"Orochimaru!"
Orochimaru had just finished buying supplies and was on his way back to his hidden lab to continue his research when a familiar voice called out from behind him on the street.
Although he felt a faint trace of amusement inside, his face remained as cool and unreadable as ever as he turned around.
Not far behind him, a white-haired young man was waving enthusiastically with a broad grin on his face.
The one calling after him was none other than his teammate and troublesome friend—Jiraiya.
Jiraiya quickly strode over, slung an arm over Orochimaru's shoulder like they were the closest friends in the world, and grinned.
Orochimaru immediately knocked the hand away with a look of open disgust.
"What is it?"
Jiraiya, already long used to Orochimaru's cold attitude, wasn't bothered in the slightest.
"I heard from Sarutobi-sensei that he found a student for you," he said, leaning in with obvious curiosity. "So? Is it true?"
Orochimaru gave a small nod, then pushed Jiraiya's face away again before he could get any closer.
"He's a child from the Shimura clan," Orochimaru said flatly. "Elder Danzō's nephew."
"Ohhh, that kid." Jiraiya looked intrigued. "I've heard about him. They say he's some once-in-a-generation genius."
Then his mouth curled into a teasing grin.
"So what do you think? Compared to that Shimura brat, which one of you is the bigger genius—you, the former genius, or him?"
"Boring."
Orochimaru gave the answer coldly, clearly uninterested in entertaining that kind of nonsense.
His mind was still on his experiments, so after saying that, he turned and continued walking.
"Hey, hey, don't just leave!" Jiraiya called, hurrying after him.
Walking right behind him, Jiraiya kept talking.
"So what do you think of this genius student of yours? First time becoming a teacher, huh? You excited?"
Orochimaru let out a quiet sigh and stopped again, a trace of helplessness slipping into his expression.
"Jiraiya," he said, "I only agreed because Sarutobi-sensei asked me to. To be honest, I wasn't all that eager to accept."
Jiraiya blinked.
"You don't like the kid?" Then, with perfect seriousness for all of half a second, he added, "What is this, the instinctive rejection of the same species? Geniuses just can't stand other geniuses?"
"No," Orochimaru said, shaking his head slightly. "That's not it. I just… don't know whether I'm really suited to being someone's teacher."
There was a rare note of uncertainty in his voice.
Hearing that, Jiraiya's teasing grin faded.
He reached out and patted Orochimaru on the shoulder this time with genuine sincerity.
"You'll be fine," he said seriously. "You're a real genius. If anyone can become a great teacher, it's you."
Orochimaru's expression softened slightly.
A faint smile even touched his lips.
"Of course I can, you idiot."
"Damn it, Orochimaru, you bastard!"
Seeing Jiraiya explode immediately, Orochimaru's smile deepened just a little.
"Damn—"
Bang!
"Gahh!"
Before Jiraiya could finish yelling, something slammed into the back of his head.
He instantly crouched down, clutching it in pain.
Seeing the swelling rising on Jiraiya's head, even Orochimaru couldn't help breaking out in cold sweat.
Tsunade's getting more dangerous by the day…
With that thought in mind, he turned to look behind Jiraiya.
Sure enough, Tsunade was standing there.
"Done with your work at the hospital?" Orochimaru asked first.
"Of course not," Tsunade replied without the slightest shame. "I slipped out."
Orochimaru stared at her for a moment, then silently gave up and sighed inwardly.
"Tsunade! You violent woman!" Jiraiya shouted after finally recovering enough to stand up again, one hand still pressed to his head as he glared at her.
"Who told you to start yelling in the middle of the street?" Tsunade shot back, crossing her arms. "You're noisy as hell, idiot."
"No one's ever going to marry someone that violent…" Jiraiya muttered under his breath while rubbing his head.
"What was that?"
Tsunade's smile turned dangerous.
She raised one fist and clenched it hard enough for the joints to crack.
Jiraiya instantly sprang backward and hid behind Orochimaru.
"Everyone's staring," Orochimaru said with the weary skill of someone far too practiced at breaking up these two. "Could you both stop before you start a scene?"
"Hmph."
Tsunade gave a cold snort, but at least she lowered her fist.
The moment she did, both Orochimaru and Jiraiya quietly let out a breath of relief.
After the brief storm passed, Tsunade looked between them with curiosity.
"So what were you talking about?"
"Orochimaru's taking a student!" Jiraiya blurted out immediately before Orochimaru could say anything.
"Taking a student?"
Just as Orochimaru had expected, Tsunade's eyes lit up instantly.
Her expression turned openly nosy.
"Who? Which poor brat?"
"He's from the Shimura clan," Orochimaru answered. "Elder Danzō's nephew."
"Danzō's nephew?"
Tsunade's face twisted immediately.
It wasn't Kizaru she disliked.
It was Danzō.
She had never thought much of Sarutobi-sensei's old friend—or Tobirama's student.
Tsunade had always hated Danzō's style: rigid, underhanded, ruthless, and steeped in that suffocating old-school darkness.
Just imagining a child raised in that man's shadow made her feel uncomfortable.
"If he takes after Danzō even a little…" Tsunade shuddered, then looked at Orochimaru with genuine sympathy.
Orochimaru could easily guess what she was imagining.
"I've read the file on him," he said. "He's very different from Elder Danzō."
"That kid's gotten pretty famous in the village lately," Jiraiya added. "They're saying he's some unmatched genius. Some people are even claiming he has the potential of the First Hokage."
"The First Hokage?"
Tsunade's expression sharpened with interest—
Then almost immediately soured again.
"Hah. More likely Danzō's just been shamelessly building him up to raise his own clan's prestige."
As she spoke, disgust was written all over her face.
Jiraiya looked at Tsunade, then at Orochimaru, and suddenly grinned.
"How about we go see for ourselves?" he said. "Find out whether that brat's the real deal or just village hype."
"Boring," Orochimaru replied flatly, clearly having no interest in being dragged into this.
Tsunade, however, reacted in the exact opposite way.
She was very interested.
The First Hokage's potential.
As Hashirama's granddaughter, there was no way she wouldn't care about a comparison like that.
"I think Jiraiya's idea is fine," she said at once, turning to Orochimaru. "Let's go have a look."
Orochimaru sighed again.
Faced with the eager expressions of the two idiots he called teammates, he could only nod in reluctant agreement.
"Fine. We'll go take a look."
Then, already worried they would cause trouble the moment they got there, he added in a more serious tone,
"But restrain yourselves. Don't go overboard."
Tsunade laughed boldly and slapped Orochimaru on the shoulder hard enough to almost make him stumble.
"Relax," she said proudly. "As long as I'm there, nothing's going to happen."
"It's because you're there that trouble always happens," Jiraiya muttered under his breath.
Tsunade's eyes snapped toward him immediately.
"What was that, Jiraiya?!"
"I said we should get moving!" Jiraiya yelped.
The moment he sensed death approaching, he used the Body Flicker Technique and bolted into the distance.
"Get back here, idiot!" Tsunade roared as she chased after him without hesitation.
Watching his two hopeless teammates—classmates, comrades, and friends—disappear down the street in a burst of chaos, Orochimaru could only let out one more tired sigh before silently following after them.
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