The East Wind Awakens a Love-Struck Fool

"Actually, you don't need to be so afraid of blood!"

Sensing the heavy atmosphere, Orochimaru spoke first, and his words struck straight at Tsunade's sore spot.

Unpleasant memories surged into her mind, and her face immediately turned grim.

Those vivid scarlet scenes rose before her eyes like a nightmare. Just as she began to feel short of breath—

A warm, broad hand took hold of her small hand again. It was Orochimaru.

Their eyes met, and Orochimaru's gaze softened, utterly unlike the coldness he showed in the laboratory.

"Haven't you noticed that the meals over the past year have often been red?"

Orochimaru's words rang through Tsunade's mind like thunder. When she recalled those dishes, wasn't it exactly as he said?

Stir-fried meat with red peppers, scrambled eggs with tomatoes, stir-fried meat with carrots, red curry rice... all of them featured vividly red ingredients.

"You haven't realized that your body no longer rejects blood. You just haven't crossed that mental hurdle yet."

Over the past year, Orochimaru had been quietly instilling this idea in Tsunade, starting with tiny red peppers and gradually moving on to red curry rice.

Tsunade had simply never thought about it that way. Orochimaru had wanted to use this obvious food therapy to gradually free her from her fear of blood.

Hearing Orochimaru's words and thinking of the dishes she usually ate, hadn't she always eaten plenty? She had even cleaned her plate of curry rice.

"You... you..."

Seeing Tsunade at a loss for words, Orochimaru gave her hand a squeeze.

"You never seemed to eat any less when it was time to eat!"

Feeling Orochimaru take advantage of her again, Tsunade yanked her hand back and gave him a light smack. The atmosphere immediately returned to normal.

Tch, I don't even know how many times I've held her. I've touched some other places too!

Of course, he could not say that aloud. He had done all of it while Tsunade was dead drunk. If she found out, his life as a snake would probably end right there!

"You'd been planning this all along, hadn't you?"

After calming herself again, Tsunade asked.

"Yes, but it looks like I failed."

Orochimaru did not hide it. He had wanted to see the results of his efforts over the past year. When he heard Shizune say that Tsunade had personally given him the injection, it proved that there had been some effect.

At the very least, she had not experienced dizziness or vomiting. Although her complexion still did not look good, that was already rare progress.

"It... doesn't count as a failure...!"

Hearing of Orochimaru's painstaking intentions, Tsunade felt a little guilty. Her fingers unconsciously clenched the hem of her clothes, making her look like a little girl who had done something wrong.

"Looks like I won't be making stir-fried meat with peppers, curry rice, or scrambled eggs with tomatoes anymore. It's a waste anyway. I might as well feed it to pigs!"

As Orochimaru spoke, Tsunade recalled those dishes one by one. By the end, she realized something was wrong.

"You're the one who eats for nothing! You're the pig!"

As she spoke, she gave Orochimaru a vicious pinch, making him suck in a sharp breath.

Just as the two were bickering, someone knocked on the door.

Tsunade raised her brows at the sound, got up, and walked to the door. She returned shortly afterward.

"An Anbu ninja. I told them you were sick and wouldn't be coming to work today."

Orochimaru was not surprised to hear it was someone from Anbu. He had no habit of being late, and since he had been gone so long, it was only natural that someone had come looking for him.

He did not mind that Tsunade had called in sick for him. It had been a long time since he had properly rested, so today was a good chance to take it easy.

"Get some proper rest. I'll go get food!"

They had been busy all morning and had not even eaten breakfast. He was indeed getting hungry.

Orochimaru's body was also extremely weak right now. Before merging with the medicine, he had worried that the energy in his body might cause some unforeseen changes, so he had released it all.

That was also why he was weak. Without external energy sustaining his cells, the hunger had long since set in.

At noon, Tsunade returned with packed food.

Orochimaru barely managed to finish the rather bland takeout, while Tsunade stayed beside him to look after him.

"Tsunade, do you think you might become Hokage someday?"

Tsunade was taken aback by Orochimaru's question. Becoming Hokage was something she had never considered.

A few of her friends had once wanted to become Hokage, but both Dan Katō and Nawaki, who had made Hokage their goal, had died.

After a moment of silence, Tsunade said,

"Why are you asking something like that?"

In her eyes, Orochimaru had no interest in the Hokage position. He did not care who became Hokage, so why was he suddenly asking this?

Orochimaru did not answer. Instead, he continued,

"You're the granddaughter of the First Hokage, the sole heir of the Senju Clan, and Hiruzen-sensei's disciple. I wouldn't be surprised at all if you became Hokage!"

Tsunade set the leftover lunchbox aside before speaking.

"I'm the same as you. I'm not interested in the Hokage position either. Besides, those old men in Konoha's upper ranks probably wouldn't want me sitting in that seat. Konoha has never had a female Hokage, after all!"

After a pause, she added,

"Besides, Konoha has so many outstanding younger talents. I can't be bothered to compete with them!"

Listening to Tsunade's casual words, Orochimaru knew she truly had no such ambition. The future Fifth Hokage would be pushed into the position by force.

To her, being Hokage was a shackle. After stepping down, she would live as freely as Jiraiya did.

"I think highly of you. The only thing you're worried about is those old men in Konoha. If it were you, I'm sure you'd do better than them!"

Orochimaru was not just talking nonsense. Though Tsunade did not seem particularly outstanding in every aspect, she did not possess the extraordinary brilliance of Hashirama Senju and his brother.

The First Hokage, the God of Shinobi, represented hard power. Tsunade and the Second Hokage represented soft power—the ability to lead the Land of Fire beyond its geopolitical constraints without relying on violence.

It was only because the Akatsuki caused trouble during her tenure, followed by the Fourth Great Ninja War.

"What? After saying all that, do you want to run for Hokage? Fine, go ahead. I certainly won't object!"

Rather than taking Orochimaru's bait, Tsunade threw the question back at him. After all, the Third Hokage had already served as Hokage for more than twenty years. It was not impossible for him to step down and pass the position on.

And three or four years later, the Third Hokage would hand the position over to Minato Namikaze.

"No. I want to push you into the Hokage position!"

Orochimaru looked at her with a smile. He only wanted to prepare Tsunade in advance, because he would definitely kill those old men someday.

The east wind awakened a love-struck fool; life ground down a hero's dreams.

I wished the autumn wind could carry away the sorrow of parting and scatter the lingering regret in my heart.

He hoped she would not be too heartbroken then, and would not hate him too much.

"Tch... Go to sleep, you sickly thing."

With that, she ignored Orochimaru's nonsense, packed up the lunchboxes, and walked out.