If You Wouldn't Mind, I'd Like to Call You Father

Orochimaru's laughter echoed through the command tower.

There was no attempt to hide it.

This was the first time Orochimaru had truly laughed out loud tonight.

Qian Ye stood frozen in place.

The ointment on his butt was still giving off a cooling sensation.

But that coolness could not suppress the frantic pounding in his chest.

Orochimaru slowly reined in his smile.

Those golden vertical pupils locked firmly onto Qian Ye's face.

"Your name is Qian Ye, right?"

Orochimaru spoke his name.

Qian Ye immediately nodded in response.

"Yes, Lord Orochimaru."

Orochimaru walked up to Qian Ye.

Less than half a meter separated them.

Qian Ye could smell the heavy medicinal scent on Orochimaru.

Mixed into that scent was the cold, gloomy air of someone who had gone too long without sunlight.

Orochimaru looked down at the twelve-year-old boy, his tone carrying undisguised appreciation.

"You're very interesting."

"More interesting than the vast majority of so-called geniuses I've met."

Qian Ye's heart abruptly skipped a beat.

He knew he had won his gamble.

Orochimaru had not treated him as a heretic and disposed of him.

Instead, Orochimaru had developed a strong interest in him.

He had secured half of this powerful backing.

Orochimaru turned and walked toward the enormous tactical map.

"I need someone around me I can talk to. Are you willing to become my disciple?"

Orochimaru spoke those words with his back to Qian Ye.

Qian Ye's eyes instantly widened.

A disciple?

Orochimaru wanted to take him as a disciple?

It was as if an enormous pie had fallen from the sky.

And landed straight in his mouth.

Qian Ye's mind instantly erupted into chaos.

Scenes from the Romance of the Three Kingdoms he had read in his previous life flooded wildly into his mind.

"I have drifted through half my life, lamenting only that I had never met a worthy lord."

"If you would not reject me, I would gladly call you my adoptive father!"

Qian Ye almost wanted to drop to his knees on the spot.

He truly wanted to hug Orochimaru's thigh and call him Father a few times.

With Orochimaru as his backer, who in all of Hidden Leaf would dare use him as cannon fodder?

Who would dare shove Orochimaru's disciple into a suicide squad?

Qian Ye forcibly suppressed the grin threatening to spread across his face.

He knew Orochimaru did not like frivolous people.

He had to display enough composure and value.

Qian Ye bent at the waist to a ninety-degree angle.

"It is my honor to receive Lord Orochimaru's guidance."

"I am willing to become your disciple."

Qian Ye's voice was exceptionally loud.

His echo rang throughout the entire command tower.

Orochimaru turned to look at Qian Ye.

A satisfied glint flashed through his golden vertical pupils.

"Very good."

Orochimaru turned and walked to the battered desk.

He pulled open a drawer and took out a small wooden box.

A moisture-proof sealing formula was carved onto the box's surface.

Orochimaru casually wiped away the formula and opened the lid.

He pinched out a square sheet of paper with yellowed edges.

"This is Chakra Test Paper."

Orochimaru handed the paper to Qian Ye.

"Since you've become my disciple, I should at least know which path suits you."

Qian Ye accepted the weightless sheet of paper with both hands.

Of course, he knew what it was.

It was the special tool used in the Naruto world to test a ninja's chakra nature.

Lightning nature would make it crumple.

Wind nature would cut it apart.

Fire nature would make it burn.

Water nature would make it damp.

Earth nature would make it crumble.

Holding the test paper, Qian Ye mobilized the tiny bit of chakra that had just recovered within his body.

Chakra surged through his meridians and into his fingers.

Energy slowly flowed into the test paper.

The paper immediately reacted.

The left half of the sheet quickly became damp.

Drops of water slid down its edges.

The droplets fell onto the command tower's wooden floor, making faint sounds.

Then, the right half of the sheet suddenly split down the middle.

The cut was exceptionally smooth.

One half was damp, while the other was cut apart.

"Water and wind."

Orochimaru reached his conclusion as he watched the test paper change.

"A very ordinary combination of natures."

Qian Ye did not feel the slightest disappointment.

For a civilian Genin, having two chakra natures was already quite good.

Many Genin could only master one nature transformation for their entire lives.

The combination of water and wind was highly practical on the battlefield.

Orochimaru walked to the bookshelf and began searching through it.

"Water Release restrains Fire Release, while Wind Release restrains Lightning Release."

"Used together, these two natures provide fairly decent battlefield survivability."

"As long as you have enough chakra, a water-wind combination can produce excellent area control."

Orochimaru pulled two scrolls from the very bottom shelf.

He then took a small black booklet from his Ninja Tool Pouch.

All three items were tossed onto the table in front of Qian Ye.

"These are the training methods for Water Release: Water Colliding Wave and Wind Release: Great Breakthrough."

"Both are C-rank ninjutsu, suitable for your current amount of chakra."

Qian Ye's eyes immediately lit up.

Great Breakthrough was one of Orochimaru's signature Wind Release techniques that he used frequently.

Although this ninjutsu was only C-rank.

In Orochimaru's hands, its power rivaled B-rank and even A-rank ninjutsu.

Qian Ye reached for the two scrolls.

Even his fingertips trembled slightly.

This was the first proper ninjutsu resource he had obtained since transmigrating.

Before this, he could only rely on his memories to barely practice the Three Body Techniques.

Now, he finally had a real means of attack.

"The important thing is that black booklet."

Orochimaru's voice interrupted Qian Ye's excitement.

Qian Ye immediately shifted his gaze to the inconspicuous booklet.

The booklet's cover was already somewhat worn.

There were even dried dark-red bloodstains along its edges.

"It contains some of my insights from my early research into chakra nature transformations."

"And regarding the dual cultivation of life and nature you mentioned earlier, I casually wrote down a few ideas about using chakra to stimulate cells."

Qian Ye abruptly raised his head, his face full of shock.

Orochimaru was actually giving such core material to a disciple he had just taken in.

This was absolutely priceless.

Orochimaru watched Qian Ye's stunned expression, the corner of his mouth curling upward.

"Don't get excited too soon."

"Those are only theoretical ideas. Trying them by force can get you killed."

"Your body is too weak to withstand that level of cellular stimulation."

Qian Ye hurriedly stuffed the scrolls and booklet into his Ninja Tool Pouch.

"Thank you, Teacher!"

Qian Ye's cry of "Teacher" rang out exceptionally loudly.

Orochimaru waved a hand.

"Starting tomorrow, you won't need to go to the front lines."

"Stay in the logistics department and learn these two ninjutsu."

When Qian Ye heard that he would not have to go to the front lines, the weight hanging over his heart finally fell away.

Not having to serve as cannon fodder was the greatest victory he had fought desperately for tonight.

"Understood, Teacher!"

Qian Ye gave a respectful bow, then turned and left the command tower.

The wooden door closed behind him.

Qian Ye stood in the night wind and let out a long breath of stale air.

The wind at Kikyo Pass still carried a thick stench of blood.

Yet Qian Ye now found the wind incomparably fresh.

He had survived.

Not only had he survived, but he had also gained the strongest backer in all of Hidden Leaf.

Orochimaru's disciple.

That status was absolutely a life-saving talisman in the current Hidden Leaf.

Qian Ye touched his bulging Ninja Tool Pouch.

Inside were the bargaining chips that would change his fate.

His steps were lighter than they had ever been.

Garp's special training plan.

Orochimaru's ninjutsu scrolls.

And those notes on cellular stimulation.

As long as he fully absorbed all of it.

He would truly gain a foothold on this battlefield that was like a meat grinder.