Another week passed in the blink of an eye, and Qifeng once again settled into a stable, comfortable, couch-potato life.
Besides fixing up corpses and looting them every day, he had gained a few extra tasks.
For example, listening to Asuma complain that Kurenai Yuhi had been looking at him strangely lately. She was no longer as affectionate when she spoke to him and seemed to have become somewhat distant.
Qifeng naturally remained silent about that. At most, whenever Asuma took out a cigarette, he would light it for him.
Then there was Might Guy's daily cleaning routine. Combined with Qifeng's Single Tomoe Sharingan, it somehow kept the Morgue—a place full of filth—spotlessly clean around the clock, greatly satisfying his obsession with cleanliness.
There were also Obito and Kakashi, that pair of sworn enemies. The two always seemed to arrive at the same time, intentionally or otherwise. The usually aloof Kakashi could not help but mock Obito coldly whenever they met.
Obito lost every time, yet refused to accept it. He fought, lost, and fought again.
Before he knew it, Qifeng's remote and desolate Morgue had somehow gained so many visitors dropping by.
This troubled him greatly. Every leisurely afternoon he spent basking in the sun was always ruined for one reason or another.
There was also the fact that Kakashi had applied to Hiruzen Sarutobi to disband his Chunin squad. For some unknown reason, he had joined Yūhi Kurenai's Chunin training camp instead, quickly making a name for himself and showing signs of monopolizing the top spot there.
Yūhi Kurenai had come looking for him several times afterward, but Qifeng always fobbed him off with one excuse or another, leaving him empty-handed.
Qifeng simply did not know why he was so persistent about him.
Perhaps he could not stand seeing Qifeng live such a carefree, couch-potato life. As a quality smoking buddy, maybe he wanted to try saving him.
His days were always so plain, yet fulfilling.
At night, when all was quiet, Qifeng had added some new routines alongside handling corpses and opening his loot.
He trained, felt out, and mastered the changes brought by the Shikotsumyaku and Single Tomoe Sharingan, while also trying to incorporate those two abilities into his own combat style.
He did not lack combat experience.
A Jonin Experience Card and a Quasi-Kage Experience Card—even though he had only learned a tiny fraction from them—had benefited him immensely.
Still, he could not simply swallow their experience whole and make it his own.
After all, neither of them had a Kekkei Genkai, the Sharingan, or the Shikotsumyaku.
Moreover, their fighting styles were completely different.
He needed to sort through and summarize all of it himself, then combine it with his own circumstances to find the combat style best suited to him.
According to the system's rigid assessment, Qifeng was still at the Chunin level.
But after spending this time with Kakashi, Yūhi Kurenai, and the others, Qifeng had formed a more accurate estimate of his own strength.
Without using the Shikotsumyaku or Sharingan, he was barely a veteran Chunin—the kind with extensive combat experience and plenty of tricks up his sleeve.
But once he activated the Shikotsumyaku and Sharingan, his strength could at least rival that of a Special Jonin, particularly one skilled in taijutsu.
If he could catch them off guard and suddenly burst into action, it was not impossible for him to kill some weaker Jonin.
Only upon reaching Jonin level could one barely be considered capable of protecting oneself in a place like Konoha, rather than dying at the hands of someone else's schemes at any moment.
There was no clear standard for ranking ninja. Evaluations of Genin, Chunin, Jonin, and even Kage-level ninja changed according to different environments, eras, people, and circumstances.
Take Qifeng himself, for instance. Before obtaining the system, he had actually been nothing more than an ordinary Genin. Aside from the Three Basic Jutsu and basic kunai throwing, he had no notable strengths and could barely use any other ninjutsu.
In fact, most ordinary-born ninja who graduated from the Ninja Academy were like that, save for the occasional genius who stood out a little.
After all, the Ninja Academy's education was standardized and rigid. Standing out from it was itself a test of talent.
It was only after the students were divided into teams and assigned different instructors that ordinary ninja and talented ninja truly began to diverge.
That was why members of the Uchiha Clan always ranked among the best at the Ninja Academy and were known as a clan that produced geniuses in abundance.
In truth, it was not just the Uchiha Clan. The Hyuga Clan, Hatake Clan, Sarutobi Clan, and the descendants of other major clans were the same. Their natural advantages were greater, and they learned far more than what the Ninja Academy taught.
Obito, of course, was an exception.
Ninja rank promotions were equally vague.
In peacetime, Genin were generally promoted to Chunin through the Chunin Exams, conducted in teams of three. This was considered a relatively thorough method of evaluation.
But once wartime began and the war system was activated, even commanders stationed in a given area had the authority to promote Genin to Chunin.
At that point, the divide between Genin and Chunin was no longer so clear.
Still, no matter how one looked at it, there was a vague standard that everyone recognized.
For example.
A ninja capable of performing E-rank or D-rank ninjutsu, or using their own Kekkei Genkai, with a certain degree of ninja tool proficiency and taijutsu ability, met the standard for Genin.
Someone capable of casting C-rank ninjutsu a dozen times or more could be considered a Chunin.
Among Chunin, anyone who developed a single field to its limit—whether ninjutsu, taijutsu, genjutsu, Fuinjutsu, Sensory Ninjutsu, Summoning Ninjutsu, Disguise Ninjutsu, Kekkei Genkai, or something else—and reached Jonin level in that field could be considered a Special Jonin.
Someone capable of casting B-rank Ninjutsu multiple times and proficient in one of genjutsu, taijutsu, or ninjutsu, or possessing a Kekkei Genkai developed to a certain extent, could be considered a Jonin.
As for Kage-level, it was an extremely vague concept to begin with. It simply referred to the strongest few ninja in a village, a broad designation created to distinguish them from other Jonin.
Thus, the concept of Kage-level differed from era to era.
Qifeng had also judged his own strength by considering the current period and Konoha's ninja hierarchy.
If war broke out now and he stopped concealing himself, fully revealing his strength, it would not be impossible for him to be exceptionally promoted to Jonin.
That was because others simply could not imagine the strength produced by combining the Shikotsumyaku with the Sharingan.
None of this
really mattered much to him.
A comfortable life, an easy pace, and steady yet unhurried growth in strength—those were what he considered the ultimate enjoyment.
But while his own pace remained slow, the pace of the entire Shinobi World had entered an astonishing period of rapid acceleration.
That day.
Qifeng was summoned to Hiruzen Sarutobi's office once again.
But unlike last time, the office held another important figure besides the Hokage, Hiruzen Sarutobi, and the advisor Danzo.
Hiruzen Sarutobi's most prized disciple, one of the famed Sannin, Orochimaru the Cold-Blooded!
Before you continue