The Affairs of the World Drift Slowly with Flowing Water

Konoha Year 40

The Sannin were thirty years old. Seven-year-old Kakashi had been promoted to Chūnin and successfully become Minato's disciple.

That day, Orochimaru returned home from working overtime at the laboratory.

The moment he entered, he saw Tsunade passed out drunk beside the dining table, while Shizune wore a helpless expression as she cleared away the empty bottles.

Orochimaru was already used to this. As Shizune gradually grew older, Tsunade had more and more free time.

Naturally, that left her with nothing to do, and she returned to the muddled days of drowning herself in alcohol.

Orochimaru had no good solution for this either. Everyone had their own things to do. Jiraiya had to teach his disciple and kept going out for inspiration every few days.

He himself spent all day at the laboratory and had no time to look after her. Perhaps only becoming Hokage would leave her with no time for wild thoughts.

"Uncle Snake, you're back!"

Shizune looked at Orochimaru helplessly. She could keep Tsunade company after school, but she could not stop her from drinking cup after cup.

"Mm, I'll handle it."

As he spoke, he stepped forward and picked up the unconscious Tsunade. His practiced movements made it clear this was not his first time doing so.

Although Shizune was nearly eight years old, she was still far too slight. An adult's weight was too much for her.

"I'll leave the rest to you."

After placing Tsunade on the bed, he left the work of taking off her shoes and wiping her face to Shizune. Such things were more appropriate for a girl to do.

Looking at the sleeping Tsunade, Orochimaru could only sigh helplessly. A heart ailment required medicine for the heart; only she herself could untie the knot in her heart.

"Mm, sorry to trouble you, Uncle Snake. I'll keep an eye on her tonight."

Shizune brought over a basin of water and went to the bedside. After saying that to Orochimaru, she began busying herself.

When Shizune had first been brought over, she had been too young, so Tsunade had looked after her. Since childhood, they had lived in the same room.

Now, however, the roles had reversed, and it was Shizune's turn to watch over Tsunade. Whenever Tsunade drank too much and felt sick at night or needed water, Shizune was the one running around to care for her. It had caused her no small amount of worry.

Looking at this room, which Shizune had decorated with a distinctly girlish feel, Orochimaru saw photos of Tsunade, himself, and Shizune hanging on the walls. There were also photos of the Sannin, and of Minato together with them.

Those had all been taken during their autumn outing. Orochimaru had copies too, but he had not hung them up.

Slowly closing the door, Orochimaru returned to his own bedroom.

"It's time to further increase my strength!"

Orochimaru took a bottle of pale green medicine from his robes and held it up before his eyes, giving it a light shake.

This was the Mito Uzumaki cell fusion medicine he had secretly formulated.

With the correct formula as a foundation, developing this medicine had not been difficult. The hard part was perfecting it and completely eliminating its side effects.

Testing the most suitable dosage for different body weights, physical strengths, and levels of cell activity was also crucial.

Orochimaru pursued the perfect body, one that could maximize the medicine's effects.

Without hesitation, Orochimaru injected the results of more than a year of research into his body.

After entering his body, the medicine did not trigger any violent reaction. Unlike the overbearing Hashirama Cells medicine, this one gradually altered and assimilated his cells in a gentler manner.

That meant it would take time for him to be completely reborn, but time was what Orochimaru lacked least.

It was precisely because of this relatively mild method that he dared conduct this experimental modification at home. Even the medicine itself had been secretly prepared in his home laboratory.

Once the injection was complete, a wave of weakness swept through Orochimaru's body.

While the medicine was modifying his cells, he could not use his abilities. He could not even circulate Chakra.

That meant he would become weaker than ever, no different from an ordinary civilian. If a Genin attacked him, he probably would not even be able to deal with them.

"Looks like I need to keep a low profile lately. I can't afford to capsize in a gutter!"

Orochimaru was not too worried. In Konoha, as long as Danzo did not stir up trouble, he basically had nothing to fear.

Fame could sometimes bring disaster, but it could also serve as a protective talisman.

Feeling this unprecedented weakness, he could not help recalling his ordinary life in his previous world.

That world without superpowers or Chakra was already forever beyond his reach.

"I never thought it's been nearly six years since I came to this world. Time really flies!"

When he had first arrived, Shizune had not even been weaned yet. Now she was over seven years old. Six years had still changed nothing.

Tsunade was still half-dead, Jiraiya was still wholly focused on training the Child of Prophecy, and he himself was still a researcher walking the path of scientific study.

The inertia of the plot was simply too powerful. How difficult was it to change someone's fate? He was merely struggling within the river of destiny himself.

Amid those thoughts, Orochimaru slowly fell asleep. Beside him, Shiro nestled against his cheek and closed his eyes as well.

The affairs of the world drift slowly with flowing water; counting it all, this life was but a dream.

The next morning, Shizune went to the kitchen as usual, only to find that Orochimaru had not prepared her lunchbox like he normally did.

"Uncle Snake didn't cook today?"

She searched around but did not find her lunch. The kitchen also showed no signs of having been used that morning.

She went to the dining room and saw the spotless table. Only then was Shizune finally certain that today's ever-reliable lunchbox was not happening.

Orochimaru was usually busy, but no matter how busy he was, he never failed to make her lunch. At most, he would make dinner a little later. Today was rather unusual.

"Did Uncle Snake oversleep?"

With some doubts, Shizune came to Orochimaru's door and knocked.

"Uncle Snake, are you still home?"

After knocking several times without receiving any response, Shizune simply turned the handle. The door was unlocked.

She gently pushed it open and saw Orochimaru lying on the bed through the gap.

"So he overslept. Forget it, I shouldn't disturb his rest."

Just as she assumed Orochimaru was merely sleeping in and was about to close the door, something suddenly occurred to her.

"That's not right. Why is Uncle Snake's face so red today? Could he have a fever?"

Thinking that, Shizune stopped caring about anything else and pushed open the door, rushing inside.

Orochimaru's pale skin was highly distinctive. A flushed, red-faced appearance was rare on him.

"Ah! Why is he so hot?!"

The moment she touched Orochimaru's forehead, Shizune immediately pulled her hand back.

Realizing that Orochimaru was truly sick, Shizune hurried to the next room to find Tsunade.

A child's instinct was to seek out an adult whenever something happened, and at a time like this, only Tsunade, a Medical Ninja, could be her pillar of support.