Acting in the Third Hokage's era is really tiring. After all, the Third Hokage could see the ambition in Orochimaru's eyes at a glance, and Chao Yanqian must not reveal even a slight flaw. Fortunately, the Third Hokage noticed Orochimaru's ambition when he was still young. Although Chao Yanqian is still young, he possesses a mature and calculating mind.
But even so, Chao Yanqian couldn't be sure whether the Third Hokage had sensed anything—such as his thirst for power.
Through the conversation with the Third Hokage, Chao Yanqian learned about Orochimaru's purpose in meeting him.
Orochimaru should be a former teammate of Tsunade who now wants to manipulate the Hokage for his own goals.
Tsunade suffers from hemophobia. She may be able to participate in the war as a commander, but she cannot treat the wounded.
Currently, Tsunade is stationed at Konoha Hospital, so there's no problem. However, if she were to be sent to the front lines and failed to treat critical injuries, her hemophobia would be exposed.
Therefore, the village urgently needs someone who can replace Tsunade in treating the severely wounded. This would not only reduce the ninja casualties but also conceal Tsunade's phobia.
There's another aspect. If Chao Yanqian becomes Tsunade's disciple and heals the injured, it would undoubtedly elevate Tsunade's reputation.
Right now, Konoha needs not only strength but also genius.
The strong represent the present, and geniuses represent the future. With both, Konoha can survive this war and build a brighter future.
Having figured this out, Chao Yanqian was a little excited. As long as the Third Hokage agreed, becoming Tsunade's disciple was practically guaranteed.
What came next would depend on Chao Yanqian's own abilities. Learning from Tsunade would require not only his own talent but also his relationship with her.
It seemed it was time to go to Konoha Hospital.
The plan was progressing smoothly. While impressed by Orochimaru's methods, Chao Yanqian silently cursed him the entire time.
Chao Yanqian had merely asked Hoshinohara's mother to enroll him in the medical class, but Orochimaru seemed to have anticipated this, and sent Chao Yanqian there first.
From this, it was clear that Orochimaru didn't want to break the bond between Chao Yanqian and Hoshinohara. In that case, things would proceed as Orochimaru wished.
Walking into Konoha Hospital, some medical-nin who knew Mizuno came over to greet him. Together, they walked toward Tsunade's office.
Upon entering the hospital, Chao Yanqian felt inexplicably tense, making him anxious.
Even when fighting the Sand Ninja on the front lines, Chao Yanqian had never felt this kind of nervousness. He didn't expect to return to Konoha and feel this way just because he was about to meet Tsunade.
To be fair, even though Tsunade was a bit hot-tempered, she had always been good to Chao Yanqian. Knowing that he was about to head to the battlefield, she taught with her own ninjutsu, giving him a better chance of survival.
Therefore, Chao Yanqian had always been grateful to her.
Seriously, if Tsunade hadn't taught him the technique to increase cell vitality, he might not have survived the battlefield at all.
But now, knowing he was about to exploit the kindness of someone who had helped him, Chao Yanqian couldn't help but feel like a complete jerkjust like Orochimaru.
Knock! Knock! Thud!
He knocked on the door a few times but got no response, so he knocked again.
Damn it! Didn't those medical-nin say Tsunade was in her office? Why isn't anyone answering?
Seeing that the door was unlocked, he gently pushed it open only to find Tsunade sleeping at her desk, snoring softly.
Wow, this is way too relaxed!
He quietly walked to the desk, placed his prepared gift beside Tsunade, then turned and left.
After returning home and tidying up, Chao Yanqian had dinner and went alone to the forest behind the Hokage Monument to continue training.
At this stage, he really couldn't afford to slack off. Every bit of strength he gained gave him a greater chance of surviving the war.
In terms of ninjutsu, genjutsu, and taijutsu, Chao Yanqian's weakest skill was genjutsu.
But that wasn't surprising. Neither Hideyoshi Yamamoto nor Uenome were genjutsu specialists. As a result, Chao Yanqian focused on ninjutsu and taijutsu. Besides, he wasn't particularly interested in genjutsu—as long as he could defend against it, that was enough.
As for taijutsu, he stuck with basic training to build his foundation. Thanks to the technique for enhancing cell vitality, his body wasn't weak. What he lacked was experience—and that could only come from battle.
Ninjutsu was Chao Yanqian's main focus. Though he knew only a few techniques and lacked a powerful jutsu and a large chakra pool, his excellent chakra control made him well-suited for it.
Chakra nature transformation is essential for any ninja aiming to become strong. Chao Yanqian was currently studying the earth nature transformation.
Earth Release techniques are slightly weaker in offensive power compared to Fire, Lightning, or Wind Release. Earth Release mainly emphasizes defense and support. Though its attack power isn't great, it's still formidable. All five elemental releases—Wind, Lightning, Water, Fire, and Earth—have their unique strengths and counters.
Each chakra nature has multiple transformation directions, chosen based on the ninja's needs and usage.
Chao Qianming had chosen to focus on making his Earth Release chakra "dense and heavy."
Earth supports all life—it bears animals and plants. If Earth Release techniques could replicate that immovable strength, their power would be unmatched.
But for now, that was just a dream—Chao Yanqian was still at the stage of practicing with leaves.
Just after dinner wasn't the best time for strenuous training, so it was a good opportunity to practice chakra transformation.
He used a chakra test paper to confirm his earth affinity. The paper crumbled—proof of earth chakra. Chakra paper is highly sensitive, so the reaction is immediate. But leaves have very low sensitivity. If he could crush a leaf using earth chakra alone, that would mark the end of the first stage of practice.
This wasn't a method Chao Yanqian had thought up it was the one Naruto Uzumaki had once practiced.
Whether this would work for chakra transformation was uncertain, but without a teacher, it was the only option he had.