"For a ninja, staying alive is the most important thing."
Orochimaru casually draped the towel he had used to dry his hands over a rack on the experiment table, then turned around.
Those golden, slit-pupiled eyes settled on Qingyu. He planned to teach him an Earth Release Ninjutsu.
"Today, I'll teach you an Earth Release Ninjutsu."
Unlike the teachers at the Academy, he didn't start with the most basic chakra theory. Instead, he went straight to something more practical.
Orochimaru led Qingyu outside. He raised his right hand, his long, pale fingers forming several hand seals.
The instant he formed the final seal, the hard stone tiles beneath Orochimaru's feet rippled like water. His whole body sank silently into the ground, as if he were submerging himself.
Qingyu stayed where he was, his gaze sweeping over the cracks and then across the surrounding ground.
Orochimaru had simply burrowed into the earth.
The next second, the ground beneath Qingyu's feet suddenly cracked open.
A hand reached up from underground and firmly grabbed his ankle.
The hand's grip was carefully controlled. It kept Qingyu from moving without hurting him.
Qingyu looked down, and Orochimaru's head emerged from the ground.
"This is Earth Style: Headhunter Jutsu."
Orochimaru let go and rose out of the ground. The spot beneath his feet returned to its original state on its own, and even the cracks vanished.
"By using Earth Release to burrow underground, you can launch a surprise attack before your enemy realizes what's happening."
"Against a ninja far weaker than yourself, one move is often enough to finish them."
Qingyu's eyes lit up.
"This is a great Ninjutsu for escaping."
He said it quite frankly.
"If you can't win, just burrow underground and leave. And while you're hiding down there, you can withstand a lot of damage and keep yourself alive."
Orochimaru was straightening his sleeves. At those words, his hands paused ever so slightly.
He looked up and studied the black-haired, dark-eyed child before him anew.
When most people learned a new Ninjutsu, their first thought was how to use it to attack, how to defeat their opponent, or how to prove their own strength.
That was a ninja's instinct, and a child's nature.
But Qingyu's reaction was entirely different.
His first thought was to run away and stay alive.
The corners of Orochimaru's mouth slowly curled up, as if he'd heard something that genuinely pleased him.
"Qingyu, what do you think a ninja's first priority should be?"
Rather than give his opinion directly, Orochimaru asked him a question.
"Surviving."
Qingyu answered without hesitation.
That was truly what he thought.
As long as he kept living, the Trait System meant his future was limitless.
"Only by staying alive can you have a future."
Orochimaru was somewhat surprised.
He hadn't expected a six-year-old child to understand that better than the adult ninjas on the battlefield.
It reminded him of his previous student.
Tsunade's younger brother, Nawaki.
That child had been a fine talent, too.
He'd been cheerful and passionate, like a fire that never went out. Wherever he went, he warmed everyone around him.
But that very cheerfulness had also made him too carefree.
And with the enemy's treachery, Nawaki had died young in an Explosive Tag blast, without even leaving behind an intact body.
Orochimaru had witnessed it with his own eyes.
From that day on, he had fully understood how fragile life was.
Life was like a bubble in a test tube. The slightest touch could make it burst—meaningless and worthless.
That was why he had begun to pursue immortality.
Only eternal life could bear the weight of eternal truth.
"Qingyu... no, Qingyu-kun."
Orochimaru pulled himself out of his thoughts and focused on Qingyu again.
"Since awakening your Sharingan, have you noticed any changes?"
Qingyu raised his eyes and met those golden, slit-pupiled ones.
Under that gaze, it felt as if a snake were slowly crawling up his spine, its cold scales scraping against his skin.
Even when Orochimaru did nothing, his natural aura of pressure made people instinctively want to step back.
But Qingyu didn't retreat.
He met Orochimaru's gaze openly.
After all, Orochimaru couldn't cast Genjutsu through his eyes.
But Qingyu could.
When you gazed into the abyss, the abyss gazed back.
Orochimaru seemed to realize something and instinctively lowered his gaze a little, letting it settle on the bridge of Qingyu's nose.
It was an instinctive response to someone with the Sharingan.
Years of habit had been etched into his muscle memory.
Only after making that adjustment did Orochimaru scoff inwardly.
Qingyu was just a child.
What threat could a One-Tomoe Sharingan pose to him?
"Yes."
Qingyu nodded, his expression growing more serious.
"I feel like I've been wasting time all along."
"There are so many Ninjutsu in the world waiting for me to learn. If I didn't have the Sharingan, I'd probably spend my whole life on that."
Orochimaru's gaze rose again and settled on Qingyu's dark eyes.
According to his research and the intelligence left behind by the Second, Senju Tobirama, members of the Uchiha Clan were consumed by hatred after awakening their eyes.
As the Sharingan evolved, that emotional distortion grew more severe. They became more obsessive, more extreme, and their hearts filled with dangerous thoughts.
Uchiha Clan members often did things that were inexplicable, hysterical, and impossible for others to understand.
According to this theory, an Uchiha who was cheerful and kind before awakening their eyes could undergo a complete transformation afterward, becoming utterly evil.
And someone like Qingyu, who had awakened his eyes from birth, was almost the perfect example of the phrase "an Uchiha born evil."
Yet from what Orochimaru had observed during this time, Qingyu hadn't shown any extreme tendencies.
The child was perfectly normal.
He was even more rational than most Uchiha who had awakened their eyes.
That only made Orochimaru more curious.
And now, Qingyu's words seemed to trigger some kind of fundamental code inside Orochimaru.
Pursuing jutsu.
Yearning for time.
Something about Qingyu made Orochimaru feel that the child was a little like him.
They were unlike those short-sighted ninjas, frogs at the bottom of a well who knew nothing of the world beyond it. They had stepped outside the bounds of convention.
"Heh heh heh..."
Standing before the experiment table, he narrowed his golden, slit-pupiled eyes slightly.
You're such a delightful child.
[Detected collectible trait: Serpent's Gaze] [D-Rank Trait: Serpent's Gaze] [Effect: You possess a degree of caution beyond that of ordinary people. Even amid chaos, you can quickly work out the most advantageous choice for yourself.]
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