Coincidence

The Akimichi Clan's barbecue restaurant.

The reunited Sannin showed none of the joy one would expect from meeting again after so long in the private room. Or rather, only Jiraiya displayed any enthusiasm for the reunion, while Orochimaru and Tsunade were both exceptionally cold.

At last, after being enthusiastic for so long without receiving the response he deserved, Jiraiya's chatterbox pace gradually slowed. In the end, he looked at the cold, silent man seated there, radiating a gloomy chill, then at the drunken woman who kept refilling her cup. His face, with two streaks of paint running down from the corners of his eyes like tear tracks, creased into a deep frown.

Slap!

Jiraiya's palm slammed heavily onto the wooden table with a dull thud. Seeing his two companions turn to look at him, his flushed face tightened as he said, "We haven't seen each other in three years. Aren't you even a little happy?"

"You haven't changed at all, Jiraiya." Orochimaru's hoarse voice echoed through the private room. Drunken Tsunade once again turned her attention to her wine cup.

"Is that the only thing you know how to say?" Jiraiya angrily leaned close to Orochimaru's face and loudly accused him.

"It's a blessing, Jiraiya," Orochimaru said softly. "Sometimes, Tsunade and I truly envy you."

"You envy me?" Jiraiya was stunned by Orochimaru's inexplicable words, his expression bewildered.

Ever since they were children, ever since they had become students of the Third Hokage together, whether it was Orochimaru, hailed as a genius, or Tsunade, the Senju Princess, they had always been the people Jiraiya envied and chased after. He had never imagined that one day, he would hear Orochimaru say that he envied him.

At the same time, Jiraiya abruptly sensed a powerful distance between himself and his two companions. Their former familiarity and tacit understanding seemed to have been cast beneath a shadow at this moment. He actually felt something unfamiliar from the companions he had grown up with.

"Explain yourselves!" Jiraiya frantically raked his fingers through his hair. What he hated most was Orochimaru's habit of speaking in riddles without ever explaining himself fully.

"Life is a very fragile thing, Jiraiya. You have not experienced loss again as we have, nor have you once more clearly felt that emptiness and fear!" Orochimaru stood, lifted the curtain at the door, and turned back to Jiraiya as he walked out. "I envy you greatly! But don't invite me to these pointless gatherings again."

With that, Orochimaru ignored Jiraiya's calls and strode away.

Having failed to stop him, Jiraiya watched Orochimaru leave with a lost expression. Just as he turned to seek a few words of comfort from Tsunade, he saw her sway to her feet. Before his dumbfounded gaze, she braced one hand on the table and patted his shoulder with the other.

"The gathering's over? Then I'm going home too." Reeking of alcohol, Tsunade slowly left with the support of a little girl who hurried into the room.

In the blink of an eye, he was the only one left in the private room.

Only three years!

Three years later, he had returned to the village and to his companions. The familiar buildings and scenery of the village were still vivid in his mind, yet the companions he knew so well now made him feel an intense sense of unfamiliarity.

Tsunade's despondency and Orochimaru's indifference both filled Jiraiya with a measure of panic. Even with his somewhat slow mind and lack of sensitivity, he realized that his two once-synchronized companions had drifted farther and farther away from him at the moment of their reunion.

It seemed the three of them could never return to the atmosphere they had shared three years ago, when they fought side by side.

Jiraiya felt uneasy, but also helplessly powerless.

"Jiraiya?"

In the Third Hokage's Office, Hiruzen Sarutobi had just finished handling official business when he heard a faint sound from the eaves. Without even turning around, he named the visitor.

The Anbu had not stopped him, so it was clearly someone familiar. And among those who liked entering through the eaves instead of the front door, Hiruzen remembered only Jiraiya. Combined with the intelligence he had received earlier about Jiraiya's return to the village, he immediately knew who it was.

"Hello, Old Man." Jiraiya, carrying a strong stench of alcohol, flipped in through the window.

"You were rather willful this time!" The Third Hokage turned to look at the alcohol-soaked Jiraiya and frowned. "If not for your great contributions during the war, and for the fact that we told the public you were recovering from your injuries and traveling, you would already be a rogue ninja!"

"The war is already nearing its end. Even without me, Orochimaru and Konoha could still claim the final victory." Jiraiya felt somewhat embarrassed about his impulsiveness back then, but if he had to do it over again, he would still make the same choice.

"Since you're back, don't leave again." The Third Hokage had a headache at Jiraiya's response. Not one of his three disciples gave him any peace of mind. Even Orochimaru, his most dependable disciple, had been acting mysterious lately, as if he had become a different person.

As for Tsunade, she had become even more despondent. Though she still served as head of the Medical Department, she hardly ever went there. Every day, she was either wasting her time in taverns or at the Casino. She even turned a blind eye to his words.

"I won't." Jiraiya nodded. This time, when he returned to the village, he had planned to stay for a while and see his disciple, Namikaze Minato. During the three years, he had also wanted to learn how far the strength of the disciple he had once believed to be the Child of Destiny had progressed.

"You could become a squad leader—"

"Old Man, I already have Minato." Jiraiya shook his head. Aside from Minato, he had just spent three years teaching another three disciples. He had no desire to serve as a squad leader again. Of course, he had no intention of telling the Third Hokage about those other three disciples either. In his view, those three would have their own paths to walk in the future.

The Third Hokage fell silent after being refused and did not press the matter again. Compared to his other two disciples, Jiraiya's disciple Namikaze Minato was indeed exceptionally promising.

Although he came from a civilian background, his talent was outstanding. After becoming Jiraiya's disciple, he had gradually found a ninja path suited to himself.

Among the new generation, Namikaze Minato had already begun to make a name for himself in the ninja world. Perhaps in the future, he could become a symbol as renowned as the Sannin!

It could be said that the Third Hokage was extremely satisfied with and trusted this grand-disciple. He had good character, a good temperament, formidable strength, exceptional talent, and proficiency in Sealing Technique. In particular, he had combined the Flying Thunder God Technique invented by the Second Hokage with Sealing Technique, forming a combat style uniquely his own.

With such a disciple, Jiraiya truly had no need to become a squad leader again.

"What happened to Orochimaru and Tsunade?" After their small talk ended, Jiraiya voiced the doubt in his heart.

During the three years, his two companions had changed far too much. So much that they felt unfamiliar to him.

The Third Hokage fell silent at those words. Picking up the pipe beside him, he puffed out clouds of smoke. Finally, under Jiraiya's repeated urging, he coughed twice and gave his answer.

"Dan died."

Jiraiya's pupils shrank sharply, and his body hunched over slightly. At that moment, he finally understood why Tsunade had become so despondent.

The Second Ninja World War had taken both her younger brother and her lover from her. That kind of blow...

"Tsunade failed to save Dan's life, and she developed Hemophobia. She can barely even set foot on a battlefield now." The Third Hokage's expression was grim as well.

"What about Orochimaru?" After a moment of silence, Jiraiya asked again.

"He hasn't come to see me for some time." The Third Hokage waved a hand. "Now that you're back, if you can, try your best to persuade them."

The Third Hokage had originally intended for the two of them to become squad leaders again. But considering how both disciples were avoiding certain things—and avoiding him—he had found no opportunity to bring it up.

But while he could not say it himself, Jiraiya, who had returned, could convey his intentions. He also dearly hoped that Jiraiya's return would allow the group of three to regain the closeness they once shared.

"I'll do my best." Jiraiya opened his mouth. Though he felt it would be difficult for him to complete this mission, he still accepted it.

At this moment, all of Jiraiya's joy and excitement from having just returned had vanished, leaving only deep melancholy and helplessness.

In the dense forest above Hokage Rock, a green venomous snake over a meter long coiled around the branch of a large tree. Its green body blended into the leaves as though it were invisible, concealing its form from sight remarkably well.

If one did not watch carefully, it would be easy to overlook its presence even from quite close by.

Whoosh!

A Shuriken suddenly sliced through the air with a sharp whistle, striking the well-hidden Green Snake with precision.

The Green Snake's body curled up in pain before stretching out again. It fell from the branch with a slap, writhing and struggling across the ground.

The third one!

Nara Kagetsu emerged from the woods and picked up the injured Green Snake from the ground. The wounded snake tried to struggle and counterattack, but a black shadow immediately enveloped it, stiffening its body. Then, a hand grabbed it.

Throughout the entire process, the Green Snake seemed to have lost its ability to move, tightly wrapped in a layer of black shadow.

Venom Collected +1

After collecting the venom, Nara Kagetsu tossed the Green Snake in his hand away.

Over this period, he had caught more than a hundred similar venomous snakes, and had dissected and studied twenty or thirty of them.

Poisons had shone brilliantly in World War II, in the hands of Hanzō of the Salamander and the Sand Shinobi's Puppet Master units. Even Konoha and the Sannin had suffered indescribable losses because of them.

Had it not been for Tsunade, such a legendary Medical Ninja, who was able to develop targeted antidotes, the outcome on the Sand Shinobi battlefield might still have been uncertain.

As for Hanzō of the Salamander, aside from the Sannin, the Konoha ninja forces that had participated in that battle had nearly been wiped out.

Thus, poison had become one of the methods used in ninja combat, alongside Exploding Tags, kunai, Shuriken, senbon, and the like.

"You're collecting snake venom?"

A deep, hoarse voice with a magnetic quality suddenly sounded behind Kagetsu. He instinctively turned around, while the shadow beneath his feet shot out like a snake coiling to strike at its prey.

But the instant Kagetsu's Shadow Imitation Technique connected with the other person's shadow, it was broken free of.

"Quick reflexes, little brat of the Nara Clan." Orochimaru instantly appeared behind Kagetsu, bent down, and rubbed his head.

"Orochimaru-sama?" Though Kagetsu was nervous, he also let out a sigh of relief.

Orochimaru was certainly a dangerous person, but he had not yet gone mad enough to reach the irreversible point he would in the future. Besides, he had already recognized Kagetsu as a member of the Nara Clan, so he presumably would not bear any hostility toward a child like him.

"You're collecting venom from poisonous snakes." Orochimaru asked again.

Unlike the other members of the Nara Clan, Orochimaru sensed a peculiar trait in Kagetsu—something that drew him in.

That trait had made him notice Kagetsu, observe what he was doing, and develop a faint curiosity.

"Yes." Sensing that Orochimaru bore no ill intent, Kagetsu relaxed as well.

"Why? Does some secret technique of the Nara Clan require venom from poisonous snakes?" Orochimaru stood beside Kagetsu and looked at the venom collected in the bottle in his hand.

"I want to create a mixed poison." After thinking it over, Kagetsu did not try to play tricks or hide anything from Orochimaru, and told the truth.

"You want to use poison?" Orochimaru was genuinely intrigued by Kagetsu's answer. This was the first time he had seen someone from the Nara Clan take the initiative to use poison.

Though the Nara Clan was exceedingly reliable, whether as strategists or battlefield companions, if they had a choice, they would rather not participate in combat at all.

"I only want to raise a special insect." Kagetsu paused, but ultimately chose to tell the truth. "This insect possesses extremely strong adaptability and vitality. It can absorb toxins, then grow and evolve organs and tissues that carry poison. The more powerful and complex the toxins it is fed, the faster it evolves in that regard. I plan to raise it and make it my Summoning Beast in the future."

"Oh?" Orochimaru's eyes lit up. Having witnessed Hanzō of the Salamander's poison, Orochimaru would not look down on this method of fighting. If the poison could reach the potency of Hanzō's salamander, it might prove decisive in determining the outcome of a battle at a critical moment.

Even if it was not as potent as Hanzō's poison, this constitution that could evolve through toxins possessed terrifying growth potential and was worth studying.

Though all of his thoughts were currently devoted to pursuing immortality and learning every ninjutsu in the world, a certain stirring within him today increasingly made him want to understand just what it was about Kagetsu that attracted him.

"Can you take me to see that special insect? If it is truly as you say, I can provide you with enough toxins of many different kinds, including snake venom." Orochimaru made his request, his gaze upon Kagetsu openly carrying a measure of scrutiny.

"Of course." What else could Kagetsu say at this point? He simply had not expected that after coming out for his usual bit of hunting, with no issues on all those previous occasions, he would happen to run into the foremost representative of master kidnappers this time. But he had no desire to seek the meaning of life, nor was he so lost that he needed someone to follow and rely on for guidance!