Chapter 30 - Chapter 30: To Be the Wind That Blows in the Sky

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30.txt

The praise was over. Orochimaru moved on to Qianyu's problems.

"First, your hand seal speed," he began, voice flat and critical. "It needs work. A duel between shinobi of equal strength is decided by who can weave their jutsu faster. Slow seals mean you lose the initiative. You get forced on the defensive. So, we're adding dedicated seal training."

He paused, letting the weight of that settle. "That's the main issue. The rest are minor flaws you've shown in daily practice. Keep drilling those on your own. Aside from that… your progress is satisfactory."

He placed a hand on Qianyu's shoulder. "Your initial problems were many, so we delayed teaching you Summoning. Once you iron out these minor issues, you will sign the Ryūchi Cave contract. Then, you may begin learning the Summoning Jutsu, and… my secret arts."

Qianyu's eyes lit up. Orochimaru's secret techniques. Finally.

"Yes, Lord Orochimaru!"

Orochimaru's grip tightened slightly. His voice dropped, low and conspiratorial. "Qianyu. I understand the thoughts in your heart. Konoha is your cage. You strive so desperately for strength to break free of it. One day, you will leave this village."

"Lord Orochimaru, I—"

Qianyu started to protest, but Orochimaru cut him off, his gaze distant. "We are the same, I told you. I seek to master every jutsu in this world, but this limited body… it will become my shackle. Just as Konoha is your prison, this flesh is mine."

A sudden gust of wind swept through the training ground, lifting their hair.

"I wish to escape my cage at any cost. As your… kin in spirit, I know what you truly want."

Orochimaru looked up at the moon, his voice a dry, compelling rasp. "I have expectations for you now. I want to see, as my student, just how far this wind of yours will blow."

Qianyu stared, bewildered. What did he mean? Whatever it was, he needed to say something.

"I will always be a shinobi of Konoha, Lord Orochimaru," he stated firmly.

Orochimaru looked down, a faint, enigmatic smile playing on his lips. His eyes held an emotion Qianyu couldn't name.

Confusion.

The Sannin was adrift.

The Second Shinobi World War. The deaths of his friend Dan Katō, and then… his student Nawaki.

Nawaki. The boy's personality was the opposite of his own, more like Jiraiya's. But he had been Orochimaru's favorite. So full of naive fire, charging headlong to the front lines… only to be shredded by pre-planted explosive tags.

By the time Orochimaru and Tsunade reached him, Nawaki was gone. His chest cavity was empty. Not even Tsunade's peerless medical ninjutsu could bring back a corpse.

His beloved student, dead. The fragility of life, laid bare. The disrespect for it during wartime, everywhere he looked. Life was brittle. Weak.

Yet, he believed the human body contained latent, untapped power. Mastering all jutsu was the key to understanding the world's truth. But the world's techniques were infinite. A single lifetime was not enough.

This body was a prison. A cage of flesh and bone and time.

He had stolen into Konoha's secret archives, killed the guards, taken countless forbidden scrolls. Among them, the most important: the Impure World Reincarnation (Edo Tensei). A jutsu to call souls back from the Pure Land.

He hadn't mastered it yet, but it sparked an idea.

The soul.

The body was just a container. The essence was the soul.

If one could transfer a soul into another vessel… could true immortality be achieved?

It was only a theory. He hadn't begun experiments. But to test it… he would need human subjects. Live ones.

Human experimentation. A taboo in Konoha, in the entire shinobi world. An affront to nature. And he was the student of the Third Hokage.

He was bound. Not just by his mortal shell, but by these societal chains. By ethics. By his title.

If he weren't Hiruzen's student, if he weren't a Konoha shinobi… he could experiment freely.

This was his confusion. He couldn't yet cast aside these binds. He couldn't yet cross that line.

And then, there was Qianyu.

At first, he'd only agreed to assess the boy on Hiruzen's request. Qianyu's talent was undeniable. A genius.

But what made Orochimaru decide to take him as a student was a look in the boy's eyes. A fleeting, ruthless glint. The look of someone who would do anything to achieve his goal.

It was the same look Orochimaru himself had worn during the Second War.

He remembered. Trapped in a cave with Jiraiya and Tsunade, surrounded by Iwa-nin. Jiraiya, gravely wounded, certain he would die. Orochimaru, coldly calculating. The wounded man was a liability. A risk to Tsunade and himself. His solution? End Jiraiya himself.

Too ruthless, Tsunade had cried. Killing your own comrade?

She was right. He was ruthless.

If he were still that man, he would have begun his human experiments without a second thought.

Seeing Qianyu was like seeing his own reflection. The boy suited his tastes perfectly.

So, he wondered. This wind, so similar to his own… would it rise and rage? Or would it die out before it truly began?

Qianyu fidgeted under that unreadable gaze, his mind racing.

Orochimaru turned his back.

"Do not worry over it," he said, his voice returning to its usual calm. "Proceed with your own plans. I will not hinder you. I will aid you. Because you are my student."

He glanced over his shoulder, the moonlight sharp on his profile.

"I will cultivate you to the fullest. I will make you into the wind that blows freely in the sky."

Qianyu stared at his teacher's retreating back, a strange feeling in his gut.

Something was off about Orochimaru tonight. His attitude… it had shifted.

'Because you are my student.'

It sounded like… acceptance. Acknowledgement.

But Orochimaru, the ultimate egoist… would he ever truly accept anyone? Weren't all his future followers just tools?

Qianyu was lost. But he wouldn't press the issue. Orochimaru saw through him—saw his eventual departure from Konoha. But if he said to proceed with his own plans… then, for now, his secret was safe.

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