academy. The user swaps their body with a nearby object (log, rock, or even an animal in some cases) at the moment of impact.

Orochimaru shot out with his tongue, sending it flying towards Teriyaki.

Teriyaki was engulfed by smoke and when it passed he had swapped places with a book.

"Good. Now you are more prepared. But your offensive power is still extremely weak. You only know one water jutsu and that's the extent of your offensive capabilities. I will teach you a valuable Kinjutsu skill, perfect for your skill level."

"This technique is a b-rank jutsu. The hardest you will have learnt so far, it is particuarly difficult because it is Kinjutsu."

Orochimaru led Teriyaki into a smaller chamber, this one filled with live snakes, ranging from tiny garden serpents to monstrous, pale-scaled constrictors. They slithered along the walls and ceiling, a living sea of muscle and instinct.

"Snake Binding Jutsu," Orochimaru began, "is a manifestation technique. You do not summon pre-existing snakes like with a contract — instead, you shape your chakra directly into serpentine forms, making them extensions of your will. It is a bridge between ninjutsu and your own understanding of biology."

Teriyaki's brow furrowed. "So, it's like a snake clone, but… I create snakes instead?"

Orochimaru nodded his head. ". These snakes will be from you — your chakra, your nerves, your will. They feel what you feel, and bind what you desire. And if you do it wrong…"

He gestured to the far corner, where a twisted pile of half-formed snake limbs lay, still twitching. Flesh fused with stone. It was enough to make Teriyaki swallow hard.

"You will die from your own incompetence."

The first three days were brutal repetition.

Teriyaki stood still while Orochimaru forced chakra into his arms, guiding his fingers into precise seals: Snake → Ram → Tiger → Snake.

"Too much chakra and you'll shred too much or too little of your own skin," Orochimaru said. "Too little and your snakes will dissolve before they touch the target, too much and the technique will be inefficient and could cost you your life in a long fight."

Teriyaki's first attempts were disasters — flaccid half-formed snakes that dripped onto the floor like melted wax, or worse, snakes that tried to bite him instead. By the end of Day 3, his hands trembled and his arms were covered in chakra burns.

On the fifth day, Orochimaru stood behind Teriyaki, hands placed over his shoulders. His fingers were unnaturally cold, but his grip was terrifiying powerful.

"Feel your chakra leave your body, but do not let it disconnect," Orochimaru whispered into his ear. "The snake is not a pet. It is released from your arm, stretched and reshaped. Treat it like an invader, and your body will reject it. Accept it as part of yourself."

For the first time, Teriyaki felt the flow click — chakra rolling down his arms like liquid metal. When he performed the seals, snakes sprouted from his wrists, their scales wet with his sweat. They lashed out, coiling around the training dummy, squeezing until the wood cracked.

He could feel it — their grip was his grip. Their tension was his tension. For a moment, he even felt the grain of the wood beneath their bellies. It was like his snake clones except... Animals which he could throw away with less cost, as he was sacrificing less flesh and chakra to form these ones.

Orochimaru blindfolded Teriyaki, leaving him in total darkness. Kabuto stood silently nearby, notebook in hand, recording every movement. Orochimaru's voice echoed in the dark.

"Snakes do not see like you do. They sense heat. They taste the air. You can see the world through their eyes with chakra."

Teriyaki's hands flew through the seals, sweat dripping down his face. The snakes burst from his arms, writhing blindly into the air — but when he focused his chakra into them, they found their way to the dummy without sight, wrapping around it in a suffocating grip.

"Good." Orochimaru's voice was almost proud.

"Two targets," Orochimaru said flatly. "One strike."

Teriyaki performed the seals, but this time Orochimaru launched two kunai at once — one towards a dummy, the other directly at Teriyaki's throat. Teriyaki panicked, the snakes lashed out wildly, and only half caught the kunai, the other half grabbing his own ankle by accident.

"Sloppy," Orochimaru sneered. "Again. Control is key for this technique, you must perfectly control the snakes you create."

As the days wore on, Orochimaru pushed Teriyaki to integrate his new enhanced flexibility into the technique.

"Why bind from the arms alone?" Orochimaru asked, coiling his own unnaturally long neck around Teriyaki's shoulders until they were almost nose-to-nose. "You can bind from anywhere. Your back, your legs, even your tongue if you train it enough. This is how you gain the advantage over opponents who are calm in battle, and send them into distress."

Teriyaki practiced binding while twisting his body into strange, snakelike shapes, launching snakes from his spine while backflipping off walls. It hurt, but the sensation was becoming natural — like his whole body could slither if needed. He felt like he was far more than human.

On the final day, Orochimaru stood across from Teriyaki, arms crossed.

"Bind me," he ordered.

Teriyaki froze. Orochimaru? Bind him? Surely he would just dodge.

"You will either succeed," Orochimaru said, "or I will break every bone in your arm to teach you what failure costs. I apologise for the bruteness, but it is for your own good."

Teriyaki's hands flew into the seals. Chakra burst from his skin. The snakes lashed out like spears, aiming for Orochimaru's limbs — but the Sannin slithered aside effortlessly. Teriyaki redirected the snakes mid-air, twisting his arms into knots, forcing his own body to bend unnaturally to keep the binding connection alive as he pumped chakra into the snakes, letting him control them even more.

The snakes caught Orochimaru's sleeve for half a second — enough to tear a piece of fabric — before Orochimaru dissolved into mud and reappeared behind him.

"Acceptable," Orochimaru said softly, touching the torn sleeve. "You're ready to survive. Barely. I suppose it's a good thing I'm injured or else you would be getting broken to bits right now."

Teriyaki's lungs burned, but he stood tall. He had learnt the B Rank Jutsu: Snake Binding.

He practiced it one more time.

Snake → Ram → Tiger → Snake.

Two snakes sprinted out from his palm and sputtered all over the floor.

"There." He grinned. He had passed every test, could he leave now?