Naruto: Starting as the Third Hokage with Tears in His Eyes

Chapter 81: On the Fundamentals of the Interaction Between Electric and Magnetic Fields

Orochimaru took a deep breath and created a weak current at both ends of the coil.

Then, the electrified copper wire was slowly brought closer to the stationary magnetic needle.

A miracle happened.

Just as the copper wire approached, the compass needle, which had been pointing south, suddenly shifted at an angle as if moved by an invisible hand, pointing directly at the copper wire.

"!!!"

Orochimaru's eyes widened.

He abruptly cut off the chakra supply, and the current in the copper wire disappeared.

The magnetic needle slowly turned back to its original direction.

He tried again.

When the current is applied, the magnetic needle deflects.

The current is cut off, and the magnetic needle returns to its original position.

"So...that's how it is..."

"So that's how it is!!!"

Orochimaru's body began to tremble slightly.

Understood!

Electricity can produce magnetism!

These two seemingly unrelated forces are actually capable of influencing each other.

This discovery, like a bolt of lightning, instantly cleaved through all the fog in his mind.

All his previous confusions about why electricity is unstable, why it cannot be stored, and why it cannot be transmitted over long distances seemed to have been answered at this moment.

Because he had always been studying electricity in isolation.

He overlooked its other half—magnetism!

"Haha...hahahaha..."

Orochimaru could no longer contain his ecstatic joy and let out a manic laugh filled with boundless delight.

The other researchers in the lab looked at him as if he were crazy.

"Could our class monitor have gone crazy from some kind of shock?"

"Shh...keep your voice down, you idiot."

Orochimaru ignored everyone's gaze.

He grabbed the Hokage's blueprints and the small compass needle, and without looking back, rushed out of the laboratory.

He needs to see his teacher immediately!

I have made a brand new and great discovery!

He also wanted to ask the teacher...

Was all of this something you had already anticipated?

He rushed out of Team Zero's base and sprinted towards the Hokage Building.

Orochimaru leaped swiftly across the rooftops of Konoha, startling two cats in heat.

His heart was filled with a longing for the unknown truth.

"boom--"

The door to the Hokage's office was violently pushed open.

Hiruzen Sarutobi, who was reviewing documents, was startled by the sudden commotion. His brush trembled, leaving a large ink blot on the scroll.

"I don't know how to knock..."

He looked up, but stopped mid-sentence.

Orochimaru was standing at the door, his chest heaving violently.

That usually indifferent face was now filled with excitement and fervor, even bordering on neurotic.

His hair was somewhat disheveled, and there were a few oil stains on his white lab coat. He was also clutching a compass tightly in his hand.

He looked just like a patient who had just escaped from a mental hospital.

"Teacher...!"

Orochimaru's voice trembled slightly with excitement.

"Orochimaru? What's wrong with you?"

Hiruzen Sarutobi frowned, his heart skipping a beat.

Could this guy have gone mad from researching qi cultivation and electrocuted himself?

"Teacher! I...I think I've discovered an incredible secret!"

Orochimaru rushed to the desk in three strides and slammed the broken compass onto it.

"Look, this is it!"

Hiruzen Sarutobi stared at the object, utterly bewildered: "A compass needle? What's so special about that...?"

"No! Teacher! Please listen to me!"

Orochimaru interrupted him, speaking rapidly, "Just now, another one of our experiments failed. In the instant of failure, a huge electric current was generated. Then, I saw the compass needle...it moved!"

"Although it was only for a moment, I saw it very clearly: it deflected! It deflected in the direction the current was flowing!"

Orochimaru's eyes gleamed with an almost insane light.

"Teacher, do you understand what this means? It means that electricity and magnetism, two seemingly unrelated things, have some mysterious connection that we don't yet know about!"

"They...they might be twins!"

Hiruzen Sarutobi listened silently, his heart unmoved.

Electromagnetism is generated by electricity.

Seeing Orochimaru's excited expression, almost as if he were about to ascend to heaven, Hiruzen Sarutobi suppressed a laugh and put on a profound and unfathomable expression.

He didn't answer immediately, but slowly stood up, walked to the window, put his hands behind his back, and said slowly in a melancholy tone, as if reminiscing about the past: "Electricity and magnetism... Orochimaru, it's good that you've discovered this."

"This shows that your observational skills have surpassed those of the vast majority of people."

"Teacher...you...you knew all along?"

Orochimaru was deeply shocked as he watched his teacher's nonchalant back.

"hehe."

Hiruzen Sarutobi let out two cryptic laughs, neither confirming nor denying.

Orochimaru interpreted this ambiguous attitude as tacit agreement.

The teacher... actually knew about the relationship between electricity and magnetism a long time ago.

The blueprints I was given before, the conceptual diagram of the hydroelectric generator, were not a concept at all.

That was clearly a theory he had already verified long ago.

He was just... he was just guiding me, testing me.

Discover this truth through your own abilities!

Having figured this out, Orochimaru looked at Hiruzen Sarutobi's back, and the admiration in his eyes had completely turned into awe.

If his previous teacher was someone he considered a great scientist at the forefront of the times, then...

So now, in his heart, the teacher is a god who has seen through the origin of the world...

Orochimaru.

Hiruzen Sarutobi turned around, looked at his disciple who had already been completely fooled, and decided to add fuel to the fire.

He walked to his desk and opened the bottom drawer, which was always locked.

Then, from inside, he took out a thick manuscript that looked relatively new and had a cover wrapped in special leather.

The cover of the manuscript contained no text, only an emblem made of interwoven lightning and magnets.

Hiruzen Sarutobi gently placed the manuscript in front of Orochimaru.

"This is……?"

Orochimaru reached out and trembled as he stroked the manuscript, as if touching a sacred work of art.

"The answers you're looking for might all be in here."

Hiruzen Sarutobi's tone was so calm, as if he were talking about something trivial.

"Now that you have reached the threshold of this field through your own abilities, it is time to hand over this book to you."

"Perhaps it can offer some...small ideas for solving the current problems you're facing regarding energy storage and transportation."

Orochimaru's breathing gradually became rapid at this moment.

With an almost reverent air, he carefully turned the first page of the manuscript.

On the title page, a line of large characters was written in a vigorous and powerful handwriting.

On the Fundamentals of the Interaction Between Lightning and Magnetic Fields

The very first sentence struck him like a thunderbolt, striking his mind with devastating force.

"Electricity and magnetism are two sides of the same coin, and can be transformed into each other."

"Electromagnetic induction law: When a conductor, part of a closed circuit, moves through a magnetic field and cuts magnetic field lines, a current will be generated in the conductor. This phenomenon is called electromagnetic induction."

"A Faraday cage: A cage made of metal that effectively shields against external electric fields. This principle can be used to manufacture insulating equipment to ensure the safety of power transmission..."

boom!

Orochimaru's mind went completely blank.

Electricity can generate magnetism.

Conversely, can magnetism also generate electricity?

If magnetism can generate electricity, then can we create a device to change the form of electricity?

If the state of electricity can be changed, then could we...?

One crazy, subversive idea after another surged wildly in his mind.

He seemed to see a door to a completely new world slowly opening for him.

Behind that door lay endless truths and mysteries, waiting for him to explore.