Nawaki becomes Orochimaru's apprentice

After unleashing Chidori, Qingyun felt his vision blur as the lightning carried his body hurtling forward. His eyes widened, and the scenery whipping past made him dizzy.

In less than a second, Qingyun crossed a hundred meters and drove his right hand straight through a large tree with a deafening crash.

His head buzzed. It took a long while before he came back to his senses.

Damn it, no wonder Minato Namikaze sternly warned Kakashi in the original story not to use this move against an enemy unless he had absolutely no other choice after Kakashi created it.

Even without activating my Sharingan, my dynamic vision is much better than most people's. Yet even I couldn't make out anything along my path once Chidori kicked in.

If an enemy is prepared and dodges your attack, you're nothing but a sitting duck. You might as well wait for them to kill you!

Qingyun shook his dizzy head and rubbed his ears.

Chidori was so loud that his ears were still ringing.

Only after taking a long time to recover did Qingyun regain his bearings. He closed his eyes and opened them again, activating his Sharingan. Three tomoe spun in each eye.

"Chidori!"

Lightning gathered in his hand again, and a shrill chorus like a thousand birds chirping at once rang out around him.

This time, with his Sharingan active, Chidori's burst of speed was still incredibly fast, but Qingyun could see his surroundings perfectly. His gaze sharpened as he repeatedly dodged the obstacles ahead. When a boulder the size of a small hill appeared before him, he swung his right hand, wreathed in dense lightning, and plunged it straight into the rock.

Boom!

Cracks instantly appeared in the boulder under Qingyun's strike. As they multiplied, the hill-sized rock suddenly burst apart, sending fragments flying!

"Well, well, Qingyun, did you create another ninjutsu? That packs quite a punch! Good grief, another technique of A-Rank or higher."

Startled by the footsteps behind him, Qingyun hurriedly shut his eyes, then opened them again with his pupils restored to their usual black.

"Teacher Sis, could you let me know before coming to see me next time? You scared the life out of me!"

Qingyun turned around helplessly and looked at the unchanged Tsunade as he spoke.

"Tch, as if you're that easily frightened. I don't believe it."

Tsunade pursed her lips at his words, her expression plainly asking whether he really expected her to believe him.

Qingyun's mouth twitched. He gave her a resigned look and said, "You never come without a reason, Teacher Sis. Out with it. What do you need?"

"Hey, you little brat, you're getting less cute by the day. I miss when you were six!"

Tsunade walked up to him and reached out to ruffle his hair out of habit, only for Qingyun to slap her hand away. She immediately gave him an annoyed look.

Qingyun's strength had grown tremendously. Unlike before, he was no longer helpless against Tsunade, so naturally, he had to fight back when she tried to manhandle him.

"If you're not going to tell me, Teacher Sis, I'm leaving. I haven't finished today's training yet!"

Tsunade gazed at the boy with a surge of emotion. He had been a tiny little thing three years ago, but after three years of rapid growth, he already came up to her chest.

Over the past year in particular, Qingyun had shot up as though he had been taking growth hormones. He was even a little taller than Nawaki, who was two years older.

"Nawaki wants to become Orochimaru's apprentice. What do you think?"

Tsunade stopped teasing him and asked in a serious tone.

Qingyun froze at her words. So it's still going the same way as the original story? He remembered that Nawaki had approached Tsunade about becoming Orochimaru's apprentice shortly before graduating in the original story.

"What? Is there a problem? I've felt that Orochimaru has been getting stranger lately, too. That cold, sinister aura around him keeps growing stronger. I'm a little worried he'll be a bad influence on Nawaki."

Seeing Qingyun remain silent, Tsunade assumed he shared her opinion.

Qingyun's pupils contracted at her words. The events of the original story unfolded before his eyes one after another. Everything seemed to follow a predetermined course, one that even a butterfly like him, constantly beating his wings, could not change.

If Tsunade said Orochimaru was growing colder and more sinister, then he must have already begun transforming his entire body.

When Qingyun had interacted with Orochimaru before, Orochimaru had completed some modifications, but he had not transformed his whole body. Most of it was still human.

That was why, despite his outwardly soft, effeminate demeanor back then, Orochimaru had still been warm at heart.

But once Orochimaru fully transformed his body into something snakelike, his personality would inevitably grow more like a snake's, and his emotions would gradually fade.

"Hey, say something!"

Tsunade watched his shifting expressions and spoke impatiently.

Her voice snapped Qingyun out of his thoughts. Regaining his composure, he said calmly, "Orochimaru is a very good teacher. He knows how to teach, and if Nawaki studies under him, he'll improve rapidly.

"As for Nawaki picking up bad habits... do you really believe that? If he could, it might not even be a bad thing."

As he finished, Qingyun's lips quirked, and he looked at Tsunade teasingly.

Tsunade froze, then glared at Qingyun. How can you make fun of my little brother right in front of his sister? Still, Nawaki really was just as Qingyun said: utterly innocent, single-minded, and full of passion.

Turning someone like that bad? Tsunade thought of Nawaki and shook her head. It was practically impossible.

"So you're saying you agree?"

Tsunade fixed her beautiful eyes on Qingyun, seeking a definite answer.

"Let Nawaki decide! All we can do is offer him advice, not choose the life he'll lead.

"Besides, even if Orochimaru has a cold personality, he won't do anything to Nawaki. Don't worry!"

Qingyun leaned lazily against a tree as he answered.

"Tch, I really don't know how someone so young figured all this out. We'll do as you say! Anyway, did you create a ninjutsu just now? What's it like? Tell me about it."

Tsunade rolled her eyes at his lazy posture, then asked curiously about the Chidori he had used earlier.

"This technique still isn't suitable for ordinary people. Only someone with an ocular bloodline ability can use it."

Qingyun then explained Chidori's various advantages and drawbacks.

"Have you awakened your Sharingan, then?"

Tsunade stared intently at Qingyun. He had been extraordinarily gifted since childhood, but she had never heard him mention his Sharingan.

The Sharingan could be awakened by witnessing the death of a loved one. The immense negative emotions would cause a dark chakra to form in the minds of Uchiha Clan members, and once that chakra accumulated to a certain level, it could awaken their Sharingan.

But that was only the most extreme method. As a member of the Senju Clan, which had been entangled with the Uchiha Clan for a thousand years, Tsunade had found many records of the Uchiha Clan's secrets at home.

She knew that before Madara Uchiha's generation, the Uchiha Clan had not yet discovered this pattern for awakening the Sharingan. Back then, those with sufficient talent could awaken their eyes on their own. Qingyun had already created all sorts of Taijutsu and ninjutsu at such a young age.

With talent like his, if Qingyun could not awaken his eyes on his own, Tsunade could not imagine who could.

Qingyun's gaze sharpened at her question. He wondered whether Tsunade had seen him activate his Sharingan earlier and was now probing him.

But the curiosity on her face did not seem feigned. After a moment's thought, Qingyun closed his eyes, then opened them.

Tsunade sucked in a sharp breath.

Seeing three tomoe slowly rotating in each of Qingyun's blood-red eyes, Tsunade gasped and stared at him in shock.

She could imagine that Qingyun had awakened his Sharingan, but she had never expected him to have awakened the Three-Tomoe Sharingan. What kind of monster was he?

Qingyun smiled faintly at her stunned expression, then deactivated his Sharingan and looked at her calmly.

A long while later, Tsunade came back to her senses and looked at Qingyun. "When did you awaken your Sharingan?"

"After my parents died, I awakened the two-tomoe Sharingan. Then, after years of training, I gained another tomoe. Your grandmother knows about it, too."