In the forest more than ten kilometers away from the back mountain of Konohagakure.
Seeing Orochimaru's sudden change of attitude, Li Quan was somewhat taken aback instead.
Just how deeply traumatized was Orochimaru?
Had his brain been fried?
He had made his stance perfectly clear just moments ago.
He had never once taken Orochimaru's life seriously.
After all, Orochimaru's major impact on the plot would come during the Great Ninja War.
That was still more than a decade away.
By that time, Li Quan figured he would be able to walk sideways across the Naruto World without a care in the world.
If not for the fact that the *chi* in his body was nearly depleted, making it impossible to continue his experiments, combined with his desire to find out where Orochimaru's laboratory was located...
He would have slaughtered Orochimaru long ago.
After all, the ninja world was a place where people were killed without a second thought.
Dead bodies were a common occurrence in this world.
To ensure his own survival, even though he had never killed anyone before, Li Quan had already prepared himself to force acceptance of such realities.
As for teaching Orochimaru the Dual-Complete Hand?
Heh, that was even more impossible.
A master who teaches his apprentice starves to death.
Besides, Orochimaru would go on to commit the act of murdering his own master in the future.
Even though Orochimaru might have had other reasons for killing the Third Hokage, Sarutobi Hiruzen.
Li Quan had no desire to be stabbed in the back by a disciple one day.
"I'm not interested."
Shaking his head, he carried Orochimaru and landed on the ground.
Yet at that moment, Orochimaru still refused to give up.
Just now, through Li Quan's mysterious "ninjutsu," he had glimpsed the secret of eternal life!
His body had been casually kneaded, destroyed, and then restored.
Destroyed again, and restored again.
This near-godlike ability was practically an act of creation!
This was immortality, was it not?!
And wasn't immortality the same as eternal life?!!
Furthermore, under Li Quan's ninjutsu, the chronic injuries he had accumulated over the years, along with all the modifications he had made to his own body, had actually been reverted.
To the extent that some of the ninjutsu he had learned from Ruychidō (the Ryuchi Cave) could no longer be used.
Yet Orochimaru could clearly sense it.
His body was brimming with a newfound vitality.
This was easily on par with Tsunade's terrifying regenerative abilities!
He even had a vague feeling.
The effects of Hashirama's cells probably couldn't even compare to this single trick of Li Quan's.
With such capability, Li Quan could simply not be some ordinary person.
Perhaps the brat standing before him was that legendary Sage of Six Paths!
What was so shameful about taking such a person as a master?
This was clearly his fortuitous encounter!
An encounter that brought him closest to the secret of eternal life!
Beside Orochimaru.
Li Quan glanced around the surrounding environment and frowned as he asked, "How far is it from here to your laboratory?"
"As expected of my teacher, how did you even know that?!"
Hearing Li Quan's question, Orochimaru's eyes widened abruptly.
Yet upon hearing this altered form of address, Li Quan suddenly felt a pang of regret.
Why on earth did his hands have to be so itchy?
Just to test the abilities of the Dual-Complete Hand, he had gone and completely renovated this guy's body.
Judging by the situation, Orochimaru seemed to have misunderstood something.
Uh, and what was with this shameless attitude...
Was this still that cold and chilling Snake Aunt?
It felt somewhat similar to how characters let loose in Boruto!
Could it be that Orochimaru was actually like this to begin with?
"Don't call me teacher. I'm just a kid and can't teach a genius like you."
Shaking his head, Li Quan continued, "Besides, I really don't have much interest in being your teacher."
At this moment, however, his urge to kill Orochimaru had dissipated considerably.
Because he realized that taking Orochimaru under his command offered far more benefits than killing him.
At the very least, Orochimaru could handle ninja missions!
This was much safer and more covert than running a medical aesthetics business in secret.
And it was the kind of operation that brought in a steady, endless stream of cash!
As long as he managed to draw the Blue Hand of the Dual-Complete Hand, he would have absolutely nothing to fear regarding Orochimaru betraying him in the future.
One had to know that one of the Blue Hand's abilities was cognitive modification.
With his control thereafter, major events in the Naruto World would not deviate too drastically either.
By then, unifying the ninja world...
Just thinking about it made Li Quan's scalp tingle slightly.
It seemed he had just added another goal to his future endeavors.
Nearby, a look of doubt appeared in Orochimaru's eyes.
Li Quan actually called him a genius?
Orochimaru considered his own talent in ninjutsu to be quite decent, true.
Yet he never thought of himself as a genius.
Otherwise, after researching for so long, he wouldn't have ended up with virtually nothing to show for it.
Could it be that this immortal knew of his future achievements?
He truly was an immortal; simply omnipotent!
I suppose this immortal knows all of my secrets.
He had failed to master the senjutsu of the White Snake Sage.
Then he absolutely must not miss out on the inheritance of this Sage of Six Paths!
As for Li Quan's claims about being a child and the like, Orochimaru didn't believe a word of it.
What kind of child possessed the ability to trash an Elite Jonin and an immortal summoning beast from a sacred realm?
Even he had to address Manda as lord.
Yet Manda had been beaten to the point of fleeing directly.
Aside from the immortals of the three sacred realms and that legendary Sage of Six Paths, who else possessed such strength?
"I implore Teacher to accept me as a student. From now on, whatever Teacher commands, this student will give his all and spare no effort."
Watching Orochimaru bow once more, Li Quan narrowed his eyes.
In that instant, he thought for a long time and considered many things.
The benefits of taking Orochimaru as a disciple were simply too great.
So great that he had no desire to refuse at all.
In truth, Li Quan had already figured out why Orochimaru wanted to become his disciple.
It was nothing more than linking the abilities of the Dual-Complete Hand with eternal life.
As for the other misunderstandings?
He could just let the guy misunderstand.
Allowing him to mistake his identity for that of a supreme powerhouse came with plenty of perks.
At the very least, accepting him as a disciple for now would ensure that Orochimaru harbored no rebellious thoughts toward him for the time being.
Once he managed to draw the Blue Hand, everything would be entirely out of Orochimaru's hands.
Putting on an expression of disdain, Li Quan waved a hand and said, "I never take disciples—well, students, as you call them. But looking at you, you've learned senjutsu from that white snake, haven't you?"
Pausing for a moment, he continued, "You can work for me temporarily and become a nominal disciple. As for how things go after that, it will depend on your performance."
With that, Li Quan began walking in the direction Orochimaru had been heading earlier.
Without even needing to think, that direction should be Orochimaru's newly established laboratory.
Meanwhile, a look of joy spread across Orochimaru's face.
Hurriedly following behind Li Quan's footsteps, he chuckled and said, "Teacher, this student has a request and hopes Teacher can help out."
"Speak if you have something to say."
Glancing sideways at Orochimaru, Li Quan said coldly.
"Can Teacher resurrect my disciple, Nawaki?"
"Didn't you research the Reanimation Jutsu? Do you not know the price of resurrecting the dead?"
Li Quan's brow chilled as he glared at him.
To go and test him right after acknowledging him as a master—sure enough, this guy's mind was active enough!
Still, wasn't this a bit too direct?
"Alright, take me to your laboratory to have a look, and I'll lift the seal on your body in a bit."
"As for whether or not to resurrect Senju Nawaki, we'll see how you perform in the future."
...
A little past two in the afternoon.
By this time, Li Quan had already returned home.
Resurrecting Nawaki was indeed something he couldn't do right now.
That didn't mean he wouldn't be able to do it in the future, however!
After all, he was a man equipped with a System; who knew what miraculous items he might pull next?
Still, Li Quan hadn't returned empty-handed.
After touring Orochimaru's laboratory, his interest had waned somewhat.
Besides, he truly couldn't stomach the stench of corpses.
Therefore, he had left ahead of time.
Yet for reasons unknown, right as he was about to leave, Orochimaru had actually shoved a box of money into his hands.
He hadn't checked the exact amount yet.
Judging by the weight, though, it should be enough to pull a few draws.
As for that sparrow outside the window, however, it was getting quite annoying...