Camping

"Don't worry. I'll wait until you can't pay me back and have to offer yourself instead."

As he spoke, Orochimaru cast Tsunade a lecherous look, his gaze even sweeping over her impressive breasts.

"You want to die?!"

Tsunade grabbed a leftover bone from the table and hurled it at Orochimaru, shooting him an irritated glare.

Ever since Dan Katō's death, Orochimaru had changed completely. His former indifference toward her had turned into accommodation.

She could tell that Orochimaru seemed to have developed feelings for her. Unlike Jiraiya, though, Orochimaru was far more restrained.

It only showed through the occasional teasing banter. More often, it was in Orochimaru's actions—moving in, cooking for her, keeping her from drinking and gambling too much.

Tsunade saw it all, but she simply could not get past that hurdle in her heart. Though several years had passed, she still had not moved on.

Orochimaru did not hold much hope for it either. Unlike Jiraiya, who did not dare touch matters of the heart, Orochimaru had both the desire and the nerve, but he could not act on it.

Because he knew that one day, he would embark on the path of a Rogue Ninja. Even if he did not want to become one, the system would push him onto that track.

There was no helping it. The rewards were simply too generous.

When the time came and he stood opposite Tsunade, no one could know what would happen before the final stage arrived.

It was best to maintain this somewhat ambiguous relationship as it was.

"Those beside your pillow, those in your arms, those in your heart—they're all false. Loving without having, with mountains and seas between you that cannot be leveled—that's what's real!"

Thinking of this, Orochimaru suddenly sighed. For a moment, even the delicious food on the table tasted bland.

"Uncle Snake, are you free tomorrow? It's the weekend."

Shizune seemed to sense Orochimaru's low spirits and spoke up.

"Hm? What is it?"

Orochimaru snapped back to his senses and looked at her with a smile again.

"We haven't gone out to have fun in a long time. How about we go somewhere?"

As she spoke, she looked toward Tsunade, clearly asking for her opinion.

Tsunade had no objections. For a moment, both of them turned their gazes toward Orochimaru.

Seeing the anticipation in their eyes, Orochimaru smiled helplessly.

"All right. We've been busy beyond belief lately. We really should relax."

"Yay! We can go have fun!"

Shizune clapped happily. It was clear that Kakashi's early graduation from the Ninja Academy had hit her hard. This would be a good chance for her to clear her mind.

"Let's invite Jiraiya. We'll go camping!"

The next day, before dawn had broken, Orochimaru went to the research institute to arrange the work.

No one objected when they learned he was taking the day off. Orochimaru had not rested at all during this time—he was either at the research institute or on his way there.

Everyone had seen it for themselves. They were also afraid that their superior was under too much pressure and would place even more burdens on them.

The research at the institute was progressing steadily, so there was no need for him to watch over it every moment.

By the time he left the research institute, it was already fully light outside.

On his way back, Orochimaru bought fresh fruits and vegetables from roadside stalls, along with some desserts—things commonly brought along for camping.

When he returned to the courtyard, Shizune and Tsunade had already gotten up and packed their gear.

"You two head out first. I'll go get that guy Jiraiya."

After explaining things to them, Orochimaru vanished from the spot once more.

Tsunade was somewhat surprised by Orochimaru's ghostly movement technique, but she did not think much of it, assuming it was some kind of Body Flicker Technique he had recently developed.

When he arrived before a small house at the eastern end of the village, Orochimaru knew this was Jiraiya's residence. The front door, however, was tightly shut.

"Did he go out this early?"

After sensing carefully for a moment, Orochimaru was left speechless.

He had not gone out at all. He was sleeping in! Orochimaru had thought he was so diligent that he had gone out early in the morning.

At that thought, a wicked smile unconsciously appeared on Orochimaru's face. In a moment of mischief, he had Shiro go wake Jiraiya.

Before long, Jiraiya's pig-slaughter scream rang out from inside the house.

"Orochimaru! I'm going to kill you!"

A furious Jiraiya ran out of the house in nothing but his underwear, utterly unconcerned with his appearance.

He was clutching Shiro by the neck, having just pulled him out from inside his underwear.

"Hehe, Jiraiya, you're really energetic so early in the morning."

Seeing Jiraiya looking ready to devour someone, Orochimaru still did not forget to tease him.

"I'll give you five seconds to explain."

As he spoke, he tossed Shiro back to Orochimaru, then cracked his knuckles.

"Tsunade, Shizune, and I are going on a picnic. If you're free, come join us."

Orochimaru ignored Jiraiya's furious expression. After giving him an address, he turned and left.

"Camping? A picnic? An autumn outing? Swimsuit?"

Before Jiraiya could ask for details, Orochimaru had already disappeared.

"Tsunade's going too, and he told me to bring a swimsuit..."

"Orochimaru, wait for me!"

Jiraiya could not sit still after that. Opportunities to feast his eyes like this did not come often. He hurriedly got dressed, washed up, and set off.

At a waterfall ten kilometers outside Konoha, Tsunade and Shizune had already set up camp not far from the falls.

Camping in the wilderness naturally posed no challenge to a ninja as experienced in survival as Tsunade.

Orochimaru soon arrived carrying several large bags, most of them filled with oil, salt, soy sauce, vinegar, and other seasonings.

He summoned pots, bowls, ladles, kitchen knives, and other tools from the Ninja Tool Scroll. If outsiders saw what Orochimaru was doing, they would surely say he was disgracing the name of ninja tools.

"Uncle Snake, what are we having for lunch?"

Seeing Orochimaru take out a huge pile of kitchen utensils, Shizune ran over curiously.

"Hotpot during the day, grilled meat tonight!"

"Hotpot? What's that?"

It was Shizune's first time hearing such a novel name. This world had no concept of Hotpot, though she did know about stews.

"You'll find out soon enough. You just need to focus on eating!"

"Then where's the meat for the grilled meat?"

After looking around and finding no meat at all, Shizune wondered whether Uncle Snake had forgotten to bring it. Orochimaru merely smiled at her.

"Well... we'll have your Uncle Jiraiya catch some later."

Following the direction of Orochimaru's raised chin, she saw three figures appearing from the direction they had come. They were Jiraiya and two others.

The two young people behind him were the blond-haired boy Minato Namikaze and the red-haired girl Uzumaki Kushina.

Orochimaru had not expected the two of them to come. He had not expected Jiraiya to have made contact with Minato Namikaze so early.

As for Kushina, she had presumably come along with Minato.

Behind the three of them, Orochimaru also sensed several tails keeping neither too close nor too far away.

Orochimaru focused his gaze and saw several ninjas wearing fox masks darting through the trees beyond the gaps in the leaves.

"Anbu ninjas?"

Orochimaru's eyesight was now sharp enough to make out things a thousand meters away. This distance was nothing.

As for why the Anbu ninjas had come, they were likely here to protect Kushina. None of the Sannin knew that Kushina had become a Jinchuriki. Konoha had kept news of that well sealed, unlike Naruto in the future.

However, with the three Sannin here, only a large number of Elite Jonin from another ninja village—or one of their Kage coming personally—could possibly take her away.

"As long as they don't cause trouble, I don't mind having a few more people along for the outing."

With that thought, Orochimaru stopped paying attention to them. By then, Jiraiya had arrived before them.