Starting with the troublemakers of Konoha, the pressure extends throughout the entire ninja world.

Qingyu was staring blankly at the Rasengan in his palm, currently immersed in the joy of successfully creating the Rasengan.

Suddenly, a rustling sound came from the bushes.

A small snake peeked out from between the leaves, slid down the rock to his feet, and coiled up in a circle.

A moment later, Qingyu looked in the direction the little snake had come from.

A tall, slender figure wearing a hood slowly emerged from the shadows of the dense forest.

Although the person's face was covered by a hood, their fair skin was still visible.

Orochimaru took off his hood, revealing a face so pale it was almost transparent.

Its golden vertical pupils stared straight at Qingyu, its tongue licking the corner of its mouth like a snake's tongue, the movement very slow.

"Heh heh, it seems Tsunade has missed out on a promising talent."

A familiar, husky, yet magnetic voice rang out from my memory.

Qingyu's muscles tensed instantly.

I felt a suffocating sensation all over my body, as if I were being coiled by a python.

This sound is absolutely correct!

His right hand unconsciously slid a few inches toward his ninja tool pouch.

The brain completes risk assessment in almost a fraction of a second: one of the Legendary Sannin of Konoha.

Orochimaru, the future S-rank rogue ninja.

Neither running away nor taking action is a viable option now.

He forced his fingers back, lowering his guard and reducing his perceived threat.

If you dare to fight Orochimaru now, you could be labeled a rogue ninja tomorrow.

"So it's Lord Orochimaru. What brings you here to watch a nobody like me train?"

Orochimaru let out a very soft laugh.

"A nobody? I've heard your name mentioned by the old man quite often." He narrowed his vertical pupils slightly.

"I read your essay, and it was truly inspiring."

Qingyu's heart skipped a beat.

"However, I am not here today to appreciate that."

The air around them suddenly seemed to drop several degrees colder at Orochimaru's icy words.

Danzo's roots lie in the shadows, and his only effective protection is the title "Successor of the Will of Fire."

"It is the duty of every villager to give their heart to Konoha." Qingyu straightened his back.

Orochimaru stared at him for several seconds.

Then he laughed, not a polite chuckle.

It was the kind of laugh that genuinely made them laugh.

This guy tried to fool Orochimaru.

"Is that so? What I see in your eyes is not that view. What I see is... a thirst for knowledge."

Qingyu did not respond.

We have absolutely no idea what Orochimaru's intention was in saying those words.

He then quickly calculated how many layers of probing were behind that statement.

Orochimaru saw through his first layer of disguise with ease.

Of course, this is quite normal. In the original work, Orochimaru is not only a mad scientist, but also a succubus of Konoha.

With his immense personal charisma, Orochimaru has captivated countless people.

There's no other reason than one word: understanding.

"Just like you discovered the talents of Minato Namikaze and Nonou Yakushi."

"I've noticed you too. Become my apprentice, Qingyu-kun!"

The sound of the waterfall filled the space between the two sentences.

Qingyu knew that even though their names had been mentioned by Hiruzen Sarutobi several times, it was impossible for Orochimaru to personally take them as disciples.

Orochimaru seemed to have seen through his hesitation.

An almost candid expression appeared on his pale face.

"It's that kid Nawaki. Because you weren't accepted as a disciple by Tsunade, he felt he hadn't done a good job, so he came to me asking me to take you on as a disciple."

The answer was surprisingly simple.

There was no conspiracy, no scheming, just that Rope Tree felt sorry for his friends.

So they went to find the most difficult one of the three Sannin.

Of course, to everyone else, Orochimaru, with his cold and unpredictable personality, might just be one of his mentors.

The hot-tempered Tsunade, however, cherishes her older sister very much.

Qingyu remained silent for a moment.

He knew that Rope Tree owed him a friend's fee, but this amount far exceeded his expectations.

Is this the true value of having two Hokage grandfathers?

"After observing for a while, I happened to see you successfully create that spell under the waterfall."

"And something in your eyes makes me feel...we are the same kind of people."

Orochimaru spoke at a moderate pace.

"So I made a move, not because of Nawaki's request, but because of my admiration for you."

Qingyu mentally gave Orochimaru a perfect score.

The way he said those words was just right.

The word "appreciation" is used particularly precisely. It is not about approval or valuing, but about an equal, tacitly understood relationship.

If he weren't a time traveler, hearing someone appreciate everything about him so much would probably bring tears to his eyes and make him willing to go through fire and water for them.

I'd go through fire and water for you, Lord Orochimaru.

But he did not answer immediately.

The camouflage of the successor to the Will of Fire cannot be lost; Danzo's Roots are still watching from the shadows.

The third generation of telescopes may also be observing.

Orochimaru didn't urge him, but just watched him quietly, his vertical pupils showing the patience of a snake waiting for its prey to come closer.

"Qingyu-kun, could you demonstrate that technique again?"

Qingyu extended her right hand.

Chakra surged from his palm, the yellowish sphere hummed softly, and the mist from the waterfall was blown away by the swirling air currents.

Orochimaru didn't look at that technique.

He was looking into Qingyu's eyes.

Those eyes reflected the light of the spinning Rasengan, as focused as a freshly sharpened scalpel.

Orochimaru could tell at a glance that the technique required exceptional talent.

Compressing chakra to this density requires extreme control.

Give him some time, and he can reverse engineer this technique.

But learning a skill requires effort, while creating one requires talent.

That's a gap that can't be bridged by the amount of chakra or the speed of hand seals.

But Qingyu's eyes revealed that kind of talent.

That kind of pure, undisguised curiosity about the structure of the procedure itself.

A small snake emerged from Orochimaru's sleeve and coiled around his wrist.

He gently tucked the snake back into his sleeve, then put his hood back on, the shadow obscuring half his face.

"If you are interested in any forbidden techniques, feel free to let me know anytime."

"I'm sure we can have a deep, all-night discussion about those ninjutsu techniques."

He turned and walked slowly into the depths of the dense forest.

Qingyu stood still and looked down at the palm of her right hand.

The tingling sensation from the spinning Rasengan still lingered there.

It wasn't until he actually came into contact with Orochimaru that he was filled with awe.

Aoba was surprised to realize that Orochimaru was even more charismatic than he had imagined.

Otherwise, according to Konoha's tradition, Orochimaru would never be called "Cold Lord".

It should be called some kind of serpentine, shadowy reptile.

There may be some factors related to appearance, but the Konoha tradition is that the ugly are tortured, and the handsome are tortured too.

In the future, Might Guy and his son will be tortured because of the watermelon head, and Itachi Uchiha will be chased and pelted with stones by a group of children.

This shows just how low the quality of the Konoha villagers is!

But if it were Qingyu instead.

Then we must strike hard!