Chapter 103 The 3rd day after ××××'s death
The day after ××××'s death.
Tsunade ate the bread on her plate, looking contentedly at her lover, Dan Kato, across from her, and her younger brother, Nawaki, beside her.
This is the life she has always dreamed of!
"You need to be careful when you're on missions, you know? You really scared me to death last time," Tsunade instructed him.
Knowing he was in the wrong, Nawaki nodded obediently, "I understand. I'm going to become Hokage, and I absolutely won't die before I protect the village!"
Tsunade looked at Dan Kato with a mocking expression. "Dan, it seems you're going to have to settle things with Nawaki."
"I would feel very at ease if Nawaki were the Hokage," Kato Dan also laughed.
Rope Tree felt like he was being teased. His ears turned slightly red, and he put on a serious face, pretending to be a little adult as he went out to carry out his mission.
After Kato Dan finished laughing, he suddenly noticed the necklace around Tsunade's neck and asked with some confusion, "That necklace, didn't you give it to Nawaki before, Tsunade?"
Tsunade looked down at the deep green jade, "Nawaki gave it to me again, saying he wanted me to keep it for him."
"I see..."
＊
As Hiruko quickened his pace to return to Konoha, he happened to run into Jiraiya, who was preparing to leave the village.
"Hey, didn't you go to Iwagakure to provide support? How come you're back so soon?"
Jiraiya looked at Hiruko and noticed that he was covered in dust, indicating that he had rushed back day and night.
Hiruko was taken aback when he heard his question.
Why...why did I rush back in such a hurry?
"Hello? Hello!"
Feeling Jiraiya's hand waving in front of him, Hiruko snapped out of his daze and slapped his hand away without ceremony, saying, "You can come back whenever you want."
"Really?" Jiraiya clearly didn't believe it.
This guy was timid and fearful when he was young, but he's become much tougher as he's grown up.
"Has anything happened in the village?" Hiruko asked, her heart filled with indescribable emotions.
"Um... let me think, does Aunt Li's dog having a second litter count?"
"..."
Hiruko made his stance clear with his actions, ignoring Jiraiya's expression as he entered the village.
Watching his departing figure, Jiraiya turned around with amusement and began his own journey.
＊
"Light...child?"
Orochimaru looked at the paper covered with "×" and read it aloud in confusion.
When he woke up in the morning, he found that he seemed to have fallen asleep from exhaustion the day before. His entire upper body was slumped on the lab table, and the table and floor were covered with papers with writing on them.
However, when he examined each one closely, he found that the handwriting on them was inexplicably blurry, and he could only vaguely make out the word "×".
Is it someone's name? Or something else?
Orochimaru was truly surprised that the name written on the paper so many times was actually a person's name, and it was clearly his handwriting.
After staring at it for a few seconds, Orochimaru suddenly let go, and the paper fluttered to the ground.
"Why hasn't that brat Hongdou arrived yet..."
After recalling Mitarashi Anko to clean up and throw away all the "garbage" in the laboratory, Orochimaru also withdrew his application to reclaim the laboratory.
Perhaps he was overcome by a surge of moral conscience, otherwise Orochimaru wouldn't be able to explain why he destroyed so much of his research in the first place.
After all, this is the secret to immortality...
Orochimaru excitedly stuck out his tongue and slid it across his lips.
After his parents passed away and he witnessed how life was cheap during wartime, he realized that life is fragile and that no matter how great or long-lived a person is, they will eventually die.
Therefore, he must live on, live for a very, very long time, live into... the future.
Orochimaru felt a stinging pain in his left hand, perhaps from gripping the edge of the table too tightly in his excitement. He rolled up his sleeve to take a look.
The pale forearm was etched with chilling words, and blood seeped out from the pressure.
These words again… Orochimaru frowned slightly.
Haruko.
Who is it?
＊
later.
Jiraiya continued on his training journey, believing that he might one day encounter a disciple who could change the world again.
Hiruko, known as the "Mechanical Boy," has been immersed in mechanical research since returning to Konoha, rarely venturing out. However, thanks to his achievements, Konoha's overall technological strength has greatly increased.
After being deceived, Konan, Nagato, and Yahiko realized that their original ideas were too naive. So they followed Tobi's advice and changed the Akatsuki's goals, recruiting various powerful members who would display extreme force in special circumstances.
Nawaki quickly rose to the rank of Jonin through his talent and hard work, determined to become Hokage recognized by the entire village.
Kato Dan and Tsunade formed a fixed team and frequently went on dangerous missions, determined to eliminate anything that posed a threat to Konoha.
...
After the Third Shinobi World War, in order to take responsibility for the Konoha ninjas who sacrificed their lives in the war, and also under pressure from the Konoha leadership, the Third Hokage, Hiruzen Sarutobi, voluntarily resigned from the position of Hokage.
With the unanimous consent of the Daimyo of the Land of Fire, Minato Namikaze smoothly became the Fourth Hokage of Konoha.
Soon after, Minato Namikaze and Kushina gave birth to their son, Naruto Uzumaki. However, a mysterious figure seized the opportunity to kidnap Kushina and release the Nine-Tails from its seal. To stop him, Minato decided to make Naruto the Nine-Tails' jinchūriki.
After leaving their final words to Naruto, Minato and Kushina both passed away.
...
Orochimaru received funding from Konoha's higher-ups in an attempt to train users of Wood Release, but the effort was fraught with huge losses and repeated failures, so the attempt was immediately terminated.
Orochimaru continued to secretly conduct the Hashirama cell transplantation experiment, which had already been terminated. Because of other experiments that were exposed, the Third Hokage and the Anbu noticed his strange behavior, so Orochimaru eventually left Konoha.
But Danzo did not give up. He was determined to achieve his goal and secretly kidnapped babies from surrounding villages to conduct experiments. At a cruel price, he actually succeeded in one case. Danzo trained Yamato, another ninja besides Hashirama, who could use Wood Release.
When Hiruzen Sarutobi discovered this Wood Release ninja, he acted out of character and resolved to eliminate Danzo Shimura completely. He led the Anbu to surround Danzo's base in layers and imprisoned him in a dungeon, keeping him in darkness all day long.
When Orochimaru betrayed Konoha, Jiraiya chased after him to try and persuade him to stay, but he couldn't change Orochimaru's decision to leave Konoha. Therefore, Jiraiya secretly tracked down Orochimaru's whereabouts for many years.
...
When Tsunade entered middle age, she embarked on a journey to gather intelligence, accompanied by Kato Dan's niece, Shizune.
Since she was going to relax, Tsunade completely let loose along the way, gambling and drinking, becoming famous in various countries. Kato Dan, far away in Konoha, was both amused and exasperated when he heard the news.
Orochimaru was immersed in his research all day long. In order to obtain experimental materials, he not only secretly colluded with other major powers, but also established his own ninja village - the Sound Village.
Because of his terrible attitude of using and discarding things after use, he was targeted for assassination by many high-ranking officials who wanted to completely seize his research results on immortality. Orochimaru had been hiding well until one day when he went out to find research equipment, he was seriously injured by a vicious person hired by the higher-ups, and his hands were also sealed.
To heal his hands, he and his subordinate Kabuto searched for Tsunade, and then engaged in a stalemate with Tsunade, who opposed him, and Jiraiya, who arrived later.
******
The author's note for this chapter is for all you lovely readers! Some of you might not know that the Uchiha clan was massacred because of Danzo, so the author is making a special mention of it. (3)(0)
Continue read on readnovelmtl.com
