Remember to Wear a Helmet When Fishing

"Jiraiya, who are these two?"

Orochimaru knowingly asked, his gaze still assessing the man and woman behind him.

"These are my newly accepted disciples, Minato Namikaze and his companion, Kushina!"

After that, Minato and Kushina stepped forward to briefly introduce themselves, and Orochimaru nodded in response to both of them.

Orochimaru had no objections to the two extra people. As for Tsunade and Shizune, those two who only knew how to eat had no right to speak.

"Jiraiya, you'll be responsible for the meat now that there are two more mouths to feed."

Hearing Orochimaru's excuse, Jiraiya curled his lip. If he wanted to order him around, he should just say so. Why come up with a reason like that?

"Senior, I'll take care of the ingredients!"

Before Jiraiya could speak, Minato Namikaze stepped forward with a bright, sunny smile.

"What an infectious smile. That charisma really is worthy of Hokage material."

Seeing his disciple volunteer to lighten his master's burden, Jiraiya wore a proud smile. He even cast Orochimaru a smug look, as if to say:

See? My disciple's pretty good, isn't he? He's much better than yours in this regard!

"Do whatever you want."

Orochimaru ignored his showing off and continued building the stove.

"Minato, shall I go with you?"

"No need. Just go set up the tents with Senior Tsunade."

Kushina rarely got the chance to come out, so she was fairly excited as well.

Ever since becoming the Nine-Tails Jinchuriki, her range of movement had been limited to Konoha.

Konoha's sealing barrier restricted her movements. It was rather laughable—her clan had provided Konoha with Sealing Jutsu, and Konoha used it to restrict her.

Come to think of it, only the Third Hokage could do something like that. Just look at the Eight-Tails Jinchuriki, Killer B. He wandered around whenever he felt like it and ran away from home at the drop of a hat.

Of course, it was also related to the environments in which the two had grown up. Still, Kushina had it rough.

After hearing Minato's refusal, Kushina did not insist. Instead, she went over to Tsunade and began setting up a tent nearby.

Once Orochimaru finished setting up the stove and saw that it was still early, he simply took out a telescopic fishing rod and went down beneath the waterfall to fish.

"Huh, Orochimaru, you know how to fish too? I remember you used to hate meaningless things like this the most."

Jiraiya, who had nothing better to do, came over as well. In his memory, Orochimaru always used Water Release to catch fish—simple and convenient. When had he ever had the leisure for something like this?

"Isn't this the fun of camping? If you only pursue results in everything, what meaning would life have?"

Jiraiya did not want to listen to Orochimaru's lofty ramblings, but somehow he also got himself a fishing rod and began fishing beside him.

As soon as Jiraiya sat down, Orochimaru's float moved.

Orochimaru did not forcefully haul it up with brute strength. Instead, he played the fish back and forth like any other angler. Only when the fish beneath the water seemed exhausted did Orochimaru lift it out.

"Oh, that's a pretty big grass carp. I didn't expect you to start off with such a bang!"

Hearing Jiraiya's praise, Orochimaru did not put on airs. A rare smile appeared on his face. Wasn't this moment exactly the joy of fishing?

Shizune and Kushina also ran over when they heard the commotion. When they saw the grass carp dangling beneath Orochimaru's rod, they repeatedly exclaimed in surprise.

"Uncle Snake, this fish has to weigh two jin, right? It looks kind of scary!"

"I think it's more than two jin. At least four."

Orochimaru laughed when he heard Shizune's estimate. Could a grass carp weighing two jin even be called a grass carp? This one probably weighed around five jin.

Orochimaru had also been quite a capable fisherman in his previous life. Before he began doing research work, he often went fishing. He simply had little free time after becoming busy.

Still, he remembered some techniques and experience. He could not compare to Great Emperor He Qiang, but he was more than enough to compete with the Dead Last beside him.

He had Shizune and Kushina dig a small pit beside the pool. Kushina used Water Release on it, forming a small pond.

Shizune eagerly came over and carried the grass carp away. One moment she had said she was afraid of it, and the next she was prying open its mouth. She was rather fierce.

Over the following stretch of time, Orochimaru made quite a few more catches. None were as large as the first one, though, and he tossed them into the lower reaches of the pool.

Jiraiya, on the other hand, had not gotten a single bite. He could only anxiously watch Orochimaru reel in fish one after another.

Finally, after Orochimaru reeled in another sea bass weighing around five or six jin, Jiraiya could no longer sit still. He scurried over to Orochimaru and said:

"Hehe... Brother Snake, give me some of your bait!"

Seeing Jiraiya's groveling expression, Orochimaru gave him all the remaining fish bait.

The moment Jiraiya got the bait, though, he became arrogant again.

"Haha, Orochimaru, watch me catch a ten-jin fish!"

Fine! No more Brother Snake. That was more like you, Jiraiya.

"Orochimaru, I didn't know you had this skill!"

At that moment, Tsunade, who had already set up several tents, walked over as well.

She was somewhat surprised to discover seven or eight fish in the small pond beside them.

"If even Jiraiya has to call me Brother Snake, why don't you call me brother too?"

Seeing Orochimaru's glib manner, Tsunade rolled her eyes at him.

"Hopeless!"

Jiraiya did not retort to Orochimaru's mockery. He had no mind for bickering now.

His float had finally moved. He stared at it with complete focus, as though facing a formidable opponent.

"Ha... haha, it finally took the bait! Let's see how I deal with you!"

Jiraiya had gotten his first bite of the day, and judging from how his fishing rod was bent nearly ninety degrees, it was not small.

The commotion on his side also drew Kushina and Shizune over. The two girls were cheering him on.

That only fired Jiraiya up further. He used every trick he had to battle wits and strength with the fish in the water.

After playing the fish for five minutes, Jiraiya was just about to pull it up in one burst of effort. Everyone was ready to see what the fish looked like when—

Crack!

A sound came from Jiraiya's fishing rod, and Jiraiya inwardly cried out in alarm.

Sure enough, the next moment, the rod snapped from the front.

Seeing the cooked duck about to fly away, Jiraiya had no time to think. His body instinctively lunged forward, and he really did manage to grab the broken front end of the rod.

But before he could feel relieved, gravity took effect.

With a splash, Jiraiya fell into the water without surprise.

"Hehehe... Jiraiya, don't let the fish get away again!"

Tsunade was the first to laugh from the side. By the time Jiraiya resurfaced, he had already drifted to the center of the pool. He held a fish high above his head.

"Haha, Orochimaru, this fish is bigger than yours!"

The others could not help but smile at his appearance. At the same time, they noticed the small bump that had somehow risen on his forehead.

"Brother Big D was right. You have to remember to wear a helmet when fishing!"