Body Limit

Just as Orochimaru was watching intently, Tsunade swayed to her feet. Her fingers accidentally knocked over an empty wine cup, which rang out with a crisp clatter.

"Want me to carry you back?"

Orochimaru was in a great mood and teased her with a smile.

Hearing such lewd words come from Orochimaru, Tsunade shot him a fierce glare.

"You still want to take advantage of me? Am I drunk, or are you drunk?"

As she spoke, she staggered into the room and slammed the door shut with a bang.

The next day, Orochimaru arrived at the training ground as usual.

But besides him and Tsunade, Jiraiya and four-year-old Shizune were there as well.

"Big Sister Tsunade is amazing, and Uncle Orochimaru is amazing too."

Shizune, who was old enough to remember things, watched the two fighting ahead of her and clapped excitedly, her eyes sparkling like stars.

"Shizune, why do you call Tsunade 'Big Sister' but Orochimaru 'Uncle'?"

Jiraiya looked at Shizune curiously. Did those two really look that far apart in age?

"Big Sister Tsunade is a big sister. She told me to call her that."

Jiraiya's mouth twitched. Innocent little Shizune was still too naive, so easily fooled by sweet talk.

Tsunade, Jiraiya, and Orochimaru had all been born in Konoha Year 10. They were only twenty-seven now, at the prime of their lives.

But having been tempered by war, they were all far more mature than others their age.

The two on the training ground were fighting fiercely. After two and a half years of practice, Orochimaru had gained an extremely clear understanding of this body.

At first, he could only take three of Tsunade's punches and a couple of kicks. Now, he could withstand fifty or sixty moves head-on before reaching his limit.

As his body rapidly converted energy, Orochimaru repeatedly broke through the upper limit of how much energy his cells could contain.

However, after absorbing the energy from fifty or sixty of Tsunade's monstrous-strength punches, he did not dare push that limit any further. The cells nurtured by his body had not yet met the conditions needed to store more energy.

It was like his original body had only broken one shackle after another, yet there was always a bottleneck. To break through that bottleneck further, he had to raise his body's limits.

Either he could slowly nurture it with energy over many years, which was far too slow for Orochimaru, or he could evolve again through the empowerment of the Potion Mother Vine, like Sebastian Shaw, raising his body's limits and absorption capacity.

At present, Orochimaru could only absorb kinetic energy through physical contact. He had no way to deal with magical energy such as the surrounding flames, magnetism, or gravity.

Even the efficiency of absorption and conversion was extremely low, let alone using it against enemies.

That was why Orochimaru had always been dragging Tsunade into sparring matches.

"Alright, Tsunade. Let's call it for today!"

Looking at Tsunade's heaving chest, Orochimaru felt a little reluctant, but he had no choice but to stop.

Another benefit of sparring with Tsunade was the feast for the eyes. The bouncing white rabbits before her chest were dazzling enough to make one dizzy, yet impossible to look away from. He truly wished they would not stop.

But even a pervert like Orochimaru could not endure Tsunade's violence. The view might be lovely, but his life mattered more.

"Yo, why are you so easy to beat up today? Giving in this fast?"

Tsunade stood with her hands on her hips, panting heavily as she spoke to Orochimaru. Her chest still rose and fell in waves.

"Let's leave it at that today. Take Shizune to buy some clothes first."

Hearing Orochimaru's words, Tsunade no longer felt like continuing the fight. She brushed the dust from herself and headed toward the edge of the field.

Orochimaru had barely fought back today. Most of the time, he had simply taken the beating.

It was not because he had some strange fetish. His body's energy had already reached its upper limit; no matter how much more he absorbed, he could not break through the bottleneck.

This situation had persisted for some time, making him realize that this was already the limit of this body.

Now that he knew that, he naturally had no interest in continuing. It was the perfect excuse to brush her off.

"Looks like I'll have to focus on research from now on! I just happen to have obtained both Hashirama Cells and Uzumaki Clan cells."

The next step was to fuse these two types of Sage Body. With the experience of two lifetimes and Doubled Comprehension, he believed he could carve out a new path.

Although Orochimaru in the Original Work had also engaged in human body research, he had chosen the wrong direction. By the time he defected from Konoha, he had already begun researching Living Corpse Reincarnation.

"Hey, Orochimaru, is this the taijutsu you came up with? Taijutsu for getting beaten up? It looks pretty good!"

Just as he settled on his future goal, Jiraiya's sarcastic voice reached him.

Tsunade had already left with Shizune, but Jiraiya remained where he was, still mocking Orochimaru.

Faced with that disdainful, contemptuous, questioning look in his eyes, Orochimaru did not waste words on him.

Instead, he walked over and flicked Jiraiya on the forehead.

The next instant, with a biu, Jiraiya let out a scream, and his body flew backward uncontrollably for five or six meters.

"If you're not convinced, you can be my training partner from now on!"

Jiraiya, clutching his forehead and cursing on the ground, curled his lip when he heard Orochimaru's words.

"You bastard, Orochimaru! Taking advantage of someone when they're unprepared and launching a sneak attack! Just like a lotus root growing in a filthy ditch—full of dirty tricks!"

As he spoke, he climbed to his feet and glared aggressively at Orochimaru before continuing.

"I want to see whether you've improved these past few years. This is the perfect chance to settle yesterday's score!"

Orochimaru knew he was referring to getting beaten up yesterday and humiliating himself in front of Tsunade.

"I don't have time today. Another day."

Ignoring Jiraiya's protests, Orochimaru closed his eyes and walked back. He left right after showing off, determined to piss him off.

He needed to return and continue his research. He had no desire to waste time on such meaningless sparring.

The Doubled Comprehension he had just gained had given him even more hypotheses to consider, and each of them needed to be tested at the laboratory bench.

Meanwhile, Tsunade led Shizune toward the shopping district in the village.

"Big Sister, so you're really that amazing! When I grow up, I want to become a strong person like you too."

Still only half-grown, Shizune looked at Tsunade with worship in her eyes, filled with longing.

"Hehe, sure! Your big sister will become even stronger! When the time comes, I'll teach you everything."

Only when she was with Shizune did Tsunade show her gentle side. It could be said that she had given Shizune all of Dan Kato's love.

"Wow, even stronger? Is it Medical Ninjutsu?"

At the mention of Medical Ninjutsu, Tsunade's gaze dimmed slightly before turning firm again. She nodded at Shizune and patted her little head.

Ever since developing hemophobia, she had not performed surgery or even entered a kitchen. But that did not stop her from placing her unfulfilled wish upon Shizune.

Would it not be just as good for Shizune to become her assistant and the one who wielded the scalpel in her place?

"Girls should be gentler. Study Medical Ninjutsu instead!"

"Okay, okay! I'll listen to you, Big Sister!"