Chakra affinities

Qingyun felt amused as he watched Tsunade's face twist with indecision. She clearly wanted the hundred million ryo very badly, yet she still refused to give him up.

Fortunately, Tsunade had not yet become the compulsive gambler who felt miserable whenever she went a day without gambling. Otherwise, she might well have sold Qingyun to Orochimaru for that astronomical sum, enough to let her gamble to her heart's content for a while.

Seeing that Tsunade would not agree, Orochimaru could only leave it at that. For one thing, if even a hundred million could not persuade her to take Qingyun under his tutelage, offering more money would only make her agonize a little longer. The outcome would remain the same, making it pointless.

For another, he considered himself and Tsunade the closest of teammates. Even if Qingyun remained Tsunade's student, she would not object if he wanted to teach him. It was merely a matter of whose name he studied under.

However, Orochimaru did not know then that he would gradually drift apart from Tsunade and Jiraiya, eventually becoming their enemy because of the Third Hokage.

Seeing that he was no longer needed, Qingyun smiled, sheathed his sword, and turned back to cooking.

Before long, a lavish spread was ready. Hiruzen Sarutobi also finished his work and arrived. Upon hearing that Qingyun had created two powerful sword styles of his own, he began to look at the boy differently.

Hiruzen Sarutobi kept his thoughts to himself, but his smile grew increasingly pronounced as he kept placing food in Qingyun's bowl.

Qingyun understood perfectly why Hiruzen Sarutobi's attitude toward him had changed, but he said nothing. He had no intention of keeping these Martial Arts techniques to himself, but anyone who wanted them would have to give him something in exchange.

Although these two Martial Arts techniques would not fetch any tremendously powerful Ninjutsu, trading them for some Ninjutsu of the five elemental affinities was still possible.

Qingyun had no intention of passing up those techniques. If he could combine Ninjutsu with martial arts, their power would undoubtedly increase greatly. They would also broaden his options in combat and keep him from having any obvious weaknesses.

Qingyun knew all too well how dangerous this world was. Beneath the Shinobi World's seemingly peaceful surface, undercurrents were stirring. He knew that far away in Amegakure, in the Land of Rain, the ambitious demigod Hanzo of the Salamander resented his country becoming a battlefield for other nations. He would escalate the currently lukewarm fighting between Konoha, Iwagakure, and Sunagakure.

Although the Three Great Shinobi Villages were already fighting one another, the conflict was not yet particularly large.

Once Hanzo of the Salamander entered the fray, the situation would likely spiral out of control in an instant.

If Qingyun remembered correctly, the fighting would escalate when Tsunade's boyfriend, Dan Katō, suddenly fell at Hanzo of the Salamander's hands. With Tsunade unable to save him in time, Dan Katō would die, and Hiruzen Sarutobi would formally declare war on Amegakure, sending Tsunade, Orochimaru, and Jiraiya to lead an army against Hanzo of the Salamander.

In the end, the three would earn the deeply humiliating title of Sannin. Though they regarded it as a lifelong disgrace, the title would resound throughout the Shinobi World as they rose to prominence.

Qingyun glanced at Tsunade, then quietly lowered his head and continued eating.

There was nothing he could do now. Even if Qingyun told Hiruzen Sarutobi and the others that Hanzo of the Salamander would suddenly attack without declaring war, and that Dan Katō would likely die in a surprise attack by him, they would not believe him. Worse, Qingyun would have trouble explaining where his information had come from.

Rather than arouse their suspicions, he would keep that information buried inside him and conceal it completely. Now that he had become Tsunade's student, he would focus on growing stronger to face whatever dangers might arise in the future.

Qingyun's cooking was not exceptional, but it was better than that of an average restaurant cook. Being a food lover himself, he naturally put considerable care into it.

Moreover, every dish he made was Chinese, something Tsunade and the others had never tasted before. With all those factors combined, they ate everything he had prepared.

"Mmm, Qingyun, from now on, you're in charge of your teacher's meals. Consider it your apprenticeship fee. I haven't eaten this much in ages."

Her face flushed, Tsunade leaned against a tree and rubbed her round belly, looking utterly content as she spoke.

Qingyun said nothing in response. He simply nodded and began clearing the messy table.

Jiraiya suddenly appeared in front of Qingyun. As though he already knew what Jiraiya was about to say, Qingyun said calmly, "Jiraiya, Minato can make these dishes too. If you want some, you can ask him to cook."

Jiraiya gave a sheepish smile, then awkwardly led Minato Namikaze away. Evidently, he intended to begin teaching Minato right away.

Once Qingyun had finished clearing the dishes, Tsunade appeared beside him. With a faint blush, she looked at Orochimaru, who was standing beside her with nothing to do for the moment, and asked, "Hey, do you have any Chakra Paper on you?"

Orochimaru rolled his eyes. Naturally, this woman who spent every penny she earned had no money to buy any. He took a sheet of Chakra Paper from inside his clothes and handed it to her.

Taking the Chakra Paper, Tsunade approached Qingyun and asked, "Did your teacher, Iruka Umino, teach you about Chakra affinities at school?"

Qingyun nodded. "He did. Ninja have seven affinities: yin, yang, water, fire, earth, wind, and lightning." After a pause, he continued, "Apart from Yin Release and Yang Release, everyone has at least one of the other affinities. You can test yours with something called Chakra Paper."

Tsunade nodded in satisfaction. "That was a clear explanation. The Chakra Paper in my hand tests Chakra affinities. It can detect all five elemental affinities, though not yin or yang. Try channeling your Chakra into it."

As Qingyun took the Chakra Paper, Tsunade continued, "Fire makes the paper burn, wind splits it down the middle, lightning makes it wrinkle, water makes it wet, and earth makes it crumble. If you have all five affinities, one section will burn, another will split, another will wrinkle, another will become wet, and the last will crumble. Keep in mind that the extent of the changes depends on how much Chakra the Ninja has."

Qingyun nodded and slowly channeled his Internal Force into the Chakra Paper.

At once, one section of the Chakra Paper caught fire, another wrinkled, another split, another crumbled, and another became wet.

Tsunade stared at the ruined Chakra Paper in astonishment. All five affinities—Qingyun's talent was extraordinary indeed.

Although having all five affinities did not necessarily indicate someone's talent, such people had no elemental weaknesses. As long as they had enough Ninjutsu to learn, they could quickly master them and use techniques of each affinity with equal power.

Ninja who lacked a particular affinity could still use Ninjutsu of that element, but doing so would consume more Chakra, and the techniques would be less powerful than when used by someone who possessed that affinity.

Thus, most Ninja only trained in the affinities they already possessed.

Of course, there were exceptions to everything. If someone mastered both Nature Transformation and shape transformation for all five elements, they too could become a Ninja with every elemental affinity.

"You actually have all five elemental affinities. And since you're an Uchiha, you must have Yin Release as well. That makes you a shinobi with six affinities.

"But don't get arrogant. Having so many affinities means you're suited to learning Ninjutsu of any element, but it also means your development will take much longer than other people's."

"I suggest choosing one or two affinities to focus on for now. Once you've made some progress with those, you can consider training the others as well. If you awaken the Three-Tomoe Sharingan someday, you'll also be able to copy other people's Ninjutsu. For you, a lack of Ninjutsu won't be an obstacle to becoming stronger in the future."

After recovering from her surprise, Tsunade slowly offered Qingyun her advice.

Qingyun nodded. "I understand. Can I choose fire and lightning, then? Also, big-sister teacher, could I learn Medical Ninjutsu from you?"

At first, Tsunade looked pleased, but his final question made her pause. Then she said slowly, "I don't know whether you can learn Medical Ninjutsu.

"The Uchiha Clan is a clan that passes down Yin Release. The Sharingan is an extremely powerful Yin Release ocular kekkei genkai. Generally, members of such clans don't have a constitution suited to Yang Release..."

"Tsunade, let him try. Haven't you noticed that little Qingyun's Chakra far exceeds that of other children his age? Besides, I feel there's something very unusual about the Chakra inside him."

Orochimaru suddenly spoke up.