Chapter 24: Qimu Chao's Professor

Shortly after Tuan Cang left, Orochimaru arrived at the Hokage Office again.

"Sarutobi-sensei."

Hearing Orochimaru's voice, the Third Hokage lifted his head: "Orochimaru? What do you want?"

"May I teach that child of Mr. Shuo Mao?"

Seeing Orochimaru's smiling face, the Third Hokage squinted his eyes.

Recalling the recent intel the ANBU had passed to him, plus the fact that Orochimaru is rarely seen and Tuan Cang had just left…

It was Tuan Cang who sent you, wasn't it, Orochimaru…

Why do you want to get involved with him?

Tuan Cang, that child will never reach Root. If you still persist, I will personally cut off your thoughts!

Thinking that, the Third Hokage kept his composure and smiled at Orochimaru: "It was Tuan Cang who sent you, wasn't it?"

Tuan Cang?!

Hearing the Third Hokage's words, Orochimaru slightly frowned but remained expressionless.

The Third Hokage deliberately used Tuan Cang to hint at Orochimaru, expressing his displeasure: "I already have a suitable candidate to lead Qimu Chao's Jonin; you may return."

What trouble has that old guy Tuan Cang caused this time?

"Is that so? Understood, Sarutobi-sensei."

Orochimaru's face was smiling, but after leaving the Hokage Office, his expression instantly darkened.

Soon, he arrived at Root's base and found Tuan Cang.

"Did you speak with Sarutobi-sensei today, Mr. Tuan Cang?"

Standing with Tuan Cang among rows of massive test tubes, watching the specimens he himself had created, Orochimaru placed his hand on a tube and asked without turning his head.

"Did I tell Sarutobi something that now requires me to report to you, Orochimaru?"

Tuan Cang squinted, yet his gaze remained unnervingly sharp: "Don't claim you're not the Hokage; even if you become Hokage, I have no need to tell you these things."

"It's Sarutobi-sensei; he's dissatisfied with our recent actions."

Orochimaru turned to Tuan Cang: "For the coming period, you'd better restrain yourself; otherwise, if these secrets become public, even though we have contributed much to Konoha, Konoha cannot keep us."

"Heh… Orochimaru, you still don't understand Sarutobi; he's always soft-hearted."

Tuan Cang let out a cold laugh, then turned and left; darkness gradually swallowed his silhouette until he vanished.

Orochimaru briefly checked the condition of the specimens and then left Root's base.

In the Qimu Residence.

"Congratulations on becoming a Genin."

Kakashi, returning from school, slumped on the desk; opposite him, Qimu Chao was reading a medical text: "Do you want to become a medical ninja?"

"No, why would I become a medical ninja?"

Hearing Kakashi's words, Qimu Chao paused; Magnetic Field Rotation, a jack‑of‑all‑trades system, can accelerate wound healing, even directly restore severed limbs or rebirth, which is trivial.

If one can fuse the flesh with the primordial spirit, achieving a state where the spirit never perishes and the body never collapses, that would truly be the threshold of the ultimate Magnetic Field Rotation realm.

"Then why are you reading medical materials?"

Kakashi reached out and took the book from Qimu Chao's hand.

"To become strong, studying all kinds of information is essential. For example, even if you become Hokage someday, learning must never cease; halting your studies will only lead to being abandoned by the entire era."

Mid‑sentence, Qimu Chao stood up, pointed toward the doorway with his head: "I'm in a good mood today; I'll teach you a new move. It's not the final version, but it'll do."

As for his brother's ability to devise techniques, Kakashi was already unfazed; the Ninjutsu inventions his father often spoke of, even the Second Hokage at this age would be far inferior to his brother.

Soon, the two brothers arrived at the back mountain of Konoha, a place where almost no one comes at ordinary times.

Why not go to the training ground and come here instead?

Kakashi felt puzzled inside, but followed Qimu Chao's steps and saw a massive boulder.

Then, under Kakashi's astonished gaze, Qimu Chao lifted the boulder, flipping the side that had been driven into the ground to face the two of them.

At that moment, Kakashi's eyes widened.

What did he see?

On the supposedly smooth side, more than a dozen holes of various sizes were arranged.

The first holes were simply pits, as if struck once by a hard object, uneven and extremely irregular at the edges.

Further back, the pits became progressively smaller, and their shapes grew increasingly neat and regular.

Until the most recent one, which Kakashi could barely discern as the shape of a fist.

Staring at his brother with an incredulous gaze, Kakashi didn't know what to say.

He knew his brother hid deeply, but never expected it to be this deep.

Qimu Chao's earlier actions all indicated that these marks were the very traces he had previously struck out!

Kakashi had never seen strike marks reach this level, whether from Uncle Mai Te Dai's and A Kai's daily Body Technique training, or his father's Body Technique attacks; they were always massive, creating a huge pit with a single blow.

Qimu Chao's fist imprint opened a brand‑new door for him.

Is it better to make the pits larger or smaller?

Kakashi knew well that with the same force, a single punch creating a huge pit versus a punch forming a pit exactly the size of a fist—the latter is certainly more difficult, requiring greater technique, and the concentrated power is naturally stronger.

Among Konoha's myriad experts, even those specializing in Body Technique probably cannot achieve what his brother does.

"I understand."

Kakashi nodded thoughtfully.

Looking back, his father probably realized this too, but he applied that concentrated force to swordsmanship rather than Body Technique.

If he could also achieve complete force concentration, his White Fang Sword Technique could advance by more than one level.

"What do you know?"

He patted Kakashi's head, and Qimu Chao said to him, "Come over."

Then he pulled Kakashi to the massive stone, one hand resting on Kakashi's shoulder, the other hand's chakra surging: "I only use it once; remember as much of this feeling as you can."

"After all, this fist technique, at my current level, doesn't even reach one ten‑thousandth of it."

After speaking, Qimu Chao used chakra in place of Magnetic Field Rotation's power, delivering a punch to Kakashi's back, while the left hand on his shoulder guided the flow of chakra: "Memorize the acupoints where chakra concentrates, then condense them into your arm and unleash it in one strike!"

"Sea Tiger... Explosive Fist!"