Time flew.
Over eight months had passed since Qianyu began the new training regimen arranged by Orochimaru.
Qianyu was thirteen now, standing on the coastline of the Land of Fire.
Orochimaru had accepted a C-rank mission on his behalf: clear out the pirates landing on these shores.
Around Qianyu, headless corpses littered the ground. Pirates.
What surprised him was that among them were shinobi. A C-rank mission shouldn't involve enemy ninja.
Yet, not far ahead, three figures stood. All three had used ninjutsu.
During the skirmish, Qianyu realized these were no simple pirates. They fought like shinobi. Village-trained shinobi.
After a moment's thought, he guessed the truth. Infiltrators. Hiding among the pirates to slip into the Land of Fire.
The three enemy ninja, meanwhile, watched Qianyu with tense, wary eyes. In a shockingly short time, this kid had decapitated the entire pirate crew. If they hadn't been on the outskirts, constantly harassing him, they'd have lost their heads too.
Knowing they were outmatched, their leader hissed a single word. "Retreat!"
The three turned to flee.
A bloodthirsty grin split Qianyu's face. "Oh, I don't think so. You'll make fine trophies."
"Thunder Breathing—First Form: Thunderclap and Flash!"
The air tore with a clap of thunder. Qianyu vanished, a bolt of lightning streaking toward the closest ninja.
His sword fell. Even with the blunt back of the blade, it cleaved deep into flesh.
The man screamed as his body went limp, collapsing like a sack of wet sand. The strike had shattered his spine.
Qianyu's hands flew through seals. He took a deep, sharp breath, his chest swelling.
"Fire Style: Dragon Flame Song!"
Four fire dragons roared from his mouth, attacking the second ninja from above, below, left, and right simultaneously.
The second ninja reacted fast, hands slamming to the ground. "Water Style: Water Wall!"
A wall of water erupted from the earth, blocking the dragons from above and below. But the ones from the sides shot past its edges.
Twin impacts. A flash of heat and light. The ninja was flung from the explosion, landing in a smoking, charred heap.
Qianyu's eyes locked on the third. The last one.
This one was fast, already putting distance between them.
Qianyu leveled his katana, its point aimed at the fleeing figure's back. Lightning crackled along the steel, a constant, hungry roar.
"Thunder Breathing—Fifth Form: Heat Lightning!"
A sizzling, white-hot arc of plasma shot from the blade. It crossed the distance in a blink.
ZAP-CRACKLE!
The ninja stiffened. Every hair on his body stood on end. Violent tremors wracked his frame as white smoke began curling from his clothes.
Qianyu cut the technique. Couldn't have him dying. Not yet.
Three enemy shinobi. Neutralized in moments. Barely a fight.
Qianyu dragged the unconscious forms into a pile. He formed another set of hand seals, palm pressing to the earth.
"Summoning Jutsu!"
A poof of smoke. As it cleared, a large white serpent lay coiled before him.
"Qianyu-sama," the snake greeted, its voice utterly flat.
"Swallow them," Qianyu ordered, pointing at the prisoners. "Keep them in your belly."
The word 'swallow' changed everything. The snake's demeanor melted. Its long body looped around Qianyu affectionately, becoming the ultimate attention-seeker. "Ara~ Qianyu-sama is so kind! You heard I was hungry and brought me a snack? I love you~"
Qianyu rolled his eyes. Food. That was the magic word. Snakes could be such opportunists.
As the white serpent opened its maw, ready to gulp the ninja down, Qianyu added, "They're not food. I need them alive. Just storing them for now. The corpses around here? All yours."
"What?" The snake recoiled, its voice pitching with indignation. "You're playing with my feelings! Dead things are so bland! No vitality!"
Qianyu peeled the complaining snake off himself. "Getting picky now? You doing this or not? Work or get replaced. Plenty of snakes in Ryūchi Cave."
"Fine, fine! I'll do it! So mean, summoning me just to exploit poor little me…"
Grumbling all the while, the serpent got to work. It started with the surrounding corpses. Its jaws unhinged, and the bodies vanished one by one at an alarming rate. Qianyu watched, fascinated. No matter how much it ate, the snake's belly showed no sign of bulging.
Soon, only the three live prisoners remained.
"Remember," Qianyu warned. "Alive. Do not digest them."
The snake flicked its tongue at him in annoyance. "Qianyu-sama, please. I have professional standards."
It opened its mouth again. One by one, it swallowed the unconscious ninja whole. This time, its midsection visibly distended, becoming large and lumpy.
"Hey," Qianyu asked, curiosity getting the better of him. "How come your stomach didn't swell with the corpses?"
"My gastric fluids dissolve organic matter rapidly," the snake explained, sounding bored. "These three are in a separate chamber. No acids. For now."
"Ah. Makes sense. Alright, keep them safe. I'll summon you when I need them."
Another puff of smoke, and the serpent vanished, returning to Ryūchi Cave.
Qianyu took a moment to tidy the area—or rather, erase the evidence—before turning his steps toward Konoha.
These past eight months had followed a pattern. Roughly every month, Orochimaru would procure a C-rank mission for him. If not for Qianyu's official rank of Genin, the Sannin would have pushed for B-ranks already.
And his growth? Explosive.
Building on his mastery of Lightning Release's shape and nature transformation, he'd conquered Fire Release with startling speed. He'd learned the Uchiha clan's fire techniques, mastered the Summoning Jutsu, and even picked up a few of Orochimaru's secret arts.
The brutal training had also forced his Sharingan to evolve. Two tomoe now spun in each crimson eye.
Yet his greatest leap wasn't in techniques or eyes. It was his chakra reserves.
They'd swelled to match—perhaps even surpass—the reserves of a certain Copy Ninja while his Sharingan was active. That put Qianyu squarely in the league of a Tokubetsu Jōnin, at the very least.
Qianyu knew the source. The legacy in his blood. The Senju vitality was awakening.
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